#31
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Quote:
Quote:
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#32
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Laminated Headstock Veneer
Steve and Ryan utilize these four pins and associated registration holes to align the stack of three layers of headplate veneers relative to the centerline of the five piece headstock.
The three veneers in now positioned Macassar Ebony, European Maple and Brazilian Rosewood (left to right). The Euro Maple and Brazilian RW veneers will be not only seen from the side but with be elliptical color accents once the slots are routed and ramps are created. Also, the Macassar Ebony has a swipe of shellac on it because the hydraulic pressure of clamping can drive the glue through the pores of the wood. Shellac is also helpful in preventing inadvertent staining of the wood, and the embarrassment of gluing one’s clamping calls to the guitar. They utilize two deep throated cam clamps to secure the center caul and ten pony spring clamps to snug up the perimeter of the laminated veneers. You can see the pins have been removed. Epoxy is their glue of choice for this operation (not water based glues).
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#33
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Headstock & Rosette
The clamps are removed.
Some preliminary thinning of the head. The Macassar Ebony being prepared for the rosette. Macassar Ebony tiles having 15 degree cuts made in a miter box. Laying out the twelve Macassar Ebony tiles. Routing ID and OD of the glued Macassar Ebony tiles. The roughed routed inner Macassar Ebony circle of the rosette. This will be framed with Zebrawood purflings.
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#34
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That is a beautiful stunning rosette!!
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Jeff Mark Hatcher Pina Parlor Torrified Maple/Cedar Stephen Kinnaird 00 B&W Ebony/Engelmann Spruce Simon Fay African Blackwood/Sinker Redwood Wolfgang Jellinghaus Torres Modelo 43S Maple/Spruce K Yairi CYTM Maple/Cedar |
#35
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Bending the Rims
The dramatic striped figure of the Macassar Ebony rims can be seen visiting the weight reducing spa known a a thickness sander.
The player’s and cutaway sides being heated and persuaded to form the shape of a guitar. The rims are initial bent freehand using a hot pipe before the final shape persuasion in these heated forms. Steve and Ryan thin the rims around the cutaway for ease of bending and create an inner laminate that is bent to shape separately. In the case of this guitar they are using matching Macassar Ebony laminate. This will later be epoxied to the outer rim to provide structure.
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#36
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That's gonna be one stunning guitar!
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2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle) 2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW) 2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga) 2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco) 2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak) 2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk) 2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa) |
#37
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You can let us know in March when you see it ahead of all of us…
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#38
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Ladder Braces & Bent Rims
Here are two photos of the Macassar Ebony back now dished to a 15’ radius with carved Port Orford Cedar ladder braces and a Cross grained Italian Spruce backstrip. I suspect the shop smells great right about now.
The two bent Macassar Ebony rims have made their way into Steve’s 000 sized body mold for final alignment and are now glued to neck and end blocks.
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#39
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Rosette n’ Rims
Here is a shot is the Adirondack Spruce top being routed for rosette ring (about 0.050” or 1/2 the top thickness).
The second photo is gluing said ring in place. The clear acrylic sheet prevents sticking to the glue squeeze out and also keeps things flat while maintaining visibility. It is clamped in place with four solid bricks (about 20 lbs.). Here is a shot of gluing in the top reverse kerfed, Honduran Mahogany linings in their 000 body mold. Can’t have too many clamps, whatever the color! This is a shot of profiling the rims using their side taper sled and radius sanding beam. This adjusts to the longitudinal taper as well as the latitudinal arc. Both are 15’ radii. In this photo, the rims are inverted, and Steve is profiling the sides as in earlier photo. This shot shows the side taper of the sled. When they are finally happy with the progress on the rims, they glue on the lower linings. Their linings are shop made, from leftover strips of Honduran Mahogany and are reverse kerfed. Now that the clamps are removed, they have run the linings slightly proud to facilitate sanding the back dish radius into them as well. So, back to the sanding sled to establish that 15’ radius into the linings as well as end blocks. They treat the back portion of the rim assembly as a barrel since the POC braces are arranged in the “ladder” configuration. Here is a shot of the rim assembly before side braces are installed and sound port is added. Their end block is made from spruce, with that 1” wide groove notched into it. The notch will receive a vertical strip of wood designed to strengthen the end block and help forestall future cracks. The neck block is Honduran Mahogany with a top block (neck support) made from Spanish Cedar (my guitar will be a smorgasbord or good smells!).
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#40
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Rosette n’ Purflings
The radially arrayed Macassar Ebony rosette with black fiber/Maple/black fiber purflings has been installed into the Adirondack Spruce top. The teflon spacers are left in to maintain the purfling channels until the Zebrawood purflings can be installed and leveled.
The Adirondack Spruce top being cut out on Steve’s bandsaw. Here a beautiful piece of quartersawn Zebrawood being thinned on Steve’s thickness sander. The guitar rosette and top purflings will be made from this.
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#41
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Cutting Purflings
The guitar’s rosette and top purflings are to be made from Black Fiber/Maple/Black Fiber, Zebrawood, Black Fiber/Maple/Black Fiber. Steve has a table saw sled that he made to cut thin (0.060”) strips of Zebrawood to construct the purflings with a 7-1/4” diameter, 60 tooth fine kerfed blade. The quartersawn Zebrawood heartwood is cream colored with a pattern of black/brown stripes.
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#42
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That’s going to be a beautiful accent! Very nice. Dave
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#43
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Thanks Dave! And a belated thanks to you as well, Kevin.
No one asked (harumph!) about the runners on that sled. I know you’re curious, so I’ll share. They are strips of UHMW Polyethylene plastic. Very tough, and self-lubricating to boot. I learned just how tough that material is while trying to drive screws into them. I was telling Bob that we used to throw these together from job site scrap when I was a trim carpenter. But I’ve wanted a nicer version for some time. This project pushed me into some long overdue action. So, thanks Bob! Steve |
#44
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I'm amazed that those narrow purfling strips hold together without breaking into tiny little pieces!
Do you put something on the wood (CA glue, etc.) prior to cutting to help stabilize it and hold it all together? It's gonna look awesome once installed.
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2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle) 2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW) 2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga) 2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco) 2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak) 2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk) 2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa) |
#45
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My point was to eliminate, as far as possible, vibration in the jig. This helps with the integrity of those pieces. Also, some bleed-in into the Zebrawood is a concern. But if one was to apply from the top……hmmm… Thanks for the idea! |