tklaavo's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

I'm in, and I see many others are as well!
Proof photo probably tomorrow - just came home from another side of the world.

welcome and Good luck!

Good luck!!!

Thanks, good luck to you all as well.

I have it all figured out, kind of. I'm usually not organized at all, so I have made a list of work phases and tools needed... We'll see how long I can stick to the plan.

I have some Finnish Birch. That will be used for most of the build. There will be also Finnish Pine, but less.

There will be some laminating, some experimental finishing techniques and a brand new template set, this time the centerlines will match.

I have some Finnish Birch. That will be used for most of the build. There will be also Finnish Pine, but less.............
There will be some laminating, some experimental finishing techniques and a brand new template set, this time the centerlines will match.
This sounds really cool :cool:, I'm looking forward to it

Welcome, and good luck! :grin:


Dave

More details (I announce them so I can not change my plans anymore..)

It will be hollow, but that cannot be seen on the surface - no f-holes etc. You have to remove some parts to find it out (or knock or play it..)

It will most likely have binding of some sort - this is the part I'm a bit nervous of.

The pickguard will not be plastic.

On the choice of woods:

Finland is mostly forest. Of the harvested timber half is pine. Next comes spruce. The main hardwood around here is birch. I want to try it. And I have a certain piece of pine I want to use.
We also have some maple, alder and others around here, but birch is cheap and looking at the numbers it should be equally stiff as maple. Birch is said to be unstable and warp easily - and it does when it dries. I have an idea for a neck made of laminated birch - with birch fingerboard. Should be stable enough.

That's it for preliminary info. More when I'm actually working on it.

Lycka till Tuomas!

Lycka till Tuomas!

Tack så mycket! På väg till verkstag..

Birch will work well in a neck, I made a birch neck in last years contest and no signs of warping.

It tears like crazy when you route it though, be careful around the end wood! Better sand those corners

Birch will work well in a neck, I made a birch neck in last years contest and no signs of warping.

It tears like crazy when you route it though, be careful around the end wood! Better sand those corners

Thanks! I will remember this when I get there.

If electric guitar was invented in Scandinavia, birch would probably be the standard neck wood, and only the brave would use maple...:lol:

Today I went to the workshop at last. As I told in my introduction post (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/312997-introduction-first-diy-guitar.html), I work in my late grandfathers old shop. But before I could even get there, I had to cross this:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/kuva.jpg

Doesn't look like much, but it's all frozen after falling off the roof. Took a while to get in.
Then I quickly snapped these PROOF PICS:
http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0686.jpg

Another angle:
http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0689.jpg

A big chunk of 2" birch, another long piece of 1" birch and a slice of pine I once cut hoping to make a one piece body, but it never happened because I had no skills to get it to right thickness and messed it up.

So the cutting can begin! More in next post...

Ok. I'm not going to win the "first completed" prize, but that's not my goal.

This is what I did today.

No picture of the first cut, got the cracks out from the end of the big piece.
Then I did this:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0692.jpg

I got the idea that the offcut piece could be used for a fingerboard - if I cut it diagonally it would probably be wide enough. More on that later.

Then cut the blank to two pieces. And they are warped (Birch is..)

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0694.jpg

Also some cracks on other side..

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0695.jpg

This machine will make some noise and chips today!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0697.jpg

Don't put your fingers close to that blade.. Use a piece of wood with a groove to push.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0698.jpg

One side flat, still about 2 inches. This piece is really thick.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0700.jpg

Plane it down.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0701.jpg

But something's wrong with the machine. Maybe this? :idea:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/kuva-1.jpg

The pieces are 36 mm thick now.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0703.jpg

Safety pic: goggles, ear protection, lung protection. Also tucked my hood and hood strings under the hoodie.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0707.jpg

Decided on the alignment of these pieces. Time to use the jointer on the glue edges.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0708.jpg

Titebond and some baking paper to ease the sticking issues.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0710.jpg

Clamped two ways to keep it flat. The top piece also has some baking paper under it.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0712.jpg

Time for a nice cup of coffee!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/kuva-2.jpg

Then the fingerboard from the offcut. Grandad's old table saw tilts:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0717.jpg

Two cuts, and here it is. Just wide enough (58 mm on the wider end) and nice tight grain.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0719.jpg

Cut the other piece of birch to neck length. Made two of them for safety and to have choices.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0720.jpg

Planed them to 20 mm thickness.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0721.jpg

Wait! What are you doing? Slicing your nice flatsawn neck blank?!?

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0725.jpg

You bet, both of them in 25 mm wide slices...

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0726.jpg

... because I want it quartersawn!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0728.jpg

Need to add some pieces later to make the headstock happen.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0729.jpg

But first I did this. There's some baking paper also in the middle.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0730.jpg

Now how do I make this piece of pine into two thinner pieces?

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0733.jpg

Careful (and totally improper!) use of table saw got me this far.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0734.jpg

There is only one way, and it makes me sweat:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0736.jpg

End result looks like this, but will be more tidy after some work later. I've got blisters in my hand already and my shirt is wet.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0740.jpg

Luckily grandmother has prepared some tea and blueberry pie + other nice snacks! :razz:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/kuva-4.jpg

This is the last pic of the day:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0741.jpg

Thanks for everyone who watched. Nothing too fancy going on, but if you're clever you can figure out what I'm aiming for..

I have to do some work in my real job on Friday, so next update will be during the weekend. So long!

awesome!

I'm not clever, and can't figure it out, so I'll have to hang around and see what this turns in to. :grin:

Absolutely love the pic of your grandmother! Looks like that shop is pretty cold, so must be nice to have her cooking up a pie and tea for you, totally a grandmother thing to do. Good progress so far on the body, I cringed when I saw how you sawed that last board in half, I would have been sweating too, that is a very dangerous cut on a table saw. Good luck with the rest of your build!

Absolutely love the pic of your grandmother! Looks like that shop is pretty cold, so must be nice to have her cooking up a pie and tea for you, totally a grandmother thing to do. Good progress so far on the body, I cringed when I saw how you sawed that last board in half, I would have been sweating too, that is a very dangerous cut on a table saw. Good luck with the rest of your build!

Thanks!
Actually the shop has heating, now it's been around 17 degrees C. Felt really hot when using the hand saw..
And grandmothers job is to make younger people eat more. She's not happy until there's nothing on the table, and there's more in the cupboard and in the fridge, also in the freezer...

That's a great first day's work for sure! And the fact that your using your grandfather's old shop is awesome. I'm sure it does your grandmother's heart good to see you out there. Nice job!

She was disappointed when I told I can't come tomorrow. But she promised some salmon fish soup for saturday!

One more thing.. Here's a sketch I made before anything else:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/piirros.jpg

It's late at night here, been watching many other threads. Very inspiring! Thanks to all. Good night.

Very nice 1st day, and a thread complete with a Grandma.....doesn't get any better than that.

I love that you're in your grandfathers shop. That will only make the guitar more special.

And I think I speak for many when I say we want to see a picture of your grandmother holding the guitar when you're done.

OK I'm telling you once and once only. Quit it with the blåbärspaj pictures (mustikkapiirakka? or is that way off?).
Curious to see where the birch neck is going. Onnea!

The Grandmothercaster. Nice.

Looks good so far!

And I think I speak for many when I say we want to see a picture of your grandmother holding the guitar when you're done.

Or maybe I'll make the video of her playing it.. :razz:

OK I'm telling you once and once only. Quit it with the blåbärspaj pictures (mustikkapiirakka? or is that way off?).
Curious to see where the birch neck is going. Onnea!

Perfect Finnish, Olav! I guess we ate it all, so no more pics of that.:cool:
I'm also curious about the neck (and a bit nervous!)

Or maybe I'll make the video of her playing it.. :razz:

I would love to see that video. A little Ted Nugent perhaps?:lol:

GOT TO LOVE GRANDMA'S :mrgreen:

This is my second day with this build. I got stuff done, but not in the order I had planned. Did some template work as well.

WARNING, this long and detailed post has NO GENIUS CONTENT, just basic stuff I've learned here from other peoples builds.

So here's how the day went:

Started by using the jointer/planer to get the neck blanks to about 20 mm thickness

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0743.jpg

Chose the "better" one to be used on this build. Marked centerline in the center of the center piece….

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0745.jpg

Mounted the template with clamps and put 3 screws. Two holes will be gone with the truss rod route, one with a tuner hole.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0747.jpg

Drew the outline.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0749.jpg

I'm still not sure what sort of truss rod I'd use, so I decided to leave it until I know.

Before I can work on the body, I need the new templates I promised to myself. Here's the master template made of thin plywood. Easy material to sand the edges right!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0750.jpg

The cavities are missing. First some holes:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0751.jpg

Then some saw

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0752.jpg

Some sanding with this

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0753.jpg

And more with this

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0754-1.jpg

Screw to MDF and draw the lines

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0755.jpg

Drill, bandsaw

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0757.jpg

Jigsaw (now this is getting really boring!)

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0758.jpg

This is how I have mounted the router on the table

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0760.jpg

Basic template routing with a bearing bit

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0761.jpg

The finished template for outline and cavities!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0763.jpg

Need a neck pocket template. First, a centerline

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0764.jpg

Lined up and drawn some guide lines

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0765.jpg

Like this

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0766.jpg

Clamped on the neck template matching the centerlines. Used a long ruler to draw lines parallel to the neck sides and adjusting the neck position & orientation keeping it centered.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0767.jpg

Got the lines to equal distance from centerline

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0768.jpg

Screwed on plywood pieces to the sides

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0769.jpg

And one more to the heel

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0770.jpg

Drill and jigsaw

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0771.jpg

Routed out. The bit is 16 mm diameter, and the corner radius should be smaller than 8 mm, more like 6

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0772.jpg

This 12 mm bit is close enough. It was cheap, it is dull and may cause a fire if used on anything harder than MDF. For this it's perfect.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0773.jpg

Test fit is pretty good. Some sanding still needed on the neck template heel

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0774.jpg

While I'm at it, I can use the router to finish the neck pocket on my pickguard template to match the neck pocket template

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0775.jpg

Good enough

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0776.jpg

A happy family of templates

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0777.jpg

But I can't start to work on the body, because it ain't flat no more!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0778.jpg

Enter the router planer system. Not the prettiest you can see on TDPRI, but gets the job done

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0780.jpg

Working on it

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0781.jpg

First side, needs some sanding..

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0782.jpg

Using 80 grit to level out the occassional bumps

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0783.jpg

Now it's more like it

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0784.jpg

Did the same to the other side

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0786.jpg

This is the thickness. I'm gonna need something on top of it

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0787.jpg

The very rough cut pine will become the top. Put the flatter side down and added a wedge on one corner to keep it in place.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0788-1.jpg

The piece was longer than the sled travel, have to saw the ends away before flipping it.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0789.jpg

What a mess!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0790.jpg

Did the other side as well. Had to add height under the piece to get the router bit reach down enough.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0792.jpg

Which way to align this? Here's with the pickguard template + some hardware to demonstrate what will be left to see. There's some blue stuff (what do you call that?) in the wood, I want it to show as much as possible.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0794.jpg

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0795.jpg

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0796.jpg

I like number 3 the most.

Last shot of the day: Luckily I'm in the ballpark with the thickness!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0797.jpg

Because Olav doesn't want to see it, I left out a picture of Grandma's pancakes and strawberry jam. :smile:
Well, it tasted better than it looked anyway .

Future:

I need one more template for the hollowing-out of the birch body piece. Will be cleaner than doing it free-hand, even though I believe I won't be making more of these...

And I hope the body piece stays flat, there's no more thickness to take off.

