New Dreadnaught

[jread]

Looking good! I've just started a similar body.

[phavriluk]

Just lovely. A good reinforcement to work patient, be neat, measure twice and enjoy the ride. Maybe even learn something along the way, too.

[John Reid]

Here’s the latest.

Finished the end wedge, binding and purfling.

I just started clearing out the dovetail mortise. I’d be curious to know how other people do this.

[TEETERFAN]

I can’t wait to see the finished instrument, that’s gonna be a good looking guitar! Thanks for posting your progress.

[John Reid]

An update.

I fitted the neck.

I took some burl wood and made a veneer for the headstock. Didn’t know if I could slice that big a piece of burl on the band saw thin enough and without the burl falling apart. Cut it in the range of 0.080-0.100”, then sanded it thinner and more uniform. Jointed the edges and glued them. Then, because the burl had cracks and gaps, filled them with ebony dust and CA. Seemed ok, so I glued it on the headstock.

Also tried a little piece of burl for the heel cap.

Lots of mishaps along the way. For example, when I glued the heel cap, I ended up with a gap between the heel cap and upper bout. So, I had to glue on a little piece of burl to fill the gap then sand it flush with the shoulder of the neck joint. (You can see the little splice in the inset photo.)

Also, did the fingerboard inlays, and registered and glued the fingerboard.

[carld05]

What kind of burl, John? The light color makes nice contrast to back and sides.
I've had luck stablizing burls and spalted wood (Manzanita, Oak,Yew, Black walnut) by poring clear casting epoxy over them (the kind used for table or bar tops). I think Diane has used the material to make tortoise shell appearing pickguards. How about burl pickguards? I'm trying one soon :-).

[John Reid]

I think birch. Here’s a couple photos of the tree. Please tell me if you think it is something else.

For my purposes, a good-sized burl. I also cut out a few small blocks for my brother to use as reel seats in his bamboo rods.

Yes, I’d very much like to try it as a pick guard in the future.

[John Reid]

I was almost finished making the bridge for this guitar when I noticed a hairline crack. There was a mark on the side I was trying to sand out, but it wouldn’t sand out, and as I looked closer at it, I realized it was a crack that ran halfway across the bridge. It also shows up on the top, but you can’t see that in the picture. Point is, the crack is not just on the surface.

My inclination is to start over and make a new bridge, but I thought I’d show the forum. I thought one possibility was to wick in some CA.

Do you think that is a good idea? I really don’t want a weak bridge and am perfectly willing to start over.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Hey John
I am usually very comfortable wicking in CA...as much as it will take, top and back and sand in a little on the surface it will disappear. I've done this with fretboards and other ebony parts. I don't think there is any stress on the bridge that will cause an issue.

[John Reid]

I was thinking there is a lot of stress on the bridge. Doesn’t the fact that bridges “lift up” over time indicate that? I suppose the fact that the whole bottom surface of the bridge gets glued to the top should help, but I thought a crack would diminish the integrity of the bridge. I guess what I mean by that is that a non-cracked bridge might be significantly weaker than a cracked one. Would the CA make the bridge “whole” again?