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Back to my neck-through baritone guitar build. I've bandsawed the neck blank to profile and sanded the faces flat and smooth.
Nexk has 7 layers: maple/mahogany/maple/pau ferro/maple/mahogany/maple.
Next is angled 3° w.r.t. the body; headstock a further 10° w.r.t the neck.
Nexk has 7 layers: maple/mahogany/maple/pau ferro/maple/mahogany/maple.
Next is angled 3° w.r.t. the body; headstock a further 10° w.r.t the neck.
Cutting pieces for the body wings from a mahogany board.
There will be a 1/8" thick pau ferro accent layer between the mahogany body and flamed myrtle top. Here I'm resawing this piece from a big chunk of pau ferro.
Trust rod slot routed.
Future pau ferro accent stripe drum sanded to 0.125" (1/8").
Book-matched myrtle top (which I glued up earlier) sanded to final thickness of 0.375" (3/8").
Finally, mahogany body wings brought to final thickness of 1.25" (1-1/4").
Mahogany body wings jointed on the router table. These surfaces (which will be glued up flush to the neck) will be touched up as necessary with a hand plane and/or cabinet scraper.
Sweet: this joint looks pretty close to perfect already.
Templates are needed for the next steps. Here I'm trimming 1/4" MDF (onto which I traced the body plan) to pencil lines.
I almost always have music playing when working on my instruments - it keeps steps like this from becoming too monotonous, and I like to imagine that it infuses the instruments.
Today I'm listening to @thebroslandreth.
Today I'm listening to @thebroslandreth.
Gluing the pau ferro accent stripe to the mahogany body wings; air pressure is providing the clamping force here in the vacuum bag.
I had to open the bag up to move things around a bit, so there'll be some cleanup involved.
I had to open the bag up to move things around a bit, so there'll be some cleanup involved.
Laminated body wings cleaned up on the router table + drum sander, and the outline has been traced from template in preparation for cutting on the bandsaw.
I've also trimmed the through-neck closer to flush with the wings. Once the wings are glued in place, I'll trim it perfectly flush with the wings using the router. This is necessary to accommodate the bookmatched top.
Wings trimmed to final shape on the spindle/belt sander. Here I'm mocking up using the off-cuts as clamping cauls (with a leather strip as cushion).
Glued and clamped.
Out of the clamps and cleaned up.
Mmmm, tasty wood sandwich: Honduras mahogany, maple, H. mahogany, rock maple, pau ferro, maple, mahog, maple, and mahogany.
Front surface cleaned up with the router and some careful sanding.
Front view sandwich. (As before, but with the body's pau ferro accent layers showing.)
Gluing wings to the headstock to bring it up to width.
Pickup and bridge ground wiring paths routed to future location of the electronics cavity.
Today I tackled a step that I've been pondering for a good long time: cutting a mortice into the guitar's top to snugly fit around the raised neck. To look right, it has to be a friction fit.
I was so deep into the process that I didn't take pictures of this step.
I was so deep into the process that I didn't take pictures of this step.
With a friction fit achieved, my attention turned to the truss rod cover.
I wanted the cover to blend into the guitarcs top as much as possible, so I found a saw with a very thin kerf: 0.01". Then I carefully aligned a reference block and started sawing.
I wanted the cover to blend into the guitarcs top as much as possible, so I found a saw with a very thin kerf: 0.01". Then I carefully aligned a reference block and started sawing.
After cutting the other side in the same manner, I freed the future truss rod cover.
(The portion of the top I'm cutting through here is in the location of the neck pickup.)
(The portion of the top I'm cutting through here is in the location of the neck pickup.)
Here's the result. Whew!
And one with the future truss rod cover in place.
Time to glue on the top. First, carefully align the top's seam with the centerline of the body, and drill a hole for an alignment dowel.
Then, cut the top a bit oversized on the bandsaw. Test fit.
The top is Umbellularia californica, a.k.a. California bay laurel, Oregon myrtle, pepperwood, spicebush, cinnamon bush, headache tree, and balm of heaven. (How those last two can coexist I haven't the faintest idea.)
The top is Umbellularia californica, a.k.a. California bay laurel, Oregon myrtle, pepperwood, spicebush, cinnamon bush, headache tree, and balm of heaven. (How those last two can coexist I haven't the faintest idea.)
(I drilled the dowel hole, by the way, in the future location if the bridge block.)
Glued up, with body-shaped 1/2" mdf cauls top and bottom (plus that block of mahogany for the centre).
