Amateur build, Adi/Rosewood acoustic

[TEK]

I know this thread will not compare to the many talented builders that contribute to this forum, but.. for those thinking of building for the first time I will share my next build.
I started building this year (January 2014) and have totally been bit by the build bug. This is the start of my #9. This will be built to my own "auditorium" size acoustic. I will be pairing a Adirondack Spruce top, with Rosewood back and sides, Mahogany 14 fret neck with a slot head.
So here we go. This is the Rosewood I have for the back.


And the Adirondack top. I am lucky enough that Old Standard wood is only about 30 minutes away from where I live. So I got to go pick out a couple of tops from them.


I decided I wanted to make a rosette out of Rosewood with some Bloodwood borders in it and this is what I came up with..


I glued everything together


and then routed out my rosette from this. Then glued it in the top


After scraping and sanding I was happy with the end result. Here is a close up of it.



I plan on using herringbone purfling on the top so I thought the HD-28 checkerboard backstrap might be a good choice.



After scraping it down, it looked great.


This weekend I will get busy on the sides, getting them cut and bent and glued up.
Stay tuned......
Travis

[Hierophant]

Looking great!

[Treenewt]

Tek, your threads are gonna convince me that I should try this! Too fun! Nicely done! Will definitely be following this thread.

[TEK]

I got the sides bent, Neck and tail block glued up.


and kerfling glued on.


This is the way I sand the sides with my radius dish


Glued the back on






Cut out the Hole on the top


And started on the braces for the top.



Then started carving the braces


Also got the top glued on so I have a closed box. Not a bad weekend. Hopefully I will get some time this week after work to get more done.
Thanks for following
Travis

[Treenewt]

Tek, that's looking good! That's some good looking work! Did you build your sander to radius the sides yourself?

[TEK]

Thanks Treenewt,
Yes, I built the radius dishes. They were 24 inch round pieces made of pine that you can buy at Lowes. I think they are used to make tables out of. I think they are cheaper than buying the lumber and making them, definitely faster. Then I used a router to put the radius I wanted. 25 foot for top and 16 foot for back. Then I glued sandpaper in them. The center pipe you can also pick up at Lowes, you can get a 12 inch piece of pipe that is already threaded and then a base that it threads into, screw that on to your work bench and slide the radius dish over it and sand away.
Travis

[difalkner]

Very nice and clean work, Tek. I like that sanding dish, too. I am just getting starting and setting up shop to build #1 soon so I may just borrow that idea. The guitar looks good!

David

[TEK]

Originally Posted by difalkner

Very nice and clean work, Tek. I like that sanding dish, too. I am just getting starting and setting up shop to build #1 soon so I may just borrow that idea. The guitar looks good!

David

Thanks David,
I forgot to mention, I purchased 24 inch round sandpaper discs and it was expensive, Next time I will just glue sheets on the disc.
Good luck on the build, keep us posted on how it is going.
Travis

[difalkner]

Originally Posted by TEK

Thanks David,
I forgot to mention, I purchased 24 inch round sandpaper discs and it was expensive, Next time I will just glue sheets on the disc.
Good luck on the build, keep us posted on how it is going.
Travis

Yeah, I wondered about that. Are the discs you bought F weight, X weight, etc.? The heavy cloth backed X weight may last a lot longer than the paper backing of say F weight. Just curious...

[Halcyon/Tinker]

Hey wot, say what?

#9 since January already? Way to go man! My first took a whole year (weekends at someone else's shop mind you), but your progress looks excellent. Do you have previous woodworking experience?

[TEK]

Originally Posted by Halcyon/Tinker

Hey wot, say what?

#9 since January already? Way to go man! My first took a whole year (weekends at someone else's shop mind you), but your progress looks excellent. Do you have previous woodworking experience?

My woodworking experience was I knew how to cut a board and swing a hammer
I grew up on a farm where you learn to make do with what you have. From there I became a motorcycle mechanic. Now run a Motorcycle store. About 6 years ago a friend got me into playing guitars and last year this forum and the build threads got my thinking about building and here we are. The thing I love most about this forum is the fact that so many like yourself are so open and show how you do things. That is great for guys like me. Thanks

If I would have had someone else's shop to hang around they would have probably taken a lot longer but less do overs. But then again, Making all the jigs and tools take a lot of time too. On the first couple it seed like was spending more time making tools then I was making guitars.

I get started working on one and get totally caught up in it and I have to remind myself that I have to get some sleep for my real job.
Enjoying every minute of it.
Travis

[TEK]

Originally Posted by difalkner

Yeah, I wondered about that. Are the discs you bought F weight, X weight, etc.? The heavy cloth backed X weight may last a lot longer than the paper backing of say F weight. Just curious...

Not sure what weight it is, I got them from Blues Creek Guitar. They are a cloth backed paper and seem to be lasting very well. They sell for $19 and change each.
Travis

[TEK]

Got some more work done last night, I got the box closed up


Took it out of the mold and got the edges trimmed up..




Now to make up my mind on the binding, I have Koa, Bloodwood, Cocobolo, and Ebony. I am thinking Bloodwood and maybe try to make some rosewood purfling to match the rosette ?????


I know I am supposed to have all this sorted out by now but I can't make up my mind. Originally I was going with ebony binding with herringbone purfling. I think the bloodwood with rosewood purfling wood look classy. Assuming I can do it.
Travis

[worshipvertical]

Thanks for sharing this project with us. I am enjoying the progress pictures. You have inspired me. I have been wanting to build a guitar for awhile. After trying my hand at a small uke first a few years ago I put the guitar build on the shelf. It's time to go for it. Keep sharing!

[Halcyon/Tinker]

I would tactfully suggest a piece of 1/4 MDF or even cardboard in between the cauls covering the whole top. Only one of those go bars needs to slip once to put a nice humdinger in the top.

Not that's it ever happened to me