guitarbuilder's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

[esetter]

Originally Posted by guitarbuilder

Actually there is a guy named Stan Monro who was a human interest newscaster here locally for our ABC affilliate. He makes toothpick models of buildings that are amazing. He was in town a few weeks ago and that kind of got me thinking about the craft sticks. Matches and toothpicks would take a loonnng time.

http://www.toothpickcity.com/

Now there's a guy with waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy too much time on his hands! LOL

Can't wait to see how this build comes out.

[guitarbuilder]

I started the " sides" today. I glued up 5 blocks of 20 sticks each.

[flatfive]

guitarbuilder, this is a lot of fun. I admire that you didn't
just come up with a crazy idea, but are actually building it.

[guitarbuilder]

Thanks Glenn, the hard part is not making that much progress day to day. The sticks and glue are producing what I'd say is a surprisingly heavy body. I'll probably want to clean it up some to reduce some of the the weight before the top goes on .

[RogerC]

Are you worried about your bridge mounting screws pulling out, or does it seem to have enough meat to hold on?

[guitarbuilder]

Roger, the grain is all going the same direction on the bridge block with glue joints covered by a stick above and below. The wood is pretty dense too, more so than basswood, so I think screws will stay put. You just can't leave it in a car in Equador or take it underwater...LOL. Maybe I should have used Titebond II or III.

[guitarbuilder]

I just glued up another 5 walls of 20+ sticks each so tomorrow the sides should be done.

[JDO]

i really dig this idea. i hope it works out.

[guitarbuilder]

Thanks JDO.. I do have a vision for it. I thought things were going to go slower yesterday when I started the sides but I got into a rhythm in gluing and broke it up into a couple sections due to my lack of spring clamps. My local harbor freight was pretty much cleaned out of clamps last week when I stopped in.

[abracadabra]

I'm wondering why you don't overlap the side sections into each other, instead of putting them in individual stacks.

I can't wait to see this finished. :)

[guitarbuilder]

Originally Posted by abracadabra

I'm wondering why you don't overlap the side sections into each other, instead of putting them in individual stacks.

I can't wait to see this finished. :)

I'm making this up as I go along....I started to do that ,thinking it would be a basketweave kind of effect, but the slipping and sliding caused me to think that the time it would take to saw sticks and glue them would be not in my best interest.

I'm thinking I will cnc the inside and outside to clean it up and lose some weight as well as perhaps prep the outsides for a layer of vertical sticks like a fence all around....not sure yet. I also think I'm leaning toward a thinline style. Thank you for your continued support.

[dilbone]

This is just a very cool idea, I love the execution and hearing all of the thinking/processing along the way. Great Job!

[guitarbuilder]

Thanks Dilbone... you get an idea and then try it out and find that things don't go as you imagined.... You have to modify and adjust...just like when I was a classroom teacher giving a lesson for the first time... and the kids get a glazed look in their eyes.

I just removed the clamps and the weight is 3 lb 4 oz at the moment.

[jpbturbo]

Fun idea.
If you've ever built a fort with craft sticks though, you would know that you are building the "walls" all wrong.
They should be alternating position in a classic stretcher bond for optimum strength.

[guitarbuilder]

Trust me, the walls are solid. Miniature cannon balls would bounce off them.

One of things that I'm trying to address is the dimensional stability of the structure. The more I can keep the sticks going in the same general direction, I think the better off I am.

It is fun though... just something different to try.

[guitarbuilder]

In case you all are wondering why the walls are so wide, I wanted a nice wide surface for gluing the back on without having to add lining or tantelones to provide a glue surface. Tantelones are small wooden blocks that are added to rims in classical guitars to suppor the top and back.

[guitarbuilder]

Well I decided to use the cnc to trim off the waste. I figure Leo used the technology of the times and didn't use a bow saw.....so...
Here are a couple of shots showing the cnc cutting the perimeter and what the sides look like trimmed down. The router is running at max speed in thee shots.....

[RogerC]

I just KNEW that my cement guitar would be the most inventive use of materials this year..... WRONG

[majorbugout]

What next? the Baconcaster?

[majorbugout]

Hey I think I know what the dog biscuits are for, if you drill them out and put some magnets in there and wrap with wire you get some really crunchy tone.