First build... come laugh at my mistakes.

[Victory Pete]

Lots to learn here about cutting rosettes:

https://youtu.be/dgciZQc1ARU

[warfrat73]

Got the braces carved without doing grievous damage to the top (which I was legitimately concerned about) a couple of nicks, bit nothing bad. One of those little Ibex planes has made the short-list of tools that I want if I continue with this.

I stuck pretty close to the plans, but being a novice with a chisel means I'm not quite bang on. It seems to my novice ears that I'm getting good, musical tap tones at a number of pitches. I tried making a video with my phone, but all the tapping just sounded kind of thuddy on that mic.

[RHayes]

Your bracing looks good from here. Don't worry about the Ibex plane, you can do a lot with a long pattern 1/2" chisel..

[warfrat73]

Whelp... fingers crossed. Now that I'm looking at the pic, I feel I should run downstairs and put some more bands in... though everything seemed tight and firm.

[warfrat73]

Alright, went back down and exhausted my rubber band supply, whether or not it make any difference I have no idea. It had only been a couple of minutes.

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

Alright, went back down and exhausted my rubber band supply, whether or not it make any difference I have no idea. It had only been a couple of minutes.

That looks better, better safe than sorry.

[Gingerninja]

I’m enjoying this thread, thank you. Really brave to put your first build on here. It’s bringing back memories of my first build which was a mixture of excitement, uncertainty and huge discovery! Your build is looking really good, my fingers are crossed for you but I think you’ll do just fine. Best of luck!

[warfrat73]

Seems good. The joint looks tight and even. I'm not getting any rattling or clicking of plates when I tap around the edge.

The reason I didn't use all the bands at first is because I didn't want to put too much downward pressure in it, since the b&s assembly was sort of wedged and shimmed into place to counteract the previous screw up (gluing the back on first) and I didn't want to shift it or pull it out of alignment. And since the gluing surface was as close as I could get to dead flat (provided that the clamping pressure didn't pull it or shift it), I knew I shouldn't need too much pressure. That said, even though the seam looked tight and even initially, when I saw that pic up on my 24" monitor, the gaps just jumped off the screen at me.

[warfrat73]

At some point this evening I'm going to trim off the overhang with a flush cut router bit. I'm a bit concerned about tearout, since I got some when I trimmed it on the band saw.

Any thoughts on avoiding that (beyond just going slow, and not trying to take too much in a single pass), or are my fears misplaced?

[phavriluk]

There's been comments posted as to direction of cut as related to the grain. I think I can cut in either direction when the grain is at 90 degrees to the router travel, like across the top and bottom. Going at other angles to the grain, I think I saw advice suggesting I cut 'out' of the grain not 'into' the grain. Knowing which way the router bit is turning is key. Please don't take my word for it, experts have described the process.

I usually trim the overhang on the bandsaw to minimize the depth of the bite the router bit is taking.

For a good running start, a sharp (new?) router bit optimizes that part.

And go slow.

And that looks like a lovely instrument being born. Love to see it.

[warfrat73]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

I think I can cut in either direction when the grain is at 90 degrees to the router travel, like across the top and bottom. Going at other angles to the grain, I think I saw advice suggesting I cut 'out' of the grain not 'into' the grain. Knowing which way the router bit is turning is key.

That makes a lot of sense, thank you. I do know to be aware of which way the bit is turning... one of the few things I know about using a router.

[Victory Pete]

Look at the bottom of this page:

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...ing-jigi2.html



.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

I'm a bit concerned about tearout, since I got some when I trimmed it on the band saw.

One doesn't really get "tearout" from a bandsaw. What can happen is that the underside of the board chips adjacent to the kerf. This is usually caused by using a blade has too many teeth for the thickness of the material. One rule of thumb states to use a blade that maintains one tooth in the thickness of the material at all times. For very thin wood, that's lots of teeth per inch. However, lots of teeth per inch, in a narrow blade, doesn't cut straight lines (e.g. resaw) well. It's a good idea to have one narrow blade with lots of teeth for thin curved cuts in thin material and one wide blade with 3 teeth per inch for resawing.

Any thoughts on avoiding that (beyond just going slow, and not trying to take too much in a single pass), or are my fears misplaced?

As phavriluk pointed out, it's best to minimize the excess/overhang prior to gluing.

In addition, to avoid catching a grain line and splitting it along that line, switch directions of routing at the three inflection points of upper bout, waist and lower bout. Cut so that you are "pressing into" rather than "pulling out of" the wood being cut.

[warfrat73]

Thanks team! I appreciate it.

[warfrat73]

A successful operation. Looking guitar like. A closed and trimmed up box.

Now onto the binding and neck... after I read about a thousand papers.