I need to decide on the truss rod thing. Really want a headstock-adjustable rod, so it should be curved and then I need to build more jigs..... But hey, it's a challenge!

I hope someone finds this interesting.. genius moments are still in the future.

Thanks for looking.

Wow, everything has been very well planned out and executed so far. Good job.

Thanks Jkingma, I'm glad you get that impression..
But my checklist is getting way too few checks in it, and not in the order I thought.

This challenge takes all my free time nowadays. I spend almost the same amount of time on this forum as i spend actually building!

But, my wife is away for two more weeks, so I have all my free time to spend as I see fit. :smile:

There are so many great builds going on this year. The quality of those templates are the best I've seen yet. It's almost sad that we are getting so conditioned to seeing incredible quality in every thread, some of the quality goes unappreciated. After seeing this I need to go redo every template I've ever made -thanks a lot Tklaavo :mrgreen:.

The quality of those templates are the best I've seen yet.

Welll...thanks! but I'm just kind of imitating Preeb, and nobody can match his templates!

Nice work tk , you have it planned out very well , should be a great guitar.

Welll...thanks! but I'm just kind of imitating Preeb, and nobody can match his templates!

Don't sell yourself short. Those are superb. But you are right, Preeb's templates are sexy.

Thank you all.. but this isn't a template competition. :smile: I have chills when I think how many difficult tasks I have ahead - many of which I have never done.

I have decided to go with the curved truss rod with headstock adjust. But how to do the adjust hole to a thin piece of neck before I have the fingerboard in place? Serious thinking and loss of sleep ahead.

I also want to do binding to hide the seam between two different woods. Never done..

Some crazy ideas for finishing, need a lot of scrap to test on.

For a while I thought about designing my own headstock. But all I could come up with looked like imitations of some other designs. So I'll stick with the standard, trademarked, classic style. This one is not for sale, so please do not sue me, FMIC...

What do you mean "no more thickness to take off"? That thing is over 4 inches thick! Oh wait... you use those candy measurements don't you? The M&M's.:wink:

Your sled sure works better than mine. Keep it up.

What do you mean "no more thickness to take off"? That thing is over 4 inches thick! Oh wait... you use those candy measurements don't you? The M&M's.:wink:

Your sled sure works better than mine. Keep it up.

I was thinking the same thing at first :lol:. Wow no thickness to take off with only 4", I guess he's building a dreadnaught tele.

I am really enjoying this thread.
That table saw gave me some shivers, though (as did the snow pics)...
Grandmas are wonderful!

I'm pretty sure preeb said, "Building the templates is building the guitar."
Judging from the templates, I think you've got no worries.

Cheers!

Great build thread. I'm enjoying watching you build. Your templates are great. Love the wood.

Same, I am really enjoying this build. Great work on the templates, those are hard to make, and yours look great! Keep up the sweet work.

Great work so far. Keep it up!

Hey you inch-minded people, if you look closely my caliper has both scales..
Thanks for the kind words, I'll try to be worth them also today. :cool:

I've enjoyed reading your progress so far. Everything is looking great. I'm starting to see the advantage of the spindle sanders for making templates - it seems to do a good job. Keep up the great work.

It looks so cold where you live compared to what I'm used to - but the cooking looks nice and warm which is more important as far I'm concerned. :mrgreen:

This looks fantastic so far, can't wait for the finished result!

:lol: inch-minded people :lol:

[...]

Because Olav doesn't want to see it, I left out a picture of Grandma's pancakes and strawberry jam. :smile:
Well, it tasted better than it looked anyway .



:cry:
Sure, make me feel extra bad! Not only did I not get to taste the pancakes isoäitini made, now I don't get to see them...
For future reference; if I ask you not to show pics of food it's best to remember that English is a second, maybe third language to me and I might not fully understand what I'm talking about and will probably mean to show more detailed pics... Mm-kay?
For now, let's agree to post every scrumptious meal mummi puts on the table for you.

And finally here's a post that's on topic;

I love the idea of rearranging the grain in the neck to make a flatsawn slab into a 'quartersawn' one. With your kind permission I will try that on a future neck.
Good golly, good going there! Keep it up.

:cry:
Sure, make me feel extra bad! Not only did I not get to taste the pancakes isoäitini made, now I don't get to see them....

Private message sent.... :lol: Don't cry...

I love the idea of rearranging the grain in the neck to make a flatsawn slab into a 'quartersawn' one. With your kind permission I will try that on a future neck.


Permission granted... can't just now remember who I stole the idea from (without asking...)

Private message sent.... :lol: Don't cry...

I'm a big boy... I don't cry easy.


I just got something in my eye...

First of all, thanks for all the support! I've been mostly lucky so far, but today I have faced some reality as well..

My day 3 starts with a spring clean. Two big bags of woodchips, dust and other stuff mostly from the floor:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0798.jpg

Last night I changed my mind on the truss rod. I'll route a curved slot from the back and make a skunk stripe. This means that I have to draw the outline on the backside (and erase what I did yesterday on the other side to avoid confusion)

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0799.jpg

While the blank was still square, I could use some fences on the drill press and make holes right on the centerline. These will help me to align the router later. Drilled also the start and end positions for the slot

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0800.jpg

But before routing I need a jig. It shall have curved rails. And to make a curve, I need to bend something, and today it is this thin piece of wood.. Drilled tiny holes on it and hammered with thin nails. I measured a 8 mm dip in the center.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0801.jpg

Jigsawed

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0802.jpg

Added a support strip for router base. Routed with bearing. Some little bumps, which I sanded away until smooth.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0803.jpg

Need another identical rail. Used the first one as a template.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0805.jpg

Jigsaw and router…

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0806.jpg

While they were screwed together, I planed the undersides on the jointer and sanded the upper edge. Marked one end on both so I won't mess this up

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0807.jpg

And here's the jig

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0808.jpg

Neck mounted

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0809.jpg

I did many shallow passes

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0810.jpg

This will do for now, it's 18 mm on the nut end and little less on the other.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0811.jpg

Yesterday's template holes on the wrong side are still there.. Have to fix them before I glue the fingerboard on or there will be a leak.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0814.jpg

Now I can bandsaw the neck close to the line

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0815.jpg

And smooth with different sanding methods, I'm afraid of tearouts.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0816.jpg

Router table rules!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0817.jpg

I took it slow and carefully, so got some burn marks but no tearouts!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0818.jpg

I didn't even try to route the headstock curves, just sanded that part. It will be finished in final sanding.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0820.jpg

But does it fit the neck pocket template? Yes! Can't get any better!

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0821.jpg

I'll leave the neck for a while, need to think how to proceed from here.
I want to see the body take shape. Didn't change my mind about the top orientation:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0822.jpg

The birch piece bandsawed roughly. The back looks ok. Final shaping will be done when the body has been glued together

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0824.jpg

I need one more template for the hollowing-out. Now things start going worse… Decided to use this thin plywood, because it is easy to sand nice curves on it.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0825.jpg

Well, it's too thin to make anything out of :neutral:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0826.jpg

I can't understand why I went through the effort and shaped the body outline on it. Would have been stronger on just a square piece. The screw holes are used for alignment anyway.

MDF version:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0827.jpg

Relief holes and jigsawing

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0828.jpg

After some sanding. Not yet perfect for routing, but can be used to draw the cavity outline...

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0830.jpg

...Like this. Now I'm going to make a mistake, which I didn't realize until I was driving home. Nothing fatal though. :cool:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0831.jpg

Forstner bit hollowing shot. Everyone seems to be doing this… The mistake is made already:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0832.jpg

This is where I'm at. Have to think about the tip of the horn. The bottom is going to be about the same thickness as the top, 10 mm. (that's about 3/8 inches :cool:)

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0833.jpg

And the mistake?
In my sketch I had designed a taller area under the neck pickup so I can screw the PU to the body and not hang it from the pickguard… Totally forgot that. No big deal, I'll just glue a piece there later. (JUST GOT TO REMEBER THAT! )

Ok, bandsawed the top and made some holes. A bit of tearout on the bottom side when drilling. Should have done this some other way. No panic though..

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0834.jpg

Jigsawed some:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0835.jpg

And routed with the template. Here are my current pieces for this build:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0836.jpg

While the router was fixed in the table, I took out my SELF-DESIGNED fretboard radiusing jig (first creative moment in this thread?) It is a collection of ideas from many other jigs I've seen. And best of all, it makes a COMPOUND RADIUS. Here are the rails:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0837.jpg

And this is the sled with two different arcs. Goes back and forth and swings - just like all other radius jigs out there. The hole in the other arc is there to fit one piece necks (the headstock sticks out there)

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0838.jpg

To tell the truth, it is really a barely useable prototype. Is it easy to use? No. Is it reliable and accurate? Definitely NO. Does it make a radiused surface on a piece of wood? Yes, but…
And why do I use it? Because it is the only radiusing tool I have right now! Someone with decent jig-building skills can try to make this better. I have a love-hate relationship with this thing. Some reasons:

First.. i had to shim here with pieces of duct tape, otherwise the beast cuts one end about one mm thicker than the other…

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0840.jpg

Second.. the only way to fasten anything here is double-sided tape. I'm not afraid it would come loose - I'm afraid i'd break the fingerboard when removing it.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0841.jpg

Third.. It is extremely hard to get a symmetrical profile with this. The centerline is off the center of the sled, because of inaccuracies in my construction. After some trial and error, this is the heel end with about 12 " radius. I can compensate and move it a bit to the side (there's a whole of 2 mm extra width!)

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0844.jpg

This is the nut end with about 9,5" radius. This too needs some sanding and adjustment to make it symmetrical:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0845.jpg

But I'm happy when I notice same thickness in both ends. My duct tape shims seemed to work.

I hope I can rebuild this jig sometime in the future. Using it really gets on my nerves.. Time to go home (and upload the pics and write this post!)

That's all for today. More next week someday when I have time. My next weekend is booked for something else, bummer…

Ummmm.....you've got some kind of powdery white stuff all over the ground outside your
shop. Just thought I'd mention it, in case you hadn't seen it.

Great job on the neck and love the compound radius jig you built.

Ummmm.....you've got some kind of powdery white stuff all over the ground outside your
shop. Just thought I'd mention it, in case you hadn't seen it.

Great job on the neck and love the compound radius jig you built.

I can tell you the white stuff is far from powdery nowadays - it's more like wet and solid, hard-to-get-through icy coating.

Thanks! You wouldn't love the jig if you had to use it...

Great idea on making the arc template. I'll have to store that one away for late use

great thread. I really like how you're documenting everything. and it's looking really nice!

Thanks for the truss rod arc template info.

I wish I had read on about the headstock curves before I powered up the router. :sad:

I had a chunk tear out but it was easy to glue back and now I too will use the sander for that part. :lol:

Thanks again everyone!

No progress today. But I visited a recycling place to browse some junk and got these:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0851.jpg

A plastic tray of some sort and two metal plates. The plastic has this funky texture, and the plates have some sort of soft material on the other side (the smaller one is more _reliced_ :smile:)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0854.jpg

Now I could change my mind and make the pickguard out of this plastic instead of _the other stuff_ ....
And just for the sake of DIY Challenge spirit, might do some other parts of the plates. Like a control plate that is very gentle on the finish.

More updates tomorrow. Good night!

Nice radius jig, really simple, I like stuff like that. As far as the truss rod rout, I would have just routed both sides.....Oh wait....I did that:roll:

very nicely done.

