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  #31  
Old 07-23-2013, 08:14 PM
KingCavalier KingCavalier is offline
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Love the new Rosette, I'm going to have to try and make one like it.

Scott
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  #32  
Old 07-23-2013, 11:44 PM
Murray Hunt Murray Hunt is offline
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Hi Bob, coming together very nicely. Your rosette came out beautifully.

On the inlay, I wouldn't sweat the radius of the fretboard as 16 is a pretty flat board. I used pearl diamonds on my last build and have the same set up as you, I had no problems. Just don't force the inlay in, the edges won't be supported so if you have too much pressure they can crack. Good luck.
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  #33  
Old 07-24-2013, 08:06 AM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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Thanks, King. One thing I learned by sanding down to the inlay is that it's easy to over-shoot. I could feel the inlay being lower, so I'd sand some more (with 80 grit), then it would feel like it was still lower, so I'd go some more. Then I'd find that I got the top just a tiny, tiny bit lower than the inlay.
I'll tuck that little tidbit into the memory banks. If the inlay and the purfling is harder than the top (spruce in this case), then the top will sand easier and faster.
Murray, I appreciate that info. I remember now that I did my first block inlay on my daughter's guitar and did not use any rails or anything to make the cut be level. IIRC, I had the centerline almost totally flush, and the "wings" a little proud. They came out well.
Can't wait to get them here. I"m really interested as to how much the gold will stand out on the fretboard.
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  #34  
Old 07-24-2013, 05:48 PM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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I just got my fretboard inlay from Andy DePaule. I love it. The pattern he calls "More or less DePaule". Since my only previous efforts in inlay were with just rectangular blocks on my daughter's fretboard, I decided not to do the Vine of Life type inlay. But one day..........................
This style is mostly rectangular, but has a bit of flare to the top edge. The pieces are thick enough to stand the amount of sanding that will be required. They're perfect.
The picture is pretty close to the actual look, a nice rich gold color to work with the ebony of the fretboard. Having said that, they look so much better in person. I know a number of luthiers here and at other forums I frequent buy from Andy DePaule, and now I know why. They're great to work with and helpful to us new folks.



He's also doing a logo for me, and of the 2 that you see in the picture below, I chose the lower one. I just got an email from him saying that the M in the upper one would be easier for me to inlay and that he could use it with the rest of the letters from the lower style. I really appreciate having him contact me on what might be a minor point to others, but might have caused me problems with my lack of skills.



I'll wait until the weekend to tackle this.
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  #35  
Old 07-25-2013, 05:33 AM
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I agree with you that the lower detailed font might be more dressy, but the first font is really nice, too. I think I prefer it as it has clean and classy lines.

If it was my own decision I would go with his suggested font for two reason.

#1) Less is "more." (or in your case Moore.)

#2) When, not "if" because I can speak from experience inlays do break easily, one little fancy line breaks and comes up missing you have just lost the entire name. You will search your shop floor for an hour to find it before you give up and know it was a wasted search.
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  #36  
Old 07-25-2013, 06:49 PM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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Mary, thanks for the input. I did go with the bottom one with the addition of the top first letter. But I have a novice "eye" for many guitar related things, and it's good to have someone else point out things that aren't obvious to me.
Andy sent me a couple of files. This one:



And the outline to actual size in another pic, so that I can glue it to the headstock, and use the paper as a guide. Of course, I'm going to wait for the actual piece(s) to get to me before doing that. I learned early on that many times things that I expected to be the right size ended up not. That's hard to correct.

I'm glad he sent the picture with the different materials that they use, so that I can use them when the wood or the other parts of the guitar look better with something other than gold.
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  #37  
Old 07-27-2013, 03:24 PM
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When inlaying our last name I have found the top two are easier to read once they are put in the wood. It almost never fails there will be a change in the shell material to make it look as if a letter is MIA. It's not the fault of the inlay person, the work or the guitar material. Just nature taking its course in the color.
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  #38  
Old 07-28-2013, 03:41 PM
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Nice logo, I'm going to have to think about that for the next build instead of my water slide decal.
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  #39  
Old 07-31-2013, 05:50 PM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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Mary, I was thinking pretty much the same thing about the top 2, and somewhat about the others and how easy it can be to eat thru a letter if one's not careful. I'm going to start that inlay of the fretboard in a night or two, when I can get my wife (coach Ann ) to hold the vacuum cleaner nozzle close to the drilling. I've done it myself before, but she's into getting this one going so she's volunteered.

And thanks, Stu. Andy and his folks are good to work with, and I think the prices are pretty good.

Speaking of inlay, here's the process I went thru on the fretboard. I put a dab (and in some cases, MORE than a dab) of CA glue in the center of and on the back of each piece, positioning them before the glue sets up. There's a decent amount of time if you're careful and don't get psyched by it. Later, I went around each piece with an exacto-knife and scored the perimeter. Using a thin razor blade, I was able to release each piece. I then rubbed some chalk over the razor scores, and that's enough to highlight it for me when I go to it with the Dremel. I had tried some old Tempura water based paint in yellow - I had got that idea from somewhere else. But it must be too old. I could not get it to show up on the board at all. I seem to remember that's what I used on my daughter's guitar, but it didn't work on this. Chalk is plenty good, and probably much easier to clean up.

Here's where it sits right now:



I also have planed the top down to where I want it, and have glued all the braces down. Although I took several pictures, I think everyone here's seen enough pictures of bracing, so I'll save the agony for some other time and just put on the last one where the finger braces were put on and completed that step.



