Mahogany & Spanish Chestnut glue-lam build

I haven't contributed much here for a while, even though I have a few project builds on the go as and when I get some time free to work on them. Here's a glued-up nine-piece body I've built up from some off-cuts of mahogany and spanish chestnut. I took it to a local joinery while it was still a rectangular slab to get it drum-sanded to ensure the top and back were flat and parallel, other than that it's all a home-build. It's quite heavy, so I'm probably going to put an arm relief cut and a belly cut on it to lose some ounces and to open up facets and angles to make it visually more interesting. For a finish I'm thinking of french polish, just to learn how to use it. All alternative suggestions welcome.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/stripey1.jpg

I'm also thinking of rear-mounting the neck pickup for a cleaner look on the top, and it'll have a rear-access control cavity.

I like the stripes JCJCJC , it'll look great french polished , It will be interesting to see a rear routed neck pup :)

For those of us who appreciate symmetry (that'd include moi), this is a beauty. You got that sucker laid out absolutely dead-center. Agree with adirondak5 about the stripes, too. Pretty wood, well assembled, very clean and professional looking. French polish has always sounded a little too intimidating for me to tackle, but will certainly be watching your efforts with great interest.

I agree with the symmetry. Very well done.

Ah, stripes! Very well done sir. The idea of back-loading the pickup is very interesting. I may have to "borrow" that one from you. ;-)

Rob

I think the body reminds me of your screen name, JCJCJC, except I guess it will have to be expanded for symetry to JCJCJCJCJ. This should be a great looking guitar! I really look forward to seeing it completed and agree the contouring will add some visual interest.

Rex

Wow - thanks for the remarks guys, you are some of the best builders here and I always admire your work. Apologies for not acknowledging sooner, but I was at the end of the Volvo Ocean Race (http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/news/6761_PUMA-pounce-to-win-In-Port-Series.html) in Galway Bay yesterday:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7030514.jpg

How about a laminated fingerboard with a tapered strip of the same Spanish Chestnut in the middle, on a yew neck?

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/fingerboard.jpg

That centre strip has a deeper colour bcause it has been cut for a few weeks. There was a knot in the yew that looks like an eye, so I laid out the neck to keep it as an interesting visual feature as far as possible, it ended up at the back of the head under the tuners - isn't that the whole point of hand-made instruments?:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/eye.jpg

You have encouraged me to press on with a rear-mounted pickup, so I have been thinking out the machining steps to get there. I'm wondering would a lipstick pickup look neater than an open pole-piece one?

Wow , that looks great , I like the looks the Yew neck .

Thanks again for the encouraging comments. Time for an update, I've been working at this guitar. First - rear-mounted pickup - how about this:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160491.jpg

The fit is actually much better to the eye than to the camera, the hole isn't as raggedy-edged as it looks. You can also see where I inserted a tiny slip at the corner of the neck socket to fix a tear-out - that too is far less obtrusive in the wood.

Now, the thick plottens, as they say. The back...

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160494.jpg

The routing has to be done in three general stages, each of which had several intermediate steps. First, from the front, a trench that fitted the pickup closely. It's a GFS pickup, and the dimensions are a 1/4" radius, at 2" centres. That is straightforward enough to do - I drilled two 1/2" holes with a forstner bit on a 2" line perpendicular to and centred on the centre line, hogged out the excess etc in the usual way and progressively deepened the trench until it was about 3/8" from the back. Then I used the point marks from the 1/2" forstner to drill very small through-holes, which enabled me to open up another intercepting trench from the back. I made it smaller than the first one, so that when they met I could use a pattern bit to make everything straight, and that worked out well.
Next big step is a triangular trench with round corners, a little larger all around than the pickup base plate, to let the pickup in.I did that with stuck-down straight-edge guides and a template.
last big step is where I'm at now - rout a recess for a cover.

I am worried that this approach may have taken away too much structural strength from the neck to bridge structure. All comments very welcome.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160496.jpg

I've routed an inlay trench for a small neckplate from Bezdez on Ebay, which lets me ease the corner of the guitar where the player's left hand ends up from about fret 15 on upwards. I've done this already on another guitar and it's a significant improvement in player comfort. I over-did the round-over near the neck, a mistake I somehow keep on making. The masking tape is to protect the naked wood from bench nicks and from the router base. I want to hold off on drilling a wiring channel for the time being - I might be able to make a hole that will allow truss-rod adjustment at the heel of the neck through the pickup compartment.

I've used this appalling weapon...

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160497.jpg

To do the initial hogging-out for an arm relief cut....

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160492.jpg

And a belly-cut - or gut-cut as I call it at this stage...

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160493.jpg

Besides that lot, I've done the round-overs front and back, a rear control cavity and cover, jack hole and sanding to 240 grit.

The end is coming into sight - all obs very welcome.

I've posted this on another thread, but someone here might be interested in the 'Hasenfuss Clamp' - designed by me, welded by my friend Helen:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7160498.jpg

It does a great job on glued-up body blanks, and eliminates a forest of clamps.

Beautiful work!

Thanks Glen. Moving on a bit, I made a cover for the rea access to the neck pickup:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7170499a.jpg

And drilled for attachment through-holes...4mm because I'm using M4 screws...

