Ha...beat me to it. That’s where I was headed with a comment. 🤭

Trim work, the fun never ends! Every luthier knows the unadulterated joy of scraping bindings.

https://s19.postimg.cc/fa2zxhcer/008..._DA230_A54.jpg


It helps to get the whole body into it.

https://s19.postimg.cc/abfhiyo1f/8_F...D37_AE4_B8.jpg


These little cutaway corners sure look nice with all their miters, but they take some time.

https://s19.postimg.cc/t3rcmjcpv/7_B...1_CB1_D364.jpg


Thanks for stopping by.

Lookin good fellas, what do you think Stan?

I am kind of in awe of these guys - and all good luthiers, when you get right down to it. So many little details that have to be executed with patience and precision, so much work that looks like, well, hard work. I can mow a lawn: any mistakes I make usually grow back. I couldn't build a guitar in a hundred years!

Finally for Stan the long awaited curly mahogany purfling! It’s actually fully installed and looking great though I have only have work shots now.

Bending a full size of 1/16” solid purfling is its own challenge to make it fit the channel perfectly.

https://s19.postimg.cc/a13dltevn/8_B..._BAFF10838.jpg


Here’s a close up to show the channel between the black/white/black purfling strips where the Teflon spacer used to be. We bent two solid strips for each side of the top and then inlet them into their channels. We used a watered down glue to secure the wood in its place after the fact. This kept anything from swelling during installation.

https://s19.postimg.cc/jyeeevu77/94_...AD2_F36746.jpg


Thanks for following along.

Tantalizing! I don't quite follow about the watered down glue - it seems like water would make it swell more. But I trust you - I'll bet you've done this before, once or twice.

To be certain, it’s the water in glue that makes the wood swell, but sometimes we will put glue in the channel first and then seat the wood on top of it. We felt like with this long of a piece that there was a chance in that scenario that the wood (either the b/w/b strips or the mahogany) might swell up too much before it was fully seated. So this time, we fit the mahogany first in the channel and essentially wicked a more watered down glue in the joint while everything was in place. That way if swelling occurred, it was more or less securing the wood even more.

Perfling and binding done - off to the finisher! (Or the spa treatment, as Tom says.)

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net...23&oe=5BFA1E3A

Stan, I got to see this and Ryan held it a tapped it for me (don't worry, I did not touch it) and the box sounds amazing. There is no way that this thing is not going to sing like the angels. I think the bridge color is going to be perfect once the top has some finish and darkens up a little!

Be at peace during your wait because you will not be disappointed!!!!

Ha! I'll be at peace when the angels sing for me! ;) No, actually, I'm enjoying this process so much that I'm not experiencing much anxiety. The difficulty is not jumping in the car and driving over there every time they post an especially interesting picture. If they lived a hundred miles closer to me I'd probably be bugging them to death.

Some updates before the FS heads off for some R&R. We’ve got to get this neck fitted to the body which is its own process. First up is making sure we have the right neck angle.

https://s19.postimg.cc/y11pgaz2b/9_D...EDE90_B6_F.jpg


Once that’s set, we’ll cut the heel angle. We reinforce our heels with a dowel of mahogany. Here’s the drill making room for it.

https://s19.postimg.cc/3wd8uy1oz/BB1...0_FE0_AEDC.jpg


That makes it possible for us to put inserts into the heel to catch the bolts.

https://s19.postimg.cc/lmexfyker/C22...8_F3_E3_C4.jpg


Then we relieve the heel so it will mate well with the body.

https://s19.postimg.cc/7sqkqx78z/FB1...985_C39472.jpg


Thanks for watching.

I'm glad I checked here before I answered your email - I didn't have a clue what was going on! I didn't know about the mahogany dowel - that picture really had me puzzled. I assume the end of that is covered by the heel cap?
And I still don't quite get what's going on in that last photo. How exactly is the heel being relieved? Wouldn't it be enough to just reassure it?

Yeah this isn’t a step we picture too often as it’s not one of the more glamorous. You’re right that the mahogany dowel will be covered by the heel cap.

