2010 TDPRI $210 Challenge: We're there Dudes!

[CJFearn]

Originally Posted by idoru

As a total aside, how was _that_ movie received over there?

Love your work by the way :)

c-

As long as it was made in the US and not here in Germany it's fine. Germans love America and Hollywood and especially Tarentino (it's "culture", and Germans love culture!). So if he wants to make fun of ****s, it must be OK. Go figure... Hmmm, look what just happened there when I used the word for a former German political party. Interesting. I suppose they have to. Oh well.

Thanks for the compliment!

[CJFearn]

Originally Posted by Superewza

Ah yes, the man who famously didn't invent the light bulb

But yeah, i love the idea behind this. Look forward to seeing it finished!

You're right there! From the Wikipedia article:

"Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light."

Proving once again that it's the guy who can sell the better mouse trap that history will remember.

Thanks! Me too!

[CJFearn]

Originally Posted by J Syrja

I was just reading through and noticed the reference to my build :P

I like the honeycomb idea. It's different then the usual hog everything out idea.
That's a beautiful top you have on there too.

I love your idea! How are you coming with it? I was wondering if you could do it like a ferrocement boat hull?

Thanks!

[telechucker]

Great build CJ - can't wait to see how it turns out. Regards.

[Moggl]

I'm thinking, 'more coolerer' would be more to the point. :-)

[kwerk]

This gets my vote for most beautiful guitar, by a long way. Great stuff.

[kwerk]

By the way, your build and a couple of others, such as Jack Wells', have given me great ideas for what's possible for next year's contest, so thanks for the inspiration!! Can't wait.....

[CJFearn]

Originally Posted by telechucker

Great build CJ - can't wait to see how it turns out. Regards.

Thanks! Me too!

__________________
A man's best friend is his Tele - not his dog.

Just don't let Rocky hear you say that!

[CJFearn]

Originally Posted by kwerk

This gets my vote for most beautiful guitar, by a long way. Great stuff.

Thanks! If I have to go up against you next year though, then I'm staying home! I just had a look at that lap steel you made. WOW! Let me guess, you're an award winning professional industrial designer and you just send your files directly from SolidWorks to the electron beam milling machine that you just happen to have out in the garage, right? Or is it just that everyone in New Zealand is like John Britten? How did you make that thing anyway?

[kwerk]

Originally Posted by CJFearn

Thanks! If I have to go up against you next year though, then I'm staying home! I just had a look at that lap steel you made. WOW! Let me guess, you're an award winning professional industrial designer and you just send your files directly from SolidWorks to the electron beam milling machine that you just happen to have out in the garage, right? Or is it just that everyone in New Zealand is like John Britten? How did you make that thing anyway?

Haha, no, I'm a 3D animator. I designed the body parts in 3D using animation software, not engineering software, remapped them in Illustrator and had them laser cut from 4mm aluminium plate. Other parts I moulded and cast. But I am in the process of acquiring bits and pieces to make a CNC mill at the moment (yes, hopefully before next year's challenge). Making the steel in 3D first meant I was able to road test it to a certain extent, but I was still pleasantly surprised when the thing worked as I wanted it to!
John Britten is still a great hero in NZ, he is the epitome of the "do it yourself" ethos. He lived not 2 km away from where I now type this. A sad loss, who knows where he may have gone from the V1000?

[CJFearn]

Time to do some more on the neck. First thing was to get the side dots in. At first I was just going to put in some plain dots, but then it occurred to me that it might be nice to make them match the larger dots. I had some 2 mm sterling silver tubing wandering around in the jewelry drawer which looked like it might work. The only trick was cutting some little teeny pearl dots to fit in there. We got it to work though and it doesn't look too bad.

[CJFearn]

Ah, frets! How do I love thee, let me count the ways! Or not... or anyway, I'd have to say that fret work is probably the one part of guitar building I wouldn't mind if someone else did! But we are honorable men and shall therefore do our duty with smiling countenance and a song in our heart! Onward, ever onward! OK, ok! Sorry about that! It's late at night and I'm just trying to get these pictures up before I tune into a pumpkin, or was it tuna fish? Never mind.

Where was I? Frets, we got some Jim Dunlop 6150 fret wire (sort of medium fat stuff) and buckled down to work. Got all my tools and stuff ready, including my handy drill press converted to an arbor press. Lots of little clamps courtesy of my girl friend Kacy, the Master Violin Maker. Nippers, superglue etc. etc. and we're off!

[tgfmike]

Very nice.

[CJFearn]

Once all the frets were all in place I place put the neck in my Super High Tech Fret End Filing Jig where I filed the ends flush and then chamfered them to somewhere in the neighborhood of 45º, give or take 2' of arc. Very important in this operation is not to forget the use of the manual blue-polymer particulate extraction device.

After that I mark the tops of the frets with a black marker and use carbide sandpaper attached to a precision machined level to grind them straight. I polish them up using 240 to 2000 grit papers and finish them off with some 0000 steel wool. Wasn't so bad after all!

[kwerk]

Originally Posted by tgfmike

Very nice.

I agree, the rings on the fret markers are tres classy..

[CJFearn]

A serious guitar needs to have a serial number (and as you've noticed by now, we're nothing if not serious! ). Under the neck somewhere seems to be the normal place for them, so I milled one in there 0.6 mm deep, filled it with cherry sawdust and CA, and then scrapered it flat. Now if that don't look like a bought one!!!

[Superewza]

Originally Posted by CJFearn

A serious guitar needs to have a serial number (and as you've noticed by now, we're nothing if not serious!). Under the neck somewhere seems to be the normal place for them, so I milled one in there 0.6 mm deep, filled it with cherry sawdust and CA, and then scrapered it flat. Now if that don't look like a bought one!!!

That's just it though, if it's yours then you don't want it to look like a bought one. Well, i wouldn't at any rate. It would be mine and i don't think i could ever sell it. Unless i made one to sell... which you guys probably could, a few a year for a couple of hundred [enter currency here] on the side.

Anyway, i deviate. Nice work ;)

[CJFearn]

Well, too long anyway. They're 50mm long and they need to be 47 mm. Now I could have just cut them off with a hack saw but... Does your girl friend have a metal lathe? No? Well mine does! And she lets me use it! How good does it get?!? (Pretty darn good! ) So I put a couple of layers of masking tape around the screws to keep the threads from getting bashed, chucked 'em up and fifteen minutes later we had some very nicely detailed 47 mm screws. Try 'em out and...? Yup! They work!

[CJFearn]

Well, we're getting pretty near to done here! Just a few more things, let's see...

string trees
cut a nut
install the tuners
install pots and cap (not here, should arrive this week)
install the jack
make some knobs for Volume and Tone controls
put the strings on and tune it up!

About two days work (which means it'll take at least until next week ). But what the heck! We're having a good time, meeting lots of new and interesting people, and it just doesn't get much better than that!

One in the morning and way past my bed time!!! Goodnight folks!

[J Syrja]

Originally Posted by CJFearn

I love your idea! How are you coming with it? I was wondering if you could do it like a ferrocement boat hull?

Thanks!

It's been slow work as I took a pretty bad fall and messed up the back and leg, but it's going forward slowly. I'll be posting some updates in a couple days.

I could do it in a boat build style, but for ease I'm just going to pick up a bag of concrete,mix and pour it in. I was going to use the stuff we use to make septic tanks but it's to gravelly to get a nice finish on it.

It looks like yours is almost done, and it's looking pretty good. I guess I'll have to work a bit faster on mine.