1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Take us through building your guitar step by step. Post pictures and tell us what you're doing.
Post Reply
Talladam
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:43 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Talladam »

I successfully leveled my fretboard. In doing so I realized that my radiusing wasn't as even as I'd thought, and I had taken material off one side more than the other. I evened it out, but I ended up with a fretboard thickness a little under .25. I think it's only under by 1/32 or so, and I know some people make their boards this thickness on purpose, so I'm not going to stress about it. I think it will actually help the fret plane hit a 3/8" bridge like I understand it is supposed to. After fixing this, I took my precision straightedge from Lee Valley, which is about 1/4" wide and 2 feet long and stuck some sandpaper on it. Getting the board level was much easier then radiusing. I put a lot of concentration into leveling evenly and lightly. I will hit the fingerboard one more time just before the frets go in.

All this sanding took my fret slots down too shallow. I had thought this might be a possibilty, I have no idea why i didn't just order the board pre radiused. It turns out I had an old gent's saw that had a kerf of .027. I hit the sides of the teeth with a fine india stone, and the kerf came down to .023. It only took 3 strokes on each side, I'm was very surprised how quick it went. I drilled a couple holes in the saw plate and attached a strip of acrylic that was slotted to accept two 1/4" carriage bolts. This way I have a depth limiter just like the StewMac version. I tested everything out on the cutoffs from the fingerboard and very carefully deepened the slots. I was worried I would somehow mess up my nice fingerboard, but everything went smoothly.

I also took the neck down a bit to where I want to leave it. I actually had to take a fair bit off the shoulders. It's based on some Martin profiles from the 30s and has a bit of a V, especially up towards the 12th fret. I think I really like the way it feels now, but time will tell.

Now I just need to fix my little gap at the neck joint, and carefully prepare everything for finish. I need to buy a proper allen key for getting to the trussrod adjustment when the neck is on, and also pick up some new shellac, mine is a couple years old now, and it is also a little more amber than I would like. Superblonde next time. I'm going to put a coat of shellac on before proceeding with TruOil. Now that I think of it, I need to find some epoxy to fill the pores too.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Talladam
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:43 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Talladam »

I just realized I am a bit ahead of myself. I still need to drill tuner holes and install side dots. Over excited I guess.
Stray Feathers
Posts: 677
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:39 pm
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Stray Feathers »

You're doing a lovely job on this guitar. It all looks very familiar to me, as I am working on my third guitar from Kinkead's plans. I don't think his system is perfect, and I have deviated from it in small ways, but it has been a great introduction for me. Now, after looking for plans to start on a smallish 12-string, I think I will go back to his design, though I may round the shoulders a little (which means a new form I guess). Looking forward to seeing your finished product . . . Bruce W.
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Your build is going very nicely. You should be proud of what you've done. A checklist is helpful to keep you on track with each task.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Talladam
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:43 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Talladam »

New update:

I drilled out for and installed the side dots. This was a bit more complicated than it might normally be because I used small abalone dots. I spent a bit of effort trying to make a depth stop for my tiny drill bit to keep from drilling too deep, and then found that with the depth stop, I couldn't really see the end of the bit very well. I ended up just marking them with an awl and doing the depth carefully by eye and by feel. It ended up working fine. On my next instrument I think I will just use the white plastic as the abalone doesn't show up quite as well depending on the lighting.

I had originally purchased a 21/64ths drill bit for the tuner (Grover) bushings, but after testing the fit with a piece of scrap, I got worried that it was too tight and would split the headstock. I went all the way down to Lee Valley for a primo 11/32" brad point, and when I got home I realized they had given me another 21/64ths bit by mistake! Lee Valley did send me the proper bit, but this set me back a few days.

I used the Martin peghead layout that was posted in the 'Building Techniques' section of the forum a couple weeks ago, checked about 4 times to make sure they were correct, and marked them with an awl. I made the holes in a way that I read about recently on a forum, not sure from whom or which forum. What you do is mount a block on your drill press and lock the table. You drill into this block with a 1/4" bit. Then you drill all the tuner holes from the back of the peghead to a depth that will intersect with the bushing depth. You then put a little piece of 1/4" dowel in the hole you drilled in the block. You flip the peghead over and put the 11/32" bit in your chuck. The dowel will register the 11/32" hole to be concentric with the 1/4" hole. Because you are drilling in from each side, you don't have to worry about blowout. The only caveat is that your headstock needs to be perfectly parallel. Mine was very very close, but one or two holes are a miniscule amount out of concentric. Just a tiny scrape on the 1/4" part with a rat-tail file seems to have sorted me out. If whoever posted this method reads this, thank you very much, it is very clever.

Once the holes were drilled, I could dry fit the tuners. I found that my headstock curved and increased in thickness towards the neckshaft too close to the tuner holes. Because the tuners have a pretty large flat plate, the headstock needed to be flattened back towards the neck shaft. This took me an hour or so of carefully reshaping this transition area. I was a bit bummed, because this transition had turned out nicely. In the end things turned out just as well, it just took a lot of effort.

Finally I put little slivers of rosewood on the underside of the fingerboard extension to fill in the tiny space I mentioned earlier. I think it was a result of tipping the sander when I was sanding the top. I spent quite a bit of time on this, and by the time I was done, only a whisper of additional rosewood was added. I almost think I may as well have saved the effort and just filled the tiny little space with something after the neck was attached.

Now I get to fine tune everything and scrape/sand until I'm ready to put on finish. I have a couple of questions:

1. I want to protect the maple binding from the dying tendency of rosewood. I'm thinking I can paint a couple coats of oil varnish (tru-oil) on the bindings with a small brush, then zpoxy pore fill the back and sides. Then a coat of super-blonde shellac over the whole body followed by tru oil over everything. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to protect the binding?

2. I intend to install frets after the neck is glued on. I will be fretting after the neck is already finished. What I'm wondering is how I should deal with filing the fret ends. It seems to me that I will surely file into the finish while I am filing the frets flush to the side of the fingerboard. Any comments on how I might handle this?

Thanks for reading!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Talladam
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:43 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Talladam »

Just and extra post with a pic of the drill/dowel setup. Also a bonus pic of the mammoth ivory heel cap. After taking the pic I shaped it a bit better so the point matches the joint in the cap. The ivory has some interesting crisscrossing patterns that apparently can tell you that this is mammoth rather than elephant if you know what you are looking for.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
carld05
Posts: 170
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Forest Ranch, CA

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by carld05 »

If Tru-oil is your finish, then the fingerboard touch-up is a breeze.
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Just tape some thin wood on each side of your fretboard. You're finish will be fine. Blue painters tape doesn't adhere too much. Green 3M 233+ tape is good too. Be careful of common masking tape;it might be too sticky.

I have a couple of pieces of plastic that's 1/16" thick, that are ~ 14" x 12", that I've cut an area for the fretboard extension out. I just put the plastic on the guitar and tape it to keep it from moving.

Here are examples:
PicsArt_02-21-01.50.24.jpg
PicsArt_02-21-01.49.55.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

The plastic was in a single sheet. I cut it on half to make top protectors. The finish can be fixed. Nicks in the top are heartbreaking.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: 1st Build-OM from scratch and my workbench

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

If you're interested in the plastic, I found this on Amazon. It's enough to make 2 protectors.


https://www.amazon.com/Polycarbonate-Pl ... B07MQTDF4R
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Post Reply