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7170500.jpg

Counterbored to 6.5mm in the body to install inserts with a 6mm core diameter...


http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7170502.jpg

And installed the inserts with some M4 threaded rod held in my drill press's chuck, some M4 nuts and a washer. I hold the insert against the wood with the drill lever, and rotate the upper drill pulley by hand. This gives me a controlled method of inserting these absolutely plumb without any chewing or damage.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7170503.jpg

I have used these for a neck-body joint, but going into the mahogany hardwood here the first one fought hard. I put some beeswax on the second one as a lube and it went in more easily. My idea here is to try to use the same screws on the neck joint, the control cavity, the pickup cover and the pickup adjustments.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7170508.jpg

This rear-access pickup means the adjustment screws will have to enter from the back, through that cover. That's the next part.

Nice work !!!

Thanks John. JC

I love the look of the laminations......

I love that signature. Where can I get a .015 cap for this guitar ;-)

I love that signature. Where can I get a .015 cap for this guitar ;-)

Ha Ha Ha!

In the end, this is the look I'm shooting for on the back, with all fasteners matching, control cavity, pickup cavity, pickup adjusters, neck attachment:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7170509.jpg

I think I'll re-make the pickup cavity cover, the pickup adjusting/mounting screws aren't sitting properly, they're about 2mm too far apart and the countersinks are too deep. That's today's project, probably.

Perfectionist. Wow.

Interesting build! Are you going to be able to adjust the neck pickup height?

wow, amazing work!
subscribed - I sure want to see how this one will end up.

the rear mounted pickup is looking like a great idea as well!

Thanks for the encouragement guys, it helps.
@ Bentley: - I don't know how big a community Kelowna is - any chance you'd know an old buddy of mine called Norm Grube?

@Scojan - yes, dead-easy to do, here's the prototype, as I've said, it can and will be improved:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7240531.jpg

@Joaopazguitar - thank you. I love Portugal, what a fabulous country - I was sailing down around Villamoura and the Cap St Vincent lighthouse area a few years back.

The next significant step for this beast is to make a neck. I looked around my shed and initially found some larch, but it wasn't wide enough. So, in an attempt to keep with the stripey theme of this project, I ripped the larch and glued it together with a thin mahogany centre stripe. I glued up with only the mating faces planed, because I haven't a whole lot more that 3/4" to play with, I figured I could plane it afterwards. Here's the glue-up, in my custom Hasenfuss clamp, naturally:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/larch-mahog1.JPG

Out of the clamps and planed, it looked good for a few minutes:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/larch-mahog2.jpg

Then I found the planer had uncovered an abandoned residence of Mr. Woodworm:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/larch-mahog3.jpg

So that killed off this plank's career in the music business. Having put a few hours of effort into it I didn't want to waste it, so I cut it up and made a nice little box for the most important tools in the workshop:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/pencil%20box.jpg

That put me back to square one for a neck blank, so I cut a 4-inch wide length from this slab of beech, taking care to leave enough for two teles:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/P7270535.JPG

Which yielded this:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/beech%20blank.jpg

Which yielded these:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/beech%20blanks.jpg

Which means I'm back in business. I absolutely love my bandsaw, a Metabo BAS317 Precision - with a blade from Tuff Saws in England it performs fabulously:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/square.jpg

That's a clean cut through seasoned beech, over 2 inches thick - it barely needs sanding.

Onwards...

@Joaopazguitar - thank you. I love Portugal, what a fabulous country - I was sailing down around Villamoura and the Cap St Vincent lighthouse area a few years back.

Thanks, JC! Very kind of you :)
I've never been to Ireland but from what I know about it you have nothing to complain about beauty :mrgreen: hope to visit one day!

Keep up the great work - even the pencil case is a great wood work, careful joints! How do you call those... isn't something like "dove"...?

Cheers!
Joao

Sorry, don't know the guy! It's about 100 000 people in Kelowna.. then West Kelowna is across the bridge with even more people! Haha, that's a fine looking band saw!

I'm wondering how that Beech will perform, lot's of people say it warps easy, but I think they're too cautious. :lol:

Keep up the great work - even the pencil case .. joints! How do you call those... isn't something like "dove"...?

Cheers!
Joao

@Joaopazguitar - that's a very easy joint to make, you just set the bandsaw to half the stock width and use a thin blade. I put in dowel pins at each corner to reinforce the joint, using contrasting dark wood. I think that's a japanese method, I saw it in a woodwork magazine somewhere. More pins would look nicer. You can make a two-minute jig to guide your drill to make the holes.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/cross-pin%20box2.jpg
http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/cross-pin%20jig.jpg

Cutting the chamfer around the edge of the box is done by simply inverting the box and guide it around a 45-deg bearing-guided cutter on the router table, take a few cuts raising the router each time so that the last cut is a tiny amount, to get a nice finish.

@Bentley - tks for the Kelowna info. Time will tell if this beech is good enough. I've had three thick slabs of it drying outdoors under tarps for almost two years, and the slabs are virtually flat, so it doesn't tend to warp I think.

Back to work -

I laid out the neck shape on a length of beech leaving extra length at both ends, for a reason that will be apparent. Most of the wood isn't spalted, so I went for a layout that showed some spalting on the headstock yet left the back of the neck clear. Having cut away most of the waste from the sides of the neck on the bandsaw, to within 1mm or so of the line, I screwed a small steel bar into the over-run at each end like this:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/steel%20bar.jpg

This is because I've had trouble keeping the edges dead-straight in earlier necks, and also my necks were a shade too thin at the nut. It's not as convenient as one run around a template, but we'll see how it goes. Running it on the router table:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/routing%20the%20neck.jpg

Once the sides were done, I attached a template with double-sided tape and cut out the rest of it:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/spalted%20neck.jpg

It might not be the most conventional approach, but it has worked. This is my fourth neck, and easily the best fit. The heel end was about 0.5mm too big, so I eased it in with sand paper on a block - six rubs one side, six rubs on the other, until it was a tight sliding fit - very satisfying. I eased it a shade more from there to allow for finish on the neck and to allow a tiny wiggle for final alignment.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jconsidi/guitar/neck%20fit1.jpg

There's still room for improvement in my corner radii, but I've known about that for a while. The problem is the cutter I'm using to rout neck pockets isn't small enough for the standard corner curves on a tele neck. It's a minor issue that I'll sort out in time, but for now, this is the best neck I've made yet - I'll use it to make a template before going much further with it.

nice lookin neck!

