Quote:
Originally Posted by ewh2
Looking forward to the pictures of the finish. His FP work is outstanding.
If you read my post Mike, if you don't mind me asking how much percentage of your time per build is spent on the finish?
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Thanks and that's a tricky question... French polishing can be a bit mysterious in that sometimes it just
works. Other times, I can spend 45 minutes polishing the top and come back the next day and feel like nothing really changed. Typically I'd say I probably spend 3 weeks working on the finish with much more active working time at the beginning (especially when filling pores and the initial sessions). Towards the end I might polish for the top for 20 minutes, let it sit for 4 days, then polish again for 20 minutes.
The woodwork on the body for this guitar is nearly done! Just finished up the binding yesterday and all that's really left is to cut the mortise and clean everything up.
I start the binding process by cleaning up the sides and then installing an end wedge...
Once that has dried and been sanded, I rout the main binding channels. In the picture below I've taped a strip of the maple purfling to the top. Because the router references off of the top, when it passes over this area the cut is bumped out slightly (the thickness of the maple + tape to be exact). Bumping it out like this allows me to miter the maple purfling strips with the maple strips in the wedge.
Here's a shot of the binding jig I use...
By changing out the aluminum rollers and the depth of the router bit you can custom cut for essentially any binding/purfling combination. It takes a bit of practice and concentration, but once you've got it, it's a really flexible and fast way to make the cuts. My concentration was tested once at Sergei's when I was routing a Adi/Brazilian guitar and a
woodchuck burst out from under the bench and ran through my legs in the middle of a cut (both the guitar and woodchuck were fine)!
Ready for binding....
All taped up...
Bound!
Mike