OpenG Capo4's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

[Barncaster]

Open G,

Looks awesome! As for pickup winding, check out Adirondak5's recent winder build. It's the best and cleanest I've seen. I believe it's in his thread "A build for me". Making and winding pups is addicting. You can also check out my thread called "Sharpening your challenge build skills..." or something like that. I went about things a little different than normal but what I did could work for your Zippo build. Good Luck!

Barncaster

[OpenG Capo4]

Got a minute to work on the challenge build today. I pretty much had to work against my router table and templates the whole time. Only two little tear outs I was able to clean up on the ROSS. But for some reason, the template wanted to let the bearing wear a groove in it, which gimped up the body in a couple places. I was able to smooth these out with the ROSS but it's now "under the line" in a couple spots.






I got the top leveled down. Ran the orbital sander down the middle to even out the joint, then put on some hashmarks and sanded with the leveling beam with 150 grit paper until all the marks were gone. Two runs down the Y axis, more marks, then two runs down the X axis. Repeat until all the pencil marks sand out. Check with the straightedge. Looks good.



I did the body surface this way as well, before I glued the top on. I'm trusting my power tools less and my hand tools more after reading about "Mr. Snipes" etc. This top definitely lays flatter on the body than all my previous tops have so the glue up should come out great.

Here's the top bandsawed out:



Its liquid hide-glued together and clamped onto the body now. Pulled every clamp I own into service, I'll let it sit in the clamps overnight.

Next on the agenda is leveling the other side of the top, as well as the back. May flush trim the top with my handheld router tomorrow. And maybe dimension and bandsaw out the neck and fretboard blanks.

I have a feeling a better router table will be in my future before I do much more routing, especially on the neck.

[OpenG Capo4]

About to get at it again this afternoon. Gonna try to build a router table today. The little aluminum-topped Harbor-Fright quality unit with a Black & Decker router jury-rigged to it just isn't working for me anymore.

The plan is to build a nice birch ply cabinet and fit my Bosch inside it. Then perhaps a Triton or something with thru-the-table adjustment when the budget allows (aka probably never )

[OpenG Capo4]

Got my digital camera working again so now I have better pics:

The Mesquite top:



The Mahogany back:



I had enough Birch ply left for a couple neck templates, and also a new cavity routing template. I'll probably work on those tomorrow, after I finish the table and flush trim the top to the body.

I got pictures of the router table on my phone, will upload them tomorrow. The top is 18x24. But I got it on a little crooked (was in a hurry to get it on before the sun went down) so I'll probably trim it down some to square it up later. The most important thing is that the top is at least level, and the cabinet is as solid.

My one concern with it, is that the router collet is sunk down under 3/4" of plywood. I am thinking I can remove the plastic baseplate on the router and just bolt the metal base to the wood. That should get my collet a little closer to the table top. Close enough for the bearings on my bits to meet the templates anyway.

If I weren't in a such hurry to get the table ready to use for the challenge, I'd probably cut it out for one of those plexiglass router mounting plates to mount the router on (or fab one from aluminum or something). I suppose I can still do that after the challenge.

[OpenG Capo4]

No build challenge thread is complete without a reptile sighting.









Still need to use a hole saw to cut the opening in the top for the bit to protrude through. I did put a straight cut bit on the router and plunge it through the top, so I have a hole to center the hole saw on.

[RogerC]

Good job on the table. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to get one. Some people say they aren't needed while others say they're a key tool. I'll probably break down and get or build one because, hey, it's another tool.

[volowv]

take the plastic base plate off the router and use it as a template to mark your screw holes on the top of the table. the 3/4" offset is a bit of problem but i've gotten by for years with something similar. i keep saying i'm going to take the router and shave a 1/4" off the inside where the router sits but i haven't gotten around to it. then i'd need shorter screws. you are going to need new screws btw. tape the old screws to the baseplate so you don't lose them.