Lookin at this i'm getting a scary Idea.. Routing my pickup from behind so I can route for a hb and put a minibucker in after and just make a peice of wood to go flush around the top of the pickup.

Thanks, JC! Very kind of you :)
... careful joints! How do you call those... isn't something like "dove"...?

Cheers!
Joao

Yep, dovetail joints. They've got a great method for making them in...sorry Bentley...Canada, as it happens...

dyXFE_biEwc

It's one way to do it. Not the best way, not the only way, not the way I'd do it, but it is one way ;-)

Lookin at this i'm getting a scary Idea.. Routing my pickup from behind so I can route for a hb and put a minibucker in after and just make a peice of wood to go flush around the top of the pickup.

I don't quite get your picture but - go for it, why not? If nobody innovates this whole forum serves no purpose. Good night! 8 am here.

Yep, dovetail joints. They've got a great method for making them in...sorry Bentley...Canada, as it happens...

dyXFE_biEwc

It's one way to do it. Not the best way, not the only way, not the way I'd do it, but it is one way ;-)

Oh, I use this method all the time. Works quite well, then after that I take my snowmobile to chop go get some ice blocks for my igloo. My polar bear is outside on a leash though, so beware.

Lol, in all seriousness, this guy is pretty crazy.. did you see his car lathe?

Oh, I use this method all the time. Works quite well, then after that I take my snowmobile to chop go get some ice blocks for my igloo. My polar bear is outside on a leash though, so beware.

Lol, in all seriousness, this guy is pretty crazy.. did you see his car lathe?

I think anyone anywhere in the world who has ever made a speck of sawdust has seen his car lathe. Some day he'll dig in his 'gouge' and the differential in the car will decide to turn the other wheel...I know plenty of rough Irishmen, but he takes some beating!

OK, back again. I wasn't updating for the past few days because I had maxed out my free webspace on my IP, so I've begun to host a few pics on Snapfish.

Since my last post, Ive realised that this seems to be a two-neck guitar. I initially made a yew blank, but it wasn't an acceptably good fit on this stripey guitar so I'll hold it and make a guitar for it. I'll go on with the beech neck for this one. I'm happy with this neck, so I've made another blank using this one as a template. Here are both necks, and two fingerboards:

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232fp6357%3A%3Enu%3D%3A567%3E852%3E25%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D338384685734%3Cnu0mrj

Anyone have any preference on the fingerboard - will I put the stripey fingerboard on the stripey guitar?

I've fitted a Bezdez double-acting truss rod, I find them very easy to install. The basic trench is 6mm wide by 9mm deep, and I bore a 7.5mm hole in the heel to accommodate the adjuster. The adjuster measures 7mm in diameter, but I have found that a precise 7mm hole is too tight, the extra 0.5mm makes the fit quite nice:

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232fp6359%3B%3Enu%3D%3A567%3E852%3E25%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D3383843%3A4%3A34%3Cnu0mrj

I square off the ends of the trench with a 1/4" or 6mm chisel:

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232fp63593%3Enu%3D%3A567%3E852%3E25%3B%3EWS NRCG%3D338384685634%3Cnu0mrj

So far, so good.

Checking neck-body alignment with a simple laser. I have a tack in the pilot hole for the 3rd string, which is on the centre-line anyway. Looks good:

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232fp635%3A9%3Enu%3D%3A567%3E852%3E25%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D33838%3A746834%3Cnu0mrj

I might unite neck and body tomorrow morning. Right now, it's Saturday night, time to relax.

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232fp6354%3A%3Enu%3D%3A567%3E852%3E25%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D33838%3B37%3B%3B34%3Cnu0mrj

Hi JC!
thanks for the dovetail explanation and video, lol.

I did a couple of weeks in Cambridge on a violin making summer course (I'm a violin teacher btw) and those were really some awsome times. I love all things woodwork-related. The wood, the tools, the space where you work - warmth and moisture levels, the wood, the fact that your mind is free while you're working ... did I mention the wood? :)
I couldn't complete it (yet) since it is a bit too heavy on my wallet, but who knows, maybe someday I'll join you guys in making my own, guitar! (I'm modding an SX tele right now)

As for your work, I'm loving it. Keep us posted!


...I think Bentley was talking about routing for a regular humbucker and create a kind of wood frame for a mini humbucker in case he'd want to switch? that would be great if you could simply swap pickups without having to go through the soldering process....!

...

@Joaopaz - I learnt to play violin and piano as a child, and played in a school orchestra etc. I went from classical violin to Irish traditional music on mandolin, which was a very exotic and novel instrument in Ireland then. I began playing guitar at the age of about fifteen, and never looked back. The theory I learnt in violin lessons has always remained with me. I haven't had a mandolin for years, I had a nice pear-backed one but it was stolen from my car. I do have a mandola. There is a violin-making class in my local school of music, several of my friends have completed the course, it's a major commitment.

