newtherapist's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

[newtherapist]

Purfling on its own bends reluctantly when it's deeper than it is high. So I pre-bend it on the bender to avoid conflict with it when it comes to sticking it in place.



Dry run with the bent purfling and leave it there to dry out properly.



Wet run.



Wet turned to dry and binding tape removed.



Now have purfling flush with body and can start thinking about getting the top on. Feeling some anxiety about finishing up by May 13 cos I'll need a full three weeks for finishing and have a few trips out of town before then.

[mkhhunt]

Now that is cool... I like forearm cuts, binding and figured wood tops. I didn't think I could have them all (the old project management saying… price, quality and speed - pick two!).

I’m watching and hope to learn a bunch of techniques.

Cheers

Murray

[jkingma]

Nice work.

[newtherapist]

Thanks Murray and jkingma. I'm hoping I can pick speed also. Two months sounds great but turns out to feel very short.

[rcole_sooner]

Um, wow!

[RogerC]

Nice execution there!

[abracadabra]

this is looking really nice

[jimdkc]

Cool! Not sure I've seen a forearm cut with binding before!

[adirondak5]

Very nice work

[newtherapist]

Thanks adirondak, jimdkc, abracadabra, rogerc, rcole. I've made a handful of teles with the arm bevel interrupting the binding. Like this:





But I've always thought the bottom purfling should surround the bevel, as if to suggest the binding expanded into an arm bevel at that point and the purfling was pushed to one side. I'm hoping this approach allows me to get that effect.

[Muzikp]

Wow I wish I wasn't browsing with my phone so I could see this better. That is beautiful.

[newtherapist]

Planned and cut the headstock laminate from the bookmatched african blackwood veneer. African Blackwood has density of 1350kg per cubic metre, making it one of the most dense woods and a remarkable wood to work, despite its brittleness. When routed, its shavings look similar to those of plastic more than they resemble wood.

Attachment 120596

Attachment 120597

Then I bent the laminate on the bending iron and clamped it in place on the neck to let it cool there.

Attachment 120598

[newtherapist]

Got back to work on the binding on the body.

This is the ultra refined, patent-pending experimental binding template, constructed from limited edition scraps of perspex.



This is the channels it cuts as a guide for the 3mm router bit. One of the channels has the binding in as a test fit. The other is empty.



Binding after being glued in and tape removed.

[newtherapist]

Now to the arm bevel. First cut the bevel from a 4.5mm piece of african blackwood.



Levelled and cleaned up the body where the bevel will go.



Glued the bevel in place



Planed and scraped and filed off all of the overhang and cleaned it up with some sandpaper.

[adirondak5]

Just beautiful work and a beautiful guitar body

[newtherapist]

Because these bevels always have a rough edge where the taper joins the body, I inlay another strip of binding, this time ebony, and a strip of purfling to join the two ends of purfling chopped off when the bevel is cut. Here I routed the channel for the binding and purfling along the edge of the bevel, glued the binding and purfling in with superglue and scraped it off to finish the bevel.

[newtherapist]

Had a good, long, focused day's work. Cut the multiscale fingerboard fret slots using my home-made multiscale fretting template and mitre box. It uses perspex templates for different multiscale options. The templates are fixed to the fingerboard blank like normal templates, but the holes in the templates are drilled so that the fingerboard rotates slowly around the pins as the neck passes from one fret to the next. Pretty rough, but seems to do the trick.

Here's the gadget.





And the fingerboard after cutting, mounted on the neck to trim it to size on the router with the neck as template.

[newtherapist]

Then carved the neck, shown here in romantic shavings shot.



And in more clinical, is-it-symmetrical shot.



Sanded the fingerboard using 12, 14 and 16 inch radius blocks for a compound radius fingerboard.



Then dug out a logo, positioned it...



And routed its pattern, stuck it in and sanded it flush.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by adirondak5

Just beautiful work and a beautiful guitar body

Thanks adirondak.

[newtherapist]

Now I'm going to bed to contemplate the neck inlays from the wisdom of the unconscious.