Page 1 of 2

Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:38 am
by Diane Kauffmds
This is 1 of 3 guitars I've started. This will be a Christmas present for my husband's nephew.

I'm using a new joining jig that I made out of spare birch plywood. I also made a much better shooting board to replace the old, cobbled together one.

The joining jig works so well, I think I'm going to make a second one so I can join 2 plates at once
PicsArt_07-14-12.01.47.jpg
PicsArt_07-14-12.00.00.jpg

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:17 pm
by Kevin Sjostrand
Way to go Diane, nice jig. I bet it makes the process pretty easy for good clamping.

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:34 am
by tippie53
post some pics of your shooting board in fact I think that would be a great topic

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:32 am
by Diane Kauffmds
I've braced the top and back, and installed the rosette. I decided on a different look for the rosette. I brought the mahogany to the soundhole. The rosette is mahogany, BWB, 3mm abalone, bwb.
PicsArt_07-21-04.29.38.jpg
PicsArt_07-21-04.30.00.jpg
PicsArt_07-21-04.28.12.jpg

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:31 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
I'm finally finding the time to work on the 3 builds that I started.

I bent the sides on the bending iron. They came out great. The kerfing is in, and I've glued the bottom. I still need to install the struts, but I'll do it tomorrow when the bottom is unclamped.

I bought a bunch of dryer vent rings from Ebay a year ago, with the intention of using a halo clamping system. This is the first time I've tried it. I made crude halos which go around the back and top. I routed an area in which the edges of the vent rings can ride. I was worried about slippage, but my worries were unfounded. The rings bite into the wood halo. They also provide very firm clamping pressure.

As I mentioned in another post, I use my hairdryer to reheat the hot hide glue, after clamping. Sometimes I'm not fast enough to clamp; heating it with the hairdryer reactivates the glue. I get good, firm, joints now. An added bonus is that my builds are more accurate now that I don't have to rush when gluing.

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 12:28 pm
by Kbore
Very nice.

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:49 am
by Diane Kauffmds
Box is closed. I've bent the binding. I've also put a wash coat of shellac on it.

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:59 am
by Kevin Sjostrand
That sure is pretty wood Diane. Coming along nicely!!!

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 2:37 am
by Diane Kauffmds
I thought I'd update the blog. I was (Note the past tense) using the Stewmac TruChannel binding system. Well, I was routing the purfling channel, when the bearing on my router jumped over the edge, routing a beautiful 1" circle on the left corner upper bout.

I said, "Oh fudge...(It really wasn't fudge, but I'm keeping this G rated).

I took photos and sold the jig within 5 hours on EBay. To be fair, I'm sure it was my mistake. I never got comfortable using it. Even at eye level, I couldn't tell if it was cutting at times.

So, I invested in the Fleishman jig that John sells. I like holding the router. I have more control.

So sadly, I've had to scrap the build and start over.

Re: Honduran Mahogany/Sitka OM

Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 3:34 pm
by Danl8
Diane Kauffmds wrote:...So, I invested in the Fleishman jig that John sells. I like holding the router. I have more control....
Me, too. I had 5 minutes of buyers remorse when I saw the Stewmac ad for that truchannel thing. Now I'm comfortable having made the right choice for John's jig. Still takes me 40 hours to do a 15 minute binding rout. (39.75 hr worrying and 0.25 hr doing)