OK... so I promised... here ya are. . . .

One, I had top stop, the wife was complaining about the sawdust in the bed and the noise... Picky, picky. . .

Ron Kirn

 

I didn't get anything done today... I had a paint faux pas to remedy today.. so I been snortin' Lacquer instead of spruce dust today....

Ron Kirn

 

Moving right along. . . at this point, I want to be certain, that everything aligns correctly. This is one area many neglect. Crooked things give a very “home made” appearance. So just to be sure…. Set a neck in the pocket and take a straight edge and extend the to the tremolo cutout. Then place the loaded pickguard and a Tremolo, and see where everything falls, if all is good, let’s get ‘er done.





So now, we’re good to go, so back to the panel sander to take a few thousandths off the top and bottom to clean everything up.



Remember the Router collet being to low and burning around the Back Tremolo rout?



It’s gone. . ..

Ron Kirn

 

Now. Prior to routing the round-over, I want to sand the outside edged, Sand? Now? Yep.. I do this now because the bearing on the ½ inch radius round over bit will follow the edge, any irregularities will be reproduced in the rounded over edge, producing more sanding.



I use a spindle sander inside the horns, and a random orbit on the outside edges, that’s this time…. I generally grab and./or use whatever tool is the handiest at the moment,.



I’ll give the top and bottom a quick touch too.



Now, set the router bit, and check the cut, note here I am testing it on a section that will be removed when the back contour is cut.



I set the bit to cut just a few thousandths more, the “fuzz” will be removed during sanding.

Ron Kirn

 

When I do the round over, I do the back side inside the horns first. This because You must stop a little short of the Neck heel, and finish the round over into that section by hand. By making a habit of doing it in this fashion, I automatically think of it, thus preventing routing too far.



Once that is done, it’s simply a matter of going around the body.



ON the top side, I continue routing into the neck pocket, this produces a natural round right up to the edge of the neck pocket.

At this point the body is lookin’ pretty good….



Many won’t have access to such tools, but here you see me using a highly specialized abrasive sliding correcting tool. Developed at Lawrence-Livermore in conjunction with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, I received a call one day, asking my advice, I sed, “ Why don’t ya stick sum sandpaper on uh little block of wood, awdduh do it. So they contracted it out to Lockheed-Martin’s Skunk Works and had a few made, cost $38,093.32 each, they sent me the one you see here… U buyin’ this?

Take a small block and sand the edges, you don’t want then too thin because you’ll snap ‘em off.



Now, lets attack those contours.

Ron Kirn

 

The Vintage Strats had much more pronounced contours than those seen on many guitars today, the Arm contour extended well below the centerline. I draw a diagonal line as a guide,



And while I’m at it I’ll mark the back indicating the back contour.



Then I mark the approximate depth of the relative cuts..





So now I have a problem, all the wood is in my way….so with the finesse of a stick of dynamite, I select an appropriate tool..

Ron Kirn

 

For those prone to using Starrett or Browne & Sharpe tools, I’m sure you’re wondering how I determine exactly where to cut the contours. That’s easy, I cut them in the shop, hehehe.

There was no standard, these were done by hand back then, so if it looks right, it is.

So with all the lumber in the way, I use a very aggressive grinder to rough it out, some us a band saw, but what ever method you select is fine.



I simply remove the lumber to approximately the depth I’m looking for.



One thing to note, I have seen many done where the contour is way too flat, it should have a nice round contour, on one axis, it is NOT a compound curve



Once it is about where it need to be… there are several ways to do this, the most accessible tool would be a wide, about 6 inches, by whatever piece of flat material with some coarse sandpaper glued to it.



Using this you can remove massive amounts of wood quickly.

RK

 

Using the block, continue sanding until the contour looks pretty flat.



Now, mark up the area with a pencil, this will allow you to see any low areas, stopping before getting it all consistent will result in a very poor finish.



Now continue sanding with the flat block, observing the pencil marks. Continue until they are gone.





Once they are gone, finish sand with your sander of choice, to about 150 grit.

RK

 

Now, I get “Green” using all natural resources, I step out side and allow the sunlight to fall across the contour, the shadows will reveal any irregularities, If any are seen, resume using the flat sander until you have s smooth consistent roll.







Now, we have to round over the edge.

I mark a reference line that is consistent with where the round over done with the router, flows into the top.




rk

 

I then mark a second line about ½ the distance to the edge and repeat on the outside edge.



Now using a sanding block I make the first cut keeping within the inside lines, watching to make the cut consistent around the edge. When I get close I will use a finer sand paper to give me better control on the degree of cut.

Here I am just about done.



and here it is pretty much complete.



Now, who said that? Sure it looks pretty rough at this point. But this is fine for the moment. If you like you can give it the sunlight treatment to address any gross irregularities. But I will not complete the edge round over until I am doing the finish sanding prior to sealing the lumber.

Here she is with the sunlight falling over the edge.



on to the back… tomorrow……

Ron Kirn