The Emeraldcaster Project (aka Son of Meloncaster)

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by BarnesTO

Can't wait to see! You don't make all your pickguards, do you?

I've made a few of them...but it is much easier to just plop a store-bought one on the old geetar.

When you can get away with it that is.

[BarnesTO]

Gonna be beveled three ply?

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by BarnesTO

Gonna be beveled three ply?

That's the plan...and probably Mother of Toilet Seat!

[Buckocaster51]

Did I say I was going to start working with SHARP objects?





Those #11 blades...they're sharp!

Good thing I have lots of cyanoacrylate glue laying around here!

[mofugly13]

Ouch! Nice sparklefingers, though.

[ehawley]

I think the glitter helps to coagulate that !!

Great work!(the guitar..not the cut)

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by ehawley

I think the glitter helps to coagulate that !!

Yup. Sure. Anything you say Ed.

I scraped the bindings and tried to get them all cleaned up for the clear coat.



Also took a utility knife blade and ran it around the edge of the binding a few times at about a 45° angle to round it over a bit.

I put a drop of cyanoacrylate on the glitter in one of those "invisible" places. Sort of an expedient clear coat.

It really brought the sparkle out.

I'm getting eager to get these bad boys done.

[reddogbass]

Hey- My eyes must be bad or something, but I didn't realize before this latest closeup that the binding is wood. The "checkerboard" is wood too?

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by reddogbass

Hey- My eyes must be bad or something, but I didn't realize before this latest closeup that the binding is wood. The "checkerboard" is wood too?

Your eyes are fine. Both the binding and checkerboards are 100% pure plastic.

Scraping some overspray off gave it some grain.

It should turn nice and black under the clear coat.

(Gee, I use the phrase "it should" an awful lot!)

[jwells393]

More perplexing to me right now is the pickguard.

You've probably already thought of this but it seems like you could lay a pickguard on the upper part ........... then lay a pickguard on the lower part.......... tape the pickguards together and use that to draw and cut your rough template. Then if you have a normal Tele pickguard template use it to cut neckpockets, bridge notches, control notch(es) and the lower horn in the rough template. Finish any other parts with sandpaper and files. Then with the beast assembled test the template for fit before attacking a big piece of pickguard material.

[Buckocaster51]

Jack, that is very similar to what I have been thinking about doing.

Thanks for the input.

It should be fun.

[Buckocaster51]

Back to the bound headstock.

Somebody...a genius who shall remain nameless...has talked me into trying to put checkerboard binding around one.

Trouble is, the checkerboard stuff doesn't bend very well...



and it has some very serious bends to to around.

but I think that if we cut down the depth of the stock a bit, we'll shoot for half, we can get it to bend more easily. Don't want to mess with the thickness though. That is a constant.

Let's make a trip to the belt sander.



Time to rob a bank! No fingerprints on that hand now!



On the left is the new, improved, able-to-go-around-compound-curves checkerboard purfling.

It is a bit more than half the depth of the original...and a LOT more flexible.

The fat lady may yet sing!

[skyboltone]

I was kinda wondering if a guy made a MDF template of a headstock, then boiled the purfling, then bent it around till it cooled. Has anyone tried that?

DanH

[wikur]

Thanks Bucko!
I`m not so hot for the idea of a bound headstock but I`m eagerly following
every step you take.
The birth of the emeraldcaster has been a joy to follow and I hope that you`ll
be satisfied with the final result.
From lookin at the pictures it will be great!!!
I`m still working on my first project,your tutorials has made it so much easier for me.
Thanks,Wikur!!!!

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by skyboltone

I was kinda wondering if a guy made a MDF template of a headstock, then boiled the purfling, then bent it around till it cooled. Has anyone tried that?

DanH

Probably.

Unless the heat and water made it fall apart.

Or something like that.

Although it has never happened to me, mainly because I haven't tried it, I have heard stories like that. Especially with wooden bindings and purflings.

But I make up most of this as I go along.

If you know what I mean.

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by wikur

Thanks Bucko!
I`m not so hot for the idea of a bound headstock but I`m eagerly following
every step you take.
The birth of the emeraldcaster has been a joy to follow and I hope that you`ll
be satisfied with the final result.
From lookin at the pictures it will be great!!!
I`m still working on my first project,your tutorials has made it so much easier for me.
Thanks,Wikur!!!!

You are more than welcome.

Much of the joy of this comes from sharing.

I think the bound headstock will work on this guitar because of the finish it is going to have. Sort of a super deluxe Blingcaster.

If you know what I mean!

[Buckocaster51]

Just as a review...we are going to try to remove the wood where the binding and purfling are going to go with this tool.



It is a gizmo that violin makers, and I guess acoustic guitar makers, use to cut binding and purfling channels...at least back in the days before 'lectricity and routers.

Basically, we sharpen the blade, set it to the right depth, and go round, and around, and around...



and around



and around



there are probably faster ways to do this stuff...but gosh, it is cold out in the garage where I have my router table. Even if I did it with a router, we would still have to do it by hand around those compound curves.

If you know what I mean.

[Buckocaster51]

if we go around enough, eventually pieces of wood will start to fall out where the side cut and top cut meet.



With the aid of a sharp utility knife, the purfling cutter, and my brand new "I Want to be like Leo" clip on magnifier glasses...



the wood between the lines is gone!

We're ready to put some binding in!

You may have noticed my age under my avatar. Sometimes I think I am one of the young ones around here.

I've been fighting being able to see what I am doing for several years. Glasses on. Glasses off. Over the bifocals. Under the bifocals. Bright lights. Squinting.

I've gotten by. But it hasn't been a lot of fun.

Spent a few dollars on those ciip-ons/flip-ups.

Money WELL SPENT!

Maybe the best money I have spent on a tool lately. And a LOT less than $100.

4X pure optical bliss...and now that I am done for the night, my eyes aren't all wacked out from squinting.

I'm a happy camper!

this guy should try them...he might become a nicer person!

[Buckocaster51]

This is an Allparts lacquered neck.

When I was cutting the channel some pretty big chunks of finish fell off.

Here's a couple of chunks of it.



0.011" thick

not passing judgement...just informing...the finish I put back on will be MUCH thicker than that.

[jimmybusk]

Not only do you Really know what you're doing., but you explain it so clearly,and entertaining !

[getbent]

is that snidely whiplash?