Finished construction on my Koa Parlor Guitar.

[tippie53]

Looks good from here
I would say that will make a good set up . I think you should send it to all of us so we can carve our initials in it

[darren]

yeah looks great. nice set of tools for the mortise/tenon!

[Ben-Had]

I built basically the same version of that jig (LMI jig). I haven't used it on my own neck yet but used it on a repair and it worked like a charm.

[johnnparchem]

Thanks guys,
You guys are going to have to put up with me posting as I am off for another 5 days. I am basically a type-A personality, plus my wife has all three of her sisters at our house and the shop is a bit of a refuge.
I like the woolson style jig; this is my third neck using one and each time I used it the angle came out really close. The wood tenon cutting jig works as well as the fancy one, in one respect the wood one is a little better. When template is slid in place on the Luthier tools version, there is a slight recess and I need to be very careful with the router over to one side that the unsupported slid does not dip into the recess. The Simpson jig I had has a complete and seperate templates for mortise and tenon or dovetail. I do really like the body clamp on the Luthier tool version with the centering template and the ability to change out templates.
Today I completed my finger board indexing system. It was a lot easier than I thought once I remembered I had a neck template from Waldron Instruments that had a nice center line and a nut line. Also their templates are thin enough that I did not need a center line on each side. Two quick 1/8 inch holes and I had a template. The template has text on it so I decided on a system where I always have the template so the text will read from the front of the neck. As the photos will show that did not stop me from indexing from the bottom of the fingerboard.







I have not been brave enough to do contrasting fingerboard bindings (mainly because I do not want to bind the head stock veneer.) But I do like the bound fingerboards, so I laid out the fingerboard size to include the .080 ebony binding on each side. I first laid out the proper lines for the final fingerboard size and then measuring from the center line laid out the adjusted lines. This sort of gave me a double check as I ended up with a two parallel lines about .080” apart. I cut on the outside lines and used my jointer plane to take the fingerboard down to the final dimensions. I did not take a picture of the glue up, but I laid out some wax paper on my bench and used hand pressure pushing the fingerboard flat side down against the binding supported by some brace wood supported by a couple of bench dogs. While under pressure I dotted the joint with CA. With both bindings tacked on I flooded the joint with CA glue. Not too much as I hate cleaning out the fret slots.













Thanks for looking.

[Jim_H]

Really nice John!

I have a simpson Jig, but haven't used it yet. I'm glad to know it works well. I'll be breaking it out later this spring.

I've looked a the luthiertool edge clamp and pondered getting it for doing end wedges, but it's a lot of money for such a limited task. I think I might try to make something similar from wood and see how it goes.

I did my last end wedge slot with a saw and chisels. I'd like to say I enjoyed it, but it really wasn't much fun. =)

Also, I think you and I must shop at the same stores. How do you like your mag fence? I love mine! Between that and the Incra miter gauge I bought has really improved my bandsaw work quality.

Enjoy your time off!

[johnnparchem]

Jim I do like the magnetic bandsaw guide. It is quick to setup but more importantly it is easy to get it out of the way.
I was only able to spend a little time this morning on the guitar, but I did get the fingerboard inlays installed. It went pretty well; on some of them I would be ready for inlays on lighter wood. But luckily enough for me I am doing it in ebony.
To keep documenting how I do things, First I use LMI white glue just a dab to hold the inlays down to trace the pattern with a .05 mm lead pencil. I only let it set up for ten minutes before I trace. Then I carefully pop them off with an exacto knife blade.
When I routed for the inlays I tried two different procedures. One some of the holes first I traced out the pattern with a very small end mill, and then went after the bulk of the material a larger mill. On the rest of the holes I took out most of the material with a larger end mill and cleaned up the details with the very small mill. I still am not sure which I like best.
I am leaning on bulk removal first followed by detail.
Here are the pictures.













For tomorrow I am still trying to figure out which veneer to use from the two I cut. Then it is one to profiling the headstock and possibly carving the neck.

[Ben-Had]

I like the first veneer the best.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Nice job on the inlays John. I like the second headstock best!

Kevin

[David L]

I like the first head plate better.

David L

[johnnparchem]

I am leaning toward the first as well. The second has interesting figure but I keep seeing a face in it.