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Three 0's

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 1:04 am
by jread
Been a lot of progress in my shop so thought I'd start here w/ a new thread and will update it as I go before I get too far ahead of myself.


I had 4 Englemann spruce tops gifted to me that were purchased from LMI in 1978. I planed to 1/16th,

For the 0's backs/sides I am using EIR on two, and highly flamed Mahogany on one. Englemann bracing billets turned easily into 3 sets of bracing blanks.

I got a side bending iron from Ebay (thanks Diane!) and I found it quite easy to bend some left-over birch sides for a practice run. It must be very easy wood to bend because, I mean, it was really easy. Squirt, sizzle, shape. I assume I'll find that flamed Mahogany a lot more difficult. Moving to EIR next. No cut-away on this one.

Thanks again for keeping this forum going.

(photo series not working well so removed.)

I'd be happy to post more progress photos here. Next up: Decide on "sticking" with fish glue or look into hhg.

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 7:15 pm
by jread
Blues Creek prewar d-28 style rosette. I had trouble last time w/ getting the ribbons cooperating in time using Duco so thought of just doing one ring at a time, masking off the others. Worked great. I didn't have to wait between rings and there was no glue drying in a channel that I wasn't working on.

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 11:01 am
by jread
Bracing is coming along. Doing so many at once is seems nutty for a new builder but these all have a home waiting and I know how to do this part now. Got the all mahog set on-sale so adding a 4th isn't a money drain yet. Can't really see it but I really like the EIR seam strip on the far right. Cut .02" from the end of a back plate using my bandsaw. That was a new trick for me.

Working on setting up the SM dovetail jig/templates for the necks.

Bending pipe is ready to go and my 1st set of sides are thicknessed to .09" and feel ready to bend. This was done in a thickness planer but going this thin is sketchy and I'm looking for a better way. I am loosely following the GAL Martin 0-15 plan which has sides listed as .07". I don't think I can get there accurately w/ my hand planes. Perhaps I will look at taking all the sides to the local woodworking place which has a drum sander.


Happy New Year!

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:00 pm
by ruby@magpage.com
4 at once and all having a home - how did you do that?

Ed

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 11:21 am
by jread
ruby@magpage.com wrote:4 at once and all having a home - how did you do that?
I seem to have a lot of musician friends. Two of these are going on full time tour if they sound anywhere as nice as the kit I built from John. One for the Mrs and I have serious inquiries for a couple more but I'm months ahead of myself thinking about that. I'll get into that once they are done. I'll have far too many hours into these to count dollar value but the wood itself is pretty reasonable.

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:46 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
Sometimes you just fall into it and have to jump into the deep end with both feet. Your bent sides look very good. Looking very nice!

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:04 pm
by jread
My 1st real sides. Bending iron at 160C/320F. Plain mahogany. I think I over-used windex which prob didn't even need for these anyway as they were pretty flexible. My main concern is the staining, the red runny lines mainly on the waist. Hope that sands out but I didn't leave much room for sanding as I hand planed/sanded to between 1.8 and 1.9mm. (.07") This will be an all mahog 0-15 style and I'm looking at staining the wood darker under polished shellac so thinking the water stains won't really be a big issue. Would appreciate any advice on that.

Finding the right spot to apply the bend is the hardest part for me. As the wood is very cooperative and bends easily and pretty much stays there. I underbent these a little as I was struggling to find the right spot to make the final bends. It stays neatly in the form with a light clamping so not sure if I should tune those curves more.

Also next time, I'll be braver and trim closer to my final contour before bending. These will need trimming as I only trimmed a small bit from the back/neck side.

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 1:58 pm
by jread
On to the next phase. I'm happy w/ all the rough bracing. At some point, I'll not want to go back and redo all my work. I get better as I go then look back and want to redo stuff. I did end up having to remove a bad back brace and the fish glue released after a while. I used my speed heater (silent paint remover) to slowly heat up the brace and knife while the rosewood was protected with foil. I restored my house's woodwork this thing inside, out, and all 21 double hung sash windows completely stripped and restored. One brace? I got u, bro.

Only made one form so going to need to finish each box in order now. Meanwhile still fiddling w/ the dovetail jig. Gonna need those necks soon.

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 9:22 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
They look great.

Re: Three 0's

Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 10:26 am
by jread
One of the backs I made just wasn't the look I was going for so tried my hand at making bookmatched sets from a sweet looking 5/4 mahagany board I found at the lumber yard. Super happy with the way it came out. Cut on table saw from both sides then got the middle section cut. Thickness planer to about 3.5mm then hand planed down to 2.5mm.

One thing I don't know anything about is testing/knowing if the wood is dry enough to glue up. I just let this sit in my shop for a few weeks. Hope it doesn't cause any issues.