Today I had only a couple of hours time for this project. Wish I had more time.
New materials, proof pic of course :smile:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0857.jpg

Let's try the pickguard. Cut a piece with bandsaw, drilled some holes to pickup slot, and taped to template with 2-sided tape:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0858.jpg

Routed with the lousy bit:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0859.jpg

I don't like beveled edges. Just touched it with the roundover bit. Red areas on the template say "do not round this edge".
Also drilled and countersunk screw holes.
Now I see this material is a real dust collector. I'm not sure if I want to use it:

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0860.jpg

On to the body hollowing. Made a bigger base for the router to keep it level

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0862.jpg

Like this

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0866.jpg

Took shallow passes. First passes on the edge I did very light, not pushing the bearing to the template, just taking out the rough corners.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0868.jpg

The end result. Some sanding required.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0869.jpg

The famous neck pickup mounting block glued in. Put the grain sideways, maybe it adds some strength? Here you can also see my little tearout inside the horn.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0870.jpg

Did some sanding to the underside of the top and brushed on a coat of lacquer there to seal the wood. The template is to keep lacquer out of the glueing surfaces. I plan to do the same to the hollowed birch piece as well.

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r586/tklaavo/tdpri2012challenge/IMG_0874.jpg

But then I had to go to work. More to come later this week. Thanks for watching !

you are doing some great work here man. keep it up!

Thanks Bowensby, I'm trying really hard...

This day was kinda short too, but you may find something interesting going on here.

Sanded the body cavity walls and bottom, cleaned up the dust and brushed on a coat of lacquer. No pics on that, camera battery was in the charger.
Then I was ready to glue the body together. I wanted to minimize glue leaks and spread it carefully, hopefully enough. Put the cavity template against the top to keep clamping pressure in the actual contact area, and aligned the whole package with screws. Also did the glueing upside down because I thought it would minimize glue running down the inside walls:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0876.JPG

Now onto the neck. For tuner holes I did a template to avoid drill bit wandering because my existing screw holes were not in perfect positions:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0877.JPG

Drilled with a hand drill from the back, so the possible tearout damage in exit holes will be gone when thicknessing the headstock. Result:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0878.JPG

Sanded the fingerboard for quite a while. Then I was ready to mark the centerline and nut location. The centerline is off center a bit, because the blank is wider, and the highest point is off-center also, thanks to my lousy radius jig.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0879.JPG

This is my new fret slotting hacksaw:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0880.JPG

I ground the teeth from the sides, otherwise it cuts too wide.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0881.JPG

Makes a nice cut now.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0882.JPG

It's a perfect fit for my massive fret slotting jig, which is NOT my own invention.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0883.JPG

The center strip, where the fingerboard is attached, slides under the saw. There's a steel ruler attached to the sliding part. And then there is this:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0884.JPG

I took a vernier scale from a caliper and attached it in the stationary part. My "zero" point is here at 10 cm. I can position the center strip with 1/10 mm accuracy.

Then I just read the numbers from a calculation (and add 10 cm…) and let go. I do very shallow cuts, just to mark the locations. I got this jig concept from a book.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0885.JPG

The end result:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0886.JPG

Marked the dots. Using a fence to get them straight on the drill press

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0887.JPG

Glued with superglue. For some reason they are a bit loose in the holes. The drill bit might be a bit wobbly?

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0889.JPG

The saw cuts too narrow slots. Luckily the blade is two-sided, so turned it around and ground a bit less on the sides. Also made a depth stop. Stewmac won't be getting my money!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0891.JPG

Testing. Too deep…

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0893.JPG

After some tweaking: good! But I won't have time to use this today.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0894.JPG

Took the body out of the clamps, I'll need them soon for the neck.

Knocked on the body: Woody Sound!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0895.JPG

Sanded the dots flush. Not perfect fit, I blame the wobbly drill bit. May need some dust and glue ?

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0896.JPG

Got to glue it to the neck now. I read this trick somewhere: shoot a pair of staples in the neck and cut them to leave sharp points to keep the fingerboard positioned when gluing:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0897.JPG
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0898.JPG

Well, some of you use nails on fret slots. I try that next time, the staples weren't very reliable. But got it glued anyway:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0899.JPG

Upside down glueing. Put those strips under the board to keep pressure on the edges and template on top as a caul.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0902.JPG

And I forgot to fill the old template holes and now there's glue in my truss rod slot! But not much, 'cause it's upside down. It will be chiseled away next time.

That's all today!

Wow - I wish I had seen this before I started my build. Glue the top upside down, OK too late for that, I had to remove all the glue drips. I already bought the fret slot saw from S & M...I mean Stew Mac, but that's alright, I want to make sure at least one thing fits when I put the neck together. I will use your method (with the strips) for gluing the fretboard. And I think I'll steal the tuner drill guide too. Thanks.

Keep it up, it's looking good!

Thanks nosmo, I'm pretty excited as well!

The recipe for the tuner drill guide is:
hole center to center = 24 mm
hole center distance from the headstock edge = 12 mm
Low E tuner hole center location = on the extension of the neck edge line
I used a fence under the drill press to keep them in line.

This formula is from the same book as the fret slot jig. It's a Finnish Telecaster building guide. Yes, there is one. It's written by pro luthiers, and the problem is that they use >13 inch planers on the body, huge belt sanders etc. - tools that very few people have. I have learned more practical things on this forum than in that book!

There you go again with the damn M&M's :lol: You know, I think I have a rule with them on it - I use it as a straight edge. The other problem is my headstock will only have 4 holes in it, but thank you very much.

Oh well, there's a very rough conversion formula visible in one of my pics..
Just divide by 25,4 and you get inches :smile:
Can't help you with the 4 tuner dilemma, though...

Nice work. If you can make it, then there's no reason to waste money buying it. That goes for guitars AND tools:grin:

Thats all coming together really well. Your methodology is much the same as mine , perhaps a little unusual but it gets you there. Here's a tip for you. The body will need a rest after all the butchery to the poor wood. I would put it in a warm dry place with a stable temperature for at least a week just to let it settle. It will move and then move back. It just needs a little time to get used to its new shape.

Cheers Mac

Thanks, maybe should let the body rest a while and concentrate on the neck. I have figured out the steps from this point to a finished neck, and I could probably build the neck ready in a day, but one piece is missing and I have to find out where to get it: a truss rod nut with M5 thread looking like this:

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/images/large/003-8454-000.jpg

I found some in Rockinger Guitars (http://www.rockinger.com/index.php?cat=WG171&lang=eng&product=18011&sid3=811e8d23dec7ca1c408e34986263f4fc) (link to a German online store)

But they have a 25 euro minimum order + 10 euro shipping, and I don't want to order any more stuff..

Maybe I'll just try to make my own and make it adjustable with a phillips screwdriver (too hard to drill that hex hole :smile:)

I would put it in a warm dry place with a stable temperature for at least a week just to let it settle.


Actually, the shop is warm and dry - despite all the snow outside :smile:

Oh well, I found out that I could probably get that trussrod nut from our local parts dealer. But probably I'll make one myself, maybe switch it out later if I'm not happy.

Next steps: headstock thinning, drilling the truss rod adjustment hole there (first making some jigs for that), making and fitting the actual rod, then the skunk stripe (gotta make another jig to get the curve right)
Then there's that neck carving thing, fret slot finishing and fretting, nut slot cutting, whoa.. I've made one neck and a couple of nuts to ready-made necks, so I feel quite confident. The truss rod business is where I need to really think (and re-read some other build threads!)
Signing out, good night. It's 2.30 am here, and my head is buzzzzzzing......

That PG's actually pretty nifty. Came out looking nice.

You're doing a bang up job, dude. You're going to have a great guitar when it's all said and done.

I took a vernier scale from a caliper and attached it in the stationary part. My "zero" point is here at 10 cm. I can position the center strip with 1/10 mm accuracy.

Then I just read the numbers from a calculation (and add 10 cm…) and let go. I do very shallow cuts, just to mark the locations. I got this jig concept from a book.



Top idea that, I am going to use it. I notice you nearly only see digital verniers these days, easier I guess but unneccesary

Wow this is a great thread, very useful and full of useable ideas. I really like that pickguard. Keep up the great work.

Nice work, man! I like the way you built the truss rod
channel jig.

Thank you all!
My method has been the basic - browse as many build threads as possible, pick up the jigs and ideas that I like, figure out how to make it simple, and then do it and see if it works. But I have to say that the plywood I have used is not very good jig material, not stable enough! I guess it wasn't dry when I started, maybe stored outdoors?

I feel other peoples' jigs look very pretty and well planned and made, mine are just thrown together from different pieces. I see them all as prototypes.

Picton and Muzikp, I have to think about the pickguard, because I had something more labour-intensive in mind that I want to try if I have time. But it has its merits - a "fake leather" look. One of the last decisions in the build, fortunately.

Flatfive, thanks, the slot jig was one of my "original" ideas, not necessarily good, we'll see. Has somebody actually measured those 225" and onehundredsomething inch radiuses you see in some truss rod plans? Preeb of course, any others..?

Could not build today, I feel withdrawal symptoms.
I've been checking constantly how others are doing and then did some homework.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0904.jpg

Tomorrow will be the neck day!

Okay, this was my Neck Day! Lots of difficult things (for me) in the real Challenge spirit! This is the first time I build a neck with a curved rod.

This bolt will be my truss rod nut.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0906.jpg

I cut the best part

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0907.jpg

Length: a bit less than what they sell in stores, no problem..

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0908.jpg

Drilling

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0909.jpg

Quite good, depth around 15 mm

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0911.jpg

That's as far as this tap can go. Then the famous M5 thread! (sorry for the flood of metric measures, but that's what all my tools are and that's what I learned at school...)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0912.jpg

Hacksawn: to be adjusted with (almost) any screwdriver.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0913.jpg

Found this bolt in Grandads box which is labeled "JUNK". Now this piece of junk will become the rod anchor. Also found a tool that cuts faster than the hacksaw

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0914.jpg

Drilled the anchor hole in a slight angle to match the rod angle. No, I didn't drill through the fretboard with that tip..

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0916.jpg

Filed a flat area in the anchor for easier drilling

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0918.jpg

M5 thread

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0919.jpg

It works! This threaded rod will be the truss rod, because it was hanging around and has threads already :smile:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0920.jpg

I prepared the neck for next steps. First trimmed the fretboard with the bandsaw, sanded the roughest part and routed away

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0921.jpg

No tearout!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0922.jpg

This time I thinned the headstock like this:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0923.jpg

To keep the neck flat during the process laying fretboard down, I just stuck it into the flat neck pocket template

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0924.jpg

The rest is just sanding

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0925.jpg

Had to do more excercises in geometry to figure out how to drill from the headstock to the truss rod slot:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0927.jpg

Made a little block with angled holes to help me. Now it's getting scary. I clamped the neck so the fingerboard wouldn't split off when drilling

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0929.jpg

With a long bit: I can't believe I made it. Not exactly in the center, but close enough. A rat tail file was used later..

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0930.jpg

Looking down the adjustment nut hole jig

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0931.jpg

Drilled a little first. I see now that my nut slot will not be very deep. No big deal..

