1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Take us through building your guitar step by step. Post pictures and tell us what you're doing.
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BEJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Seattle

Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by BEJ »

Stray Feathers wrote:Your work looks great. Does the Grit Laskin article show how the guitar is braced? I'm curious about that. If you can share the issue number of Fine Woodworking I'd like to track it down if I can. Bruce W.
The issues are; #1 Nov/Dec 1987 No 67, #2 Mar/Apr 1988 No 69, #3 June 1990 No 82. No sure if one can find back issues any where.

As to bracing pattern, bottom bouts run at right angles to top to bottom axis. Will try to scan the plan page later today and post it.

Bruce,
BEJ
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Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Seattle

Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by BEJ »

Got a few more things done the past few days. Built jigs for holding neck while routing truss rod channel and neck holder for routing base of neck, got both ideas from posts on this forum, big thanks to the posters.
Got a 2 1/2" router bit today for the neck routing jig, no sure if I like working with 2 1/2" of naked router bit. I added a plywood guard between the bit working area and the holding handles, just have to remember too take SMALL cuts.

Getting ready to route binding channels, 1st time for using this machine. It's a new version of my old machine but a lot tighter and with a better dedicated router. A few pics....
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ruby@magpage.com
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Location: Chestertown Maryland

Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

Do you mean a 2-1/2" wide or 2-1/2" long bit? Either one sounds fatal

Ed
Ed M
BEJ
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Location: Seattle

Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by BEJ »

2 1/2" long, gave it a try today worked out great, took small cuts no problems. Make nice long twisted shavings.
Diane Kauffmds
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Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

It looks a lot like the stewmac binding jig. I used to have one. You're build looks great! Nice job.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
BEJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Seattle

Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by BEJ »

Thanks, had a fun time with the 1st binding cuts, let router climb cut and it went over the top a little and caused the binding machine base to shift/twist because I just had one clamp holding it. Threw the frick'in clamp against the wall and put 2 screws in the base and workbench, not going anywhere now.
No real lasting damage just had to go a little deeper both directions to clean it up. I'm using ebony for the bindings and since they will have a bigger cross section now and requiring 3 strips thought I would try a different approach. Have laminated 3 strips in 1/2 of my form sort of like pre forming laminated kerfing. The resulting piece is stiffer than hell and took a lot of force to get a tight joint, will know in a few hours how it's going to look. Think I will hold off on cutting channels on the other 2 boxes until I get one right.
Building 3 at a time had some good things going for it but the high stress things get amped up too, guess I can only take so much stress in one day.

Added a few pics of binding, not one of the more enjoyable parts of building, as others here have said.
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BEJ
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Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by BEJ »

Some more progress made today, did the neck mortice/tendon on the copy of the O'Brian/LMI machine I made a few years ago but haven't used much. Might have to do a tune up on the centerline and angle layout, seems a little off, a few pics...
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MaineGeezer
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Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by MaineGeezer »

It certainly helps to build jigs and fixtures to guide the cutter and hold the workpiece. They don't have to be fancy at all. The important thing is to be able to get accurate repeatable positions and movements.
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
BEJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Seattle

Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by BEJ »

Some more progress made atleast on one of the 3 Bros. Got the rough neck work done and was able to bolt it up to the body, guess this hook up is the 1st step/look of a real guitar. I always like to hold something I make no matter what it is for awhile but a guitar seems to be different. Even though I'm not a player it feels good to hold one and think I was able to build this and it's some what kool.
This one is the best ever for the woodworking of what I've built the past few years. Still some mistakes and screw ups but not so many and have been easier to correct. One example, got the neck mortice/tendon misplaced leaving 14 fret/body intersection 1/8" too low, didn't what to revise in mortice machine because the truss rod was installed and would be in the way so I had to do it by hand tools. Took my time and remeasured, readjusted and the work went better than I thought it would. A tight fit on bolting it up and almost might not need to floss the neck in, maybe. Seems like one of the few times in my guitar building that things went for the better. I'm a long time woodworker and have some skills but guitar building has a lot less room for ANY error either conceptually or operationally. Some errors get so baked in that you can't really fix and just have to move on to the next one or live with it, which is hard for me to do. Like John said building a guitar isn't too hard, building a good looking one is, well said.
A few pics... After holding the beast I think the neck needs to slim down a lot more, it will after putting in the fret markers and rounding over the fretboard profile. I'm not a player but as I held it it seemed too fat to me "not right." Might not be able to get it to "just right" that a player would know when picking it up. Need to learn more on the best range for nut width, saddle width, neck depth and a lot of other stuff to pass from a woodworker to an instrument maker, keep on keeping on as they use to say.
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Last edited by BEJ on Tue May 19, 2020 4:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
MaineGeezer
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Re: 1st build; time to stop dillydallying!

Post by MaineGeezer »

By the way....jig003.jpg, above, looks like a GREAT idea for clamping binding in place. I've never been completely successful using tape, but the arrangement you show ought to hold almost any binding tightly.
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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