#2 , a StewMac 000-18 Slot head, is in now in the building

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Awesome!!!

[Srick]

Well, since the last post, a lot happened... I corrected (uh, disguised) the areas where the router went crazy. Then I scraped, I scraped, and yes, I scraped even more.

And I learned how to bend thin strips of wood. That is, about five pieces later, I began to get better at bending ebony binding. It's an art - don't believe any of the videos on YouTube about it being a formula. The only way to learn it is to do it. In my case, the bending iron’s heat was too concentrated. But My heat gun plus some Veneer Tamer did the trick. Plus I used a form with clamps. And even then, I still had to wrestle the binding into place. My thumbs still ache from applying the tape.

So here are some nice pics:



This is after a coat of shellac on the upper half. No way I'm going to stain that - it looks handsome!

[Srick]

Here's how I covered up one of the booboos:



This pic is before lots of scraping. You can see on the bottom, the binding strip is wider. This is where the router bit went too deep. I cut off some ebony from the extra binding and tapered it off from the centerline.

It came out pretty well, but there are a couple of areas that are still funky. On those, I will layer in some black acrylic paint with a fine brush to cover up by shortcomings. Yeah - it's a thing. Same with painting in grain lines

[Srick]

And there are more issues to come. The fellow who sold me the kit had two almost identical Stew Mac kits. Unfortunately, he may have mixed a few parts, including the necks. This neck does not match the neck block!



He's going to look for the other neck tomorrow and see if it matches my neck block.

Then I will have to make a decision.

• If the other neck is a slothead, and it matches, I am in like Flynn.
• If the other neck doesn't match, I may have to get some dowels and redrill the holes. If that's the case, I am planning to place a couple of threaded inserts in the neck and bolt the neck on from the inside.
• If the other neck matches the neck block and it's not a slothead, I have some really beautiful tuners that will sit unused - I don't like that option. Most likely, I will dowel, redrill and carve.
• And, in the worst case, order a new neck from StewMac

Many lessons are still being learned here.

• Once again, a bargain (in this case a kit that had been sitting unbuilt for many years), was not a bargain.
• I've realized that it's annoying to have a kit where I cannot experiment on scrap pieces of wood that are cutoffs from the sides, back, top, etc.
• When you see a lot of solutions to a problem (ie. cutting binding channels), it generally means that no one is happy.
• The wood selection is all important. This kit had some water damage on the sides, a little warpage and some runout to deal with.
• My objective was to learn a lot - I am achieving that!
• #3, if there is a #3, will be purchased from our good friend and benefactor, tippie53

[Srick]

The postman just arrived about an hour ago and delivered my GluBoost Fill and Finish Black CA material.

Amazing stuff.

Within about a half hour, all of the pesky gaps between the ebony binding and the top and bottom plates were filled. The GluBoost accelerator made short work of the process. Within minutes, I was able to scrape everything down. There was no migration into the spruce top, either. (Note: I did a light coat of shellac before filling)

[TEETERFAN]

Shellac is miraculous. Good thinking!

[Srick]

Today’s ten minute detour:



Nitrile gloves can stick to GluBoost Fill and Finish…

[Srick]

I swear that I've been scraping and refining the body for the last month.

Each step becomes a rabbit hole; each error becomes a flaw to be either corrected, covered up, or obsessed over. Blind Blake's tune, "That'll Never Happen No More," gets repeated over and over in my head each time I fall short. (Note: Guitar #4 (whenever that happens) will be flawless!!!)

But I'm finally making my way to the neck.

• I have placed new bolts and retaining nuts for the neck (more like the ones that John H. recommends).
• Abandoned the thought of trying to fix the back center seam, which mysteriously ended up about 3/16" away from where it should be.
• Inlaid the fretboard with a nice set of golden pearl "prairie" inlays from DePaule.
• Scraped
• Filled
• Scraped
• Filled
• Scraped
• Filled
• And today, finally glued on the headstock plate. (Darn that StewMac ebony splintered way too easily!) I am in the process of cleaning up the slots of the slothead and cursing myself for using my portable drill (and cutting dents into the sides of the slot) when a drill press is sitting three feet to my left.

I'm learning all sorts of corrective measures. F'rinstance, yesterday, I steamed out a dent in the soundboard with a soldering iron and damp rag. Chalk up another achievement on the "luthiery skills you end up learning" list!

One great thing during the last month: Woodcraft Supply was having a sale on the pattern maker's vise that everyone seems to have in their shop. The store is ten miles away, so I didn't have to pay shipping. And wisely, I ordered a set of the StewMac foam pads for the rails, which saves your guitar's neck from getting dented when it inevitably drops through the vise jaws. I probably saved $75-100 over StewMac's price. As an added bonus, I didn't have to explain to my wife why UPS was delivering a forty pound box from Athens, Ohio. What a great tool! I now totally understand why I see these beasts in EVERY workshop picture.

[RHayes]

Srick, I bet no-one ever regrets buying one of those pattern makers vice. It's nice being able to remove and relocate without breaking out wrenches. ( I use my in two different locations.

[Srick]

Why did I ever think I could build a nice guitar? I have quite a few really nice guitars sitting upstairs and it would take me several lifetimes to achieve their quality. I should be playing them!!! I have no business trying to duplicate the efforts of Dana Bourgeois, or even a nameless artisan from China.

Grrrrrr…. Here’s the backstory.

I had been contemplating this for several weeks, and in my head, had worked out all the details. So tonight, I decided to bind the neck and headstock. When I went down to check on things (which somehow I had to do), I saw that the fish glue had flowed into the fret slots. Hey, smart me, I have a tiny chisel for that. Turns out that this tool is also great for impaling one’s thumb. DOH!!!

At least it saved me from buying a StewMac fret slot cleaner (for now)

[/RANT OFF]

I’m beginning to understand that half of the art of luthiery is the ability to temporarily accept your shortcomings and then be bullheaded\stupid enough to think, “That’ll Never Happen No Mo’”

Postscript: the result was “good enough.” Not exactly what I had hoped for, but good enough. I also punted where I sanded through a little black binding on the headstock - For the time being, I covered the area with black acrylic paint. Is it worth redoing the binding a third time? Mmmmebbe.