All Maple Thinline

[Guitarnut]

I started on a maple thinline today. It's going to be double bound, chambered maple core with 1/4" flamed maple caps front and back, flamed maple bent side veneers. Back-loaded controls with rear access cover, single HB, not sure if I'm going with the conventional f-hole or something custom.

Having limited supplies in the shop, I got creative with what I had...a bunch of maple cut-offs. I ripped them into 1.5" strips and turned them on edge. I set them up in clamps and moved and shifted them around until I had all the area I needed for the body blank.





I traced out the body pattern and drew 2 lines across the width to help me keep things lined up during gluing...good thing I did because when I was sliding them off to a piece of MDF, they went crashing to the floor...it took only a few minutes to get everythng back in the right order. whew!



About 4 pieces at a time, I began gluing them up.



Next post...

[Guitarnut]

More gluing steps.







Out of the clamps and thru the planer.



Next post...

[Guitarnut]

It planed down to a perfect 1.25".






I'll be working on the route for the chambering tonight. I'm going to wait and cut the profile after I route the chambers...no sense throwing away the extra width and support at this point. This worked out great during planing...I fed it thru the same direction for both sides, and all the planer snipe is well above the neck pocket.

Peace,
Mark

[mgdesigns]

What a great way to be GREEN. Save a big piece of maple for a place where people will see it. I like that. Geat project. Keep going. What do the top and bottom caps look like?

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by mgdesigns

What a great way to be GREEN. Save a big piece of maple for a place where people will see it. I like that. Geat project. Keep going. What do the top and bottom caps look like?

Thanks! +1 on the big piece of maple!

These pictures aren't very good but this is the billet I'll take the top, back and sides from.





This neck came from the same piece...





Peace,
Mark

[68thinline]

That's impressive figure. Should make a nice looking guitar!

I love the sound of semi-hollow electrics. +1 on the "butcher block" idea.

[Guitarnut]

I had a very productive day in the shop today. I was able to get the routing template finished, route the core, resaw the maple for the top, back and sides and even resaw some rosewood...I know I said all maple, but a rosewood fretboard is interesting because it might tame the brightness of the maple. I won't decide until I see it all in context. I even cut some rosewood binding.

I started my template with an MDF body template that had a nick in the outter edge. I used a pencil taped to a couple of scraps to make a compass of sorts...to give me an even spacing around the edge. I took these photos after I had outlined with a Sharpie.







First side done...didn't stop take pictures until I knew I had something to photograph.

[Guitarnut]

Finishing the routing template.







Rough cut the profile of the maple core.

[Guitarnut]

After some effort with a rasp and sandpaper, the template came out nice!



On to the drill press and 1.375" Forstner bit to hog out the bulk of the material.



Then back to the bench for routing. It took only 30 mins or so to finish the inside and the outter profile.

[Guitarnut]

Next, I set up my resaw table/fence and cut the top and back. After a few passes thru the planer, they look pretty good.







Then I cut the veneers that I will use to wrap the sides. I cut these off the edge of a billet so I'm not sure the figure patterns will match up well. I may recut these from the flat side of the board so they match better...they're beautiful though, I'll keep them for another project.

[Guitarnut]

Honduran Rosewood for fretboards and bindings.





All in all, a very productive day. Oh yeah, I cut, routed and rough profiled 4 necks, too. The one in back will be a 24 fret version for this guitar. Since I'm only using a single humbucker, I'll have plenty of room for the fretboard extention.



Peace,
Mark

[mgdesigns]

Gorgeous flame maple, and the neck looks awesome. Jaw dropping lovely. That's going to be a fine looking tele. What color will you finish it?

[Deadsy]

nice man, i'm excited to follow this!

[buddywayne]

Very interesting build. I'm looking forward to more.

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by mgdesigns

Gorgeous flame maple, and the neck looks awesome. Jaw dropping lovely. That's going to be a fine looking tele. What color will you finish it?

Thanks MG. If the rosewood fretboard and bindings play out, I'll go natural with just a hint of amber. If I go with black or white plastic binding, I'll have to wait and see what it all looks like before deciding on a color.

Peace,
Mark

[tweeet]

Ingenuity at it's best...great stuff.That figured maple plank must have cost you a bit?

[RodeoTex]

Nice work there Guitarnut. How did you manage to plane down those veneers? My planer doesn't go anywhere near that thin.

JMO but I think those side cut maple veneers would look fantastic. I think they would add a lot of 'drama' to the total look of the guitar.

