Parlour project - beginner DIY!

[Kitchen Guitars]

There she is! Sweet. I really think you will end up with something special! Are you going to go with a standard Bridge or recreate the Trapeze?
If you are using a bridge with pins you will need to install a Bridge plate.

ANYTHING you see at Stew Mac Look around for in your local hardware!
Also, look into a company called Rockler. Maybe you have something like it on your side of the pond? I just got a set of Micro mesh pads (they sand and polish frets to 12,000 grit polish. Rockler was half the price of Stew Mac and Rockler can be expensive!

Are you going to just even out the back binding and splice in? Is it Rosewood or Walnut binding? Are there black lines in the binding at all? If its more of a clear dark brown it may be Walnut or stained Mahogany. Save the peices you take off so you have them to attempt a match.
If you had a binding cutter it would likely be easier to replace the whole thing as aposed to attempting to match it. But doing it by hand I would attempt the splice.
Looks like Spruce, not Cedar. I wouldn't put money on the bet though BTW the restoration project I just told you of has the same fretboard!
Is there any fretboard damage from the fret removal? If there is Stew Mac just did a newsletter on how to fix the chips.
Well Fliss, Good luck with her! Feel free to drop me a line anytime.

[Fliss]

Thanks guys

CZ, don't fret (if you'll pardon the pun ) your dreadnought mould is safe from me!

John - thanks, I will definitely take you up on your offer and PM you with some questions I'm not going to try and replace the bridge with a fixed bridge, I'm aiming to use an old tailpiece from another old parlour, similar to what it would originally have had, but if that doesn't work out for any reason I'll probably look into the option of the trapeze style tailpiece. With the binding, I thought it was rosewood, but looking at it after what you said, I couldn't swear to it not being walnut. I am aiming to splice it rather than take off what's there and replace it all; it's on the back so won't show too much, and it shoudl be possible to get it reasonably neat.

I confess I am feeling more and more excited about this little beauty. For most of this week, it's been sitting on a stand in the living room where I can see it, and I just love it. I keep picking it up and holding it as though to play it, and even fingering the fretboard as though I was playing it. It feels as though it will be so comfortable to play, I'm really looking forward to being able to play it for real.

Fliss

[Coke_zero]

Have you started on it or are you waiting for tools and equipment? On a side note, I lost the mould, someone sniped me with 10 seconds to go. I guess I'll be making a lot of sawdust again when it's time to start number #2.

[Fliss]

Sorry to hear you lost the mould. All I can say is, it wasn't me!!!!

I'm waiting for a few things, but mostly waiting till I've seen Matthew, which will probably be Saturday. I want to get his view on it, and then make a decision on whether I can realistically attempt the frets myself or whether I should get him to do that part of it. I'm confident I can do the rest, with a little guidance.

Fliss

[Coke_zero]

Sounds good. Have you checked out the inside to make sure the bracing and bridge plate is solid? Do you plan on stripping the finish and having a go at French polishing? I can't wait till I can have a go at that.

[Fliss]

I'm planning to keep the original finish if possible, and just polish it up a bit, but I don't yet know enough about it. I wouldn't mind learning how to do the French polishing and having a go at that. I've checked the inside as far as I can and it all seems solid, but again I'll know more when Matthew's given it the once over. My initial intention was to play around with this one, as it isn't valuable, so doesn't matter too much if I mess it up, but I like it too much to want to mess it up!!!

Fliss

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by Fliss

I'm planning to keep the original finish if possible, and just polish it up a bit, but I don't yet know enough about it. I wouldn't mind learning how to do the French polishing and having a go at that. I've checked the inside as far as I can and it all seems solid, but again I'll know more when Matthew's given it the once over. My initial intention was to play around with this one, as it isn't valuable, so doesn't matter too much if I mess it up, but I like it too much to want to mess it up!!!

Fliss

Heyyyyy Stop it. Its a perfect starter. I have found that unknown steps seem like Rocket Science till they show themselves as a part of a process. Just it's a process with 300 steps and 3 to 7 ways to do each thing. See? Its not thatttttt daunting Do it, have fun.

[Fliss]

Thanks for the encouragement! I forgot to answer your question about fretboard damage. The answer is no, it looks good to me, it's very smooth and the fret slots are very tidy.

Fliss

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by Fliss

Thanks for the encouragement! I forgot to answer your question about fretboard damage. The answer is no, it looks good to me, it's very smooth and the fret slots are very tidy.

