Building my first guitar. - Page 5

SteveS · #61 03-12-2005, 03:59 PM

Thanks Gabriel! I bought some stainless and it worked very well.

G. Hoffman · #62 03-12-2005, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveS

Thanks Gabriel! I bought some stainless and it worked very well.

Glad to hear it.

Gabriel

SteveS · #63 03-13-2005, 09:58 PM

Thanks to Gabriel I was able to glue all the purfling and binding today. Pics will show up sometime this week. Thanks again Gabriel!

SteveS · #64 03-15-2005, 12:05 AM

Like I said, I was able to glue the binding on thanks to Gabriel's help with binding bending. After I was able to bend the binding, I need to hold it in place while the glue dried. It seems tape or rubber bands are used a lot. I didn't like the idea of using tape. I saw a jig on this forum's gallery that looked good, I think it was from the Goodall factory. (No pun intended.)

Here is the binding being fit -
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=234
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=235

Here is the picture of the jig in action.

http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=236
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=237
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=238
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=239

Guitarman710 · #65 03-15-2005, 06:22 AM

Steve,

I've been following your impressive progress in lurk mode for long enough! Your guitar is beautiful, and your photography and journalistic skills are not only enviable, but valuable as well...

In the early 80's, I announced that I 'needed' to build a boat. My wife groaned.

From a set of plans that I purchased from Glen-L Marine Designs in Belleflower, CA., I immersed myself in a more than year long spare time project and have for over 20 years been sailing on "Windancer". (My wife even comes along. Imagine that!)

Several months ago, I made a new announcement. I need to build a guitar. Actually, I announced that I need to build MANY guitars... I have spent most of the winter creating a workshop to support this endeavor, as we moved since I built the boat and I had no real workspace here in our new home.

Almost complete now, the new 'shop' awaits... So the questions I would like to ask YOU are, how many hours have you invested in creating your beautiful guitar? And, how many hours do you think you'll have invested, when it is completed? And, finally - how does the actual time compare to your estimate, if you had one?

Again, thank you for taking the time to share this project with us with such clarity and patience!

Peace,

- dave sewell

SteveS · #66 03-15-2005, 12:54 PM

Dave,
Thanks for your kind words. I am encouraged by posts like yours to keep up with posting pictures and updates here.
I've been looking for something to build for a while. I thought about building cedar strip canoes for a while. Wooden boats are so beautiful. Could you send me a picture or a link to yours?

As for as time invested, I started working on this in December. That was preceded by several months of reading/studying. I have spent more time making jigs and fixtures and making them right than working on the guitar. I want to make many guitars, so I am building tooling with that in mind. I have not kept track of my time invested and I did not make an estimate. I work on it when I can – that might mean 6 hours one week and 20 hours another. Sorry, while time is an issue, I did not want to track it for my first. I’ll start tracking after I have made a few.

The fact that you have wood working skills will be very helpful, but you need to keep in mind that the tolerance for fit for instrument making is much tighter than any other type of woodworking. I have metal machine shop background, and the tolerance is much more like that than woodworking. You should be able to sharpen your own tools and work with planes, chisels and scrapers already. A good working knowledge of the router, bandsaw, table saw, laminate trimmer, drill press, measure devices (calipers/micrometers) drafting (for layout) and drum sander is very important.

M_A_T_T · #67 03-15-2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveS

Thanks Gabriel! I bought some stainless and it worked very well.

Where did you buy it?

Another question, you have the particular bending iron I'm looking at getting because my homemade ones sucked. Can you tell me what it was like to use, maybe compare it to other kinds you may have tried. Any Pros/Cons?

Thanks.

SteveS · #68 03-16-2005, 01:04 AM

Lex Luthier,
I bought the stainless steel sheet from a scrap metal center near my work.
I like my bending iron. It is the only one I have used. It works well. It takes a long time to heat up, but it holds constant very well. I have to turn it up to about 80% to get it hot enough. The shape is not perfect, the surface is not a consistent curve. If you are only making one or two sizes, you might look seriously into the full bending press. If I had more space, I would be. It seems much faster, easier, and more consistent with less chance of breaking the sides.

SteveS · #69 03-16-2005, 09:50 AM

Two pictures of the top with the binding/purfling sanded.
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=245
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=246

A close up. Look at the nice silking in the red western cedar top. It is a very nice looking top piece. I'm so excited. I can't wait to play it. BTW - that red color of the top is accurate, it is that red.
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=247

Fngrstyl · #70 03-16-2005, 10:00 AM

Looking Good, Man!!

G. Hoffman · #71 03-16-2005, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lex Luthier

Where did you buy it?

Another question, you have the particular bending iron I'm looking at getting because my homemade ones sucked. Can you tell me what it was like to use, maybe compare it to other kinds you may have tried. Any Pros/Cons?

Thanks.

I have one of those LMI irons, and I like it pretty well. I am not convinced that it is any better than the iron pipe we heated with a blow torch for 30 years, but a luthier friend of ours died, and we inherited some of his stuff. This was in the pile (along with about a dozen cam clamps, and a variety of other stuff). The one really nice thing about it is that it is more evenly heated. At full the end of the iron is about 25-50 degrees cooler (according to my infrared thermometer). We only really use it for bending binding for cutaways and pegheads though, so that is fine. The pointy end is kind of nice, but it is too large for the bend I would like to make with it (for the end of my pegheads). Most of the time, though, it does not seem much better than our old pipe.

Gabriel

SteveS · #72 03-17-2005, 04:18 PM

I've been working on the neck some this week. I have been putting this off because it seemed harder to do than the rest of the guitar.
I decided against a one-piece neck. I did so because -
1) I want to eventually build a 5-piece neck.
2) Mahogany is getting scarce, a built up neck conserves mahogany.
3) A built up neck/scarf joint is stronger than a one-piece neck.

OK - Here we go.
I built up a blank and cut the scarf joint on the table saw.
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=151
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=152

I hand planed the headstock to 1/2" think, hand planed the scarf joint on both the neck blank and headstock. I glued the scarf joint.
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=155
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=154

I routed the tennon joint
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=157
http://groups.msn.com/SLSavilleFamil...to&PhotoID=160

I routed the truss rod slot. Sorry, no pictures.

koaguitarman · #73 03-17-2005, 06:22 PM

You go Steve! Looks like you will make 4/16/05 completion date!
Go Steve! Go Steve! Go Steve! Go Steve! Go Steve! Go Steve! Go Steve!

You are an artist/craftsman/luthier..
Russ

M_A_T_T · #74 03-18-2005, 02:28 PM

Are you finishing off the carving of the neck, then attaching your fingerboard? Most of the time I would dimension the fingerboard, attach it, then use the dimensioned fingerboard as a guide to get the neck taper perfect, then shape the neck. It's also a hell of a lot easier to clamp the fingerboard to an uncarved neck.

Also, did you align the neck with the body and set it for the right angle before routing the tenon?

SteveS · #75 03-18-2005, 03:18 PM

Lex Luthier,
This is my first attempt at a neck. I figured I'd end up throwing it out, or hanging it in the shop somewhere. But to my surprise, it is turning out pretty good. But I'm not done yet.....
Yes, I am finishing off the carving of the neck, then attaching the fingerboard. That is the way Cumpiano shows it in his book. I have seen websites with it done the other way. I'll try that on neck number 2.

I aligned the neck to the tennoning fixture, not the guitar body. I haven't checked to see how straight it is yet. Hmm, now you got me thinking......