In the meantime, I did a little shaving and shaping of the braces, but decided my chisels weren't sharp enough. I think someone calls it the "Scary Sharp Method" of sharpening chisels, but at any rate, I used some adhesive on the back of sheets of sandpaper from 220 grit up to 1500 grit, and layed them on my big square of marble. First I made sure that the backs of the chisels were flat, then sharpened up the whole set of Narex chisels that I bought several years ago. Just a note for anyone looking for chisels, the Narex brand are prices pretty well, and get good reviews from all my google searches. I do like them. They feel good, and they do hold an edge well. I spent the last 2 evenings getting them ready for this weekend's work. A Veritas honing guide makes it easy to get a good, accurate primary bevel. Then a turn of a wheel on the guide sets it up for a secondary bevel.

Ok, here's a question for everyone. The pieces of inlay that I'm putting in are all wide. The fretboard is radiused at 16". If I just go with the slope of the fretboard and don't use anything to keep the Dremel totally vertical, the sides of the inlay hole will be wider at the top than the bottom. So a piece laying perfectly good at the bottom will show a gap at the top on either side. Am I explaining it well? I'm thinking I need to have the router rest on something that is just as high as the center of the fretboard, so that I will rout a hole perfectly vertical. Anyway, opinions or thoughts?


Thanks for tuning in,
Bob

Last edited by naccoachbob; 07-31-2013 at 06:04 PM.
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  #40  
Old 07-31-2013, 06:10 PM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by naccoachbob View Post
Speaking of inlay, here's the process I went thru on the fretboard.
I thought I'd share a method I've used in a variety of applications. Lay down a single layer of masking tape. Place the shape, template or original on the tape, fastening to the tape as appropriate - glue or double-sided tape. Using a sharp scalpel-like knife scribe around the shape. Remove the shape and then remove the tape under the shape. That leaves you with an exact negative of the shape formed by the tape that is left still attached to the surface. Remove wood (route, sand, cut or appropriate process) until you reach the edge of the tape, giving you the exact shape you're striving for. Then remove the tape.
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  #41  
Old 07-31-2013, 07:24 PM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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Charles, I like that idea as well. Does it work pretty well with small irregular shaped inlays as well? It would have been perfect for what I just did. I only wish I'd thought to ask earlier. Thanks for the idea.
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  #42  
Old 08-01-2013, 06:49 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by naccoachbob View Post
Does it work pretty well with small irregular shaped inlays as well?
Your limited only by how accurately you can use the knife to cut around the original/template/shape.
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  #43  
Old 08-01-2013, 10:12 AM
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nacluth nacluth is offline
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Bob, as far as routing on an already radius-ed fretboard, you can end up with a problem with getting your pearl too deep in the middle and too shallow on the edges. Some inlay is consistent throughout its depth, so it's no problem, but other inlay loses its color the deeper you have to sand it down. Just be careful to not inlay too deep.
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  #44  
Old 08-04-2013, 03:00 PM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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Ryan, much appreciated. I've got the router bit set perfectly (gulp, I think) to the depth of the shell. I routed a scrap and put in several of the shells, and they look perfect. I assume the CA glue will make them raise about.001, is that a good estimate? Anyone can answer

For the last several days I worked on the top bracing. Using a chisel on braces is something that is tough for me. Although I find doing it to be pretty cathartic, I'm not good at it yet. There are some places where I dug into the top's surface or into my fingers. All in all I'd rather it be my fingers, but alas. Needless to say, however, some of my DNA is on this guitar. I am getting better at the carving, but it will probably be a few more tops before I'm decent.

The top was pretty loose once I finished sanding it, a bit looser than I wanted. As a result, I've trimmed the bracing, but left them heavier than I did on my previous one. Hopefully that will counter the top's looseness. When tapping, I get a nice resonant tone all around the lower bout except where the bridge patch is. I expect that is natural because the X-braces abut the patch and it's probably the strongest part of the top below the sound hole.



Today I cut the channels for the X-braces into the kerfing and sides. This was the best I've done regarding that. I like reverse kerfing for that if nothing else. It does look better to me, and might be stronger than regular kerfing (not sure on that point). I did have some chip-out though when I used the chisel to slightly widen the channels on one side. When I put the chipped out pieces back, I had no way of clamping other than the rubber bands that I'll secure the top with. They worked well.



This connection of the top to the sides is the best I've done so far as well. The top layed on the sides like it had been born to do so. When I went around, I was very happy with how it seemed to sit there flush with no pressure applied. It found itself centered too. I couldn't be happier. The mold I use allows me to use rubber bands to secure the top and back, and I've done it this way for the last 3 of the 4 guitars I've made. There's a lot of clamping power in those rubber bands once you use 24 or so of them, in my opinion. I just finished that evolution about 30 min ago, and I really want to take it out of the mold later today, but will resist and let it stay until tomorrow evening.



Thanks for looking,
Bob
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  #45  
Old 08-04-2013, 03:32 PM
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Bob, it's looking really good. As far as the depth being right on the inlay, flush is fine. The CA will work around it (I don't know if it will raise it). My only concern is on a radius make sure you keep you router fairly level. Too much rocking can cut deeper on the edge of the bit and flush becomes uh-oh. Take care and you'll be fine.
Really like how this is coming along. I remember carving brace after brace wondering when I was going to acquire this talent...and one day I did. It just takes practice (yuck!). Just kidding, but you always feel like some were born to it. Sandpaper is a marvelous thing. It covers a multitude of woodworking sins.

Looking forward to seeing more

Ps. Just looked back at the pics. Why is your bridge pad notched for your tone bar but the tone bar isn't near it? Just wondering.
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