First Build - 12 Fret

[turnertj]

Okay...got a little more done the last two nights. Although it wasn't all smooth sailing. Apparently I'm not too talented with a router. But I did get two slots routed for some carbon reinforcement. (Full disclosure, I bought a StewMac CNC'd neck...I'm not talented enough yet to attempt my own necks, but maybe soon. And I got all my supplies before I stumbled onto either John or Ken's supply line...so sorry about the StewMac parts!) The slightly screwed up routing is kind of obvious in the photo. I'm not even going to fess up to how that happened. Just plain stupid, but it wasn't so deep. I filled it with epoxy as I glued in the carbon rods, so hopefully that will be okay.

And by the way, I have NO idea what I'm really doing. I did a lot of machining in grad school, some woodwork with my old man, but that's about it. So if you guys see me doing something totally stupid, let me know. Of course, that probably means I already did it...

[Jim_H]

Nice form(s) TJ!

I'm curious about your brace shaping jig (at least I think that's what it is) in the first picture. Is there a metal edge on that? and if so, is it a T shape? or just a flat metal strip?

The reason I ask is because I'm about to make something similar, but the design I had in mind has a slot routed along the face and a metal straightedge embedded in it that will serve as the bearing guide. The edge of the straightedge will be just slightly proud of the face.

The plans I have came from LuthiersCoolTools.com. Here is a picture. It's hard to see, but if you look closely there is a strip of metal straightedge embedded in the face edge of the base where it registers to the bearing.


Jim

[turnertj]

Hey Jim...

Actually, that was my plate jointer. I do have a metal edge on it, an aluminum L bracket. I routed a slot on the bottom surface to account for the thickness and then epoxied it on. The bearing rides on the edge. It works about perfect. I had to tune it a little, but since then it has been great. I can take a few more photos and send them to you.

Tj

[Jim_H]

Not necessary TJ. You answered my question. =)

I like jointing with a handplane. But I am going to build a brace shaping jig tomorrow (if it's warm enough in the shop :p ). I was just pondering how I want to recess the metal straight edge. L shaped would probably be easier. I'll have to take a look around and see what I have.

Thanks!
Jim

Edit: I don't have the plan for it, and am not planning on building one, but if anyone is interested, lutheirscooltools also has a plan for a plate jointing jig.

http://luthierscooltools.com/Dwgs.htm

Here are a couple of pictures from their site.

[turnertj]

Made a little more progress tonight. I trimmed up the headstock using my router and laminate trimmer bit. Seemed to work ok. The neck is kind of looking like a guitar neck!

Then I started laying out the back and getting it braced up. Ran out of gobars. I may be going too heavy on the bars though, not sure, but maybe I could use a few less and then get more braced up at one time.

[segovia]

Nice form(s) TJ!

I'm curious about your brace shaping jig (at least I think that's what it is) in the first picture. Is there a metal edge on that? and if so, is it a T shape? or just a flat metal strip?

The reason I ask is because I'm about to make something similar, but the design I had in mind has a slot routed along the face and a metal straightedge embedded in it that will serve as the bearing guide. The edge of the straightedge will be just slightly proud of the face.

The plans I have came from LuthiersCoolTools.com. Here is a picture. It's hard to see, but if you look closely there is a strip of metal straightedge embedded in the face edge of the base where it registers to the bearing.


Jim

I tried cutting braces on a router table once, ripped the spruce to bits

[turnertj]

I worked on the fingerboard last night. I used another jig I created on the router and cut it to size, and then routed a bit extra to do some binding. I'm a little scared of trying the fretting job with the binding, but we'll see how that goes later! For now I like how it looks with some Koa binding on the side.

[johnnparchem]

The koa looks really cool as a fret board binding. This post is fun to watch as you build jig after jig. I am sure you will have no problem fretting with the bindings. I use a tang nipper, but if you build a jig to hold the fret I am sure you could use a file as well to get rid of the tangs on the ends of the frets.

[Oval Soundhole]

looking good, I love that koa binding.

[turnertj]

Bending...this was my first attempt, so I figured it would turn into a complete disaster with me ordering a new side set. But it didn't! I watched John's YouTube videos to setup my machine (which I got from BluesCreek Guitars--and it's awesome), and make sure I knew what I was doing (which I don't). It turned out that I was either lucky, or that bending wasn't that bad after all. I practiced on a thin stock of maple which wasn't quite long enough for the whole pattern, but I may turn a part of it into an inner patch if I attempt to put in a sound port. Anyway, the maple came out okay, so I went ahead and tried my first side. I've got the other one in there now cooling down, so I probably shouldn't tempt the guitar building fairies with bad karma by posting this before I know, but I can't resist. Bending is fun! Although it probably just goes back to that old male truth...anything is fun with the right tool! I wish my wife could understand that, I would get WAY less grief about buying tools.

When I pre-profiled my sides I did take the top face of each side down to flat on my router (again, using the right tool for the job would be awesome...I need a planer). Then I roughed out the bottom profile after using the washer inside the mold with the radius disk trick. Seemed to work great, but I may have cut the sides a little too conservative on the profile. I may have LOTS of sanding to do on the back to get it in line with the neck and tail blocks. But probably better to have extra material than too little.