Wilborn Guitar Attempt

[scamp]

Out of the mold and it looks good.
Now on to driving the bus and sanding it down to the right curvature and thickness.

Glued up Sides 1.JPEG

Glued up Sides 2.JPEG

[Tomcat]

That's really coming along, Scamp!

I haven't seen the innards of a cutaway - do the extra blocks in the corners stay there, or are they just supporting the shape until it's put together?

[scamp]

The extra blocks stay there.

In this design there are a few "extra" blocks necessary.
Only one extra block is necessary because it's a cut away.
That block is the tapered block in the the Florentine cut away that holds the two side pieces together at the peak.
It stays there.

The other extra block is the block that is part of the head block that extends under the neck extension sitting on the guitar top. That block is necessary for this design to support the neck. Unlike in a a more traditional design, a portion of the neck, not just the fret board, sits on top of the guitar body. Ultimately, the neck is bolted down to this block.

That said, you will notice that even in some traditional designs with a bolt on neck they have this extra block on the headblock. In those cases, they rout a trench into that block that holds another block that is glued to the back of the fretboard extension. This way the fretboard extension is supported by this block ( vs the top of the guitar ). It makes for a more stable better built guitar.

[Tomcat]

Thanks for the explanations, Scamp! Now that I understand better what I'm looking at, I get the purpose of each block. I've never seen the design for a bolt on neck, so the flat attachment on the head block under the fingerboard extension had me confused at first.

[scamp]

Spent the last few days sanding down the sides to the proper width and curvature.

Installed the kerfing for the back and one side of the top. Was a bit difficult getting the kerfing to bend around the top bout curve. Had a few minor cracks but nothing catastrophic.

Shaped the arm bevel support which was fun. Love the look of this thing.

Currently bending the lining for the front top bout ( near the sound hole) which is 0.05 inch thick and integrates with the arm bevel support.

As an FYI.... was encouraged to make the kerfing, lining, arm support out of Spanish cedar so the end guitar had a nice smell. I thought this was a bit much but now that I did it I'm glad I did. The guitar, as well as my workshop, smells great.

Kerfing Back.JPEG

Kerfing Front.JPEG

Arm Bevel Shaped.JPEG

Arm Bevel Installed.JPEG

Arm Bevel Installed 1.JPEG

[Tomcat]

That's looking really, cool, Scamp. Was it hard to figure out the correct shape for the bevel?

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Loooooking good!

[scamp]

That's looking really, cool, Scamp. Was it hard to figure out the correct shape for the bevel?

The hardest thing is to make the outside curve of the bezel support exactly match the inside curve of the side.
If you look back in my blog a few weeks you can see how i did it.
The other thing is to make sure it is sufficiently wide and deep to support the top and sides after installing the bevel. Bottom line is it took a reasonable effort to get this right.

[scamp]

Took a break from building but now back at it.
Finished gluing in the kerfing and linings. Still need to install the carbon fiber support rod but basically done.
Glued together the East Indian rosewood back and thinned it down to 0.08 inches.
Used the deflection jig to measure the deflection of the back under load.
With a 5 lb weight and a 8 inch support separation the deflection of the back panel was about 0.057 inches.
As a comparison, a 0.10 inch thick Sitka top I did had a deflection of about 0.065 inches under same conditions.
Seems about right. We shall see. Good to start collecting data for future builds.

Kerfing and Linings Completed.JPEG

Back Glued and Thinned.JPEG

Back Displacement Measurement.JPEG

[scamp]

Installed the carbon fiber rod support.
There will be a wood brace support glued to the top that runs parallel to the carbon rod with about a 1/8 inch separation at the connection to the head block. A bit tricky getting all the angles correct and drilling the holes to support the rod at the correct angle. Used epoxy to glue in the rod.
Found some scrap spruce for the back joint support and glued it in. Need to round it off a bit and chisel out slots for the back braces. Starting to look like a guitar.

Carbon Fiber Rod and Back Brace Installed.JPEG