Anyway, back to this project, hopefully having resolved my picture-hosting problems, I've put these on a Picasa album. Last night, I checked that all was in reasonable alignment with a laser. A workmate is ideal for this, because you can add the clamp through the middle of the bench once the neck and body are in alignment.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-k-Bqj74BFfY/UB5nM-GioNI/AAAAAAAAAD8/otq5IOjnVvc/s512/P7310492.jpg

I lightly buzzed one of the holes with a 4.5mm brad-point bit, which created a nice well-aligned pilot hole for a 7mm brad-point bit, point-on-point as best I can:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9MAmjhemVZA/UB5mkaPBtEI/AAAAAAAAADE/eEi6OrZWQ9U/s720/P7310494.jpg

I reamed the 7mm hole with a 7.5mm twist bit - if I had a 7.5mm brad-point I'd have used it to get there in one go, but I don't. I installed the first insert using beeswax as a lube:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pPa8tLOcTf8/UB5nHX60mgI/AAAAAAAAAD0/A8bLUkOO7go/s720/P7310495.jpg

the wax oozed out so I wiped it away with white spirit in case it affects the finish later:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mcch614pbus/UB5nBQ_z7qI/AAAAAAAAADs/bq2ug3Vlu_I/s640/P7310496.jpg

and screwed the neck on with washers and a screw-cup to replace the neckplate temporarily, which let me buzz the other three holes:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ezVVaTruYgg/UB5m5VyOUzI/AAAAAAAAADk/How344ppJJw/s640/P7310500.jpg

I set drilling depths on my drill press with kryptonite pencil lines on two scraps of hi-tech dilithium masking tape:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N2KaeLdKNzo/UB5m0NVLVTI/AAAAAAAAADc/Hf6lKaw0STY/s640/P7310503.jpg

Strangely, even though it's a German-made Flott drill press, its' scale is in inch fractions, I would have expected millimetres.

Insert 1 went in easily with the beeswax lube, 2 & 3 went in without it, but 4 for some reason required assistance:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vC8N6DudpfY/UB5mvSnBmTI/AAAAAAAAADU/wpfY-qM_CA4/s640/P7310505.jpg

A tweak with the screwdriver took the inserts just below the surface and aligned the slots for neatness. These are very stiff - they're not going to fall out anytime soon:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-feYB0YROGqw/UB5mqhEThbI/AAAAAAAAADM/uaSOfz2RrAM/s720/P7310506.jpg

Back to the body, now clamped vertically in the workmate, and a trial assembly looks good:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sEYNcwjxF_M/UB5mY-0oh5I/AAAAAAAAAC0/F_B-1ra64wE/s512/P7310507.jpg

And that's the neck attachment done. Not a bad hour's work. It looks like most of a guitar now.

So a few months back I bought this tele fret scale template on Ebay, now I have to figure out a way to use it.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j1xYRAhOMOY/UB66jStOByI/AAAAAAAAAE4/yCksj7SFQVk/s640/P7310491.jpg

The notches on the template seem to be a push-fit on a 1/16th drill bit, so I made a few holes in my old slotting box and tapped a bit through the best-looking one from underneath:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XiSfiQGfHjg/UB66pA5XM7I/AAAAAAAAAFA/hq4QJi80HFk/s720/P7310492b.jpg

I added a runner strip so that the template snapped firmly into place, no wiggles or wobbles, and it seems good:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-In15qjc__Pc/UB671GNWFqI/AAAAAAAAAFM/iW7u9qL4gKM/s720/P7310493.jpg


That yielded a slotted stripey fingerboard, and I added panel pins through the nut slot area and the 12th fret dot positions to maintain alignment centre-on-centre.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TdmRUHuxpjM/UB68gK37jBI/AAAAAAAAAFY/iFg0p9F-pP8/s640/P7310494b.jpg

Seeing as I had the slotting box all set up, I decided to slot the plain board later. Oh dear. Anyway, masking tape over the truss rod...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kIrsMghBjVs/UB69PAplt5I/AAAAAAAAAFg/K6vhuS4vGeg/s912/P7310497b.jpg

Trim it with a Stanley knife...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UUZYNG_ol4M/UB69wVD9uBI/AAAAAAAAAF0/ebmdC5vZMFA/s800/P7310498.jpg

Peel the excess tape, slap on the Titebond, peel the tape off the truss rod, add fingerboard and clamp overnight. Can't take pictures while I have sticky fingers.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w-uzeS73QIk/UB63rTyPKWI/AAAAAAAAAEU/6b9_X15FE5E/s720/P7310501.jpg

Hopefully it'll be ready for trimming in the morning, maybe more.

After I'd clamped up the tele neck, I went back and cut slots on the plain cherry board. Went sweetly, all cuts looking nice - then I realised I'd used the Gibson scale side of the template....blue air. I'll have to make something to a Gibson scale now.

Well, today the gremlins struck. First job once I'd taken off the clamps was to trim the fingerboard to the neck - normal procedure, took off most on the bandsaw and then ran the neck around a bearing-guided trimming bit on the router table, which turned out this way:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ymG0aS7sSpk/UCAMQ8Db4uI/AAAAAAAAAHI/2eTad6Rl-Ms/s720/P8010504.jpg

The cutter bit more deeply than the bearing's track, taking about 0.5mm extra all around. I don't mind the step in the side, because it'll go in the carving anyway, but at the heel this has cost me the nice tight neck-body joint I had. The thought of starting a new neck is crossing my mind, but for now I'll persevere with this one.
I bored the tuner holes from the back without going all the way through, when I sliced off the front of the headstock the bandsaw intercepted the holes. After that, it was the usual facing of the headstock, leaving this:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t9bRQjAPj_s/UCAMIQT10RI/AAAAAAAAAGw/EAMkFI-gEIw/s576/P8010508.jpg

I cut the nut slot with my fretting saw and sharpened a small screwdriver to chisel out the bottom of the slot:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vqI1gXbRaMw/UCAMLDmMoYI/AAAAAAAAAG4/pji2OKNyKuc/s640/P8010507.jpg

The wet drops are raindrops.

