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Spruce… its what’s for dinner.
Or at least it looks that way. It was recommended to cook the new spruce tops at 200 degrees for an hour. Then freeze, then cook again. This sets the pitch (sap) in the wood, basically...
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Back in action! (or some other cheesy tag line of a similar nature)
I was actually fairly unproductive this weekend compared to some. But I did get a few things done. Looked at the maple I cut for the backs and decided what grain orientation I liked. Traced on the...
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Whats next here?
Well got my three backs down to thickness, or pretty close. I may work the cherry one a bit more. Just resting on the sides for a bit of inspiration. Either its my poor scraping job, or I may see a...
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This post is legally binding…
Ok, forget legally, its just about binding. Last guitar I cut my own binding and purfling, which was fine, but they were thick a bit less detailed. This time I ordered veneer to make my binding and...
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The stuff that dreams… I mean… rosettes are made of.
All my binding, purfling and rosette materials are cut. I’ll probably need to build a scraping fixture to get some of them to perfect dimension. Here is the rosewood binding. Starting to work on the...
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Rainy day flash of lazy inspiration.
I had plans of making a scraping fixture for my purfling. Started looking for materials and ended up just clamping a blade I had made to the machinist vise. Just turn the vise screw to adjust...
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Days of wine and roses.
Actually it was only one day. No wine. And rosettes, not roses. Oh well. Lots done on the tops today. To make a long story short… I’ll use bullets. - thicknessed all my purfling - made a test...
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Last of the rosette nonsense.
I was pretty happy with the last two rosettes. Especially the channels, which came out really clean. I’m not sure if I could have done any better with a router. Nice and clean, all with hand tools....
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Brace yourself for another cheesy headline…
Wait, I used “brace yourself” already. Damn it. Oh well. I need to work on my delivery. Got some decent shop time in this weekend. Lots of bracing going on. I must say, working on three is a bit...
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I will do my best to stay away from any intended or unintended sir-mix-alot...
Lets just say that my first steel string has a rear exterior. Or as some more experienced than myself would say, “its a box”. I spared you the pics of bracing the back. Looks very similar to how...
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After much rim sanding, cutting, notching and gluing, here are the results.
Three OO shape boxes Last inside view of #5 Last glimpse inside #4 Three boxes done. My first three steel strings. Guitar numbers 3,4 & 5. This is probably all I’ll get done this week. Next step...
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Up way too early this morning. Again.
Got started on my binding and purfling. Fairly straightforward binding, but I’m using a lot of thin veneers which is a first. Held it up to the guitar just to make sure I liked it. Got everything...
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Its the little things…
Either my fingers are big, or these miter joints are very small. Filed under: Gibson OO build, Luthiery, Woodwork
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This is the end… graft.
Its a bit different than most, but I wanted to connect the rosewood purfling lines on the front and back. I used a strip in the center of the end graft to make the connection, rather than continuing...
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Progress report… still binding.
As much work as it is, I’m glad I do a few at a time. Each one I do, learn something that I apply to the next one before I forget it. For example, after the purfling goes on, I’ve really started to...
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Well that’s enough of these for now.
Guitar #4 -Flamed Maple Guitar #5- Cherry Three guitar bodies from the back Front View of 3 Finished the binding and end graft on all three. Just did some minor variations on the ends. The cherry...
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The necks are neck and neck… and neck?
Jeez, did I just type that? And will I leave it in? If so, pardon me, I’m tired and delirious. Necks. Yes. Almost there. Bullet point list to reduce potential risk for bad puns: - laminated 3...
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Expletive, expletive dovetail neck joint
Ok, this was tough. Probably one of the most challenging things I’ve done so far. The hand cut dove tail neck joint. Started my making templates to lay out the pieces. Marked the mortise on the body...
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Progressing… slowly.
After a few days of no real work in the shop, I was able to get a few things done over the past few days. Fit up my third dovetail neck. Paid close attention and used some quick gauges to make sure...
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I love bound fingerboards.
Therefore, I bound fingerboards. Still flat, they need to be sanded to a radius, but that will come later. On to shaping the necks. Filed under: Gibson OO build, Luthiery, Woodwork
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