[emoney]

I had a buddy use one of those cheap, "out of a box" small book shelves, the stuff made
out of prettied up cardboard, to make a router table and it actually worked out pretty good.
He used the router and carved down about 1/4" on the underside (the router side) to be
flush. It was neat because as furniture it was pretty much worthless, but for a router
table it was fine. Had wheels and everything (I'm about to go steal it I think now that
I've remembered he has it).

Doing good work thus far. Your chamber routes are nice and clean. However, I'm not so
happy that you got a digital camera as I was counting on yours and one or two more threads
to keep from making my crappy iPhone pics look so bad.

[OpenG Capo4]

I definitely like guiding the body around the router better than vice versa. And being able to see the cutting happen is good too, easier to spot the potential for mistakes.

[nialldabass]

I'm glad he got his camera my neck was getting sore

[OpenG Capo4]

It takes AA batteries but they have to be 100% charged or it own't even power up. So a pair of batteries is really only good for a handfull of pictures. I tried the special digital camera battery (the one thats molded in the shape of 2 AA's) but it didn't last very long either.

Now I have a growing stockpile of AA batteries with 99.5% of their charge left.

[R. Stratenstein]

Originally Posted by OpenG Capo4

It takes AA batteries but they have to be 100% charged or it own't even power up. So a pair of batteries is really only good for a handfull of pictures. I tried the special digital camera battery (the one thats molded in the shape of 2 AA's) but it didn't last very long either.

Now I have a growing stockpile of AA batteries with 99.5% of their charge left.

Have you tried eneloop rechargeable AA's by Sanyo? They are unbelieveable. Hold a charge forever. A bit pricey, but well worth it, IMHO.
This is my A set (also have a B set) with charger. My camera takes 4-AA's.


Also PBS is running B52s 35th reunion show taped at the Classic Center in Nov., I think. Made me think of our Athens contingent. Didja catch that?

[OpenG Capo4]

I have a set of rechargable batteries but they're Energizer and they worked ok for a while but I think they've lost their zap over time.

I didn't get to go to the B's show, I keep telling myself I'll catch them one of these days.

Going to the High Museum of Art tomorrow, I just found out its "Pay what you wish" day. So where a normal adult ticket would normally be $18, you get to choose how much you pay.

Hopefully I'll get the extended scale build wrapped up soon. I did a few coats of TruOil on the body and neck over the course of the week, I'll probably wetsand and buff it Sunday, assemble it early next week, and then I can devote my full attention to the challenge build.

[mkhhunt]

Originally Posted by R. Stratenstein

...
Also PBS is running B52s 35th reunion show taped at the Classic Center in Nov., I think.
...

Dang. We didn't get that up north. Off to grab the blu-ray this morning. Thanks for the tip! I missed their concert here last year as I was out of town which was a total bummer. Who knows when, if ever, they be back this way...

OpenG - your building is coming along nicely and looking good!

[OpenG Capo4]

Today was a busy day...

Started out with the orbital sander to even out the seam in my top joint:



The the leveling beam to get everything leveled up:



Hashmarks starting to disappear:



Gotta clean up this little bit of glue squeezout so I can route the top flush a tiny chisel will chip it off, followed by a little sanding:



Took the plastic baseplate off of my router to gain a little more clearance:



Finishing off my router table by sawing a hole in the top:



Flush trimming:



Getting a start on the neck by bandsawing out the blank. We'll start with some relief cuts:



Snapped a blade:



Its a good thing that blade snapped so I took it out to put on my other one. Which is a 1/2" so I can't cut as tight of corners but I should be able to get through the challenge with it. I found this inside the bandsaw:



Could mama bird have picked a worse place to build her nest? I took it out into the bushes and set it up, hopefully she will find it.

That was about the time the camera batteries died. I have more pics on my phone so I'll do another update in the morning.

