2010 TDPRI $210 Tele Build Challenge - RooftopCaster

[motor_city_tele]

I'll throw my hat into the ring and give it a whirl. This one will probably outweigh the concrete-caster. It'll be a Rosewood and maple sandwich body and a rosewood neck. I already have the lumber for the body, I just need to locate a slab for the neck.

This guitar was going to be lucky number 13 in the series but I'll move it's production to the front in order to meet the competition deadline.

Now all I need is a little co-operation from mother nature. last time I looked, there was over a foot of snow on my "workbench".

Here are the required photos of the woods I'm planning on using.

As you can see, there will be much milling and joining of wood. My plan is to cut the cut the long piece into 3 before cleaning up the sides and re-sawing into 13/16 thick boards. Then I will attempt to match the grains for a couple of glue-ups the represent the bread of the sandwich. The meat/cheese will consist of thin slices of maple that will be about 1/8 inch thick. I plan on routing the wings of the glue-up before assembling the top and bottom.

[alias23k]

Good luck!

[alpinewhite]

Originally Posted by motor_city_tele

Now all I need is a little co-operation from mother nature. last time I looked, there was over a foot of snow on my "workbench".

With more coming down right now

[68thinline]

Dig a pony.

[motor_city_tele]

What Else do we need - I'm sure I've missed something.
(not sure if sandpaper is considered a tool)

Body Lumber - Primary
Body Lumber - Secondary
Neck Lumber
Skunk Stripe Lumber
Neck Dot Material - large and small
Glue
Truss Rod
Truss Rod Anchor
Truss Rod Nut
Frets
Tuners
Nut
String Tee
Bridge
Control Plate
Pot 1
Pot 2
Cap
3-way Switch
Jack
Wire/Solder
Pickguard Material
Assorted Screws
String Ferrules
Bridge Pickup
Neck Pickup
Neck Plate
Strap Pins
Decal
Lacquer
Strings

[tuuur]

Lists are cool. I oughta make mine more concise. And that's what I'm gonna do!

[68thinline]

Originally Posted by motor_city_tele

(not sure if sandpaper is considered a tool)

I dunno, but my pine build is gumming up quality sandpaper like nobody's business.

[motor_city_tele]

Hi folks,

Week 1 of this project is over and I am already shifting lanes from my original plan. Cutting and milling rosewood will do that to you. the 2 x 4 x 72 inch slab that was my body is now three necks. The body lumber is in route, and will not be re-sawn and milled from a single slab. what was i thinking?

I started out with 1 big ole' heavy board and now have 6 smaller heavy boards.

1 - cut 26" lengths of the 2 x 4
2 - cut each of those into three 1 and 1/8" x 2" pieces
3 - square up 1 side and both the top and bottom of each piece.

I didn't glue up the pieces yet because I think there might be some precautions that I should take when gluing up rosewood. I was right, and wrong. The edges need to be cleaned with acetone before applying the glue.
The downside is that all this should be done immediately after cutting and joining. I will have to give each edge a quick shave next time.

Parts are starting to trickle in and I am not concerned about exceeding the maximum price set. Building the neck, truss-rod, and picking up pre-owned components keep the overhead down. Well that's not entirely true, I could have purchased a 40 neck but it wouldn't have been rosewood, it wouldn't have been a 9.5 radius and it probably wouldn't have fit.

I will upload the pics in a few days.

tootles - jb

[motor_city_tele]

The parts are starting to trickle in - here are some pickups, neck-plates and control-plates and the milled 2-piece rosewood neck blanks. I'll shoot a picture of the jig I came up with to make these this weekend.


A close-up of the headstock with the paper pattern cut out of the printed pdf file.


here is the bridge I'll use. I picked it up on the 'bay already loaded - 26.00


An assortment of tools I plan on using.


When I pulled up in the drive, I saw something in the front door. My rosewood planks for the body and some truss-rod material.


A close-up of the 1018 low-carbon steel. These are 3/16 for the truss-rod and 3/8 for the anchor and nuts. There should be enough for 16 necks - or about 83 cents per truss rod.

[motor_city_tele]

I'll be happy if I get through half of these tasks.


1. glue up rosewood neck blanks.
2. cut rosewood body planks to 17" lengths.
3. design and build surface planer jig for my router.
4. cut out mdf templates for body, neck, pickguard.
5. build truss rod channel cutter and neck radius jig (same jig).
6. cut 1/8" maple strips for sandwich innards.
7. plane 2-piece rosewood neck blanks to 1".
8. plane all rosewood body planks to 13/16".
9. cut 3/8 steel into truss rod nuts and anchors.
10. cut 3/16 steel into truss rod lengths.
11. cut 10-32 threads onto truss rod ends.
12. drill pilot holes for TR nuts and anchors.
13. tap 10-32 threads into TR nuts and anchors.

tootles - jb

[wisdom 86]

Looking forward to seeing your progress! Hope you have a good weekend.