I started to do position dots and the gremlins struck again - my brad-point 10mm bit seems to have bent or something, it wouldn't cut cleanly and was visibly wobbling in the chuck of the drill. So I drilled initially with a 9mm brad-point and tried to open the holes with a 10mm - not very happily:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6GlpgNkU2lY/UCAMPlx-wRI/AAAAAAAAAHA/flnbOOOuNu0/s640/P8010506.jpg

They are not good - I'll have to see how much can be done with superglue and sawdust, maybe this is a deal-killer as far as his neck is concerned.
For the time being, I drilled for side dots and made some...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r82vv0nhwSw/UCAMUDGJeSI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/AgoKt1zZoSM/s640/P8010503.jpg

using modelling clay in a perspex off-cut...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IVUfrE5KAxo/UCAMFfc0gKI/AAAAAAAAAGo/D3qhSOgCVEQ/s640/P8010510.jpg

Hopefully tomorrow will go a bit better for me.

I've traced one of today's problems - a broken-off spur on a bit causing rough holes:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lwyIx3yoG0E/UCAhhskOfZI/AAAAAAAAAHk/LIIYFA7B9Z0/s640/P8010511.jpg

At least I now know what caused that gremlin.

Making my best effort to retrieve this neck, I filled the void around the badly-drilled hole with sanding dust and superglue, then sanded it down:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d-_l95UFE0w/UCNqCqNJ-MI/AAAAAAAAAIA/IU_buURtl-w/s640/P8030514.jpg

Barely acceptable - I'll see what it's like when some finish goes on the neck, I won't rule out making a new neck yet. The clay side-dots turned out good. I used an off-cut from the guitar to make two-tone position dots for the 12th, just to feature it:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bqr8pfLGfSI/UCNp0X2t2EI/AAAAAAAAAH0/Gi8lvA27v7U/s640/P8030515.jpg

Neck carve is probably next, I'm busy for the next few days but I'll get to it somehow.

We're basically at the same point on our necks! Tomorrow I'll be flush trimming and shaping. No inlays yet though.

Pressing on with this build when time allows.

I made a rough-and-ready fret wire bender from bits and pieces:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0LUbBmKVXgA/UDEVTMHIqCI/AAAAAAAAAIs/PxyL83x0RIQ/s576/P8100522.jpg

I have some CB Gitty fretwire I bought on Ebay. It's in short-ish lengths, it proved difficult to put a bend right at the end of the length, I'll be buying continuous wire in future.

I banged in the frets and made an initial atempt anyway at dressing them neatly. I made a half-pencil...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nAKWori2RVA/UDEVaqe0bvI/AAAAAAAAAI8/O2dEQfUcqVM/s640/P8100517.jpg

and set out for a nut in the time-honoured way...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MSDTK9iL0U0/UDEVWC6KtOI/AAAAAAAAAI0/3bwERvkXEVc/s640/P8100519.jpg

Bandsawn and sanded to initial size...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BtWMDvjpV3E/UDEVH0a9s9I/AAAAAAAAAIk/AYcKBfpVMLE/s640/P8100526.jpg

Some of the frets aren't good enough, my next step is to try to improve them.

I've had a bad week. I accidentally killed my own dog with my car, and broke two pairs of glasses the same day. It didn't stop there - I knocked Ol' Stripey accidentally and it fell on a concrete floor, doing this:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3m54fVsjkiE/UDkvXiX2RjI/AAAAAAAAAJc/5RqhokV6EuM/s640/P8190541.jpg

I'll have to think about various fixes for that over the next few days. In the meantime, having levelled the frets as best I could, I started shaping the back of the neck:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-50HMValEOK0/UDkvfXEb-mI/AAAAAAAAAJk/l_uZilM_r-8/s640/P8190542.jpg

The beech was very easy and satisfying to work with the spokeshave, I found it easy to form the shape. After about an hour of shaving and some rasping, it looks like this:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KkYbVo0OHXU/UDkvmIk9F4I/AAAAAAAAAJs/kotS_Bz2e18/s912/P8190543.jpg

I sanded it using progressive grits - 60, 80, 120, 150, 180, 240, 360 and 600 - it is glassy-smooth now. I've put some clear Danish oil on the fingerboard, I'll let that dry overnight and spray lacquer on the back and headstock tomorrow morning.

Up early to get a start on some of the problems I made for myself yesterday, began by spraying some clear lacquer on the beech neck:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LffAg5ovNiA/UDnnygnPOVI/AAAAAAAAAKk/cTMzuNpkLuM/s512/P8200493.jpg

The beech looks good, I like it. The spalting is mainly around the headstock, it looks good with lacquer on it. While that's drying in the sun, time to think about sorting out the ding in the body, I've decided to rout out that damaged part...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HLxm8tVfaS0/UDnn45UU5KI/AAAAAAAAAKs/3N_6qmnOuak/s640/P8200491.jpg

One cut, and it looks repairable.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q4c5BQaO82U/UDnoHqYt8AI/AAAAAAAAAK0/EUkpNfQ6a5g/s640/P8200495.jpg