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0932.jpg

Roughed out more of the transition with a file

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0933.jpg

And sandpaper

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0934.jpg

Ground most of the thread away from the rod (except the ends of course)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0936.jpg

Dressed it in fancy yellow plastic straws

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0937.jpg

Some blows with a hammer and a caul to break the thread so the anchor stays in place

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0938.jpg

And the other side

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0942.jpg

In the junk box I found a washer that I could make fit here

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0943.jpg

It's there. I first made a test fit and it got stuck. Had to use some violence to remove it, so there's a bit roughness around the anchor. No big deal, it won't be seen

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0944.jpg

The nut end looks like this

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0945.jpg

New material - proof pic :smile: My only contrasting wood is this thermo-treated ash (I have another build made entirely of it, not a tele, will post pics when I have time)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0947.jpg

Cut a slice and planed to thickness

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0948.jpg

Drew the curve with the slot jig rail

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0949.jpg

Bandsawed and then sanded against the rail

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0950.jpg

Rounded the other end (first cut to an angle because the slot end is not straight..)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0951.jpg

Very tight fit!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0952.jpg

Glued in. Didn't need clamps

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0953.jpg

While I waited for the glue to set, I messed a bit with my Other Build (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/314084-first-tele-scratch-process.html#post4031915)

Then I planed the stripe down

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0954.jpg

On to the neck carve. I need some straight lines to start with, and used the 45 degree router bit to give me this

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0955.jpg

And finally this (did many passes to play safe)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0957.jpg

While the router was there, I also made the taper like this: taped these pieces under the neck, the headstock end is lower, then routed the underside

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0959.jpg

This is where I start with hand tools

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0960.jpg

Rough out the ends first with rasps and files

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0961.jpg

Then used a spokeshave, rasps and some rough sandpaper to get into this

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0962.jpg

And finally this.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0963.jpg

Grabbed the orbital sander a couple of times to refine the shape. From this point on it's only sanding until it feels and looks right. Already close.

It was getting very late, so I had to go home, but I took the neck with some sandpaper and tools with me to finish it out during the weekend.

I'm gonna use Danish oil for the finish like on my other build. This time I will put the oil first before fretting, because I found out it's would be much easier to polish the surface without frets.

And hey, this time let's put the side dots in before I start oiling!

I feel good about today. Can't build this weekend, except sand the neck. Others, have some good time in your workshops! Happy weekends.

VERY nice! You did some great work there.

I'm lovin it - great photos!

Nice documentation of the neck building. And a nice neck, the truss rod is great.

I'm lovin it - great photos!

Thanks!
I have been crazy enough to take my DSLR to the shop. It's all dusty now, hopefully it will work at least until I'm finished..

VERY nice! You did some great work there.
Thank you! I guess it looks good in the pics.. The fact is, that I had to readjust mostly everything today at least twice. I couldn't get the drill holes centered too well, the pictures don't tell everything. But if the truss rod does the job it's fine for me..

Nice documentation of the neck building. And a nice neck, the truss rod is great.
Thanks!
Because this is my first complete build thread, I want to document as much as I can - also for myself for learning.
But I'd really like to stick with those easy two-way rods in the future..

Thanks!
I have been crazy enough to take my DSLR to the shop. It's all dusty now, hopefully it will work at least until I'm finished..

It'll work, you should see mine, I'd take a picture of it but...well you know. Oh wait a mirror could work.

It'll work, you should see mine, I'd take a picture of it but...well you know. Oh wait a mirror could work.

LOL... Me too... There's nothing I like more than vaccuming off the nikon at the end of the dusty woodworking photo session.:shock:

Really nice progress!

As someone who was completely useless at woodwork at school - i am in awe of everyone taking part in this challenge - and just loving this build thread, can't wait to see how it progresses :)

d

Thanks again everyone!

Tonight I spent about three hours sanding the neck. My goal was to get the fingerboard right and just sand the whole neck for finishing. Ok, there was more than that. I ended up refining the back profile even more.

Sanding takes patience, not good for me. Especially in the workshop, where it's easy to just go like "this is good enough, let's move on". This evening I sanded in my kitchen. It was a bit messy, but easier to concentrate because you can't move on with the build - no workshop, no tools, just the neck and tools for sanding.

Accurate sanding blocks are essential, and straight surfaces must be straight. A couple of round blocks too, about 1/2 inch and 1 inch diameter.
I happened to have 100, 240 and 400 grit sandpapers.

This was also essential:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1030.jpg

(couldn't even get the glass empty with my dust mask on:razz:)
Used my workmate and some furniture too:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1031.jpg

Will it blend? That is the question:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1032.jpg

Uh.. Birch smoke. Don't breathe this!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1033.jpg

Yes it blends!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1034.jpg

Finally wiped the dust off with white spirit and got to see the wood figure

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1035.jpg
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1037.jpg

Round and fat profile, I hate skinny necks!

The birch slices have different grain orientation, and some were flipped around. So the "flame" has a different direction in every piece, if you get what I mean. I expected that finish will bring out the difference in the looks, now I just have to get used to it. Well, that's what birch always looks like.

Next: side dots and oil
Later: frets, nut

Very nice. I, too, like sanding "upstairs". It does seem to help you concentrate. Plus,
I don't feel as "guilty" when I'm in the same room as the Mrs.

Nothing more satisfying that building your own neck, I say. Keep up the good work.

That neck sure looks nice:mrgreen:

That's a very nice neck. I can already see the effect that it will have with the different grain orientations because I have a friend who painted a wall with alternating stripes. They used the same color, but alternated gloss with eggshell. It looks really cool, and I think that same effect is going to happen with your neck. I'm excited to see it under finish.

Thanks for support, good people!

Of course today I was not happy with my sanding, so I sanded some more.

Visited the workshop on my way to my parents' house. They're away, so I go and check all is fine there.

Installed the side dot markers. Measured, punched and drilled by hand
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1038.jpg

Dipped the rod in superglue and tucked in, cut close to wood with a sharp blade
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1039.jpg

Sanded flush
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1040.jpg

Then moved to my mother's "arts and crafts room". Much less dust here!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1043.jpg

All kinds of artsy stuff, I guess I will finish the body here as well, if mother gives permission! :twisted:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1044.jpg

Ingredients: cotton rags, fine steel wool (was it 0000?), mineral spirit, Rustins Danish Oil and a beer to celebrate this moment :wink:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1046.jpg

I poured some oil into the glass jar and thinned it just a little with the mineral spirit. Then wiped on with cotton cloth a generous coat. Now we see the effect that was discussed above:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1047.jpg

I let it absorb a while, then dipped the steel wool into oil and used that to rub some more. I think this might be the key to get this finish right - to break the wood surface with the wool and let the tiny dust and oil mix...

After that wiped the excess away and hung out to dry.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1048.jpg

I'm happy this birch didn't darken as the maple neck did in my other build (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/314084-first-tele-scratch-process.html#post3975901).
More pics when I apply next coat of oil.

Very nice.

Buy you mother a nice day at a spa.



And then finish your guitar while she's out:twisted:

Buy you mother a nice day at a spa.
And then finish your guitar while she's out:twisted:

No, I want her around to show me what all that stuff is and how to use it.
She's going to say "Ah, you're painting on WOOD, now that's interesting, I'm going to try that too!"

Actually I thought I'd use her stuff for something more than painting on wood, but we'll see about that.

Hey now - you're not supposed to have help. If your guitar comes out painted with tulips I'm gonna' have to throw the BS flag:grin:

Hey now - you're not supposed to have help. If your guitar comes out painted with tulips I'm gonna' have to throw the BS flag:grin:

:lol:
Now you've seen some of mom's art - I can't help, if it inspires me... I promise not to let her grab the brush on this one, though.

I'm lucky because this challenge is scheduled perfectly for me. My wife is away for one more week (home alone, we have no kids..), not too much real work to do now (I'm kinda self-employed, and my next really big gig starts around May 15th - what a coincidence!), etc. I'm a work-oriented person, so this fits me perfectly.

Today I realized how lucky I really am, when I read some of the other threads. You never know what life will bring. Tornados, ill family members, all you can imagine. So I wish all the best for everyone here, and hope to stay humble myself.

This is the best forum I've ever visited!

This is the best forum I've ever visited!

What he said!

Ok, I stayed up late and put on another coat of oil, unthinned this time. Next morning it looks like this:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1050.jpg

Last nights pics had a greenish tint, this is in better light. Put on another coat of oil and left to dry.

Then headed to workshop for a couple hours. Grandmother had made some breakfast:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/kuva-3.JPG

I sanded the body edges for routing. Screwed on the template and used my poor man's robosander setup. The "bearing" (a round piece of wood slightly wider than the sanding drum ) is screwed onto the base:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1054.jpg

Used it to smooth the bandsawed edge to help with routing. Still about 1-3 mm to rout away.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1056.jpg

I spent over an hour on this. I routed many steps, and on first rounds I barely touched the wood with the cutter to get closer and closer until the bearing was rolling on the template edge.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1057.jpg

Here's a shot of the second step, after just one light pass. Not going all the way! Especially when routing "uphill", the tip of th horn and other tricky spots.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1058.jpg

The end result is good. Some roughness to sand out but no missing pieces of wood!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1059.jpg
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1060.jpg

Lunch time.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/kuva-4.JPG

Back to work. Centered the neck pocket template:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1062.jpg

Hogged with drill and routed. My template bit is too big to cut the corners right:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1063.jpg

Router bit shank is 8mm, so a 8mm cutter does the corners nicely, shank riding the template edge:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1064.jpg

Drilled neck mounting holes. Now this looks like some progress:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1065.jpg

Had to leave to do some paying work. But first write this update! Priorities, you know.

Top will have binding of some sort to hide the edge of the pine top. The back will probably get a small roundover, I'm not sure yet. Next time: sanding sanding sanding. Until then!

Looking good tk , lots of progress :)

Thanks, yours seems to be progressing fine as well!

By the way, I think I lost my compound radius with all that sanding to get the fretboard symmetrical. I haven't got any good radius gauges to test, but it looks more like constant radius now. No big deal, I guess it will work out anyway.

When building my first neck I had a wide blank for fingerboard, and after radiusing I measured the highest points in both ends and connected them to get the centerline and used that to get it positioned right on the neck. This time my blank was just wide enough, so couldn't do that as I had planned.

Before any new builds I have to fix that damned jig. Or make another. Or two.

It's hard to tell from the pics, but did your neck take on that alternating sheen look?

Also, breakfast and lunch look really good:lol:

Great job, tklaavo! That neck really looks great, and I forgot
to mention earlier that it is a brilliantly simple idea to clamp
the neck upside down.

In the first picture of your carved neck, it appeared to have
quite a strongly "D" shape. Was that just the photo? Or maybe
you like that shape, or maybe you made adjustments when sanding?

It's hard to tell from the pics, but did your neck take on that alternating sheen look?

Also, breakfast and lunch look really good:lol:

The look is definitely there, it's more visible when the oil is still wet. Difficult to get a proper photo.

Yes, I get food... I think it kind of compensates for the high price of gas I have to pay to drive there so often. :smile:

a brilliantly simple idea to clamp
the neck upside down.

In the first picture of your carved neck, it appeared to have
quite a strongly "D" shape. Was that just the photo? Or maybe
you like that shape, or maybe you made adjustments when sanding?

Thanks, the upside down clamping was originally somebody elses idea, saw it somewhere and thought it was - a brilliantly simple idea! :smile:

Yeah, quite much a D-shape. It is thick, hair over an inch at the heel end and almost 0.9 inches at nut (or something like that - I'm not good with INCHES :lol:). It's just what it turned out to be - didn't measure that much, just sanded in the areas which didn't feel right. I really did it by the feel this time. And as I said, I don't like thin necks. This is very different shape than in my other build, and it will be interesting to compare them.

When I started the carve, those 45 degree routes could have been a bit deeper, now I had to remove more material from that area by hand. But that was about the maximum I could get with that bit, the lower end of the cutting edge was already higher than the table surface.

I have FAILED!