In the final shot, the neck is facing head down toward the ground. I’m using a dremel to rout away less than 1/16” of relief from the center of the neck heel. Because the body is curved at the joint and the heel is flat, they don’t mate particularly well. Like |( . But if we if we take out some material, it joins up better. Like (( .

Hope this helps.

Excellent use of punctuation marks for demonstration purposes. As a moderator I would like to give you some prize for that, but alas we have none!

More work tumbling out of our shop. This time some nice inlay prep. Even though we tried to talk Stan into something easy, he said he wanted beauty, so we’re giving it to him. ;) Here’s a shot of Steve working some magic on some curly mahogany.

https://s19.postimg.cc/kfxniut43/DDB...95_D9121_A.jpg


And then laying it out on the peghead...

https://s19.postimg.cc/x7btpcv6b/74_...C58_F39_C0.jpg


Of course, you need something to match on the fretboard. How about curly mahogany diamonds and squares?

https://s19.postimg.cc/7ojhccr1v/D33..._B45_C4871.jpg


And some other inconsequential work like fitting the bridge to the body.

https://s19.postimg.cc/69hwnmxoj/E4_...409_B8_C16.jpg


Thanks!

Oh oh oh oh oh oh. I don't think I can stand much more beauty!

The wood logo and inlay are going to be a really cool touch Stan!

Steve put on his macroscopes and pulled out his chisel to get the logo to fit right. It looked a lot like this.

https://s19.postimg.cc/sj0vqzmib/0_B...F4090_AFAB.jpg


Then we get a look at the composition sans tuner holes.

https://s19.postimg.cc/h6oa9763n/B71...E65_E4_DF9.jpg


More coming!

Wow, that contrast looks gorgeous!
https://s19.postimg.cc/h6oa9763n/B71...E65_E4_DF9.jpg

That’s very nice. Crisp and clean and the wood sparkles

Well thanks, guys, for the very kind words.
The mahogany logo was Stan's idea, and I'm glad he persuaded us to do this.
Good call, Stan!

Steve

Getting the final work done before we can carve the neck.

Drilling tuner holes.

https://s19.postimg.cc/tn5ob2g0z/636..._F20_CC9_D.jpg


Counterboring the bushing holes.

https://s19.postimg.cc/zbbz1ycnn/308...91753_BA42.jpg


And under all this bric-a-brac is a fretboard being glued on.

https://s19.postimg.cc/nm7ze014j/631..._CEFCF0_B6.jpg

Thanks!

That looks like Scotch tape to me - I hope you didn't run out of glue!

Scotch tape is underrated. It will hold up.

Ha, ha, no kidding, Ryan! I always wait until this time of year, when there are all these back-to-school sales, and I can stock up on a year's supply of Scotch tape and Elmer's glue. I'm smart that way.

Using the old coping saw to relieve some excess baggage on the heel.

https://s19.postimg.cc/xeow7w25v/491...0AFAC1DC31.jpg


Then we whack off more with a rough toothed rasp.

https://s19.postimg.cc/kajbv7x9f/33B...A10F543935.jpg


And then we put it all together like unto this.

https://s19.postimg.cc/iiqd0blmb/2BD...B3071774D5.jpg


More soon.

I'm just curious: do luthiers cook mahogany and rosewood flavored steaks? There must come a point where the scraps get too small to recycle.

This is really shaping up to be my dream guitar, guys. It is, so far, exactly like I envisioned. And I really, really appreciate the photos - keep them coming!

Just a working shot.

https://s19.postimg.cc/wcfmsip2b/0_C...7_F91_CCD0.jpg


Hard to tell, but this is routing for the inlay on the fretboard.

https://s19.postimg.cc/z6is5yjir/503...0_EB2_EA25.jpg


Thanks.

Art and science. In fact, that last shot looks almost like science fiction: are you sure that's a router and not an electron microscope?

I suppose the number of pictures will drop off for a while once the box is sent off to the finisher. That will probably be a good thing for me: these build threads can get to be a bit of an obsession.

Having just recently come off the finisher picture drought stage - it was maddening!! But the heightened anticipation enhances the big reveal! This one is going to look great!