Moody's Former Challenge Build

[moody]

Thank you!

Another effect of slimming the channel down is that it requires less tension to create the same amount of warp in the channel. This means the nut has to be tightened less to create the same effect in the neck.

[Doc Rorick]

Daaaaaaaamn!

My mind is blown. Awesome stuff.

[nosmo]

Nice truss rod & great detail of the process.

Somebody may have asked this already, but I'm too lazy to search through the thread. What do you think the finished guitar is going to weigh?

[Barncaster]

Hey Moody,

Great to see you back. I was worried. I love the Slagcaster!

Barncaster

[Barncaster]

Hey Moody,

What are you going to do for a pickup?

Barncaster

[moody]

Nosmo- I'm not sure yet what it will weigh. It feels a little heavy, but not as bad a a LP. I will weigh it soon

Barncaster- Thanks! I may make pickups or I might just rob something to get it running, depends on time and available funding. Whichever I do, it will likely be single coils.

[moody]

Had some time today, so I worked on the neck. Since I just made a shiny new trussrod, I may as well install it...

I started by clamping the neck down with screws and some pieces of wood the same thickness as the neck,



I also drew a good clear centerline.



Laying out the length of the channel for the rod





I set up a fence at 3" away from the centerline for the router to run against. The diameter of the router base is 6 inches.



I took several cuts. As some of you can tell, my router bit is getting a little dull...





I used a 1/2" round bit to finish the nut channel. I am not worried about the top of the hole, as the fingerboard is going to hang over a bit.



I took some small chisels and cut the ends of the channel square.





The rod is a snug fit, and has no movement to rattle.





I have picked one of the hickory blanks for the fingerboard. It is the one on the right...



I cut it down a bit and started sanding to clean it up. Hickory is very dense, and doesn't sand very well, so it should work for fingerboard.





Gonna have to plane the back side of the board to get it flat.

About this time, it got dark.

[Barncaster]

Nice Moody!

Barncaster

[emoney]

Oohhh, I like that aluminum u-channel for the truss rod. I may need to "borrow" that.

[RogerC]

wrought iron and hickory-- in a battle to the death, you win

[moody]

Thank you for the kind comments, I wish progress was going faster, but I am still thinking I will finish on time.

Emoney- Borrow away!

[Barncaster]

Hey Moody,

For finish, dunk it in salt water and then stabilize it after it gets all red and furry. Rust is cool! For your video you could play a little Neil Young, ...rust never sleeps... Rust goes well with the color of that hickory as well. This is such a cool build!

Barncaster

[teledaddyo]

incredible build. Can't wait to see it fully realized.

[Ryden]

Originally Posted by Barncaster

Hey Moody,

For finish, dunk it in salt water and then stabilize it after it gets all red and furry. Rust is cool! For your video you could play a little Neil Young, ...rust never sleeps... Rust goes well with the color of that hickory as well. This is such a cool build!

Barncaster

Unfortunatly that wouldn't work, red rust (Ferric oxide) will keep on growing unless you convert it to either Ferrous oxide or Ferric tannate which are both black.

[moody]

After three days of being hassled by weather, I actually have a little progress... The hazard of having the workshop outdoors I guess.

Set up a planer box to clean up the fingerboard


Just needed to take a very small amount off the back of the board to allow for a flat gluing surface


Used carpet tape to hold the fingerboard


Done! Worked like a charm.


I found myself not able to go outside and work(weather) so I marked out and cut the fret slots. I checked my template against an existing fingerboard, and found them to be the same. I marked all but the 22nd fret from the template and the last one from the existing guitar.




I marked the edge of the fingerboard, and then squared the lines across the board



I also marked the center of the dot markers


I added a little bit of artistic license to the end of the fingerboard, and drew it out pointy.






Using the square and a hobby backsaw, I lightly cut the fret slots deep enough to follow with another sawblade.


I then used a coping saw to cut the slots to depth, cutting just less than the blade depth.








I need to make a decision on the marker material...

A couple days later, I actually got a short break in the weather, so I worked on sanding the headstock to shape and fitting tuners. Because this is a LOW budget build, I scavenged some old strip tuners from a damaged 12 string. They look the part, and are already aged.

The first thing to do, however, was to finish shaping the headstock, and to shape the end of the fingerboard. I brought out my "drill press" and got to work.






These are the tuners


which I promptly disassembled


The strip is a little longer than the headstock, so I had to remove the frilly stuff at the end of the strip








Much better...


Spacing is very critical on strip tuners, so I drilled the furthest hole in the headstock


I then assembled that post on the strip, and used a fine pencil to mark the remaining holes exactly.






I finished drilling the tuner holes...


Perfect fit! When I thin the headstock, I will use a pin drill technique to enlarge the face of the holes for the ferrules.




And once again here comes the weather...

[Picton]

Weather... ugh... you're not up near Longmont, are you? My parents live south of Denver, and they've been complaining for days about how unpredictable it's been. I sympathize.

Good to see the updates!

[Barncaster]

Excellent Moody!

Barncaster

[moody]

Picton- Actually Colorado Springs

Barncaster- Thank You!

[emoney]

I was so looking forward to this thread updating. Good work. Now, you just need someone
to come do a "no more rain dance" so we can get more updates!

[axedaddy]

Dude this is some crazy stuff. Your blacksmith skills are off the charts. Nice work can't wait ti see it complete.