My seemingly good progress has taken a step backwards. I guess I'll be able to fix this, I really hope so… This is how my day went:

I started fretting the neck. I had to use a knife to open those preliminary fret slots, they were filled with the Danish oil. This got me thinking that it wasn't a good idea to put the oil on before fretting… But anyway, I managed to cut the slots. My concept hacksaw wasn't as good as I had hoped, but somehow I got it done:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1066.jpg

Started hammering the frets in. Did the pre-bending mostly by hand, don't have a bender. Secured the frets with CA glue, and made a bit of a mess. Anothed clue saying: frets first, then finish. Acetone cleans the glue, but also takes the gloss out from the finish.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1067.jpg

Got the frets in.
BUT
All that hammering had broken the skunk stripe!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1068.jpg
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1069.jpg

It wasn't deep in enough, there was a gap between the rod and the wood! Remember this?


Glued in. Didn't need clamps
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0953.jpg


Well, I should have clamped it down!
Now when I hammered the frets in, the stripe took most of the impact on the underside and this is the result. Live and learn…

I was about to throw the neck away, you know birch is excellent firewood.
After some thinking I decided I'll try to remove the skunk stripe and replace it with a new one (and clamp it properly!) and sand it flush.
It's loose already, so if I can get it out nicely, I should be ok. Maybe drill some holes in it will help? I have to sleep a night before that.

This means that I also have to sand away most of the oil finish and do it again. Oh well, I still have to finish the fret ends with a file, which is going to damage the surface of the finish on the fingerboard edge. Lessons learned!

The positive side is that the neck will be much better structurally, if it can be saved, and also the finish will be nicer. Just some extra work - I hate redoing things.

Gotta edit my older posts and add warnings there - just in case someone will read only parts of this thread trying to learn something.

Seems that I can't edit my old posts..?

How hard were you hammering?

And don't scrap the whole neck, take your time to remove the stripe and install another one. You're still on track...

How hard were you hammering?

Well.. probably a bit too hard to get the fret job done.. But hard enough to reveal a mistake made before!

Now, I'm happy that I didn't do more damage and that I got this learning experience. I'll replace the stripe, finish the frets, sand where needed and then do the oil finish again. I guess I won't have to take it all out, it will probably blend in with the old coats if done properly and all dirt is cleaned out before applying the oil.

I use a two-way rod, but even with a one-way I think I'd still epoxy my skunk stripes in. To me, it's a simple precaution to use the strongest glue I can find.

With that said, depending on what you used to glue your skunk stripe in, removal should be pretty straightforward... Bad luck, but as you point out it could be much worse.

just gotta say, great work overall, I am sure you will overcome this little setback, probably better to have the skunk stripe pop out now rather than later anyways! Loving the progress on your build, good inspiration for my own. Great work and great ideas all around- it's important to learn from your mistakes, and in this forum, thanks for sharing them to help others out as well. This is a very cool challenge.

Also, loving the shots of your grannie and lunches etc. I am sure she is stoked to have your around. :)

Then headed to workshop for a couple hours. Grandmother had made some breakfast:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/kuva-3.JPG



Now that is what a Scandinavian breakfast is all about!

Great work on the build.

Robert

Thanks for the tip, Picton! I will use epoxy when I fix this. With epoxy I'd want to make sure no glue will reach the rod itself, restricting its operation. The broken skunk stripe was glued with just some Titebond.

CarlosN, Thanks for the nice words! How's your spruce shaping up? Our builds have a lot in common. And yes, grandmother always looks quite disappointed when I have to leave..
Today we had this:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/uunimakkaraa.jpg

I don't know if this dish has a name? Sausage stuffed with cheese, ketchup and mustard, potato and vegetable slices, baked in the oven. :grin:

I think I will call it "yummy"

While the router was there, I also made the taper like this: taped these pieces under the neck, the headstock end is lower, then routed the underside

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_0959.jpg


Genius. If my router table is big enough, I'm totally stealing this idea for my next neck build. Great work TK.

I am loving the food pics. I'm half Scandinavian (Finnish on my dads side) so I totally relate to the food. Making me crave some pickled herring! My build has gotten sidelined this week while I sort out some health issues, but hopefully will get some work in it this week. I am glad to see that you are making such good progress on your build, keep it up!

I am loving the food pics. I'm half Scandinavian (Finnish on my dads side) so I totally relate to the food. Making me crave some pickled herring! My build has gotten sidelined this week while I sort out some health issues, but hopefully will get some work in it this week. I am glad to see that you are making such good progress on your build, keep it up!

Thanks, hope you get well soon. Lots of Finns in Canada, right? My father's uncle moved there in 1920's and lived in Toronto. Unfortunately he had no children, so I have no more relatives there.

I am learning so much from your build. I too am using a dual action truss rod with a single piece neck. I have not done the skunk strip yet, but now plan on using epoxy. I routed it in 3/4" so it is plenty deep, and 1/4" the full length under the fret board.

I have been told I can epoxy the truss rod in the channel if I want since the rod is covered in plastic. It seems that any gluing of the fretboard or skunk stripe will put glue/epoxy into the channel anyway, and I will not ever try to remove the truss rod which is supposed to be one of the advantages of that type of rod. Not a big deal to me.

I know I have done it in a non traditional way, but as long as it works...

Looking good - say hi to grandma for me:grin:

Thanks, Czook - but be careful when learning from me, because I'm still a total beginner and yesterday it was proved once again... :smile:

Anyway, today I probably saved the neck!

Got the broken skunk stripe out. Most of it was already loose, and the tighter fitting bits came out quite clean with some tooling. One small splinter in the birch, but glue will keep it in control.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1071.jpg

When that was done, I trimmed and beveled the fret ends before gluing the new skunk stripe. I used a straight sanding bar and some files:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1072.jpg

I made the new skunk stripe using the same methods as with the first one. Glued with epoxy and used some clamps this time (not tight, just making sure it's all the way)
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1075.jpg

That epoxy is slow-curing, have to wait until tomorrow. Next: body sanding.
I sanded the edges with 120 and 150 grit with the orbital sander and a lot of hand sanding too:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1077.jpg

Starting to sand the back, first with 80 then with 120
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1078.jpg

Gotta be careful with the power sanding tools, they remove material fast.. I like 120 at this point.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1080.jpg

After a little sanding to the top as well, ready for back roundover routing:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1082.jpg

A bit of burn and some roughness, I blame grandad's old router bits… Nothing a little sanding couldn't fix:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1083.jpg

Grandad also had a binding channel routing bit! No smaller bearing though, this one cuts only about 1 mm:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1085.jpg

A bit rough perhaps… won't be seen.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1086.jpg

Finished the roundover with a lot of sanding and cleaned the dust. Some naked beauty shots:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1087.jpg
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1088.jpg

Ok, I'm not innovating here. I couldn't find any binding material that would suit this thing, so I do what others have done. I saw Motor_City_Tele use this stuff in his last year's Challenge build:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1089.jpg

Standing on the shoulders of giants, I try to do this the best I can:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1090.jpg

I sure hope I got enough of that stuff there and left no holes. Probably wasted a lot too. We'll see… Takes 24 hours before I can take next steps.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1091.jpg

It's amazing stuff. As a kid I dreamed about something like this - modeling clay that really hardens. I couldn't believe what they promise, and made some tests two days ago. Yes, it's hard and strong. And yes, it sticks into wood. Yes, you can machine it.
At least it should stick, because I left the surface quite rough after the routing.

I think I will call it "yummy"

+1

Hmm, very cool idea with the modeling epoxy clay, looking forward to seeing how that turns out. Do you know yet how you are going to finish your pine top? It tends to be a very soft wood, and dents pretty easily. I have a CV BSB tele with pine body, but that has a thick hard coat of poly on it, and it resists dents pretty well (still has a few, but that's part of the life).

Hmm, very cool idea with the modeling epoxy clay, looking forward to seeing how that turns out. Do you know yet how you are going to finish your pine top? It tends to be a very soft wood, and dents pretty easily. I have a CV BSB tele with pine body, but that has a thick hard coat of poly on it, and it resists dents pretty well (still has a few, but that's part of the life).

Yeah, I stole the clay idea..

The finish - not quite sure yet. I've been doing some tests on scrap how to apply epoxy to harden the surface first, but I'm not that sure now. I'm afraid it won't cure hard enough for sanding. More testing needed. A very thin coat of epoxy applied with a credit card might work, but I have to test how it sands down and how the subsequent finishing options will work on top of it.
I have no spraying equipment (and no place either), so the finish will be done completely with stuff I can apply manually. I have some brush-on poly lacquer, which looks promising. My testing is still in process.

Yes, there will also be some colour, but I won't reveal my plans yet..

That's looking really sharp. I missed the clay binding last year, so I'm glad you used it in this thread so I could see it. Seems like a good way to do it actually.

It's amazing stuff. As a kid I dreamed about something like this - modeling clay that really hardens. I couldn't believe what they promise, and made some tests two days ago. Yes, it's hard and strong. And yes, it sticks into wood. Yes, you can machine it.
At least it should stick, because I left the surface quite rough after the routing.

My dad is a taxidermist, and he's been using that stuff since I was a kid, so at least 25 years. There's another consistency called "smooth out", and it's more like a paste. All of them can be worked pretty well if you add a little water while you are trying to get it into shape. We used to rebuild fish throats, eye sockets, fins, you name it with that stuff.

My dad is a taxidermist, and he's been using that stuff since I was a kid, so at least 25 years. There's another consistency called "smooth out", and it's more like a paste. All of them can be worked pretty well if you add a little water while you are trying to get it into shape. We used to rebuild fish throats, eye sockets, fins, you name it with that stuff.

Did you get any of that stuff to customize your toys back then..?

I ordered mine from a Finnish taxidermy supplies webstore, by the way. Seems to be popular in that field!

Today I smoothed the neck after the repair.

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1093.jpg

Sanded most of the oil finish off from the back of the neck. There's some little scars from the surgery:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1094.jpg

Mixed some dust and titebond trying to patch them. Put some on the body too, there was a deep spot:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1095.jpg

When that was dry, sanded and went on with the Danish oil again. The imperfections will be visible but I don't mind. I'm going to post a pic later when the finish is ready.

I want to wait another day before shaping the body binding, just to make sure it is completely cured. More on that tomorrow.

In the meantime I started preparing for the next one..
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/320495-tele-bass-51-p-bass-based-build.html#post4049164

Good save on the neck.

Can't even tell you made a repair. Nice job.

Nice repair on the neck tk :smile:

Thanks, not perfect though.. some rough spots to remind me of my mistake.
Hanging after second new oil coat:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1101.JPG

I went on with the binding stuff. I didn't know how easy this is to shape when cured, so I was very gentle at first. Put my good sharp pattern router bit on the table and starterd taking very easy passes, first just smoothing it out. Soon there was this grated cheese everywhere:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1102.JPG

I'm concerned about the colour. This is supposed to be white, but looks like cyan or light green??? Especially next to the wood.

This is what it looked like after some routing:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1103.JPG

The bit doesn't cut all the way, because when the bearing warms up it starts to look like this:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1104.JPG

Almost there:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1105.JPG

I sanded the upper edge. First by hand, and when I started to believe this stuff sticks to the wood and doesn't break, took the orbital sander with my favourite 120 grit disk. Incredible, I must say:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1106.JPG

This stuff is amazing, but it has one negative side: the shavings stick everywhere (static charge..)

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1108.JPG

Finished the edges with sandpaper, the tricky spots at the neck pocket corners with files:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1111.JPG

Cleaned with white spirit, this is the end result. I can't believe this worked... Very happy except for the colour:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1112.JPG

I must think how to proceed from here. I'd rather have the binding to have a warm hue, not cold. Maybe it can be painted over somehow? I could have mixed some dye into the paste, but now it's too late.
Any ideas?

Will the binding material still take a stain? What's the plan on the rest of the finish. Maybe you could mask the top & sides and stain the binding with a rag, or spray a tinted sealer on it.

