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  #61  
Old 04-01-2020, 08:59 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Hello Folks,

We finally got some warmer weather here in the Ann Arbor area, so I was able to shoot the lacquer on Jack's pair of modified dreadnoughts. I use a water based lacquer from Target Coatings. Though not nitro, it builds up similarly, and is much more environmentally friendly. I've been using this coating for years with great success.

Had to swap the medical face mask for the spray mask


A fresh gallon of lacquer ready to go:


I shot a total of 16 coats on the backs, sides, and necks, and a dozen coats on the tops. I like a thinner finish on the top, and my approach results in a finish of only about 3 mils on the top. This is enough to give some protection to the top, but thin enough to let the top do its thing. I have found that too much finish on the top chokes the sound.

Here are some pix with about half the lacquer on:



Half way through the coats, I stopped and level sanded every surface. This gave the guitars a nice level base for building up the final coats:


I shot the last coats of lacquer, and the guitars are now hanging while the lacquer cures. In a couple of weeks, I'll level sand the finish again, and the guitars will be ready for buffing, fretting, and final setup. Check back then for pics of the finished guitars.

Stay virus free out there folks.

Ken
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  #62  
Old 04-02-2020, 11:58 AM
Carpinteria Carpinteria is offline
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I’ve enjoyed following this post, Ken. Beautiful work! Is it the EM-6000 lacquer that you’re using? I have had good results with it, too. I’d like to connect sometime, as I only build a couple of instruments a year and it would be great to compare notes. Thanks, Dave
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  #63  
Old 04-02-2020, 05:07 PM
Jwills57 Jwills57 is offline
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This is Jack, who commissioned these beautiful instruments. I'm really starting to feel the excitement of getting my hands on this new design of guitar that Ken and I have worked on (actually, mostly Ken). I guess I would say they are basically the 12-fret modified dreadnought design quite popular these days but with a vintage "Americana" vibe thrown in. The inspiration was the Somogyi modified dreadnought, as I mentioned, and a particularly beautiful 12-fret jumbo by Nick Kukich of Franklin Guitar fame, which showed up here on a thread about 2-3 years ago. I got to thinking how a guy might go about trying to blend both of these unique instruments into one guitar. I contacted Ken, and we kicked around ideas for a while and finally came up with what you all are seeing in this thread. The Adirondack will be more for single-note playing and rhythm and the Engelmann more for fingerstyle. At least that's the plan, anyway. We sure are lucky these days to have so many extremely talented, imaginative, and passionate luthiers working, of whom Ken is obviously one. If you have a design in your head for a guitar that you'd like to make a reality, Ken would be a great person to work with. I can't say enough great things about him. Top shelf, all the way. Best, Jack
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  #64  
Old 04-02-2020, 06:30 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carpinteria View Post
I’ve enjoyed following this post, Ken. Beautiful work! Is it the EM-6000 lacquer that you’re using? I have had good results with it, too. I’d like to connect sometime, as I only build a couple of instruments a year and it would be great to compare notes. Thanks, Dave
Dave, thanks for jumping in and for the nice comment. Yes, I am using EM6000. Really good stuff. You are welcome to reach out anytime. I'm not the most consistent visitor here, so best to send an email to me directly. Happy to talk too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jwills57
This is Jack, who commissioned these beautiful instruments. I'm really starting to feel the excitement of getting my hands on this new design of guitar that Ken and I have worked on (actually, mostly Ken). I guess I would say they are basically the 12-fret modified dreadnought design quite popular these days but with a vintage "Americana" vibe thrown in. The inspiration was the Somogyi modified dreadnought, as I mentioned, and a particularly beautiful 12-fret jumbo by Nick Kukich of Franklin Guitar fame, which showed up here on a thread about 2-3 years ago. I got to thinking how a guy might go about trying to blend both of these unique instruments into one guitar. I contacted Ken, and we kicked around ideas for a while and finally came up with what you all are seeing in this thread. The Adirondack will be more for single-note playing and rhythm and the Engelmann more for fingerstyle. At least that's the plan, anyway. We sure are lucky these days to have so many extremely talented, imaginative, and passionate luthiers working, of whom Ken is obviously one. If you have a design in your head for a guitar that you'd like to make a reality, Ken would be a great person to work with. I can't say enough great things about him. Top shelf, all the way. Best, Jack
Hey Jack, we are close enough to done, we can both be excited. A number of months have passed since we started noodling your ideas for these builds, and we are finally on the verge of putting life into these noodlings. I am sure you are excited to see these guitars in person. While I am excited to compare the sound of the two and find out how well we met your expectations regarding the tone. Thanks for all the kind words and wonderful recommendation. Hopefully you still feel the same after you have these two guitars in your home

Ken
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  #65  
Old 04-03-2020, 09:33 AM
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Love these - not usually a fan of a "burst" or stained top of any kind, but I find these very attractive!!
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  #66  
Old 04-03-2020, 04:37 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Love these - not usually a fan of a "burst" or stained top of any kind, but I find these very attractive!!
Hi Todd, thanks for checking in on these builds. Most people prefer a good ol' white top, so you are not alone in your opinion. These are more unique and have a different sort of beauty. I'm pleased you like them! We can check them out soon under a glossy finish .

