Guitar #4, I hope

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MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Guitar #4, I hope

Post by MaineGeezer »

I think I'm starting another guitar. I'm doubtful because:
1: I already have 7 guitars, and they're getting in the way
2: My Parkinson's disease has progressed to the point that the build will be even more difficult than it normally is, and I've always found building a guitar difficult enough without any added difficulties.

So, we'll see. I have the wood, and I may as well do something with it. It will be another OM-size, east indian rosewood back and sides, sitka spruce top, Spanish cedar neck. I haven' t thought too much beyond that, except I may try an unconventional curved bracing scheme borrowed from the Gibson L-1. My luthier friend Carter used it on an OM he built for his father. When first built the bass response was poor, but after about a month of playing the bass suddenly kicked in and the sound is now excellent. We'll see. With seven guitars, I've got to come up with something different about this one to make it worth building.

So far I've sanded the sides to thickness and gotten the back plates down to about 0.120" with anotrer 0.030" or so to go. A lot remains....
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
tippie53
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Location: Hegins, Pa
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Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by tippie53 »

you need to do it. I have seen your work as both a builder and machinist. Let the creativity take your path to the end. It is wonderful to watch people continue in this process. I remember a dear man that was in his 90's and he would always tell me it was his last guitar. That day finally came and his son finished it for him . To this day his son is now building.
The path never ends till you end it.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by MaineGeezer »

I've begun. We'll see how things go. I've sanded the top, sides, and back to thickness with my homemade thickness sander http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/board/vi ... der#p42396 It has its limitations, but it works.

Today I glued the back together. To do that, I clamped a bar to one side of the kitchen counter peninsula, laid the halves of the back on a strip of waxed paper, left a gap for some wedges, and clamped a wide board to the other side of the counter. I applied glue (fish glue) to the joint edges, set them in place, snugged up the wedges a bit, made sure the two sides of joint were aligned, put more waxed paper on the top of joint, laid a flat aluminum bar on top of that, and put a 20-pound toolbox on top of everything. I tightened the wedges to full tight, and there it is.

Next comes the top. It will get glued together the same way.

If my thickness sander wasn't limited to a 9" maximum width I'd glue the halves together before sanding to (close to) final thickness ,but it is limited to 9" so I have to sand he halves separately.
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Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by MaineGeezer »

At this point I may be losing ground. I got the halves of the back glued together, but then I dropped something on it and split off a piece along the edge. So now I have to glue that back together. It was a clean break so the split pieces should fit together perfectly, but of course they don' t. Apparently there was a bit of internal stress in the wood that has caused the pieces to move slightly so there is a slight gap.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Diane Kauffmds
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

How far in from the edge, and is along the whole edge? Is it outside of the inside area of the mold, or can you turn the back upside down so the broken area falls outside of the upper bout?

You could dampen the area, get the wood to swell, then glue.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
MaineGeezer
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by MaineGeezer »

It split the full length of the back, completely separated. It's about 1/2" inside the edge of the upper bout, well inside the lower bout. I've glued it together and put reinforcement over the joint. Aesthetically it's ugly, but otherwise it shouldn't matter. Because it totally folllows the grain, and rosewood is so dark, it's almost invisible on the outside.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Danl8
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Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:50 am
Location: Chadds Ford, PA

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by Danl8 »

It's just a three piece back with one joint that is probably very hard to see. (Been there did that)

Are you planning a sound port? -- I read your design link posted in the other thread. Now that's got me thinking I might jump on the sound port wagon...
MaineGeezer
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by MaineGeezer »

Making the rosette. I'm going minimalist for this one, I think: a single ring of herringbone purfling. To make it, I routed a circular rosette-ring-size groove in some MDF with a straight lead-in channel, then heated the strip of purflng with a heat gun to bend it into the groove. I'm not sure where I got that herringbone purflng -- it was either StewMac or LMI -- but when moderately heated the stuff bends like spaghetti.

(The other groove in the MDF is for bending binding.)
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Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Does this look like a plausible top bracing pattern?

Post by MaineGeezer »

Does this look like a plausible top bracing pattern? I've decided to experiment with this guitar and see what happens.
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Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Guitar #4, I hope

Post by MaineGeezer »

Well, having heard no snorts of derision or guffaws of laughter, and getting a few words of encouragement, I've decided to try my made-up curved bracing idea.

I wasn't sure how to bend the brace wood to such a pronounced curve. Simple application of heat didn't give particularly good results, so I thought I'd try boiling them. That was quite satisfactory. I have a long trough I bent up out of galvanized sheetmetal years ago. It fits diagonally across two burners of the stove. I made up a simple form to bend the bracewood on. After boiling a piece about 5 minutes I pulled it out and bent it around the form quite easily. See photo.

I'll undoubtedly have to (or should) let the braces dry out for about a week before I use them so the bend has a chance to fully set in position, a small price to pay for such a successful outcome.
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Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
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