I think it looks great tk , I would leave it as is , but it's your baby , you've got to be happy with it , I hate to even suggest this but you could route it out and mix up a new batch colored to your taste , I would experiment with the color first , mix a small batch and let it dry ?

I'll have to test how it will take different kinds of stains and lacquers..
Next week is very busy, maybe I have some time again in the weekend.

I think that it looks beautiful the way it is, but if you want to, maybe mask it off and apply some stain or dye. Try it out on a scrap piece first though.

I hate to even suggest this but you could route it out and mix up a new batch colored to your taste

This option is very much possible too, it would be really easy to route it off with the same bit as I used for the original channel. The final shaping I did today wasn't that hard either.

Ok. I made some tests with Apoxie Sculpt, adding a bit of dye powder to the mix. Doesn't take much! Here are my fresh test snakes:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1120.jpg

The background is a white sheet of paper, neutral cloudy day's light from the window, colour balance adjusted...

On the left is the original colour, and it is definitely green. The rightmost one is what I started with. Then split it, mixed with undyed stuff, split again etc. I think the one next to the original is close. Maybe mix a little more undyed to that to get a kind of ivory hue.

I wait until these are hard and check if the dye causes any trouble on the structure etc.

If all goes well, I'm gonna do the binding again.

....And that's why your guitar looks so good. You, my friend, are a perfectionist!

One day I will try binding and I think the way you do it with putty is the way to go.

....And that's why your guitar looks so good. You, my friend, are a perfectionist!
One day I will try binding and I think the way you do it with putty is the way to go.

Thank you, but I am not... Ask my wife :lol:
Yours doesn't look bad either!
With my limited experience I highly recommend this putty for binding. It can be had in other colours as well and looks like it takes dye easily. It's much easier to shape than wood or soft plastics, it really gets quite hard and sticks to the wood. And you can make your binding to any size. Grandad's old router bit took just about 1 mm and the standard binding material is thicker. But I like this thin look.

Today I had a quick visit at the workshop. I'm going out on a trip for some days, so I wanted to do this before that:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1122.jpg

And I sure did:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1123.jpg

It came out very cleanly:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1124.jpg

Mixed the new dyed putty and put it in. A hint to everyone trying this: make enough of the dyed stuff before you start. Make much more than you think you need. It's not nice to try to mix more of the same hue. How do I know?? :smile:
Also, the more you play with it, the dirtier it gets. Wet hands help when shaping.
This is what I have now:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1125.jpg

Can't work on this until next week, maybe Tuesday. Then we'll see what it's like.

That's great! I'm definitely going to have to give that a try. I didn't realize this was the same stuff that taxidermists use. Like Commodore, my dad was a taxidermist for a long time, and I remember him using a putty to set eyes in deer, etc. I'll have to give this a try.

Great work!

I'm away for some days, a work trip with not much work so I took the neck and some tools with me. This place is the midpoint of nowhere and I have no proper internet connection. This post takes ages to upload and is not very informative.

I leveled the frets. The usual stuff - marked with a felt pen and sanded with the staight bar until every fret was touched.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1126.jpg

Rounded out with fret crowning file
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1142.jpg

This time I used the marker to help me not take too much
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1144.jpg

Finished with steel wool and 1000 sandpaper, polished with 2000:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1145.jpg

Need a piece of bone:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1150.jpg

Cut and shaped with files and different Dremel-style tools:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1154.jpg

Next: cut slots, but I'm not gonna do it here.

I don't know how everyone is doing out there, makes no sense to try to read the threads with barely a basic GSM connection - no 3G around here. Takes some days to catch up.

A note about the nut: It's wider than usual, and the extra material is towards the first fret - so the distance between the nut edge and fret #1 is smaller than it theoretically should be. In the final stages of setting up I'll take my fake dremel with a small grinder bit and tune the nut edge at each string position so that open and fretted strings play in tune. I've done this to two guitars, and the result is really good sounding open chords. I hope I can repeat it again… more on this when I get there.

I like those work trips without much work. Good thing you took some of your project with you. Sorry about your internet, but as long as you're working on the guitar, we'll wait for the updates.

The frets look pretty smooth.:grin:

What? No answer yet? That MUST be slow internet!

Nice job on that binding very clever idea, and that came out super clean looking, even if your workshop took a battering

Nice fret work tk :smile:

Hey, while all the posts this are great - this one is the most instructive to meso far. The reports are so detailed I almost feel I could try this myself. However - I think the epoxy binding will come in handy first - I have a partscaster I want to work on - and one of the things I am going to do is add binding - but since it is finished without a slot - and with rounded edges I had no idea how to do this - until now (!) - I will file out a channel and try the epoxy - see how that goes :) (also rewire it a bit while Im at it). Thank you - I am following your work watchfully :)

Amazing job on the binding on your first attempt. Can't wait to see what the warmed binding will look like. Definitely one of the coolest tricks I've ever seen. Great work!

Thanks people. I have returned to the online world.

I almost feel I could try this myself.

If I can do it, then anybody can.. :grin:

The neck will be done soon: the nut is not yet ready, the wood needs more oil and I have to screw in the tuners.

I hope I put enough putty for the binding this time! We'll find out soon.

The pickguard I made is going to another guitar. I'll start another one because I want to try some tricks in mom's arts&crafts room.

The body finish is going to take some time as well. I'm still pretty sure I'm going to finish in time.

I've lost track on other peoples' builds and I need several hours to catch up on all the threads.

Next update maybe later today???

Been following your build closely. I'm especially interested and impressed with your binding which I think is really neat. The whole guitar is looking great - keep it up - you are nearly there!

Hi Tk

Great build thread. Really good shots to show what method you are using.

That neck looks great and the binding looks the business.

Cheers

I like those work trips without much work. Good thing you took some of your project with you. Sorry about your internet, but as long as you're working on the guitar, we'll wait for the updates.

The frets look pretty smooth.:grin:

I like those trips,too, because I always get better internet than the crappy AT&T I have at home.

Beautiful work, tklaavo, frets, neck rescue, and the binding.

Glad you're back - looking forward to more updates. Looks like quite a few competitors are in the finishing stages, others are still completing the neck or body work. Still have a month left, plenty of time to paint those tulips on yours. :wink:

Thanks for interest!

Today I'm finally going to the workshop.
Been away for a week.
Itching!

Man... every year I see something new... way cool!

Hi,

I want to repeat this to give the credit to the original innovator: the epoxy clay idea was borrowed from Motor_city_tele's last year's build. He used the same stuff, but mixed different colours to get a "marble" effect.

Today I spent a couple of hours at the shop - finally. Did the routing and sanding thing with the new binding. The colour looks better, yeah! More like grey:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1158.jpg

After a lot of sanding, filing, scraping etc:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1159.jpg

Should look fine with some warm colours.
Then I had to test how all the pieces fit together - the first mockup:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1161.jpg

The pickguard will be something else if I find the time to do what I have in mind. Doesn't look bad like that, though. And I'm happy the blued stripe in the pine is where it is now.

No home-made pickups yet. I bought these second hand and I guess they will work ok:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1162.jpg

Then I made a small dent on the top and had to do a repair with glue&dust:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1163.jpg

When I get that sanded, it's about time to start the finishing on the body. My plan is revealed here:

- moisture -> grain rises -> sand it down
- borrow mom's watercolours and paint the wood. It looks nice on pine, I tried already! No tulips, sorry :cool:
- brush on poly lacquer, I have some that works great I believe
- sand and brush more and repeat until enough to polish. Hopefully before deadline..

Now to read other threads... Some great stuff going on there!

Yep, that settles it. I'm going to have to try that binding technique some time. You did a great job with it, and I can't wait to see what you do with the paint.

For next year's challenge, somebody should make the entire guitar body out of Apoxie Sculpt, with a wood binding.

Discuss...

For next year's challenge, somebody should make the entire guitar body out of Apoxie Sculpt, with a wood binding.

Strong enough for the neck too.. Would be quite expensive! :razz:

It's been another evening in the workshop. Today I had to fix another stupid mistake and discard some "good" old ideas.

Everything's fine so far. Marked the bridge screw positions:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1166.jpg

Sanded the top and then used some water to raise the grain and found out that the dye I put in the binding putty is water-soluble and started to run… No pics of that ugly view. There were some tiny pieces of pigment which messed it. I was very happy when I could get rid of that with light sanding. But this means I won't be using watercolors as I had planned... :confused:

Then I realized one hole is still missing and I went on to drill it with some disgustingly ugly results:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1167.jpg

I had drilled a pilot hole with a small bit and then somehow lost my mind with the large bit. Looks baaaaad… Didn't feel too good after the binding disaster and now this. :mad:

Okay, I cleaned the rough edges of the tearout and drilled a plug from a cutout birch piece trying to match the grain the best I can:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1168.jpg

Glued it in:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1169.jpg

While that was curing I cut preliminary nut slots with my feeler gauge nut files and installed the tuners.
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1170.jpg

The neck is about ready, so I put it in a safe place before I screw it up somehow...

At this point I made some experiments trying to make a metal pickguard. I had two ideas how to finish it. But the sheet of stainless steel I had was too thin, it was bending like crazy when I tried to shape it. So forget that, I'll keep the dust collecting one I made already.

Alright, I could rough out the plug with bandsaw:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1174.jpg

Routed and sanded a bit:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1175.jpg

Then got the hole back to shape with some carving and rasping. Most of the patch will be hidden, the seam will get some dust&glue:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1176.jpg

No watercolours, so I took out the oil-based stains and put a thinned coat on the top:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1177.jpg

Then some unthinned to the edges:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1178.jpg

And some smearing and so on:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1179.jpg

I will lightly sand it, then do another coat with a different shade, then with sanding and rubbing with steel wool I will try to get a very slight burst, like it's just faded in the center. Might take a third coat too.

The binding doesn't absorb that stuff, it's easy to wipe the sides with some white spirit, but maybe I'll mask it next time. The top will be sanded, so I don't worry about the top edge of the thin binding. It's about 1 mm so very difficult to mask.

Not sure yet what kind of colour goes to the sides and bottom. Some variation of this, maybe darker. I'll do the top first.

My experiments with the brush on poly lacquer: It's difficult to apply evenly, very thick stuff and doesn't thin easily. Very hard when dry, difficult to polish. Have to find a plan B. Shellac or rattle can lacquer. Don't know yet..

Keep the faith!

For next year's challenge, somebody should make the entire guitar body out of Apoxie Sculpt, with a wood binding.

Discuss...

Damn it Picton! That's the second time you've beat to the punch. First the demo surf tune and now this. I'm going to put my tinfoil hat on to stop the surveillance! :mad:

Barncaster

Damn it Picton! That's the second time you've beat to the punch. First the demo surf tune and now this. I'm going to put my tinfoil hat on to stop the surveillance! :mad:

Barncaster

Sorry; I check the site a lot. Things are slow at work. :wink:

T, that's a nice save on the patch. It's always nice to see folks fix things properly, with good attention to the grain. And I'm eager to see the paint job in its final form; I like subtle bursts, though a nice Caribbean burst is occasionally a nice thing too.

"Work Damage" is my middle name!

Nice fix on the jack. Too bad you can't use the watercolors. The stain looks pretty good though.

Thanks for interest!

I have much less time for this now. Almost all woodwork is done, but the finishing is scary and the hardest part for me, so I'm not celebrating yet.

I have to make another pickguard from the same stuff. There's a mismatch in my oh so beautiful templates. The pickguard template is the most correct of them all, but the body has a little flaw in the upper edge of the horn. You can see that in the first photo of my last post - when I made the body template, I didn't sand that area enough to touch the line for some reason. Now there's too much space between the body edge and the pickguard. Bothers me, especially when there's no roundover to hide the contour.

