Martin Pre War ish...

[kelley71]

I have been working on my binding. I got the sides and the back done. I have to rebind the outer binding because eI didn't like it and chiseled it off. At the waist it was setting out too much.

But anyway, the sides came out nice....

[kelley71]

I got some more work done. I got her all bound up. I made a new wedge from red cocobolo wood. In the photo the pick guard is there for photo purposes only. There are some mistakes I have tried to hide. Nothing major just cosmetic nicks that I can hide once I go to finish. To be honest much better than I ever dreamed for my first guitar.

Thanks for looking.

[MaineGeezer]

Nice binding/purfling. Is that ZipFlex abalone?

[B Shuler2006]

Very nice!

[kelley71]

I used a 2 mm x 1.5 mm abalone celluloid purfling. Heat it with a hair dryer and it bends easily. If you polish, it shines nicely.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Wow. Your guitar came together quickly. It's looks really good.

[kelley71]

Thank you for all the compliments. I am pretty excited. I am using a Martin Torch on the headstock, Madagascar fingerboard and bridge with a Mahogany neck.

I have had a very positive experience so far with Andy Birko at Birkonium CNC Services. He was very patient with my newbie questions. My neck he built has a Taylor 818 shape, with a Martin 25.4 scale, but a Gibson J-45 12" radius fretboard shape, 2 3/16 spacing on the bridge.

I will be spraying her with Cardinal lacquer. A long way to go, but this is so fun.

Thanks for looking,

[Diane Kauffmds]

It's looking really nice. Now you're entering the endless void called...the finishing zone...

Hahaha. Finishing is the most time consuming part of the entire building process. I wish there was a shortcut, but patience is a true virtue here.

[kelley71]

Nope no short cuts. The only think I have hated about the entire process is WAITING ON PARTS. The USPS has lately been in my area the worlds worst delivery service. My neck has been in route for 4 days and no one knows where it is. But I know exactly what I need for my next build, I will have most of it before I even start.

I did get my headstock back. Looks perfect. I had a local laser engraver make some name plates out of spruce for me to glue in as the supports. They are plain, but very clean looking for 9.00.


Maybe my neck will be here tomorrow so I can get it set, bridge marked, and I can seal this baby.

Is there a trick to covering the sound hole while spraying?

[MaineGeezer]

I like the laser-engraved name. Great idea.

My friend Carter sticks a balloon inside the guitar to block the sound hole when spraying. It's blown up just enough so he can push it in, but it won't come out.