Faux acoustic build.

[gitlvr]

That's as far as I can go on the body at the moment.
On to the neck portion of this exercise.
Got some more curly maple left after my P Bass build. Using a fine tooth handsaw, I cut the scarf.


After cleaning the joint up with a hand plane, it's on to glue and clamps.



That'll sit at least over night. More to come.

[magicguitar]

Very interesting. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

[gitlvr]

It's been raining for the last two and a half days. Since i work outside, I haven't been able to do much. Today i got a break in the weather.
I took the neck out of the clamps. The scarf joint slipped a little( as usual), so I need to clean that up and make certain the face of the neck blank is flat and level.


A good hand plane makes short work of this.


Once i got that taken care of, I drew out the neck and headstock on the blank.

[gitlvr]

After cutting this out with the jig saw, i attached the neck template with double stick tape.


And here it is routed to the template.



And with the truss rod routed and installed.

[gitlvr]

Moving on to the fretboard. It is Indian Rosewood. i really like the grain and look of this board.



I finally got a decent fret saw. Bought the StewMaw Japanese one. I highly recommend this saw. I use it with a cheap plastic mitre box I have laying around. It does the job just fine.



After I finish cutting the slots, it's on to glue and clamps.



That, too, will sit at least overnight. Thanks for looking. More to come.

[vtcyclist]

I love seeing stuff made using normal hand tools. Enjoying your story.

[gitlvr]

Thanks, vtcylist!

[Bongocaster]

Originally Posted by vtcyclist

I love seeing stuff made using normal hand tools. Enjoying your story.

+1

I quit watching New Yankee Workshop and switched to the Woodwright.

[RogerC]

Really good stuff, Mike. Looks like you've got a great plan, and I'm looking forward to seeing it come together.

[JeffPBlues]

The wood on that fretboard looks amazing!

[oramac7891]

Looking good so far. Cant wait to see more pics!

[gitlvr]

Been a while, but I'm back.
Got the fretboard out of clamps and trimmed to the neck blank.



Next up is to radius the fretboard.



Radius is 12". I use the 1"x4" boards on either side of the radius block to keep the block centered on the board. Same way I cut a truss rod slot.

And, radius complete.



After radiusing the board, I place some tape down the center, and crossways at the 12th. (Note: Although this pic does not show it, I put a strip of tape crossways at the 22nd fret as well.)



Then i mark my fret marker positions, and drill them out.

[R. Stratenstein]

Great build. Love seeing the hand tools, and the determination to do quality work when your shop is outdoors! That slab may be the most beautiful piece of ash I've ever seen.
Thanks for sharing your build. I am enjoying it greatly.

[gitlvr]

Thanks, R.Stratensein! Unfortunately, it's raining again, and calling for more of the same for the next few days.

[ForcedFire]

Double check your fret spacing. The high frets look a bit wonky.

[gitlvr]

Originally Posted by ForcedFire

Double check your fret spacing. The high frets look a bit wonky.

Thanks, ForcedFire. But they were checked and double checked before and after cutting the slots. They're fine.

[Novatuc]

I have damn near every power tool known to man because I'm just too lazy to do it by hand. Hats off to you gitlvr, awesome work.

[gitlvr]

And here are the markers installed.



I went with pau abalone this time. I've been doing a lot of wood position markers, and will again. I like doing that quite a bit. But this time I thought the abalone would be a nice change of pace.
And here with the frets installed.



After which, it's time to start the neck carving. I begin by thicknessing the neck.

[gitlvr]

And, carrying on.



And i got really close to being done, when this happened.



This neck is toast. I hate when that happens. Time to pull out my clothes iron and some aluminum foil...



...and pull the fretboard and truss rod.



Fortunately I have another neck blank laying around.

[gitlvr]

O.K., so I cut another scarf joint, trimmed a new neck blank and routed it to the neck template Like I did earlier. I did not take any pics of this process, as it's the same as the first time around.
What is different is that, instead of having an oversized fretboard blank that I will later have to trim to the neck blank, this time around I have one that is already sized to fit the neck. So I don't have any leeway for positioning the fretboard. I can't afford for it to slip or drift sideways when clamping. I need to make certain it sits still in the clamps.
To that end, I clamp the fretboard down onto the bench on either side of the first fret.



This is so that the fretboard will not crack or break when I take the fret pulling pliers to the first fret, and remove it, like this.



A process I repeat at the 15th fret.



After which, I drill a small hole through the fret position at both frets.