[R. Stratenstein]

Originally Posted by mkhhunt

Dang. We didn't get that up north. Off to grab the blu-ray this morning. Thanks for the tip! I missed their concert here last year as I was out of town which was a total bummer. Who knows when, if ever, they be back this way...

OpenG - your building is coming along nicely and looking good!

B's always put on a good show. They were plugging for the local PBS station's "pledge break". I normally can't stand to sit through the blah-blah-blah of the breaks, but for the B52's, well, . . you know. I wish I had known about the show, Athens is only about 35 miles East of me. And yeah, they're getting a bit long in the tooth (aren't we all?), so who knows when they're going to hang it up?
(Apologies for the mini-hijack)

OpenGCapo4, seriously, man, try a set of the eneloops. I was skeptical about them until I tried them. They come fully charged--100%--they're just about impossible to kill.

I had some stupid bird build her nest in my tractor's tool box. Meanwhile, front field is growing up, neighbors are talking, small children and pets are disappearing in the overgrowth, my wife is like, just cut the damn grass. But I'd go out there to pull the nest, and it's not eggs anymore, it's 3 cute baby birds. I didn't have the heart to yank them out of there. Finally everybody left, and I got things back on track.

[OpenG Capo4]

Made a new neck template and a new template for the neck pocket, using the Jack Wells method. This particular neck will be 2.25" wide at the heel. Same as the GFS necks. I made a couple bodies last summer with a set of templates based on GFS' heel dimensions and thought I'd buy a few more of their necks, but now that I can make my own I'll just do that.

And the new neck template is also 1.75" nut width so having a little extra heel width keeps it "tapered".

Gonna try to get the truss rod in this evening. It'll be a double action heel adjust.

[alexlaguna29]

Nice progress! Question: I've got exact same bandsaw as you. What blades are you using? I am using 80" bosch from Lowes, but for some reason they are leaving some nasty burn marks on the wood. I don't see that yours are as bad as mine.

[OpenG Capo4]

Originally Posted by alexlaguna29

Nice progress! Question: I've got exact same bandsaw as you. What blades are you using? I am using 80" bosch from Lowes, but for some reason they are leaving some nasty burn marks on the wood. I don't see that yours are as bad as mine.

Craftsman, 1/4 x 80" 15tpi

Its just the "general scrolling" blade. Does a good job cutting outlines, but it does leave burn marks on maple sometimes. I cut outside the lines to compensate for this, and bring maple closer to the line on the ROSS (which can also burn it if I'm not careful).

I have a 1/2" blade in it now which cuts great but doesn't scroll much. So finishing the scrolling cuts on that neck blank I had to take material off in little bites.

[OpenG Capo4]

Today I installed the truss rod.

First we mark the neck with center lines. Front and back. I also marked where the channel will start and stop.



Then the neck goes in the slotting jig. Held down with double sided tape. Theres a centering line on top for the heel, and on the bottom of the jig for the headstock (which is why I have to do a centerline on both sides)





Note that the jig has two sets of rails. The Oak pieces are straight rails. I can take those out and there is a set of curved walnut rails behind them.

The jig also has cleats on the bottom that hold it in place straddling the table saw top:



I line up the bit with the marks for the end of the channel, then clamp a little block on to act as a stop for the router:



After the channel is routed with a 1/4 bit I need to go back and route the last inch or so with a 3/8 so that the adjustment end can be inserted into the hole in the heel.



The pics of me drilling the heel didn't come out for some reason, but I just clamped the blank to the porch rail drilled it freehand with the cordless.



Measured the Osage out for fretboard blanks:



Cut one off and laid it out to get a look at the progress. I like it.



Then I added 2 dabs of clear silicone to the truss rod channel, dropped the rod back in, and glued the fretboard blank on with liquid hide glue. Its got about 20 clamps on it now.

I'll get a pic of the clamping setup tomorrow AM before I head out for work.

Hopefully tomorrow evening I'll at least get the fretboard flush trimmed. I won't have as long to work on it tomorrow as I had tonight.