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  #16  
Old 08-27-2014, 09:50 PM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Other than a little bit of touch up the tops are done. Tomorrow the backs get some braces.



Also bought some cherry, walnut and padauk for the next couple guitars.



Getting to the point where I will have to put the guitars aside and get some more of the workshop together.
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  #17  
Old 08-30-2014, 10:29 AM
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Planned on finishing up the backs but tennis elbow is acting up after doing the top surface of the rims on the radius dish. Instead I cut a flooring board down the middle to get two fretboards out of a length of wood. Was not sure if I could leave enough material in order to radius the boards. Today I took the router to one and then hit it with 100 and then 150 grit sandpaper with my 12" radius block. It turned out quite nice. So it is fretboard production time since I have everything set up for it. Need four for these guitars and maybe a couple more for winter projects.

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  #18  
Old 08-30-2014, 08:17 PM
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I think I need a new router bit, that stuff is hard. The last few took a lot of sanding to get smooth. Glad I won't have to do that again for a while.

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  #19  
Old 09-03-2014, 05:46 PM
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Well I though this would be a quick simple build. (think somebody in the back said 'yeah, spiraling out of control')

I wanted to try out some ideas on resawing, when I first started on here I was not planing on building more than a handful of guitars. I got a blade made up for my metal bandsaw and made some modifications to the saw. I found that cutting softwoods is not too bad, hardwoods at any width where you are not piecing them together I had problems.

Part of the reason is that the largest tooth per inch saw blade I could get in 1/2" was a 4 tpi. Just too fine for resawing more than 4" width boards. I managed to cut some oak and surface them but the blade wandered around enough to need some major material removal to clean it up.

So with the 6" boards I ripped a 1/2" slot around the edges and had the bandsaw blade travel in the slots. Since I was doing it freehand every inch or so I would flip the board over to alternate which edge of the board was on top to make sure the blade did not go outside the channel. A pain to do but if you are only going to do it rarely at least it is a method.

I then took a plane to the surface and then ran it through my drum sander. I ran both sides through it before to true up the sides (rough cut lumber) and made it easier to true up the bandsaw cut side afterwards. Kind of wasteful as I would only get two book-matched pieces per board. Why do it? Shipping for one set is $40 and up to me and since I am just learning to build I really am not looking for the best wood. Once I use up the cherry and walnut I bough I probably will buy ready cut sets as I am hoping my building skills will have improved to the point where I could do justice to the wood.

So that leaves me with some wood to decide on its use. I have two sets of oak on the left which are wide enough to do a copy of the 13" Stella body along with sides. I have some oak wide enough to do my guitar design, 12 1/2", but I have no sides. I do have some birch pieces that came from a pallet, wondering if I used them doubled up for the sides and make two hardwood parlors. For now that is up in the air, have to sand the backs of the sides to shape and start working on the backs.

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  #20  
Old 09-03-2014, 08:43 PM
Jim.S Jim.S is offline
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I think you are doing a fine job with the set up you have. I am not so sure it is the TPI that is the problem though. Although it is not ideal I use a 4 TPI 1/4 inch blade and have sawn 180mm deep hardwood boards (including some BRW) with very little drift. My saw is a 1940's 12 inch wheeled job and that old casting allows for some pretty serious blade tension, I still need to use a slow feed though.

Jim
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  #21  
Old 09-04-2014, 07:56 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim.S View Post
I think you are doing a fine job with the set up you have. I am not so sure it is the TPI that is the problem though. Although it is not ideal I use a 4 TPI 1/4 inch blade and have sawn 180mm deep hardwood boards (including some BRW) with very little drift. My saw is a 1940's 12 inch wheeled job and that old casting allows for some pretty serious blade tension, I still need to use a slow feed though.

Jim
I think part of the problem is that this is a cheap metal bandsaw and it was not intended for this kind of work. It is not a stable enough platform to do this kind of work on.
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  #22  
Old 09-08-2014, 11:45 AM
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All done the bracing and am joining all the tops and backs to there respective sides. Guitar # 1-4 from left to right. The picture will help me recall what each one has under the hood when I compare the sound of each. Already found the tap tones of the pine tops are brighter than the cedar ones. All the bracing is pretty much the same on the tops, the backs are all different also two have double walls. How much you can tell what each will contribute to the sound with the different tops with the different tops? We'll see.


Last edited by printer2; 09-08-2014 at 11:53 AM.
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  #23  
Old 09-09-2014, 10:20 AM
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Need some opinions as I have to order some binding. These guitars are going to be pretty plain jane, might just put a coat of something on the surface and be done with it or maybe a sunburst reminiscent of cheap mail order guitars. If i just go with a clear coat which binding (front and back) should I do keeping in mind two will be cedar and two pine with no rosette.?