I looked at the pics again, and I like the dye, but it will be even nicer after some effort, I believe.

Some rattle can lacquer will most likely be my final coat. I have to practice shellac on something for a while if I ever want to use it. Don't want to risk any more.

Oh well, I really wish this guitar will be playable .. I'm already rehearsing a tune for the video, because I can't really play out of my head!

Nice save on that hole! This is a sweet looking build so far. Great job on the binding too.

The pine top with such a sharp binding job looks incredible, you should be proud of that work. the shellac really pops the grain, very nice. Looking forward to seeing how you shape the rest of the 'burst.

The pine top with such a sharp binding job looks incredible, you should be proud of that work. the shellac really pops the grain, very nice. Looking forward to seeing how you shape the rest of the 'burst.

No shellac yet, but now that I've seen some pics of what can be achieved using it I'm considering... The question is, can it cover the binding too and how much protection does it offer to the pine, which is soft as we know...

You can't compare schellak with nitro or a poly varnish, it is to soft, but one of the most beautiful finishes I've seen.

It's just enough for not making a guitar dirty and easy to clean.


s.

No shellac yet, but now that I've seen some pics of what can be achieved using it I'm considering... The question is, can it cover the binding too and how much protection does it offer to the pine, which is soft as we know...

Opps, my bad - I have shellac on the brain. The stain looks good! I have no personal experience using shellac (yet), but have some for my build for the base/sealer coats. I would think you want someone harder for a top coat though, nitro, poly etc.

Looking good Tklaavo, I think that light burst is gonna be very nice. :)

Man, Tklaavo, this thing is turning out awesome. You've done great work so far, especially
on the "oops" that we all have. And I wouldn't worry about the shellac for hardness if you're
going to finish it off with lacquer. That will make it hard as a rock. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the comments again.

Today I made the new pickguard of the same stuff. I didn't route the ill-fitting part:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1182.jpg

Sanded to fit the contour. Much better this time!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1183.jpg

The body template needs more sanding on that area before any new Tele builds (might take a while before I start any!)

The colour looks like this after some sanding and re-staining:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1184.jpg

I like it, but… the stain revealed these cracks on the surface, didn't notice them before:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1181.jpg

Not much I can do at this point. They're on top of the wall, so not a structural issue I guess. Just cosmetic… part of the "character". They're very thin, can't feel them with my finger.
If I sand the stain out and try to fill those with glue or some filler, I think the staining will reveal the different material, what do you think? I'm afraid of trying anything!

Oh, this finishing business is so hard for me, too much care and patience needed.

Thanks for the comments again.

Today I made the new pickguard of the same stuff. I didn't route the ill-fitting part:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1182.jpg

Sanded to fit the contour. Much better this time!
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1183.jpg

The body template needs more sanding on that area before any new Tele builds (might take a while before I start any!)

The colour looks like this after some sanding and re-staining:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1184.jpg

I like it, but… the stain revealed these cracks on the surface, didn't notice them before:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1181.jpg

Not much I can do at this point. They're on top of the wall, so not a structural issue I guess. Just cosmetic… part of the "character". They're very thin, can't feel them with my finger.
If I sand the stain out and try to fill those with glue or some filler, I think the staining will reveal the different material, what do you think? I'm afraid of trying anything!

Oh, this finishing business is so hard for me, too much care and patience needed.

IMHO... leave them alone. To me wood is like a finger print or a snow flake, none alike and full of character. It is part of the beauty of this medium. But that's just me.

Everything is looking awesome BTW!

Thanks Axedaddy, and I'm sure I'll leave the cracks as they are. This guitar will not be too perfect anyway - every mistake I've made has left marks on it, some are more visible than others. If I start fixing those, It will most likely look like a fix.

No time to be perfect now. Next time less mistakes.

By the way, I today sanded my other tele body back to bare wood and will redo the finish. I wasn't so happy with the colour, and the brush on poly didn't turn out good looking. Won't be doing the same on this one!

....
If I sand the stain out and try to fill those with glue or some filler, I think the staining will reveal the different material, what do you think? I'm afraid of trying anything!

Oh, this finishing business is so hard for me, too much care and patience needed.

I'm with you on the finishing being hard. As far as the cracks, be careful filling with glue - it does not like to take finish. Maybe you could use a stainable filler, but if they are that small, it might be better to just leave them.

It looks great!

Looks great so far.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cracks, they add character to the pine.

Try giving it a coat of shellac. You can just rub it on with a clean cloth. I've used a chunk of old clean cotton t-shirt. Its a really easy and forgiving finish. I'd use it as a sealer to protect your stain and binding. Then you could use water colors on the back if you wish.

For the brush on poly, its thick. I had some water based stuff and thinned it quite a bit which helped it self level. It is pretty forgiving though, you just have to take a little more time sanding it level. You can always add another coat or sand more off. The poly will protect the pine more than just shellac, but no matter what you use for a finish the pine will end up with "character" just because it's so soft.

You'll get it though, your skills show in your woodworking. Just dive in! LOL.

Cheers Murray

Try giving it a coat of shellac. You can just rub it on with a clean cloth. I've used a chunk of old clean cotton t-shirt. Its a really easy and forgiving finish. I'd use it as a sealer to protect your stain and binding. Then you could use water colors on the back if you wish.

I'm convinced. Shellac shall it be. But no watercolours any more, I had planned those on the top especially, the bottom & sides are going to be more or less single colour, and the stains I've used are fine for that.

It's possible to spray lacquer over shellac later, right?

It was a long time since we saw anything of your mummi, how is she and what's on the menu today?:razz:

That binding turned out really good.

Great build! I'd leave the cracks that showed up in the finish. I'm really liking how that finish is taking shape!

The cracks will stay. Today I stained the back and sides with brown, next coat could be a bit darker. I'll post a pic later when I get home.
And thanks, grandma is doing fine and had made some soup with sausages today..
Shellac is on its way, I bought three different colours, interesting!

The cracks will stay. Today I stained the back and sides with brown, next coat could be a bit darker. I'll post a pic later when I get home.
And thanks, grandma is doing fine and had made some soup with sausages today..
Shellac is on its way, I bought three different colours, interesting!

Don't forget the pics.of the food, all build threads need the obligatory food shots now.

Good decision to leave the small surface cracks as is, that would have been my choice too, trying to fill them now would very too obvious and way too time consuming. Plus, honestly they look fine on the body where they are, add character just like the stripped section at the top.

Here's today's only pic:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1187.jpg

Next time I promise to post a food & grandma pic :razz:

The color looks great, nice and even and a great tone. I'd be happy with that!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1183.jpg
Is that what volvo use to make kick-panels out of in the 6ties?

Wow I like that color on the back. Looks great Tk

Thanks, the back color is nice but now I want darker edges. Gonna do a darker subtle burst there.

Oigun: The pickguard material actually has some old Volvo looks now that you mentioned. The dashboard of a 240?

The kickpanels in my '66 amazon are from the same material (as far as I can judge from the pics)

In case you missed, this is what I started with:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/2012-tdpri-tele-build-challenge/318093-tklaavos-2012-challenge-build-thread-2.html#post4020232

A lunch tray made by Volvo perhaps? An extra accessory made in Sweden :lol:

The back looks great tk :smile:

The kickpanels in my '66 amazon are from the same material (as far as I can judge from the pics)
The door pockets in my '84 242ti looked the same as well.
Made in Belgium though.

I think I've seen that tray in a Volvo truck, maybe the F12, back when I had a summer job at my Dads factory.
Could have been a Scania as well as the company had both in their fleet.
They had an old Volvo Snabbe in a shed and one summer we put in order and got it through the MOT and actually made some local deliveries in it before it was sold.
Cool truck but no plastic in that one.

Wow! I had no idea what it was, got it for pennies.. Should I put a Volvo inlay somewhere?

Ok, let's start with a cup of coffee with mummi!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/mummo.JPG

She didn't like to be photographed, but I didn't listen.

On to other things. This is the colour of the back today:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1192.jpg

No burst, no way, don't want it, changed my mind, too much hassle and it would look bad anyway.

What can I do now except work on the bass (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/320495-tele-bass-51-p-bass-based-build.html#post4099762)?

Soldered some:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1188.jpg

Basic wiring. 250K CTS pots. A 3-way switch. A cheap capacitor.

No more build pics today, but we had some tea later:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/mummo2.JPG

Before coffee and tea we had some lunch, but I forgot to take a pic - was too delicious! :grin:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/mummo.JPG
Mmmmm, pepparkakor... And I love the lingon design on the coffeecups. Makes me feel all Midsommary.

And I love the lingon design on the coffeecups. Makes me feel all Midsommary.

Cups were painted by my mom, in her Arts & Crafts room shown earlier on this thread!
I ate two donuts, but forgot the pepparkakor, damn!

Hello, it's been a nice and sunny spring day. Spent some time inside..

Sanded off most of the finish from the sides of the body, was too thick. Stain is not a paint!

Then decided to stick the parts together to find out if something's totally wrong or if some pieces are missing:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1194.jpg

Got enough screws to do it! Most of the pieces just fell into place. The control route needed some adjusting to make the plate meet the pickguard. Didn't solder the pickups yet, also left out the jack socket and strap buttons, as the sides will still be treated. Another angle:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1195.jpg

Did a very quick setup to get it roughly in tune. Started learning the blues together:

RS2vFF17hkQ

Oh, forgot the string tree. Put it in, just eyeballed the spot:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1196.jpg

Some notes from this test:

- It's not very loud acoustically, but somewhat louder than a solid-body. I'd like to know how easily it will feedback.

- The neck is very stiff - very little bow under the string tension. The truss rod was all loose. The laminated birch seems to work fine.

- No string-through, I like top-loaders, don't know why. The bridge has the holes, if I want to put the ferrules later. Sustain seems to be good enough, that's one thing I was worried of with the hollow design.

- Might need to level the frets a bit more, there was at least one note that was more prone to buzz.

Then took it all apart, worked some stain on the sides and back. Waiting for the shellac shipment!

To do list: body finish, pickup soldering, install a couple of bits and pieces and setup including the nut finishing. And the video... should be better than what I did today.

OK now you've gone and made me want a birch neck...

That looks great. I really like the somewhat faded finish. Nice touch

OK now you've gone and made me want a birch neck...

I still have the other blank, remember I made two in the beginning...

That looks great. I really like the somewhat faded finish. Nice touch

Thanks, I like it too. This will look faded all the way, I can see it already, also the back. All the dust that the pickguard gathers will add some too. :smile:

The binding has dark spots all over it from all the stain. It somehow sticks in the little cavities left by the tiny bits of dye that didn't want to mix completetly into the putty. Worth a close-up next time. A lot of "character", I think ! Can't duplicate all this, going to be a real one-of-a-kind guitar, shaped by many little mistakes... :cool:

That is a great finish. I like to see the grain and the color you picked is excellent. Very nice job.

Maybe I've overlooked it, but how did you put on the schellak?

With a brush (English polishing) or with cloth and dot (French polishing) ?

I'm thinking to do the same with my guitar, did the inside with a brush, to much corners to polish.

But i like to know the experience by others !


s.

Looks great. I love the finish.

Maybe I've overlooked it, but how did you put on the schellak?
With a brush (English polishing) or with cloth and dot (French polishing) ?


Not yet, waiting for the shipment. I ordered a pack of 3 different colors from the eBay seller "resinsupplies"
I have no idea yet how to apply it, will practice on some scrap first. Reading some tutorials just now!