[Guitarnut]

Deadsy, buddywayne,

Thanks! Plenty more to come on this one.

Peace,
Mark

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by tweeet

Ingenuity at it's best...great stuff.That figured maple plank must have cost you a bit?

Thanks! I got lucky when I bought it...though at the time, I thought I had overpaid at $150. I bought it having seen only a couple of picures. Lucky buy for sure!

Peace,
Mark

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

Nice work there Guitarnut. How did you manage to plane down those veneers? My planer doesn't go anywhere near that thin.

Thanks! I use a Ridgid 13" planer and it's min depth is 1.5"...so, I use a sled. I can't take credit for the idea, but it works great!

That big chunk of maple is not only pretty, it's functional. I lay it in the planer, effectively raising the planer bed to the cutter. The slab is heavy enough that it stays put. I was able to take the veneers down to 2.5 cm...I'll take them down to finished thickness by hand. You could also use 1x or 2x stock and either clamp it down of use double stick tape.



Peace,
Mark

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

How did you manage to plane down those veneers?

As a follow up, the sled technique doesn't always work. I was planing down some quilted maple and disaster struck. The quilted figure isn't as robust as flamed or curly maple.



Peace,
Mark

[Guitarnut]

I was able to get a bit of work done today. I glued up the top and back.



I also profiled the 4 necks I'm working on ...



More to come this week as time permits. Things are slow at work, so I'm hoping for some early departures to get home and build guitars.

Peace,
Mark

[ratter]

Looking good, and the necks look great! Funny thing though...my Ridgid planer goes down to 1/8". I wonder if it's a newer or older model??

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by ratter

Looking good, and the necks look great! Funny thing though...my Ridgid planer goes down to 1/8". I wonder if it's a newer or older model??

Thanks!

Hah, I just caught that...I was thinking one half inch, but my fingers typed one and a half inches. It might go lower but the screw drives start to bind up if I go below .5"...got it right that time.

The planer wouldn't be much use for most wood workers if it didn't go below 1.5".

Peace,
Mark

[mrz80]

I'd be leery of the (admittedly gorgeous) flame maple for neck wood. My black Telecaster came about because of a truly awesome flame maple Strat neck I saw in a shop. Trouble is, after a couple of years, that neck developed a hideously pronounced S-bend and had to be replaced.

[Guitarnut]

I have been thinking about a way to vent this thinline style guitar without using the traditional f-hole. I found inspiration in the icon for the company I work for.



I've done a few mockups in Photoshop and I wanted to get some opinions. They're similar but have subtle differences and aren't actual size...may be close though. There is something I like about each of them, but 3 is leading right now.

Comments welcome...



Peace,
Mark

[octatonic]

I like it.

What about trying the vents with the thin bit pointing towards the neck?

[eljayski]

carrotcaster?

[BigDaddyLH]

The three carrot versions seem to be getting close to the bridge. You may want to photoshop on the bridge to see if that works.

And this has got me thinking about f-holes. Anyone ever see this sort of F used, hmmm?

[68thinline]

It's going to be pretty thin between the carrots. Are you sure ther'es enough material left to keep it from snapping?

[Guitarnut]

Originally Posted by 68thinline

It's going to be pretty thin between the carrots. Are you sure ther'es enough material left to keep it from snapping?

You may be right. It's still just a concept.

The top is close to .25" thick. I think this will give it the strength it needs. But, I've been wrong before.

Peace,
Mark

[Guitarnut]

A couple more looks. A bit less "carrot" like.







Peace,
Mark

[eljayski]

my carrot remark was *partly* tongue in cheek--still, i like 6 the best. eljayski

[Elrond39]

I really quite like 4 - it's got a bit of that flash mixed with class... Something about it just works for my mind. Cool idea, whichever shape/size/orientation you decide on!

[nutty]

This looks fantastic. Are you planning on a pickguard or keeping as much of that grain exposed as possible.

I am attempting star shaped holes on my thinline build so I'll be keen to see how you manage to get a sharp point on your carrots.

[iansmitchell]

Originally Posted by Guitarnut

Peace,
Mark

Reminds me of:

[jefsut]

Wow, very nice! Threads like this remind me that I should NEVER EVER attempt to build a guitar from scratch. Back to eBay and Craigslist for me!

[pchilson]

How about using the fire shape for the vent hole?

[ratter]

I think I like #8 the best, but I think all the designs would look better if they followed the body curves somewhat...

[Zillinois]

#4 or #8 IMO.