Now - a decision. Should I simply glue in a repair patch, or rout it all away and glue in a whole new piece of Spanish Chestnut?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KkYbVo0OHXU/UDkvmIk9F4I/AAAAAAAAAJs/kotS_Bz2e18/s912/P8190543.jpg

""I sanded it using progressive grits - 60, 80, 120, 150, 180, 240, 360 and 600 - it is glassy-smooth now.""

mmm? ...I didn't know roasted peanuts came in progressive grits... ;)...:wink:

Yep, you have to be very careful what grade of sandpaper you use on your nuts ;-)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rPunpz_eBdU/UDpqxU5nBiI/AAAAAAAAALM/kcawtaNQMAs/s720/P8200496.jpg

A reasonable rescue, I'm happy enough with that.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rPunpz_eBdU/UDpqxU5nBiI/AAAAAAAAALM/kcawtaNQMAs/s720/P8200496.jpg

A reasonable rescue, I'm happy enough with that.


Fantastic repair JCJCJC , I know the feeling , dropped a body or two myself , knowing how to do a good repair is a big plus :wink:

Fantastic repair JCJCJC , I know the feeling , dropped a body or two myself , knowing how to do a good repair is a big plus :wink:

Thanks a lot Herb. I've come to realise that the gap in the middle of a B& D workmate is a very dangerous thing - it's too easy to let a body fall through it. Despite trying as hard as I can to forget all the ISO utter crap I learnt at work about quality systems, root cause analysis and corrective actions, I think I'll be modding my workmate with a safety-net under the deck very soon.

Just put a plywood top on it. If you are really creative you can hang your router under the plywood.

141216

Not a bad idea at all, Macaroonie. I still have my first McGyvered router table, made from a kitchen unit. Nowadays I'm gone all posh, I have two routers, so one is virtually permanently in an el cheapo pressed-steel table, the other is free-range. Here's what I've done this morning with the Workmate to customise it:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4MjE0X9y9l0/UDsxmM5LVWI/AAAAAAAAALk/UfnYayw40Y4/s512/P8210498.jpg

I added a rough plywood shelf on the lower frame which will catch anything falling through the slot as well as providing another wonderful flat surface for storing sawdust and 'stuff'. I made a filler strip from slightly newer plywood to go between the jaws. I have some long triangular oak off-cuts from another recent project where I was making chamfers, so I've lined up two of those in the slots in the workmate's jaws and glued in the plywood between them. It should make a flush-fitting top then, all going well, for any occasion when I want the bigger top surface. I might look at making a router hole in it, it's an attractive idea.

Regards

Mac, your idea has me haunted, can't get it out of my head. I have a Hitachi table saw with cast aluminium extensions. On the edges of those are thick reinforcing pips at intervals. Drilling some holes into two pips:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0A5vSWiTxBQ/UDtameOZD9I/AAAAAAAAAL8/p7meq8LdXnk/s720/P8210500.jpg

Tapping to M6...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PODQInkoeEs/UDtatTyi33I/AAAAAAAAAME/-pJdRJc5ihY/s720/P8210501.jpg

Nice countersunk screws fit sweetly...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dI2zLVy5M5s/UDta1DU-H8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/119RGBf_jm0/s800/P8210502.jpg

Do you see where this is leading, ie what you've started!

Regards

Don't blame me 8<)).

erm no , not really seing where you are going with this. I'm sure it will become apparent.

Nice Estwing BTW I have one of those , 20+ years old.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cUG7Ql-Ya-U/UDu-P7lo9WI/AAAAAAAAAMg/cIbE-FqhwcA/s640/P8210507.jpg

Macaroonie - see now what you've made me go and do! A router outrigger on the table saw, several hours of today spent on that. Ah well, I was waiting for glue and lacquer to dry on the guitar project anyway.
The Eastwing is nice, it's my second one and they're not cheap - like good whiskey (note that all-important E ;-)), cars or cigars, once you get used to it there's no going back. I have found the hard way not to use it with oily paws, the leather unravels in no time.
Thanks for the tips.

Regards

Nice work there. That will be handy in a number of ways that I can think of. I assume you can shuffle the fence over towards the router ? Failing that just clamp a straight edge on and you are golden.

M

If I had a more permanent shop, I would do this.. If I had a more permanent tablesaw..

@Macaroonie - I can probably use the fence from the shop-bought router table by drilling a few more holes. Failing that, I can add a bit to the saw's fence, because the steel bar I attached on the left of the pic won't let it all the way over. For the few times this will see action, a screwed-down fence made to suit on the day will do too. Thanks again.

@Bentley - Rome wasn't built in a day. A lot of the gear I now have came to me because of the recession - the construction trade here collapsed with a bang, practically. Believe it or not, that big Hitachi saw was left behind on a jobsite - the guy who owned it had no work and he emigrated. My late father was a far better woodworker than I'll ever be, and his power tools were a low-powered B&D drill with a 3/8" chuck, a circular saw, a bench grinder for sharpening hand-tools and a mortising machine - that was it - no router, no bandsaw, no pillar drill, no planer thicknesser, no spindle moulder - just the few I mentioned. If I lived where you live, I'd be poring over craigslist. I go on vacation to the Hudson Valley area of NY now and then, and just looking there in the past few days I am amazed at what you can get. So, hang in, persevere, put in your 10,000 hours to develop the muscle memory for your tools and you'll be fine.

So, hang in, persevere, put in your 10,000 hours to develop the muscle memory for your tools and you'll be fine.

Indeed !

