Coming to a thread near you. . .

[Ronkirn]

Then rout the ledge to accept the cover..



ya should have something like this..



I have already drilled a small pilot hole locating the tone pot on the lower horn..



then using the Pin in the table method… I drill a corresponding hole from the reverse side until they meet. Oh, when I routed the interior cavity, I left this section solid, so there is no void here.



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

I use a Forstner bit, selecting one the largest diameter that will still leave clearance for the round-over on the back..



I then take a second smaller Forstner bit and drill a cavity to accept the pot, a Mini pot here… don’t forget to stop before you go all the way through….that kinda ruins the day..



I turned the cover plate on the lathe, so the fit is easy to control.



and here ya are…



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Moving right along…..

To make the cover plate, I use the template attached with double stick tape.



Cut the Garolite blank to approximate size and I use a special tool designed to apply juuuuust the right amount of pressure to assure firm marrage of the Garolite and the template.



now… buzz….



Drill the screw holes, countersink ‘em and sand…



Ron Kirn

[TeleJelly]

WOW...what a treat for visual learners to behold the graceful progress of the master craftsman Ron Kirn. I'm not worth to sweep your shop floor
(I know I'm sucking up, I might need something some day )

[Ronkirn]

Before doing the edge radius, I sand the periphery to prep it. It is virtually finish sanded because any irregularity, glue, chewing gum, roller skate, any thing will cause a bump in the roundover and just cause additional work, assuming you don’t WANT a bump in the roundover…



I use the oscillating sander, a Sanding disk and a palm sander to accomplish this…. Sometimes, I go crazy and will actually do some of the sanding by holding the sandpaper in my fingers and moving my arm…. Totally nuts huh?

Now… to the router table and cut the edge… only the back… the top gets binding….that’ll come later.



Now that that’s done.. Time to get ready for finishing…. Prior to sanding.. I use another highly specialized tool… used in conjunction with a planar moisture application appliance, it will cause the grain and sanding chafe to rise… Oh… don’t use your wife’s similar tool; I believe she calls it an Iron.. doing so will result in an extended argument bringing up topics like your beer drinking habits, command of the Remote, not talking to her Mother, and the fact that you have not gone with her to the Mall to pick out new Taupe sheets to match the Curtains… so just DON’T… go buy your own damn iron..



Here I have left a section un-steamed so you can see the difference, note that the section in the upper left corner is what the whole body looked like prior to the steam application. This is a slick trick often used by furniture makers..



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

With a Thinline one of the “problem” areas is inside the “F” holes…I have found a supplier of some most unique tools specifically designed to sand in difficult places… I’d tell ya where to get them, but such exotic tools are so very expensive, you couldn’t afford ‘em anyway…



I reach in, and pull any wood fibers out and sand ‘em away.



Ready for a bit of color….

Since this guitar will be an amber/orange shade… I like to start with something other than a nude bare piece of wood.



So I give it a wash of a base shade, yellow in this case…



Ron Kirn

[Roop]

Ron, you build exceptionally fine guitars!

[Ronkirn]

Whoa!! Kinda yella there don’tcha think?? Well yeah…. But I’m not done yet….

I now give it a couple of washed with alcohol….



I do this several times, allowing it to dry between washes to see how she looks… this also allows the color to absorb into the veneer so it’s now yellow all the way through..

After a couple of washes… it’s far more manageable, and you can see how the figuring really jumps out..



At this point I still haven’t routed for the binding…. I’ll give it a few coats of a sealer, then hit the router table.. that’ll be another day..

Ron Kirn

[JasonRobert]

looking good! what will the pickup switching be like? Bridge and Middle/ All / Middle and Neck?

[Ronkirn]

Master tone and 3 Volume, with a push/pull for each pup.

rk

[Ronkirn]

Nothing much today,… I want to begin moving toward the final color. Here is the target.



It is a deep orange amber, the back will be a complimenting shade but opaque so I want to do a primer/sealer that is of an approximate shade….

I mix it up using Sherwin Williams Universal Dyes and tints, until I have a Salmon shade. Not as intense as the final shade, just moving in that direction. I will finalize the color when I’m doing the tinted clear lacquer.



I give the body a quick sand to knock down the high spots….



Then mask off the top, I don’t want any overspray creating more work. Since I will be routing for binding, I position the masking so the router will clean up the line.




Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

opaque, I give is another coat or two to allow for sanding…



After several hours of spray and wait… I allow if to harden enough to give it a quick sand..



Then a few more coats….. You don’t wanna really see that do ya?/

Then I let it hang a few days to allow everything to shrink.. next will come the color on the top…

Ron Kirn

[wikur]

Great thread!
Nice to see how the pros do it.
You make it look so easy.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,Wikur!

[Ronkirn]

just an up date.... we have had a little issue with the weather here in Florida, so I haven't been able to get much done... the humidity has dropped all the way down to about 110% and most of the stuff I use doesn't like it quite that damp.

rk

[guitarzan13]

Hey Ron! I hope all goes well with the weather there..... be safe.....

[Ronkirn]

With the body primed, it’s time to rout for the binding. The dimension for the width of the binding is easy enough, but getting the cut correct for the thickness can be challenging…

I take a ¾ inch pattern tracing bit, and use precision brass tubing over the bearing until the cut is correct.



That coupled with “fine tuning” with aluminum tape fives me exactly the cut I’m looking for.



If using this method, slow progression is necessary to prevent chipping of the sealer/coot coat.

I’m ready to begin….



I start with the ¾ inch curve at the top of the neck. I pre warm the binding to facilitate bending. I do so by holding the binding with my fingers in the heat stream, this prevents me from allowing it to get too hot. The binding virtually melts at relatively low temperature.



Once it becomes pliable, I form the binding to match the curve, apply a bit of glue, and using the highly specialized tool, it comes in a set of various sizes, I clamp the curved section and tape it securely an in inch or so down stream. I’ll wait a few minutes for it to dry/cure.. I’m using CA here.

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Here is that highly specialized too.



often this part will not glue firmly, I’ll address that later…



Now, it’s a matter of applying the glue, pressing the binding into the channel, applying the tape, and moving on…. Since I’m using a relative fast setting CA, I only do about 6 inches at a time.

I proceed around the body, but check what has been done to assure the binding is firmly seated. Sometimes it will cause the tape to stretch, producing a gap. While it’s still fresh, additional pressure (tape) will cure such.



pre cut the tape, so you don’t have to stop and cut as your glue is setting up..



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Now I check carefully to be certain it’s all secure. Remember the small section. I work a drop of CA into the crack and use a spring clamp for a few moments..



This baby’s bound…..So I let it sit for about an hour… sure CA is “instant” but all normally available glues require a bit of time to cure to full strength...

Once I’m confident is firmly adhered, I dress the tips at the neck pocket...



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Here’s a little trick I was shown many years ago. The binding is typically Acetate Celluloid plastic… nice thing about Acetate is how rapidly it is dissolved by acetone.. no smoking for this procedure or the last thing your wife sees of you, after she pops in to see what the BOOM! was, is your charred butt flying through the air over your neighbor’s house.

Often there will be a gap or two, somewhere that just will not close. Take a small section of the binding and soak it in the acetone for a few minutes. It will swell up into a gooey glop of filler.



it doesn’t take long…. Now just apply it as though you were filling flaws in the wood with wood filler…



Allow it to dry… it’ll take several hours…. Sand… and bingo… no more gap…

Now a little sanding, and on to the real color….

Ron Kirn

[Buckocaster51]

Wow! You do that without messing up the finish. I usually have CA smeared and goobered all over. It gets under the tape and runs everywhere.

You sir, are my absolute idol!

[Ronkirn]

aww.. I just don't like picking it off my fingers in the evening...

Oh... that reminds me....if you choose to use model airplane cement, it is acetone based. therefore it will melt the surface of the binding slightly so when you press it into place, it will fill many of the irregularities normally encountered when doing binding.

Ron Kirn

[maestrovert]

Hot Diggity Ron, i'm literally droolin' !
will this 'un be double bound ?

Thanx for sharing !

[Ronkirn]

Nope. just single bound... now wipe that drool....

rk

[tdowns]

Great work once again Ron. I'd screw that up six ways to Sunday.

TD

[Ronkirn]

I'd screw that up six ways to Sunday.

Yeah?? but you would know what happened at the molecular level..



RK

[teleflyer]

This is wonderful, Ron.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us..

Stradivari at work..

As long as mankind has artists like you, there is hope for this planet..

Can't wait to see this piece of art finished.