Fliss

Well there you go. Taking them out is far worse than putting them in.
BTW I am short on experience, but for what its worth; I have the drill press stuff for putting in frets (with the drill off) and I have the fancy upholstery hammer. Give me the hammer any day. I put the frets in my Parlor almost a year ago. They're fine.
This
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...retBender.html
and this
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...ng_Nipper.html

are a must.
There are specialty files. For around the cost of one Luthier file check this out. I bought a hobby Mini file set. A few types that fit in the handle when not in use.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...ter=file%20set

[Fliss]

Thanks John! I have access to a set of needle files, as Kevin uses those for his model making, so I'm hoping they might be useful for this.

The other two gadgets look very pricey - are they really a must, for a one-off project? The fretboard is flat, not radiused, so do I need to bend the frets? Is there something else that could cut the frets and/or tangs?

Fliss

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by Fliss

Thanks John! I have access to a set of needle files, as Kevin uses those for his model making, so I'm hoping they might be useful for this.

The other two gadgets look very pricey - are they really a must, for a one-off project? The fretboard is flat, not radiused, so do I need to bend the frets? Is there something else that could cut the frets and/or tangs?

Fliss

I am sure the tang cutters would save you hours but you can do without.
Also, you could maybe bend the Frets cheaper, but again time and accuracy count for how much? The flat fretboard still needs a touch of bow in the frets to "spring" them in. You could likely emulate the concept with stuff you make.
Making the tools is half the fun. At A.S.I.A I got to look at a bunch of Stew Mac's Prototypes. We all start somewhere!

[Fliss]

I don't mind spending a bit of time and finding workarounds; I can see that the right tools would be fantastic if I was intending to do this a lot - and perhaps that's one of the questions I need to ask myself. I do keep an eye open for other old parlours on ebay, and I could see that it would be very easy to get bitten by the bug

I got a parcel in the post today from Martin Edwards (thanks Martin!) with some binding and other potentially useful bits and pieces - the rosewood binding looks like it will be a perfect match, and he's even put a bend in it for me!

Fliss

[Kitchen Guitars]

Wonderful. Its a shame shipping is such a cash bummer from me to you.
Thats great Martin helped you out. When I did my Parlor I had no Luthier tools, books or info. Man is my head full since then. No wonder the folks that have been at it for 10-20 years tend to mumble a lot . If you dig up the Brazilian Parlor Project post I have all of those detailed photo's (first part is messed up with a slide show thing I have not figured out how to deal with) and whether it worked or not. Lots of Homemade solutions to the restoration process and when my ideas were stupid.
I tried my first bend on Ebony Binding. I'll use the sticks for fill and inlay. I gotta say it was a "After the Prom" feeling when I got the first Mahogany Binding to bend! I came out of the basement yapping about it. The kids looked at me like I was nuts.
The first one will be more expensive to fix than the value. Just like fishing. You buy a boat and $500 in tackle so you don't have to pay for fish meat. Even more nuts, we just say hello and let the fish go.
Get hooked on restoration. Beats buying a Harley and terrorizing Bingo Halls.

[Fliss]

Originally Posted by Yamaha Junkie

...Get hooked on restoration. Beats buying a Harley and terrorizing Bingo Halls.

I quite like the idea of the Harley and the bingo halls. I could get an old leather gilet and a few tattoos and ask people to call me Flick...

Well, I've just got back from my visit to Matthew, which lasted two hours, as any visit to Matthew inevitably does! My head is now totally buzzing with ideas, so I know exactly what you mean about all that kind of thing. He gave me some brilliant advice and guidance on how to do the various things I need to do, and I am now beginning to believe I can do this! He's also going to send off for some of the things I need, and will even lend me some things so I don't need to buy them, which is extremely kind of him.

The tools Matthew is going to get for me are a ground nipper, a mill smooth file and a tricorner file (on which Matthew is going to grind the corners for me) and he's also going to source the vintage-style tuners (from StewMac - here's a link to them: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/G...d_Peghead.html ) and the fretwire and nut blank. For the other tools I'll need, I'm going to get some form a DIY store (including a plastic hammer if I can find one) and use some of the things we already have, such as needle files for the nut - Kevin uses these for model making, so I can just use his.

Matthew reckons my little project parlour probably was originally nylon strung, so I'm going to stick with that rather than try to convert it to steel strings. I don't have a nylon strung guitar, so that will make it sufficiently different from my other guitars to give it a role in my herd

In terms of the finish, I'm going to give it just a light French Polish - I'm not going to take off the finish where it has it, just go over it whcih will even out the colour a little, and put a few coats on the top. This is something else I'll need to learn from scratch, but I understand there are some good tutorials on the web, and I got some good tips from Matthew includng the judicious use of walnut oil!

Fliss

[patticake]

this is so exciting! remember to take a couple pics at each step so we can sort of join you on your journey