Time to test my own perseverance. Up early this morning, out in the shed at 0630 to get some work done on the stripey guitar, was planning to install the bridge to get the final alignment right and go on to string-through holes, ferrules and all that stage. I bolted on the neck and laid in the bridge and pickup assembly. Uh-oh, something not right - quite a difference between nut-to-12th and 12th-to-saddles. About an inch...little red light came on in the brain...check it again with the template...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WLsAZ9-pvCA/UDxrzddy1zI/AAAAAAAAAM0/-uzYjf-ELJE/s720/P8210491.jpg

I think that's a unique and highly innovative screw-up in the history of TDPRI - I cut the fret slots at Gibson intervals. Every curse word I know wouldn't be enough to cover this situation, and I know a lot, in English, Irish, French, German, Polish, and some Spanish, Portugese and Swahili ;-)

The options now are build a new neck or just change the fingerboard. it's glued on with Titebond. I'm inclined to say new neck and assign this to a future guitar built to suit. I'll think about it for a few hours, grrr!@!

Or you could just reset the bridge position??

Or you could just reset the bridge position??

Can't, and I did think of it - I've already routed for the bridge pickup. I have found that (usually) it's safe enough to rout for the pickup, try very hard to align the neck pocket true and square to the centre line, mount the neck similarly and make the absolute final fine adjustment to alignment when screwing down the bridge, with fishing line in the two E positions - ie I wouldn't drill the bridge mounting holes off the template or drawing. Thanks for the suggestion though, and for taking time to think of a solution for me. I've begun to make another neck now.

Regards

Ok, nothing for it but a full-on attack. First I machined up some more of my beech - it's disappearing at a mighty rate:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_XdXl72bWPI/UEJ_8CWlR8I/AAAAAAAAANI/vuDae1H5Ucc/s800/P8210492.jpg

One face on it is flat, that's all that really matters, guitar-making all depends on centre-lines as Jack Wells once pointed out wisely here on tdpri.

Rip it to something over three quarters of an inch or 19mm, and thickness it to that dimension off the flat face:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KRKVdY7Envo/UEKAjQYaf7I/AAAAAAAAAN0/ehaw4-3ADbM/s720/P8210493.jpg

Set out the neck from scratch as Colt W. Knight does, not all that difficult and better than a dodgy template, taking care to make the most of the spalted bit in the headstock where it will be seen...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kZgOjRFLSl4/UEKAvB59fqI/AAAAAAAAAOI/ogry_dhr-jw/s720/P8210495.jpg

Rout a plain TR channel, 6mm wide, 9mm deep, suits the Bezdez truss rods perfectly...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aei8Dl2xIwk/UEKCqG3AOmI/AAAAAAAAAPE/tkqRW3U7U9k/s512/P8210496.jpg

Square off the end of the channel with a 6mm chisel and we get a reasonable fit:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fnmxw61ejiI/UEKATAhIyuI/AAAAAAAAANg/UVblpg8jXJY/s800/P8210498b.jpg

Which leads to thinking about a fingerboard. There's a lump of quite expensive zebrano around here somewhere, it's stripey stuff, should suit a stripey guitar...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aqO0JPSesMI/UEKA3E3Vz9I/AAAAAAAAAOc/w5jqDHjeZdU/s720/P8210494.jpg

I haven't ever previously used any of it, I seem to recall warnings here about irritant dust. I've got a North Atlantic ventilation system - constant south-westerly wind. I'll let the dust off towards the Sassenachs, they won't mind ;-)

After the usual cutting and cambering, I've ended up with a zebrano neck for this project:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SwfbENNI3u4/UETpacl_oCI/AAAAAAAAAQs/0nGZUGGvMLs/s720/P8270503.jpg

The dots came from a whitish part of the same piece of wood - enough contrast to be seen by the player, but a nice tonal match:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VB8LDuGHG0g/UETcQDJe9gI/AAAAAAAAAQE/njfaGaYsgt8/s640/P8270504.jpg

A new 10mm lip and spur bit sorted out my problem with ragged hole edges.
To date I've had mixed luck with forming the fingerboard to headstock curved transition, so I tried a router bit side-to-side and it worked:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L9GZajIQZiw/UETcEIsGyOI/AAAAAAAAAPw/24YxG4S3rnM/s576/P8270506.jpg

I also tried a router planer bit, sold on ebay as a bottom-cleaning bit, to plane the headstock flat:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-JRcny4CnwbM/UETppFeB54I/AAAAAAAAARA/cGI6MPeNhJc/s640/P8270513.jpg

It gave better results than a robo-planer, a quick rub of sandpaper more or less finished it - all I was doing was taking off about 0.5 mm to eliminate the marks of the bandsaw.

I like strat-style fingerboard overhangs, so I cut to create one:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hMsZZsf187Y/UETbY1BV3MI/AAAAAAAAAPg/THPrZXANrMM/s640/P8270505.jpg

Things are back going well on this project.

Living on the edge with routing the transition IMO. Glad it worked. M Rescue is looking good.

Hi Mac - maybe not as risky as it looked. I had everything clamped down in the slotting jig, and I ran the router, mounted on a square-edged board, across two dowels which were square to the centre line. I routed in several passes. By happy accident, the tiny bit of ragged edge ended up on the waste side, it won't be an accident the next time, I'll remember to pass the router in the treble-to-bass direction deliberately.

Here's a bad shot of the headstock showing the routed transition and face:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dD4p1z1Gleg/UEUQLsiJ2jI/AAAAAAAAARg/UVGu-hLEPFo/s720/P8280516.jpg

Seems acceptable to me so far. When I'm giving the guitar and neck an all-over finish sanding with all the grades of sandpaper, this ought to come to a final finish too.