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  #24  
Old 09-09-2014, 04:53 PM
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Nobody has a preference? Oh well, probably time I start thinking about necks anyway.


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  #25  
Old 09-09-2014, 07:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by printer2 View Post
All done the bracing and am joining all the tops and backs to there respective sides. Guitar # 1-4 from left to right. The picture will help me recall what each one has under the hood when I compare the sound of each. Already found the tap tones of the pine tops are brighter than the cedar ones. All the bracing is pretty much the same on the tops, the backs are all different. How much you can tell what each will contribute to the sound with the different tops with the different tops? We'll see.

Now that the bodies are together I decided to see (or hear) what each one of them sounds like when you tap the top where the bridge would be. #3 is the cedar top vertical bottom back braces, has the lowest tap tone. #1 is the cedar top with horizontal bottom back braces with an added inner wall side, a little higher tap tone than #3. #1 has double the grain lines and almost 90 degree grain lines as #3 which is about 75 degrees.

Next is #4 in terms of low frequency energy, and #2 is the least resonant, has the highest tone and is more of a thud with the sound dying off quickly. #2 has a tighter grain and is about 90 degree vertical, #4 with 75-85 degree angle. #4 has the double wall and is a three piece back, #2 has a double laminated back.

Almost need a chart for which has what. About the only thing you can surmise is that the tighter and more vertical the grain and denser wood the higher the tone. Which makes sense. The thickness of the tops and backs were relatively the same, a surprise was the body with the double thickness back was more resonant than the body with the single thickness back. Have to wonder whether the three piece back dampens the sound or it is only due to the top properties.

This is just looking at getting the most bass out of a small box. Tapping the edges of the top shows off the top with the least bass has the most high frequency energy. Seems to be the stiffest top and probably could be thinner and react more like the others. Will have to compare them again fully assembled with strings.

#1 was the most resonant top before the sound hole and bracing was put on. It also rings out the most when you tap around the perimeter of the top. The two cedars have the same backs other than #1 having the bottom braces horizontal as compared to the vertical one in #3. The back with the vertical braces has a higher frequency than the horizontal braces. The vertical braces would be stiffer which seems to result in a higher tap tone as it should.

Loose anyone?
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  #26  
Old 09-11-2014, 03:17 PM
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Starting to work on the necks. Using up that selangan batu that came my way via Singapore. Was going to use it For the pair if birch parlors I was going to build, plans changed.



With a little cleaning up.



A little shy in thickness, will make it up somehow. And due to popular demand I decided to go with the black binding.
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  #27  
Old 09-14-2014, 08:29 PM
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Bought a new table saw a little while back. Not a real expensive model, the cheaper ones do not have a miter gauge slot but a table that slides back and forth. Not too crazy about that but I would have to pay more than double to get into the better saws. Well I found I missed the slot this weekend. I was going to make a jig to cut the scarf joint and had no slot for it to ride in. I thought I could drill a couple of holes in the sliding table for some bolts that I could secure the jig to but I would like to give it more thought on what else I needed it to do. I did not want the thing looking like Swiss cheese after a while. So I came up with this.



Actually worked pretty good. That is one thing about building four guitars, it is worth making jigs and tooling to do an operation whereas if you are doing one you find a way to do it with what you have. I would have just cut the angle on the bandsaw and cleaned it up if I was doing one guitar.

Still needed to clean up the joint a little, glued it together, and again, and again, and again and one more time. Now with the end grain showing on the end of the neck piece I am going to need some wood to laminate on the front of the head. Took some brown purpleheart and cut it into strips and sent it through the drum sander. Also took part of the mahogany table leg, cut a strip off it and another trip through the drum sander. It sure is getting a workout lately. Anyway, the fruits of my labor.



Decided the pieces are just thick enough for the neck if I am careful. Next I need to cut the truss rod slot and glue on the heel blocks.
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  #28  
Old 09-15-2014, 01:25 PM
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So after I get through these next guitars I am going to start using 'real' guitar wood. I have some cherry and walnut I want to use with tops I bought online. Still need to resaw them though. After seeing if they turn out well I have a couple of pieces that came in the mail today courtesy of an online auction. I unwrapped the Wenge, held it between my fingers and tapped it. Rang like no tomorrow. Going to treat that guitar build special. Also looks better in person than the picture lets on.

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  #29  
Old 09-15-2014, 06:09 PM
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Very nice, was wondering if you were guna change the bracing to see what you like
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  #30  
Old 09-15-2014, 09:45 PM
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Quote:
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Very nice, was wondering if you were guna change the bracing to see what you like
I decided to see what the different backs would do as there was more consistency in the tops. While I can not say for sure the differences are due to the backs I can get a feeling of their effect. Maybe one day I will make a guitar that I can swap out elements or make changes to see some of what gives a guitar its sound. I could always make 100 guitars to figure it out but I am starting kind of late in life.
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