I used ALL the clamps.
I used ALL the clamps.
(Empty mustard bottles make great wood glue dispensers, by the way.)
Clamps off and cleaned up on the stationary belt/spindle sander.
Headstock wings sanded flush with the central portion.
Here I'm also showing the ebony faceplate, into which (probably close to a decade ago) I inlaid my initials with gold mother-of-pearl.
Here I'm also showing the ebony faceplate, into which (probably close to a decade ago) I inlaid my initials with gold mother-of-pearl.
Faceplate and pinstripe veneers glued to headstock.
Clamps off.
The thin veneers of mahogany and maple I've glued behind the faceplate are subtle - visible, really, only on close inspection. Here's a shaving that shows them.
Since I inlaid my initials in the faceplate many years ago, here are some photos from a previous build to show the process.
First, I sketched my design much larger than the final inlay (as shown here), and then reduced the sketch down to size using a photocopier.
First, I sketched my design much larger than the final inlay (as shown here), and then reduced the sketch down to size using a photocopier.
The size reduction is that it makes for very thin pencil lines. I then roughly cut out the reduced letters and glued them to the mother-of-pearl using cyanoacrylate glue. Then it's simply a matter of cutting the MOP using a jeweler's saw w/very fine blades. Here's my setup.
The goal is to cut exactly on the lines - this way, the initials will be neither oversized nor undersized.
It's not uncommon for the piece to break *just* when you think you're home free.
It's not uncommon for the piece to break *just* when you think you're home free.
Once you have intact pieces cut out, a little cleanup with fine files completes the task.
I then spot-glued them in their final locations on the faceplate blank and traced them carefully with the tip of an X-Acto knife.
I then rubbed chalk into the thin cuts created by the X-Acto knife. These delineated the areas that needed to be cleared out using the dremel tool (mounted to a small router base).
Ready for gluing.
Glued in using cyanacrylate glue.
Sanded flush.
Whew. Today I tackled the one step that worries me most in an instrument build like this one: routing the headstock.
First, given the symmetry of my design and the clear visual references provided by the neck laminates, it's noticable if the routing template is off by 1/100".
First, given the symmetry of my design and the clear visual references provided by the neck laminates, it's noticable if the routing template is off by 1/100".
Second, routers are good at ripping out chunks of wood, especially on end grain (like the top of the headstock) or with "climbing" grain.
Here I used a sharp new bit, took only very shallow passes, and paid attention to the grain.
Success!
Here I used a sharp new bit, took only very shallow passes, and paid attention to the grain.
Success!
In preparation for gluing on the fretboard, I've sanded the faceplate and veneers to be coplanar with the front face of the neck.
Alright - back to work on this build. It's been a few weeks due to the heat we've been enjoying(?) here in Edmonchuck lately.
Let's talk templates.
Let's talk templates.
I'd estimate I spend as much time or more making templates as I do working on the actual guitar, at least for the first build of any model. It's how you go from paper to wood.
I make templates and jigs whenever possible. This template allows me to precisely route the pickup and bridge block pockets, and ensures that their relative positions are correct and repeatable.
Templates require the use of either a template-following bit, which has a bearing with the same radius as the cutters, or a rub collar. For the former, the template is true-sized; for the latter, the template cutouts need to be oversized.
Routers cut beautifully - but can also rip out chunks of wood if working against the grain or cutting unsupported bits. I'm concerned about "tearout" in wood near the upper right corner of this route, and so will spend some time buttressing it.
It's not all that pretty, but it's a good fit and should keep that upper right-hand corner from tearing out.
With the template affixed in place, we're ready to route. The neck pickup's route will be 3/4" deep and the bridge pickup route 1/2" - they differ given the angle the strings come off the neck, which is reclined 3° w/respect to the body.
The bridge block route will be 5/8" deep.
The bridge block route will be 5/8" deep.
Hold up. Before taking any tool to wood, I ask myself, "What am I missing?"
In this case, the template uses a rub collar, and so the cut occurs 1/16" inside the template's cutout. This means there's a 1/16" bit of wood that would be unsupported by my buttress. Back in a bit.
In this case, the template uses a rub collar, and so the cut occurs 1/16" inside the template's cutout. This means there's a 1/16" bit of wood that would be unsupported by my buttress. Back in a bit.
@was_at_crows, my most important lesson is to continually ask yourself the following: "How do I not screw this up now?"
Make it your mantra.
Make it your mantra.