[motor_city_tele]

the rosewood neck has been cleaned, glued and clamped. I need more clamps - you can never have enough clamps.


I don't have a joiner or a surface planer but I do have long, thick and straight pieces of steel. That and a router, and a bit with a bearing can almost do as good of a job.


nice and flat, just add a little jitterbug sanding and it will be smooth as glass. at least it will be flat.


I fabricated a couple of rails and bolted them to the router base. They ride along two pieces of steel to give a decent flat surface. Good thing, this rough sawn rosewood is bumpy, and wavy. not for long.


the pdf printout is adhered to the mdf. I'm not entirely sold on this stuff. It seems to be a bit wimpy. I'm wondering if particle board might make for a better template.

[motor_city_tele]

I was unable to work today (Sunday) but still was able to cross some stuff off of my todo list.

1. glue up rosewood neck blanks. - yes
2. cut rosewood body planks to 17" lengths. - yes
3. design and build surface planer jig for my router. - yes
4. cut out mdf templates for body, neck, pickguard.- some - not sold on mdf yet
5. build truss rod channel cutter and neck radius jig (same jig). - still on the drawing board.
6. cut 1/8" maple strips for sandwich innards. - nope
7. plane 2-piece rosewood neck blanks to 1". - yes
8. plane all rosewood body planks to 13/16". - half done
9. cut 3/8 steel into truss rod nuts and anchors. - nope
10. cut 3/16 steel into truss rod lengths. - nope
11. cut 10-32 threads onto truss rod ends. - nope
12. drill pilot holes for TR nuts and anchors. - nope
13. tap 10-32 threads into TR nuts and anchors. - nope

[treadwm]

Like the idea of a rosewood build. Looking forward to seeing how you handle the truss rod construction. I jusr received steel for that very thing. Though I missed the fine print on the McMaster site where it said I ordered 6 feet of 3/8" steel! :-) Oh well, enough nut & anchor material for life!
If you find a better template material, holler. The particle board available locally is the large chunk, floor underlayment variety. I assume you're thinking of something w/ finer particles? If it would cut down on the brown cloud of mdf dust, I'd be all for giving it a try.
Thanks for sharing your build!

[motor_city_tele]

To do week 3:
1. cut out templates for body, neck, pickguard.
2. build truss rod channel cutter and neck radius jig (same jig).
3. cut 1/8" maple strips for sandwich innards.
4. plane all rosewood body planks to 13/16".
5. cut 3/8" steel into truss rod nuts and anchors.
6. cut 3/16" steel into truss rod lengths.
7. cut 10-32 threads onto truss rod ends.
8. drill pilot holes for TR nuts and anchors.
9. tap 10-32 threads into TR nuts and anchors.
10. glue-up body top, bottom, and middle
11. cut out neck
12. route truss rod channel.
13. cut skunk stripe blanks.

Below is my updated materials list.
I guess I am alot farther along than I thought.
3 weeks ago I had only the list.


Materials List:
*** Body Lumber - Primary - rosewood - ebay
*** Body Lumber - Secondary - leftover maple - ebay
*** Neck Lumber - rosewood - ebay
*** Skunk Stripe Lumber - leftover maple - ebay
*** Neck Dot Material - large - 1/4 inch dowel - Home Depot
Neck Dot Material - Small
*** Glue - titebond II - Home Depot
*** Truss Rod 3/16 1018 low carbon steel - Midwest Metals, ebay
*** Truss Rod Anchor 3/8 1018 low carbon steel - Midwest Metals, ebay
*** Truss Rod Nut 3/8 1018 low carbon steel - Midwest Metals, ebay
*** Frets FW7400 - LMI
*** Tuners - Guitar Fetish
*** Nut - Gordy
*** String Tee - Gordy - Guitar Fetish
*** Bridge - 60's tele - ebay or AzGuitarParts
*** Control Plate - loaded ebay
*** Pot 1 - na
*** Pot 2 - na
*** Cap - na
*** 3-way Switch - na
*** Jack with cup - ebay - & guitar Fetish
*** Wire/Solder - in shed
*** Pickguard Material 1/16 garolite from Mcmaster-Carr
Assorted Screws - Northside Truevalue Hardware - use blackguard book for specs
*** String Ferrules - Gordy - Ebay - Guitar Fetish
*** Bridge Pickup loaded with bridge - ebay - AzGuitarParts
*** Neck Pickup - ebay
*** Neck Plate - ebay
*** Strap Pins - ebay
Decal - hand paint with detail brush and silver lacquer
Finish - Deft or Rustolium clear lacquer - Walmart
*** Strings - from inventory

Tools to get:
1/4 & 1/2" Particle board for templates and jigs - Home Depot/Lowes
10-32 die for cutting TR threads - Home Depot/Lowes
new carbide tipped table saw blade - Home Depot/Lowes
2" tall spindle sander cylinder bit for drill press conversion.

