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I continue to have bad feelings about the butternut neck. The wood is soft, weak, and seems totally unsuited to be a guitar neck, though it has been used for necks by some builders.

I'm going to get Carter's opinion of it. I'd rather not start over, but it would be worse to get the guitar all built and have the neck break after three months because it got banged on the back of a chair or something.

I suppose it will work, but do I want to build a guitar that one has to handle like eggshells all the time. It ought to be able to withstand "normal handling" and not require heroic measures to preserve it.

After consultation with Carter, I'm going with the butternut neck. He made some suggestions for further reinforcement. We'll see.

We successfully bent the cutaway (treble) side -- I think. It's still sitting in the bender. The bending process gave no indication of problems though.

The bass side came out well. When I get the treble side I can put them together in the ring mold with the end blocks and start assembling the body.

Well, stupidity strikes again. I did things in the wrong order. I glued the fingerboard to the neck before I cut the dovetail pin on the end. Can't cut the dovetail pin with the fingerboard overhang in the way. Fingerboard had to come off. Fortunately I'd used hot hide glue. A couple of thin blades and a heat gun had the fingerboard off in about 15 minutes. I'm not sure it was glued all that well to begin with, but in this case I'm glad it was a crummy glue joint.

Now I'm on hold until I can use Carter's dovetail template.

I put a veneer on the back of the headstock for reinforcement and to protect the soft wood from damage. It's made of cutoffs from the sides. I'm not sure about the "tail' that extends down the neck. I want to keep it to reinforce the headstock-to-neck area, but I wish I could make a better transition.

I was finally able to connect with Carter today, after several weeks. We cut the dovetail pin on the neck and sanded the back to thickness. I borrowed his radius dish for the back so I can glue on the back braces.

The second side (the one for the cutaway) cracked when it was bent, pretty severely. We discussed what to do about it. It's got to be salvaged, somehow, as the back and side set cost $400 or thereabouts so starting over isn't really an option. The current Plan is to fill in the bending form so it fully supports that area of the bend, and bend it again, possibly with the help of grain softener, possibly just another go with the usual moisture and heat. Whatever the bending method, the hope is to constrain the bend and get the side and the split ends to bend cleanly and stay more or less where it is supposed to be, even though it is cracked.

Assuming that works, I'll make a backing block for that section of the side that matches the correct curve. Then, slather it all with glue, including the backing block, put it in the mold and clamp it down as solidly as possible so the outer surface is pressed to the mold and the inner surface is pressed by the backing block that has the correct curvature. In theory, the cracked sections get pressed down into place and glued, the side ends up bent to the proper shape, We'll see.

Does anyone have a Clever Scheme for repairing a side that cracked while it was being bent?

MaineGeezer wrote:...Does anyone have a Clever Scheme for repairing a side that cracked while it was being bent?

Can you post a picture of what the crack looks like?

I left the cracked side at Carter's. I'll try to get a picture, but I'm not sure when I'll see him again. (Soon, I hope!)

I haven't been posting much because most of what has been happening has been bad. I've finally (mostly) recovered from the series of disasters (cracked side, etc.) and have made a bit of progress.

I got the frets installed and the neck close to final shape. (photo)

I'm in the process of gluing in the end blocks. (photo)

I've glued the cracked side and put a piece of glue-soaked canvas on the inside to reinforce it , although you can see in the photo that the bend is still a bit lumpy.

You can see the canvas reinforcement on the inside.

Notes to self:
NEVER build another cutaway guitar.
NEVER use butternut for a neck again.

Here are the sides, glued to the end blocks.

More progress. The back is glued on.

A photo of the back with a thin sealer coat of shellac gives a hint of the final appearance. Assuming I don't botch the finishing process, this guitar ought to be rather amazing to look at when it's done. I hope.