2nd scratch build - Carpathian over EIR

[nkwak]

My first build is only about 3/4 done but I've started collecting items to put toward build #2 which will be Carpathian spruce over east Indian rosewood. I intend to make it a dread to replace (and upgrade from) my old lawsuit Takamine. I'm hoping I can simplify the process a little bit but things are already much different than with my first.

EDIT: photo links broken by Photobucket. I am now looking for another way to host my images.

Hey Neil,
That's some nice timber you have. Looking forward to seeing you do it proud.

-tommy

[Kevin Sjostrand]

REally nice looking EIR Neil, should make a real purty guitar.

Kevin

[tippie53]

you will like the Carp

[nkwak]

Thanks, guys! I mentioned to a friend how much I loved Adi and they recommended I try Carpathian. Also, when I saw this set of EIR at RC tonewoods I had to jump on it. For the bridge and fretboard I'm going with streaked ebony. For tuning machines I'm going with nickle Sta-Tites. Now I need to decide on appointments. I'm a real fan of the wood being the main decorative part but I also want something "traditional" with regards to purfling and marketry without getting too elaborate. Help me decide:

Option 1: fancy
- 1/4" koa rosette ring bound by bold BWB purfling
- curly koa binding
- black/maple/black purfling
- D-28 style center strip

Option 2: moderately fancy
- herringbone rosette with BWB satellite rings
- curly mahogany binding
- black/maple/black purfling
- "rope" (mahogany/maple in a chevron pattern) center strip

Option 3: vintage
- herringbone rosette with BWB satellite rings
- "aged" white plastic binding (a friend soaks ivoroid and bone components in tea which looks less stark IMO)
- black/maple/black purfling
- D-28 style center strip

[nkwak]

Bumping for the build kickoff. I've acquired enough materials and the humidity has stabilized enough so that I can now begin to work on the plates.



This time around I'm using mostly hand tools and learned to set up my planes so that I can shoot the joints and plane the boards down to the desired thickness. I joined the Carpathian top the other night on top of my homemade gobar deck/work table and am whittling away at the thickness with my cheap no. 5 jack plane. There's something really satisfying about the feel of a properly sharpened plane gliding along. My floor was happily littered with spruce ribbons.



One thing came up as I was shooting the joint for the rosewood back. Something about the grain seemed off to me. Looking a little more closely I determined that the wood was matched incorrectly; the left side was "flipped". I played around with arrangements and decided to go ahead with the boards oriented like this:

[nkwak]

I glued up the rosewood back today:



I'll take it out tomorrow and then work on inlaying the back strip. After that I'm going to plane it and the sides down to about .09" thick. The top is thicknessed down to around 3mm (.120") which is around where it needs to be. I need to finish my template and rout the rosette channels.

[Dave Sayers]

I quote;"My first build is only about 3/4 done but I've started collecting items to put toward build #2"

I know that feeling.

[nkwak]

I routed for and inlaid the zig zag center strip last night:

[nkwak]

I was chided for starting this build when my first was not finished but now that it is done I think it's time to pick this second build back up. I think I'm going to change directions and instead of trying to go with a short scale/forward shifted dreadnought I think I'm going to use the same molds and forms for my first and build another 16" medium jumbo - only with forward-shifted bracing. I may do another laminated neck too since the first was such fun to do and has proven to be both stable and (somewhat) convenient to work with.