We had talked about sharing a round of golf last year, and that never happened! I say we try again this summer if we can ever get this quarantine lifted. Not being able to get out on a day like today is rough. I ended up starting another guitar build as my outdoor activities are so limited.

Ken
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  #67  
Old 04-04-2020, 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Kenneth Casper View Post

We had talked about sharing a round of golf last year, and that never happened! I say we try again this summer if we can ever get this quarantine lifted. Not being able to get out on a day like today is rough. I ended up starting another guitar build as my outdoor activities are so limited.

Ken
I was thinking about that as I typed....I'm DYING to play (almost drove to see a friend in Dayton this weekend to get out)

I will certainly make an effort to do that if we get our freedom back any time soon!
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  #68  
Old 04-04-2020, 07:38 AM
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Looks like you do great work, I really love the sunburst on these guitars!
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  #69  
Old 04-04-2020, 10:16 AM
mountainguitar mountainguitar is offline
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Your guitars are always so beautiful, Ken! I really love the tops on these guitars. And so much else!

As an owner of a gorgeous Casper guitar, I also know that these guitars will have great tone and will be a joy to play!

Congratulations to all-

beth
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  #70  
Old 04-04-2020, 03:25 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fitness1 View Post
I was thinking about that as I typed....I'm DYING to play (almost drove to see a friend in Dayton this weekend to get out)

I will certainly make an effort to do that if we get our freedom back any time soon!
I'll do the same, Todd. Let's make it happen!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Teleplucker;
Looks like you do great work, I really love the sunburst on these guitars!
Thanks Randall. I have done the splattery old school burst, the smooth invisible transition style bursts, and the hand rubbed. These hand rubbed bursts on spruce are not seen very often, which makes them a little more cool

Quote:
Originally Posted by bmh1;
...I really love the tops on these guitars. And so much else!...
Thanks for stopping in again, Beth! Nice to have a fan here on the forum! You might be the most active member of this forum that owns one of my guitars. I appreciate you sharing the good feedback!

One week of curing done, one more to go . I've got time on my hands, so I am anxious to get strings on these twins.

Be healthy all!

Ken
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  #71  
Old 04-11-2020, 06:03 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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A couple of weeks have passed since I shot the last coat of lacquer. Time to get back to these guitars.

First up are the necks. I attached the necks to the bodies and adjusted the truss rod to get the fingerboard as level as possible. I then used a long sanding bar to level the fingerboard. Using several wraps of tape, I shimmed one end of the sanding bar and sanded in a slight fall off to the fingerboard beginning just prior to the neck joint.


The fret tangs at each end of the frets were removed as the fret slots do not run through the edges of the fingerboard:


I like to bed the frets with hot hide glue, which helps keep the frets in place but also fills all the voids below and along the sides of the fret tangs. I don't know that the impact is huge, but every little bit helps the sustain:


I nip off the ends of the frets and use a fine sanding bar to lightly hit the tops of all frets to remove any high spots. The frets are then recrowned and the fret ends dressed. Some final sanding with 400g to remove the file marks and a visit to the buffing wheel, and the frets are good to go:


I use a bolt on neck with large bolts into the neck tenon and smaller bolts into a small block on the underside of the fingerboard extension. I route a pocket in the top for the block, which is then glued on to the fingerboard extension:


Monday, I'll start buffing the bodies. Strings will be on soon

Have a great Easter everyone!

Ken
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  #72  
Old 04-13-2020, 10:09 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Today I finished sanding the bodies, queued up some Joe Walsh, then started my dance with the buffer. I finished buffing the first guitar and grabbed a soft cloth to clean off the dust from buffing. The color from that top exploded, and I couldn't help saying out loud, "Oh my goodness!" Something about seeing several months of work for the first time under a glossy finish:


I heated some hide glue and glued the bridge on the Engelmann top. I wanted to get one bridge on, so I could work on that guitar tomorrow:


Have a nice evening and thanks for dropping by.

Ken
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Last edited by Kenneth Casper; 04-16-2020 at 04:31 PM.
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  #73  
Old 04-14-2020, 10:53 AM
mountainguitar mountainguitar is offline
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They are gorgeous, Ken!!!! Nearing the end of another beautiful set of builds!

Take good and stay safe (your shop is a good place to shelter these days!)

beth
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  #74  
Old 04-14-2020, 02:41 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Originally Posted by bmh1 View Post
They are gorgeous, Ken!!!! Nearing the end of another beautiful set of builds!

Take good and stay safe (your shop is a good place to shelter these days!)

beth
Thanks Beth. Yes the shop is a very good place to shelter. I'd be going insane without it.

Ken
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  #75  
Old 04-14-2020, 05:33 PM
Nemoman Nemoman is offline
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That finish really brought those bursts to life--they look wonderful!
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