Guitar building course

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by CycleBob

Good box! Binding looks really good and very clean work overall. Like the tail graft / end piece or whatever-it’s-called. Pretty great progress for day 5 I think.

Thanks CB, that was actually day 6, with day 7 just completed. I'll get my photos together shortly for everyone.

[Zandit75]

Day 7:
Big day, lots of flying sawdust, shavings and sweat!!
Started the day by scraping down the body.






And gluing on my headstock veneer, 14 clamps should do it!!


More scraping








Started routing the neck joint






Ready for strings in about 10mins!!




Small preview of what's to come

[Zandit75]

On to shaping off the neck.




Took a break from the neck to insert the frets.



Still rolling along steadily.
Thanks for following!

[colins]

That brigalow fretboard looks really good!

The neck shaping fascinates me too…was it difficult? Did it take a long time? How did you know when each part was “done”?!

Col

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by colins

That brigalow fretboard looks really good!

The neck shaping fascinates me too…was it difficult? Did it take a long time? How did you know when each part was “done”?!

Col

At the point I'm at now, was a little over an hour. Initial cut back was with the band saw to remove the bulk, then used a spoke shave and razor file. Biggest concern is keeping an eye on the thickness. It's quite easy to take away too much in the middle and have fat ends.
I still have a long way to go with it.

[Zandit75]

Day 8
Frets finished, and side markers installed




More shaping of the neck






And some shaping of the headstock


Some slight patchwork needed around the binding


Cooba heel cap




Preparing the bridge blank


Initial shaping


And tadahhh!! The neck is glued on!!!


Got a couple of issues to address in the morning, but I'm going to have the fret board glued on tomorrow, maybe even the bridge if all goes well.

[Zandit75]

Day 9!!
After a stressful day yesterday, I'm back on track after having some issues with fitting the neck.
Lots of small details starting to come together.

Tail end of the fret board shaped to mirror the headstock


A little silicone to hold the truss this in place


Fret board is glued on


Radiusing the bridge


Then roughed out on the bobbin sander


And hand sanded through 80, 120, 240, 320, 400 and finally to 1200grit sandpaper. No polish used for this shine except elbow grease!




Slotted for the saddle


Heel cap sanded flush. I didn't actually plan for it, but front edge of the cap became very thin, but the grain pattern almost perfectly matches the grain in the neck!


Bridge dry run


And glued on


Tomorrow is final sanding, and more than likely I'll be applying the nitro celluous lacquer finish at lunch!!
Glamour shots not too far off!!

[nacluth]

Very cool! You’ve got yourself a guitar. It looks great. I’m not going to lie and say finish and setup are easy, but the construction phase is complete. Did you ever think you would actually build a whole guitar? Slap some tuners, nut, saddle, and strings and you could play a tune. Incredible! Not long now. Really happy for you.

[Joel Teel]

Awesome!!! Ditto with Ryan’s sentiments...you’ve got a guitar. Finish and setup aren’t a walk in the park, but there’s a strong physiological reaction when one reaches this point in the process...and you should be quite proud of your accomplishment. Now...go on and “finish” the race well. Great job!!!

Joel

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by nacluth

Very cool! You’ve got yourself a guitar. It looks great. I’m not going to lie and say finish and setup are easy, but the construction phase is complete. Did you ever think you would actually build a whole guitar? Slap some tuners, nut, saddle, and strings and you could play a tune. Incredible! Not long now. Really happy for you.

Thanks Ryan, the experience has certainly been surreal.

I was getting frustrated with it a couple of days ago, and I know it's just a taste of what true woodworking can be like, but when we were having issues with the neck, I couldn't help think that I would be the first person to not compete Aaron's course in time. But walking away from it for the night was the best thing to do, and the issue we had was rectified in about 30mins yesterday morning.

The other guys in the class began spraying their guitars yesterday with about 5 coats each of satin nitro celluous finish. They'll begin final detail and setup today.

I'm probably not as behind as I thought, as I've been trying to keep things as neat as possible throughout the build, so final prep this morning should relatively minor.

Perhaps I should get really mysterious with my photos now!! Maybe switch to black and white photos until the final reveal!![emoji23][emoji23]

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by Joel Teel

Awesome!!! Ditto with Ryan’s sentiments...you’ve got a guitar. Finish and setup aren’t a walk in the park, but there’s a strong physiological reaction when one reaches this point in the process...and you should be quite proud of your accomplishment. Now...go on and “finish” the race well. Great job!!!

Joel

Very punny Joel!!
Yep, onwards to completion!!

[Zandit75]

I've been pretty vague about the other builds going on, but to give you some closure, here is one of them that was sprayed yesterday.
OM sized, Spalted Blackwood B&S, Silver Quandong top, Hairy Oak fret board and bridge. I believe he has used East Indian Rosewood for the headstock.
















I'll have some photos of the other build tonight.

[TomB'sox]

This whole process has been so cool. I am really happy for you, that will be something you will always have, that you built for yourself. My prediction is you will not be able to stop at one.

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

This whole process has been so cool. I am really happy for you, that will be something you will always have, that you built for yourself. My prediction is you will not be able to stop at one.

You guys are going to flip when I show the videos and photos of today's work!

[Zandit75]

Day 10! Almost done.
Today has happened so fast, I've barely had time to process it all!

Started the final sanding process.
Super happy with how the cutaway came up








Aaron did a final run insert the body with an orbital sander


And now, the video that brings the guitar to life!!


It's too hard to put into words the change that comes over timber then finish is applied.