#6; my first dreadnought

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Stray Feathers
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Stray Feathers »

I fitted and glued the herringbone purfling (prebent) for the top and the holly binding. I was starting to feel pretty smug.

Well, two steps forward and one step back. When I went to glue the bindings for the back, they seemed a little too proud. I quickly did some measuring and thinking, and realized I had somehow goofed and made the cuts too shallow. I told myself, you can pull this off and wipe the glue out and cut it deeper, but no, I didn't listen. When the glue was dry I planed and scraped the bindings, and the back binding is a full 1/8" narrower than the top binding. I know I will glare at me forever so I am going to rout it out and cut the ledge deeper. I had to order more holly of course, and I hope it matches (same small supplier). It will be fiddly to make sure the router bits make cuts that match the previous. I don't know if I will have to cut out the B/W purfling too, and perhaps even add something to it and make a new clean cut. And I have to work around the end flash and purfling mitres manually. Ah well. Live and learn!
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TEETERFAN
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Location: Kansas City, MO

Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by TEETERFAN »

Sorry to hear about that binding issue. I have made several mistakes building furniture and other woodworking stuff and you’re wise to make it correct. If you don’t it will glare at you forever. I have binding ahead of me on my build and I will remember to double check everything, thanks to your post.
Kevin Doty
Kansas City
Stray Feathers
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Stray Feathers »

I set up my binding jig and cradle and cut out the badly done bindings and purflings. I thought I might have to cut for wider purflings, but I was surprised at how accurately the router cut to the edges of the first channels, so I got off lightly there. I measured precisely how wide the first set of bindings was, and set the depth for these precisely the same. But somehow, the new set is still a little slimmer than the first. Maybe because of glue? But it's a lot better, and will stay this way. I may try to sand the edges of the top a little to reduce the binding width, but I'm leery about that. I did manage to manually recut the seam with the end flash pretty well.
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Stray Feathers
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Stray Feathers »

I've moved on to the neck, which is Khaya. The stock was quite thick so I decided to go with a diamond volute again. They are time-consuming to lay out and carve but I like them and enjoy seeing them come together. And no, I don't have a CNC machine! Headplate is ebony with a thin layer of holly beneath; heel cap will match. I'll refine the headstock and volute when the fretboard is done and I do final shaping of the neck.
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Stray Feathers
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Stray Feathers »

This guitar has been put aside for a while (I did start a couple of ukuleles in the meantime). I have a complaining shoulder and was not looking forward to cutting fret slots in the ebony board with my Pax fret saw - it seems to take a lot of effort. So I broke down and ordered the Stew Mac Japanese fret saw. That, as I have come to expect, took its time getting here, and arrived (who knows why) via Malmo, Sweden. But it was worth the wait - it cuts better, and faster too. The fretboard is radiused to 16", and has diamond markers - ebony is so forgiving with inlay! I finished the neck shaping with the fretboard on, and added the ebony/holly heelcap. Yesterday I glued the neck on; I'll finish the fretting next, and then wait for good weather to start spraying lacquer.
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Diane Kauffmds
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Stewmac is 34 miles from me.

So, instead of coming to Parkersburg, WV, my stuff once came by way of Parkersburg, Iowa...go figure.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Stray Feathers
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Stray Feathers »

Working on this guitar and my "Mongrel" cedar/bubinga OM together, things moved more slowly. The other guitar had a truss rod rattle; in this one, I forgot to dab silicon in there. So, remove this fretboard too! I fretted the high end of the fretboard first, having heard that some do this. When I glued the neck on I found I could not get it to sit right, falling away at the soundhole. If the pre-fretting did not cause the problem, it made it more difficult to correct, so I am not sure I will do that again. Finally got it together, after a purfling repair described here:

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=9648

Like the Mongrel, this guitar was delayed by a long cool wet spring (couldn't spray outside), me working away for a time, and house guests. I finally got to the finishing prep stage. This guitar had fewer issues than the Mongrel, including better success with AquaCoat. Finally, today, I sprayed the first three coats of Mohawk Lacquer. And, like the Mongrel, the finish is coming along better than on any other guitars so far. Progress!
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Stray Feathers
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Stray Feathers »

This guitar is finally done, but not without incident! I had issues getting the scratches out of the finish and still need to work on my technique there. But it looks really pretty good. When I strung it up around Christmas, I discovered that my earlier neck geometry issues were still there to haunt me. So I removed the neck on this one. The reset went more smoothly than the redcedar/bubinga guitar I was working on at the same time, and did not require any modification to the fretboard extension. Now that it is done, I'm very happy with it. It sounds like a rosewood scalloped-braced dreadnought ought to. During a family visit one of my sons played both this one and my old Larrivée dreadnought which is the only way I could get a good comparison. I am happy enough with this that I am going to finally part with the Larrivée, after more than 32 years. (We have run out of beds to put guitars under . . . ) Bruce W.
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Kevin Sjostrand
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Re: #6; my first dreadnought

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Now Bruce this guitar looks great. Can't see scratches in the pictures.
You just can't beat a rosewood dred for powerful ringing tone.
Good job!
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