*** - Denotes material already obtained

[motor_city_tele]

I decided to use plywood instead of the MDF for my templates.
Let the process begin

First use the bandsaw on the template - don't get greedy! stay away from the black line. That's what "spindle sanders" are for.


Now it is time to get close to the line - Real close


How to adhere the template to the neck blank and keep it centered.
Use the ends of the truss rod channels to drill a couple of small holes.
First mark the position with a drill bit.


Then drill a small hole - not too deep maybe 1/4 inch


with the lines marked and the template mounting holes drilled - use the bandsaw and cut it out.


A slight countersink for . . .


a small 3/4" flathead woodscrew


screw it down to the neck blank - That template is not going anywhere.


I use scraps from both the template and neck blank to support the baseplate of the router. Same height - makes sense to me.


I took a 1/4 inch deep rout for a first pass all around.
Then I switched bits to a 1 inch bit and finished the rout. I was very carefull not to take too much at a time - listen to the router. if the motor slows down, you are taking too much.


The neck profile is complete - next time - the truss rod channel

[68thinline]

Originally Posted by motor_city_tele

I use scraps from both the template and neck blank to support the baseplate of the router. Same height - makes sense to me.

Makes sense to me too - I just never thought of it. Good idea!

[motor_city_tele]

1. cut out templates for body, neck, pick-guard. - again
2. build truss rod channel cutter and neck radius jig (same jig).
2a. build thingy to cut out the thingies (using router) used for the radius jig thingy.
3. finish cutting 1/8" maple strips for sandwich innards.
4. plane all rosewood body planks to 13/16".
5. truss rod
6. glue-up body top, bottom, and middle (not in that order)
7. route truss rod channel.
8. cut skunk stripe blanks.
9. design and build fret bender
10. design and build router table

Well we are getting near the half way point and I am probably about 1/8 the through this project. In my mind I'm gigging already but we all know how that goes. My goal by Sunday is to take some photographs of my project and have the average person be able to tell what I'm building.

If I am able to get the body blank all glued up and ready to cut I will be happy. The body will consist of 4 piece rosewood top, 10-12 pieces of maple for the middle and 3-piece rosewood back. I'll be putting the router through it's paces this weekend - along with the shop-vac.

tootles - jb

[motor_city_tele]

Since I was not satisfied with my first neck, I've decided to glue-up a couple more pieces of rosewood and try again. I'll use the first neck to test out my radius jig thingy.


With that drying, It's time to continue slicing up some maple for my body sandwich innards. I got me one of those big carbide tipped blades for this.


I think I have enough slices. the body template is completely covered.


Now back to my handy dandy surface planer. I'll just screw on the two rails that I fabricated and go at it for a couple hours. I'll take off about 1/16" at a time until I am at 13/16" for all 6 body planks.


With all six body planks surfaced and joined(took off the rails for joining) I lined up the pieces for grain matching. As you can see, there is about 1 1/2" of wood still missing, Oh wait there it is - on the right. I'll trace the outline and trim off a piece to add after the glue-up is dry.


This is the other 3 pieces in the clamps. The big piece on top is a hunk of steel about 5/8" thick and flat as can be. weighs plenty but still clamped it flat to the table top.


Well, getting chilly out here in the garage, time to retire to the indoor work area. but first, a little clean-up. Who am I kidding. I made a tremendous mess. Nothing little about it. note to self - empty shop vac and replace filter.


As promised - there is no doubt that a telecaster has been conceived on this day.

[motor_city_tele]

Well I was able to get some stuff done this weekend even despite the crappy weather. I just wish our Spartans would blow somebody out once in a while so I don't have to sit on the edge of my chair for the entire game and I might just get a little bit more work done. I finally sold myself on the idea that mdf can be used to make a decent template and went that route. I am going to create a new neck template out of mdf but am going to rely more on the edge of a steel plate than I am a printed piece of paper to get a straight line. It seems that my original template was not truly straight. bowed slightly from left to right. and of course, the neck came out just like the template. Not really all that bad - maybe 1/20" or so. enough to notice. The main goal for this weekend was to complete all of the thickness planing of the body planks and get them glued up. I mocked up a sample configuration and will try to adhere to it.

here is my updated list:

1. cut out templates for body, neck, pick-guard. body yes, neck nope, pick-guard - huh??
2. build truss rod channel cutter and neck radius jig (same jig). - nope
2a. build thingy to cut out the thingies (using router) used for the radius jig thingy. - nope
3. finish cutting 1/8" maple strips for sandwich innards. - yes
4. plane all rosewood body planks to 13/16". a big yes and a big mess.
5. truss rod - made some test threads - passed inspection
6. glue-up body top, bottom, and middle - yes, yes, and sorta
7. route truss rod channel. - nope
8. cut skunk stripe blanks. - no but this is a two minute task
9. design and build fret bender - in my head only
10. design and build router table - might splurge this week and get a real one


till next time - Tootles - jb