Hi Mac - maybe not as risky as it looked. I had everything clamped down in the slotting jig, and I ran the router, mounted on a square-edged board, across two dowels which were square to the centre line. I routed in several passes. By happy accident, the tiny bit of ragged edge ended up on the waste side, it won't be an accident the next time, I'll remember to pass the router in the treble-to-bass direction deliberately.

Whichever way you run, the risk of a blow out is always there. No prob if you do that process before you shape the neck with the template. Actually the more I have watched whats going on with this it seems that the more you can do before templating the shape will keep you on solid ground. Bear in mind you can rout the shape from the front or the back.
The headstock is a good example. I would reckon thin the stock to a cross cut as you did , then drill the TR hole then do a transition route as you did , and then do the shape. Seems safer all round. Prob add in drill the tuner holes before all of that , then you get clean holes.

Just thinking out loud you understand M

Just thinking out loud you understand M

I completely understand, and enjoy and appreciate the debate - if we keep doing things the same way it'll get boring and the processes will never improve. Your point is good about the blow-out risk and you are entirely right - it could be avoided by not working to an edge across the grain. I'll see with the next one I do. Up to now I've tended to rush into making something that looks like a Fender guitar by cutting out the neck blank early on. This time, for my first time, I've cut the TR channel before the outline, and also fret slots before trimming the board. We live and learn.

Regards

Having said all that the top end of the headstock is pretty risky no matter which way you do it , although so far I have not had a problem.
Seems as if Guitarnut is going more and more into doing it all ' square' and then cutting the shape. Makes clamping easier at least 8<))

I used a Gilbert thickness sander in my drill press to thickness the head. In fact I've used my Gilbert drill press thickness sander for 250+ guitar builds to thickness acoustic backs, sides, soundboards, necks, braces, veneers, etc... It is my favorite tool. ...and works great for thicknessing tele heads! ;-)

Here is a photo of the sander in my drill press thicknessing a fingerboard for a Les Paul. When it spins it is accurate to 0.0005". This disc is dead flat!
http://schrammguitars.com/LP_FINGERBOARD_001.jpg

I'm known to persist with an uncooperative neck (it's always the neck's fault, NEVER the builder's :wink:), but I think you made the right call on replacing it. You had done a great job with the fixes, but sooner or later the thing told you it needed to go.

The replacement looks fantastic. Nice rescue.

@Schrammguitars and @Kwerk - sorry for not acknowledging your remarks sooner, with thanks - I don't check in here every day, I'd get nothing else done if I read tdpri in full every day. That Gilbert disk sander looks interesting, and very easy to make on a lathe. I now have a high-quality drill press, it's a German-made Flott, so I'll look into having a Gilbert made.
I have begun another build of a wacky guitar for a friend who is an electric guitar novice - tele shape, Gibson scale-length and one bridge pickup. I'll put up a thread for it at some stage, it is very wacky but it should work for its purpose.

Back to this thing, which I now call Ol' Stripey - here I'm levelling the frets on a recently-acquired slab of polished marble that may have been originally destined to be a grave marker. I've stuck down 360-grit and I'm finding and dealing with the high spots.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a1Hxu0R6iXY/UFss-n6pb9I/AAAAAAAAAR0/WgsOHfqXX0c/s640/P9040554.JPG

I'm spraying the neck rear with poly, I've already put clear untinted Danish oil on the zebrano fingerboard which is masked off:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T_7V3hfhJ_w/UFstZUT7SeI/AAAAAAAAASM/3VEpTseNOCE/s640/P9080572.JPG

My first time using spray-can poly, I like it but it takes getting used-to. A little goes a long way, it runs very easily, but the glossy finish is super. At long last, I'm getting some french polish on the body today, I like the look so far. I think it'll need sanding back and recoating a few times as the grain fills up - hopefully.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UJB0t8I0h2Y/UFsuk3mLd8I/AAAAAAAAASg/sB66etE6Gio/s640/P9110578.jpg

I hope to stay at this build for the next day or two, should get a lot of finish on it.

Well at least the Gibson scale neck didn't end up in the fire 8-))

Well at least the Gibson scale neck didn't end up in the fire 8-))


Wait and see where the Gibson-scale jobbie ended up ;-)

Trial assembly, lining up the bridge with fishing line in the E's.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-U_5VkzoM52k/UFykN5R19fI/AAAAAAAAATA/5Tn41KaSM9s/s720/P9130580.JPG

I gave it a coat of shellac french polish yesterday as an initial sealing coat, brushed on. I'll sand it back and re-apply the proper way as soon as I have the rest of the holes drilled. I'm thinking of a tone-bar for this job, I made one lately for another guitar from 10mm square brass and it turned out nice. Brass and mahogany always works for me.

On to the tone bar. Boring through-holes...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yFxNv0ddAr8/UF3XqCVZs-I/AAAAAAAAATQ/tykkC6iBfac/s720/P9130590.jpg

I used stock 10mm square brass, cleaned up with a flapwheel in the drill press. Bored 2.5mm through, 4mm counterbore and lightly countersunk - sorry, I didn't photograph every step.

Fitted to a trench routed with a template to 10mm depth:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pNczzOYDdTM/UF3XzgNZOiI/AAAAAAAAATc/w9aZplqvBkw/s640/P9130595.jpg

It's a little bit off centre, I'm not over worried about that. It looks good I think, and I've daylight through all six holes. The through-holes in the brass are 2.5mm and in the wood 3mm so the strings should push through readily without snagging. The tone bar bottoms firmly in the trench so it should anchor the strings very positively.