My first build...Mahogany - Spruce Dreadnaught

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Henry Meadows
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:44 pm
Location: Clay City, KY

My first build...Mahogany - Spruce Dreadnaught

Post by Henry Meadows »

I do not have any pictures yet, but I have began my first build attempt...a scratch build. This guitar will be Mahogany back/sides with Bloodwood binding, end wedge, and peg-head overlay. The Mahogany was from Stew-Mac; .094 thick. I bent the sides on a Fox-style bender purchased from John Hall (Blues Creek Guitars); thanks for the great service John. I had never even witnessed side bending, but had read many topics on this forum and watched as many You-tube videos as possible...including the Blues Creek videos. i sprayed a little water on the sides, fitted them into the bender, and turned it on. Once the bender reached 225 - 250, I bent the lower bout with no issues...amazing how easy it bent. By the time I got to the upper bout the temp was between 250 - 275. The upper bout did not seem to want to bend at all. I heard a loud crack and the upper bout immediately bent. I went ahead and bent the waist...figuring the side cracked but wanted the experience of the whole process. Upon completion of the bend, the temp was about 300; I turned off the bender for cool-down. When the heat-blanket was cool to the touch, I removed the side from the bender; surprisingly there was no sign of any cracking at all. I had a similar cracking sound on the second upper bout; again no sign of any cracking. I guessed it was actually the steel slat resisting going from straight to bent, possibly a slight cupping in the plate (due to alignment or something). At any rate, I have the sides glues to the blocks, reverse rounded kerfed linings installed, and the radii sanded into the rims (16' back and 28' sound-board. More to follow, I have an appointment to go to right now. You were all right, this is a lot of fun ;-)

Henry
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
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Re: My first build...Mahogany - Spruce Dreadnaught

Post by tippie53 »

Glad to hear things went well. Please enjoy the forum , as it is here for your enjoyment and to gain all the information we can make available.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Henry Meadows
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:44 pm
Location: Clay City, KY

Re: My first build...Mahogany - Spruce Dreadnaught

Post by Henry Meadows »

John,

The forum is great; and is the reason I started this build. I was always interested, but the individual procedures seemed too foreign. Information gained reading the forum put much of it into a realistic perspective. Thanks for all who share information so freely.

Henry
Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: My first build...Mahogany - Spruce Dreadnaught

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Wow Henry you are brave starting out with a scratch build.
We will look foward with anticipation pictures of your process and progress!

Kevin
Henry Meadows
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:44 pm
Location: Clay City, KY

Re: My first build...Mahogany - Spruce Dreadnaught

Post by Henry Meadows »

Kevin,

Not exactly a scratch build, I bought slotted, radius'd fretboards; as well as pre-formed braces. I have read this forum almost daily for several months now. It seems the long pole in the tent, so to speak, for scratch building was side bending; therefore, I thought it sensible to get the tooling to bend my own sides. That decision made a kit lose some appeal. I figured piece-milling would give me more options than buying a kit; therefore I started ordering tools and components. I am quickly seeing a need for better clamping methods...weights and a few common clamps are not much for building a process around. I will try to take some pictures; I have just been busy and cramming all the build time I can into my breaks. I have the plates jointed and am gluing braces to the soundboard. The vintage "zipper-back" back center seam trim is going to look nice, I think. Between dealing with the hospital concerning my dad's care and finishing the addition on my house, I am actually building on the dining room table...trying to get an impressive amount done before Amy gets tired of that lol. I will get some pics taken and post soon. I really apologize for no pice; I know how much I enjoy all the pics you all post.

Henry
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