On the other hand seeing you work at it, one wishes that artistry may never stop...

Just awesome to watch...

Congratulations

[Beatbx]

Hey Ron, hope you fared well through the storm. We had a decent sized limb come down on my garage, but it only took a couple hours to chop up and we luckily never lost electricity. It was pretty intense for 'just' a tropical storm.

[HiggyDude]

Ron - thanks again for sharing. As I have been binding a few bodies of my own I came across a quick tip with the tape. I made a small PVC tape holder to place cut pieces ready to use. I realized when I cut the tape that I would slightly fold over the end of the tape on the roll to make it easier to peel off the next piece. Then I started removing the tape from the first body - what a pain...

So I was hit with two ideas - 1) for each piece of tape slightly fold over one edge - that way when you go to peel the tape off you don't have to dig under an edge - the small fold makes the tape easily gripped to remove. 2) I realized that applying sand-n-sealer to the bodies before binding them makes the tape much easier to remove, helps reduce any scratches I might make on the body while clamping and moving it to bind it and prevents the build up of adhesive from the tape on the body. I decided to start another thread for this (if anyone cares...) - here is the link

[JasonRobert]

sorry to take this back a few steps, but what setting did you have the iron on to lift the grain?

[Ron Garson]

I hope that the alcohol used to wipe the stain is not a fine single malt!

[MandyMarie]

Whew...Ron, that's simply amazing.

[Ronkirn]

but what setting did you have the iron on to lift the grain?

Pedal to the metal.... I want steam.... lots of steam..

I hope that the alcohol used to wipe the stain is not a fine single malt!

Are you crazy!! Think I want Sucellus coming around in the night to "get" me...Oooooooo..... creapy....

Thanks Mandy....

Ron

[Ronkirn]

I'm sorry guys.... I'm ready to spray lacquer... and it's so humid I cant... it's driving me nuts..and we have another Storm headed our way..... where's muh scuba gear....

rk

[Shepherd]

Hey Ron, how many hours do you figure goes into building one of your guitars?

[Ronkirn]

Sheesh.. I never really thought about it... should I include the time to take photos too? The Average wait is 6 weeks... parts availability is really the only hangup..and the dawggone humidity... grrrr...

Everything is relatively fast except the finishing…. And the final assembly and setup… It takes a minute to apply a coat of lacquer…. Wait 30 min… and do it again… it’s the waiting that takes the time…

Ron Kirn

[scubadoo]

Wow, this is great. Perfect timing for me as I'm about to do the staining and binding on my double f-hole thinline. Think i might wait a little and learn some more from you.

Thanks Ron

[Ronkirn]

Well we’ve had a few days with little or no rain, so the humidity is back down where it can be controlled… so let’s get it on…

The back of the guitar will be a rich amber – orange – brown. Rather like some of the old guitars from the 40’s. To begin, I take a few ounces of lacquer and dig out my collection of Sherwin Williams dyes.. Oh, for those having a difficult time finding it, here is what you want..



This bottle is about a hundred bux, so just ask for a few oz.

Oh well back to the lab…. I take a few oz of lacquer and add what I believe is a good starting point, 10 drops of yellow, 2 of brown and 1 red.



Be sure to jot down where you are…



Now mix it up, and put a drop on a white sheet of paper, keeping in mind that the sealer is a “Salmon” shade. And will influence the final color…



Aaaaaaahhhhh , ain’t there yet……

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

So.. I increase the yellow by 10 drops and the red by 2, note the changes… and drop a drip, or is it drip a drop, on the paper…. That looks about what I’m looking for.





Keeping the spray thin so the tint is controllable, I begin spraying, Here I stopped half way across the back, which is all that gets sprayed here… so you could see the difference in the salmon color of the primer/sealer and the tint I’m spraying.



it took about 3 thin coats to get the shade I wanted, here it is as think it should be..



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

So with the correct color, I give it a couple of clear coats to lock it down…

Here you see a nice shot of the lights in the ceiling..



and one of the slight orange peal..



I let it harden for a few hours, then Ill get to the top….

Ron Kirn

[Shepherd]

Do you find that the flourecent lighting throws off the colour? I had a hell of a time getting the right butterscotch tint on my last guitar. It would look perfect in the shop but in natural or incandecent lighting it was @%*&%!
Quite a difference.