Just checked some other threads, and I'm amazed how high contrast figure a maple neck can have. Like Guitarnut's, it's tiger stripes! Now that I like birch, I'll try to find some figured birch too. But I can't find any in grandad's old stock, because looks like he used it all to build some chairs...

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/chair.jpg

I guess he didn't know how it would look like before putting on the lacquer. But I'm trying to find some stuff like that.

Tklaavo,
Be careful with the shellac. I rubbed some on a body that I had stained once and it lifted the stain out of the wood swirling it around. Had to re-sand the body and start all over again. You might get better results brushing the first few layers. (Spraying would work even better. But if you're like me that may not be the best option.)

Test on some stained scrap wood first, I wish I had.

Your build looks great. Excellent work.

Thanks for the warning, tehcnalp, that's one thing I'm a bit worried about. My stain is oil-based, probably dissolves in alcohol too... But once I get the first coat on, it should be sealed. Definitely needs some testing.

OK now you've gone and made me want a birch neck...

I still have the other blank, remember I made two in the beginning...

Is that an invitation to stop by and pick it up?

http://www.elektrisch-roken.com/Smileys/default/duimendraaien1.gif

Is that an invitation to stop by and pick it up?


Anytime you travel around southern Finland :smile: And grandma would be excited to have someone visiting, you would surely get something to eat too!

This is the colour of the back today:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1192.jpg

Ok, I thought there was already some schellac on here ...

But it is just the wet colour.



s.

Very nice work TK. You have a beautiful guitar there!

Anytime you travel around southern Finland :smile: And grandma would be excited to have someone visiting, you would surely get something to eat too!

You're making it very hard to resist...

Nice job, I love the colour.:cool:

Thanks for the kind comments. I still haven't got any shellac...
And now I'm not very happy with the bridge / nutslot / neck centerline alignment. The fingerboard markers are not nicely between D and G strings. The pics show that clearly. One mm shift would make a big difference. I will see what I can do about that.

I got a shipment today

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/shellacs.jpg

Gotta get some methylated spirit and start playing around...
Dewaxed or not? That is the question!

I've been dissolving the shellacs, not much more.
Also trying to finish my other tele build before this to keep things in order.
It's a tough competition, which of them will be first. Or better...

Looking forward to the french polish process. Looks great right now.

Gonna be kind of Finnish polish on this one, don't know if the French finesse is for me. Tested already, the stain didn't run, so I might be lucky.
Just want to get done with this damn guitar.... I have a bass to build! :twisted:

No pics, but I have now applied some base coats of shellac. Tricky stuff, dries very fast. I need some oil too to do the polishing thing, that will be documented. I have this thing (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/314084-first-tele-scratch-process.html#post4125250) to finish first!

awesome looking guitar tklaavo, great skunk stripe recovery, I also loved the clay binding - I have stayed away from binding, maybe next guitar

Thanks for the nice words people, been away for a while. Today I looked at the body and felt disgusted. See, there's been way too much messing around with the stains, sandpapers, and then the shellac practice. There's some ugly scratches. The binding is not good, it's the dye powder that didn't quite mix in the putty:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1203.jpg

It got worse every time I tried to fix it. I want to do it once more!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1206.jpg

:shock::roll::confused:

The brown stain in the back and sides isn't what it used to be, too...

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1207.jpg

Sorry, guys... :twisted:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1208.jpg

Some hand sanding too.
The top... I could do it much better now, the shellac isn't as I want it, no way, still ten days time to finish this properly!

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1209.jpg

I'm sorry you have to witness this...

but the back looks much better now, you didn't see how it looked before the sanding, but this is definitely better:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1210.jpg

When that was dry I put the first new layer on the top as well:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1212.jpg

Now the binding is missing. Yes, I decided to try it the other way around: colours first, then some shellac to protect, then mask the area around the binding channel with painter's tape and do the binding. That way I won't smear it with the stains. Also, I believe I can shape it with the masking tapes still on, so I won't sand or route the finish off.

Oh, and I think I'll try to make the binding on the surface double wide this time, using the same router bit but letting the bearing ride on the existing channel. That way I get double width on the surface, and nobody will see that it's not that wide all the way.

Still not sure if I want to try to dye the putty, this experiment was not too good. I'd need some stuff that would mix properly into it.

Wow, big steps backwards, but I definitely admire you for it. It's going to be that much better when it's done.

Wow, big steps backwards, but I definitely admire you for it. It's going to be that much better when it's done.

Yeah, I'm happy I had the guts to do this, I've learned a lot lately!
Starting to like these backwards steps, actually. But time is getting short, I have quite a plan for the video too - making it will take hours, don't want to leave it to the last day...

You're gonna be really good at this by the fifth or sixth time. :lol:

Yep, I did the same on my top for the challenge too, I know whats it's like to not be in love with the finish, and not be happy - better to fix it and be happy with it than to put up with something sub-standard. So good choice. Best of luck with the rest of your finishing,
Cheers,
Carl

Great decision, I've never regretted going backwards after I got where I was going in the end...did that make sense. Anyway glad you aren't settling for something you know you can do better. That attitude will produce an excellent guitar.

I appreciate the encouragement! About going backwards... I have to learn to do it early enough. I always try to save what I already have and it usually gets worse (and I waste a lot of time...)

Time is running out, but I will finish this one way or other... Gonna do the video during the weekend.

Did something with the binding (3rd time)
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1216.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1217.jpg

I hope this will work out, tonight I will shape that.
Then the final shellac coats, and I guess it's ready to play for the weekend!

Go, man, Go! I really want to see this one done

Man thats a great recovery! You can make it!! Look forward to seeing you at the finish line. Love your build & spirit!

Hey, I really needed that encouragement, thanks people!

I have no pics of the process of cleaning and shaping the binding. I used the router table with different template bits, bearings riding the masking tape, then I used sandpaper, even power sander, to get it level with the top. What a mess...

A lot of scraping with a utility knife blade too.

Looked like this finally:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1219.jpg

I don't understand why, but it doesn't look a bit green or blue. I didn't dye it, it's straight from the same jars as last time.

I rounded the edge quite a bit:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1220.jpg

Some minor damage to the colour coat:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1221.jpg

I put some more stain on those spots. This is really the best I can do:
http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1222.jpg

After that, I rubbed some shellac. Tomorrow I will polish it and assemble the guitar. Saturday do the video, hopefully!

I thought the putty binding would be "easy". Yeah, just like shellac..
Nothing is easy, that's what I've learned during these two months.

That looks brilliant. I really like the distressed, grainy look to the whole thing. It just looks right.

That looks brilliant. I really like the distressed, grainy look to the whole thing. It just looks right.

+1

That stain really suits the grain of the wood. That's gonna look killer with a topcoat.

Gonna look like a comfortably broken-in pair of boots. And that's meant as a big-time compliment. This is going to be the kind of guitar you just want to pick up and play; no need to gawk.

Nice work!

The color looks way nicer now that you have redone it... more reds. And that binding looks cleaner too! Good work. Can't wait to see the finished guitar!

Nice fix on the binding again, you really are perfecting the technique here for us all. Interesting now that it is now coming out a nice white without any filler etc, i wonder what happened with your very first batch (think that had a greenish tint?) hopefully third time is the charm, right?

The pics of the guitar with shellac look great, how exactly are you applying it? Did you choose a traditional French polish technique, or are you just wiping it on? For my build I've found it's easy enough just to wipe on and get decent results, but I cannot see any wipe marks on your guitar (maybe it's just the pics though). Or maybe ive missed something and you are spraying it. From here, it looks really nice, honestly.

All right, it's finally time for the picture some of you have been waiting for :grin:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1226.jpg

Oh well, there it is!

Needs some setting up. Got it in tune. This is what I do with the nut:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1227.jpg

I put the nut closer to the first fret than what is mathematically correct. Then I leave the string slots a bit higher than the frets, so there's no chance of any buzz on open strings. When the action is where I like, I tune every string at fret #2, check intonation and then check the open string. Usually it is close to tune, but sometimes a bit sharp. So I cut the nut until it's in tune both open and fretted at 2nd fret. On this nut, I had to do it on the high strings only.

On this Squier guitar I even had to add a bit of bone to the low E string, this is the craziest nut I've made, but it really plays in tune:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/nut.jpg

There's still some work to do, something wrong with the wiring, the bridge pickup sounds very thin and the tone pot is bad.

The neck feels good and I like to strum it so I feel it's a success.

"beauty" shots, video, and more explaining later on the weekend!

The pics of the guitar with shellac look great, how exactly are you applying it? Did you choose a traditional French polish technique, or are you just wiping it on? For my build I've found it's easy enough just to wipe on and get decent results, but I cannot see any wipe marks on your guitar (maybe it's just the pics though). Or maybe ive missed something and you are spraying it. From here, it looks really nice, honestly.

It's not perfect... the pictures don't tell the whole story.

I rubbed it on. It's dewaxed blonde shellac, almost clear stuff. Very thin, I guess I made a 1 pound cut or even less.

I rub it on, then rub with some alcohol, let it dry, rub some more, polish with alcohol using some rags.

I got rid of most of the wipe marks by hand polishing it with a rag and mineral spirit, it seems to work as a lubricant .

This is not really a technique i would try again. The french polish method with oil etc. and up to 20 coats is really not for me either. I gotta get into the spraying business sooner or later...

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1226.jpg
Best pic of the competition right there :mrgreen:


http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/nut.jpg

Actually, compensated nuts aren't that uncommon. Nice work on creating your own.

Best pic of the competition right there :mrgreen:
.

+1 agreed, best pic of the competition!

Tk this has been a great thread to follow, I've really enjoyed it. I've also pimped it in several other threads when people were asking the best way to do such and such, I commonly just referred them to your thread and said "He showed and explained it really well". Nice thread, great guitar, not sure about the food, Grandma rules!

Great work TK I have saved one of your pics for next xmas time. Hey when this challenge is all over perhaps you can start a thread of Grandma recipes.
PS she looks like a lovely lady ! Mac

The pic of Grandma holding the guitar is priceless! Fantastic job. I learnedly a lot from this build - thank you.

This is seriously wonderful!
It turned out fantastic.

Yep, grannies are for pwnin noobz!

All right, it's finally time for the picture some of you have been waiting for :grin:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1226.jpg

[...]

Mummi looks so proud. Truely the best pic in this Challenge.

Thanks for that mini-tutorial on DIYing compensated nuts.

O! and let's hear that thing!

Grandmother about the photo: "there's an old woman and a new guitar!"
Actually, she used another word for "old woman", but I don't know how it translates best, so I won't even try... :lol:

Oh well, it wasn't ready yet.

I had to work on the wiring. And the bridge pickup is now totally dead, that Samarium Cobalt Noiseless one. It used to work, but I probably messed it while soldering. Damn, the neck pickup of the same series sounds great. I tried to check what's wrong, but it's too complicated with two coils and a strange magnet array between them. Forget about that one.

So in order to finish this in time, I had to cannibalize the other tele I just made:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1228.jpg

It's a moderately hot pickup originally from a Tokai, and worked well on that other guitar. I put it in, swapped the scratchy tone pot, soldered, then had to change the neck pu polarity to have them in phase, etc etc.

Now it is almost officially ready. Here are the final shots in a more urban environment:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1229.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1237.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1230.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1231.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1232.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1233.jpg

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1236.jpg

Now let's do the video!

That really came together nicely.
I can't wait to see how it sounds!

fantastic work...very impressive

This whole thread is great. The guitar turned out fantastic! Great job.

All right, it's finally time for the picture some of you have been waiting for :grin:

http://helea.pp.fi/tklaavo/IMG_1226.jpg



The Mummicaster combo ROX!!!