Guitar #2. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

[Diane Kauffmds]

I designed the most important part of this guitar! The LABEL!!! This time around, I'll remember to install it before closing the box!

[johnnparchem]

Diane,

The guitar is looking great. I will be interested to hear that top. I always wait to the end to install the label. I have spilled stuff on ones I installed early. Your work is so neat I suspect you will not have the same problems I have.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Your bracing looks great Diane, nice and light.
I always put my label in just before stringing the guitar up, but on the classical I'm building, I placed it before gluing on the back. Like John, I have issues, and I'm already wondering if I should have waited. Lots of sawdust going in on top of that label so far. I do coat my labels with lacquer though to seal them. :)

[Diane Kauffmds]

I've been thinking of ways to protect the label. I print my labels on photographic paper. The archival ink in my printer is supposed to be waterproof, but cleaning it would be a challenge. The smaller soundhole coupled with an inconveniently placed back brace, make placing it tricky after the box is closed, especially since I fix a blue wax seal to it. I thought I'd cover it with a piece of paper secured by low tack tape, which should be easy to remove once work is complete. Or, it may be better to find a way to close off the soundhole until the finishing process is done, which would probably be a better idea.

Thank you for the compliments. Dried glue drips and smears drive me insane, and I clean them immediately. I like working on my front porch and the humidity has been right for gluing. However the temps have been up and the glue set up so fast that I wasn't able to completely remove the squeeze out to my satisfaction. I spent a couple of hours scraping today.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Diane,

The guitar is looking great. I will be interested to hear that top. I always wait to the end to install the label. I have spilled stuff on ones I installed early. Your work is so neat I suspect you will not have the same problems I have.

It didn't look so neat when a couple of my braces decided to do the watusi while I was trying to get the gobars in place.

[MaineGeezer]

I told you about Carter's trick for plugging the sound hole during finishing, didn't I? He puts a blown-up balloon in the guitar so it blocks the hole.

[Diane Kauffmds]

I told you about Carter's trick for plugging the sound hole during finishing, didn't I? He puts a blown-up balloon in the guitar so it blocks the hole.

I must have subliminally remembered you saying something about that, because I thought of doing the same thing. Thanks!

[Diane Kauffmds]

X marks the spot. I took a closeup of my X joint, because it's the best joint I've made so far. It's tight, but not too tight for humidity changes.

I almost hate to cover it. I usually put a thin veneer of wood across it; I thought about using cloth this time...

[Diane Kauffmds]

It's a box!

Yesterday, I attached the back. Since I fix a seal to the edge of the label, it's pretty hard to do it after the guitar is done, so I did it before attaching the back. After taking the photo, I covered the label with a long piece of paper and secured it with blue painter's tape, so it's well protected.

Today, I attached the top, but it almost ended in disaster.

I mark the center line of the top and bottom with small nicks. I enlisted the help of my husband; I lined up the top of the soundboard with the center of the dovetail block, while he was to align the center of the bottom to a line I'd drawn down the center of the bottom wedge. We did a dry run, everything looked good, so I glued the top to the box and placed it in the gobar deck, and placed the bars. I went around again to clean off any squeeze out, and to check the alignment. I should have checked closer.

After 30 minutes, I removed the gobars and took the box out. It seemed okay, but something wasn't quite right. I took a closer look and realized that my husband had mistaken a tiny nick, created when I cut the top out, for the "real nick" that marked center. Unfortunately, that other little nick was 3/4" to the left.

I removed the top, not without some effort, because the glue had set up quite well. After 3 solid hours of cleaning off every spec of glue (and making a much bigger NICK to mark that center bottom), we were ready for a second go around.

Needless to say, the bracing through the kerfing had shifted as well, although only on one of the bottom x-braces. I had to adjust the transverse brace slot a bit, and cut another slot for the x-brace. I glued a small piece of kerfing back into the now blank brace slot. I glued it once again, but this time I made absolutely sure that the top was dead center at both ends.

I routed the top and back to the sides. So, it turned out well, considering the complete disaster that it could have been.

Tomorrow, I'll bend the binding and get the binding and purfling channels cut.

00 label with seal.jpg

completed box.jpg

[Diane Kauffmds]

I'm starting today a very happy camper! I have a 4' length of straight steel, that when layed on it's side, fits nicely into the truss rod channel. I sat the neck snugly on the guitar and laid the steel into the channel, to see where it fell at the bottom of the guitar.

It falls directly, 100%, down the center of the guitar, so I will only have to adjust the angle to the bridge. I take back all of the rotten names that I called it yesterday.