A nylon string crossover......

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Thanks Darryl, what are you working on these days?

I have the braces shaped on the back, the rims top and back are sanded as needed. I think I finally have my mind wrapped around the geometry for the neck angle, bridge height, etc. It seems I can create some forward tilt on my neck by shimming the neck block between the block and the mold to cause it to lean forward. Then when I bolt on my neck, I will place it 90 degrees to the side, and I should have the forward tilt. I just have to calculate how much I want there.
I've decided to put maple bindings on this guitar with .010" black side purflings, so I glued up some maple stock last night that I'll cut up and run through the drum sander so I'll have the bindings ready. I have some nice looking claro walnut I've wanted to use for a bridge so I may do that and some burly walnut for the headstock veneer...maybe. The fretboard is madagascar rosewood, but has coloring similar to the walnut, and I also have some madie rosewood bridge stock that is similarly colored that I may also use. End wedge is going to be maple matching the bindings. Not sure yet about the rosette, but most likely a wood ring with BWB purfling inside and out. BWB purfling around the top and back, keeping this scheme pretty simple.

Still trying to decide whether to use spanish cedar or mahogany for the neck. I also have Sapele but it may be too heavy for a small body with nylon strings, but I've seen some classical guitars are being made using sapele necks, so what does that tell me?
More pictures after tonight.

Kevin

[johnnparchem]

I have made classical guitars with the neck forward 2 mm when measured at the nut and with a flat neck to body joint. With the pitched neck you will have to deal with the angle mismatch between the body and the neck with the fret board. When I made mine I tapered the back of the fret board extension so that it laid flat. If I was doing a bolt on I would just build with 0 neck angle with the neck flat to the body and taper the entire fretboard if necessary to get the right geometry. An even 1 mm tapering from the nut, measured at the 12th fret (1 and a bit at the end of the fret board) Is the same as a 2 mm forward shift when measured at the nut).

If you have the Brune 37 Hauser plans you can see that Hauser tapered the fret board to get the correct geometry. Robbie use to have a short Classical build DVD the came free with LMI kits that also built flat and tapered the fret board to achieve the correct geometry.

For Spanish style neck joints my solera has the angle built in, I do not shim the top like Robbie does. Shimming the block as you are describing seems complicated to me.

This look like a fun project.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Yes John the more I think about it the more I think I'll stay on a flat plane and taper the fretboard as needed for the relief. I don't want to complicate things. This is an experiment for me.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Making progress little by little.
Maple end wedge is in, scarf joint is on the neck with the top veneers glued on, and the back braces are carved and the back is fit to the rims.
I'm going to put a veneer on the back of the peghead just looking for the right wood as I don't have another piece of Madagascar rosewood. Thought about Sapele to match the body, but that wont give much contrast to the cedar.

Kevin

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Tonight I routed out the shape and slots of the headstock using the method the Robbie O'Brien shows in his video. This works very well. I got a wee bit of splintering along the outside edge in one spot of the face veneer, and along one of the slots, but this is do to the Madagascar Rosewood being very splintery wood, not the method. The sapele veneer on the back side cut beautifully. I used the LMI drilling jig to do the tuner holes. What a time saver.

Then I cut out and installed the rosette. The rosette is birdseye redwood. I have some nice boards that have been around here for 20 years that I cut up, have stabilized and use for knife handles, and I thought today..."that wood would make a beautiful rosette", so there it is, ringed in BWB purflings that will also go around the border next to maple binding, front and back. The redwood will become much darker once it has the finish on it. The top is Western Red Cedar.
And that is all for now, until next week as I'm spending the weekend at the lake cabin. :)

Kevin

[Kevin Sjostrand]

more pics

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Well things don't always turn out the way we want or expect them too.......
So I had my top thicknessed to about .100" and was going to start gluing on the fan braces. I laid the top in my 30ft radius gluing jig and gently pushed down on the top to see how it would conform, and I felt a crease on the inside about 2' left of the center line. I turned the top over and I'll be darned if there wasn't a crack in that top from the bottom edge up about 8". It was a very clean break not even all the way through the fibers to the other side, so I figured I could fix it pretty easily. So I took my Titebond Translucent glue, opened the crack up and squeeged in some of the glue, laid the top down and used masking tape stretched as a means of clamping the joint, and when it was dry and sanded...boy oh boy it as not even detectable. So I proceeded to glue in the bridge patch and when it was dry, I pulled the top from the go-bar deck, turned it over and there was a "book matched" crack on the other side of the center line.. Yep! A flaw in the top that didn't expose itself until this point in the process. So I figured, no problemo, I'll fix it like the other side, but this time the crack did separate all the way through and my first attempt to glue it didn't take, so I did the unthinkable, and wicked in some CA. This time it held, but the crack line showed. I scraped it down and it pretty much looks like a sap line, not quite like a dark grain line, and it goes up into the top about 4 inches and then stops. Hmmmm.. Well I cleated both cracks on the underside and went ahead and braced the top. The cedar top is a AA grade so has much grain variation showing, which I don't mind at all so this repair to a degree blends in. No one would know but me, and this guitar is for meeeeeeeee.
So I've decided to use it. It seems the cracks are very secure now, and no one will see the underside to see them.
I could start over, and I would if this guitar was for someone else, but for me, it is going to be a player so I'm good with it.
so the saga continues..........


Kevin

[johnnparchem]

Well that was not the best of luck. In the same situation I would keep and have kept using a top as you repaired it as well. I recently switched to hide glue for top crack repair as I get multiple chances to get it right. I do not use it for anything else yet. I use a small plastic cup, put in the right amount of glue and water. I let it sit overnight and carefully heat it with a microwave (20-25 seconds). From there I just use it while it is warm. I went this way as I am very quick to pull out the CA. Really bad with spruce.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Yeah my bad on the CA but it makes since because it is going to wick into the grain....next time brain first.

[johnnparchem]

Yeah my bad on the CA but it makes since because it is going to wick into the grain....next time brain first.

Yes, thin CA is amazing stuff. It will wick in to a closed crack and goes where it is needed. That is why I so often turn to it as well.