Build #4: Kay inspired 00 14 fret in Honduran Mahogany/Sitka spruce

[Neil K Walk]

After closing the box on my third acoustic guitar build I couldn't wait to start work on my fourth so I built another mold and bending forms out of birch plywood from the tracing of my very first guitar: a Kay K-401 folk size. That guitar is now 50 years old and was made out of low quality plywood so this build will be a tribute of that, but I will be relying to Stewart MacDonald's 00 blueprints for the structure.





This will be a scratch build with a sitka spruce soundboard and a set of rough sawn Honduran mahogany and a 1x3x36" beam of quartersawn mahogany as well as three billets of quartersawn sitka spruce for bracing. I also have another herringbone rosette and ebony binding but no purfling, bridge, fingerboard or tuning machines.

I would like to be able to replicate the neck on my third build but need to create a stacked heel and scarf joint. I'd love to learn how to make a bird beak volute but need to research how to do it.

I'm also keeping a spreadsheet to track the cost of materials and intend to also track my hours on this one - provided I don't screw things up too badly!

Soundboard, Sitka Spruce: $20.69
Herringbone Rosette: $16.49
Bridge plate stock, Maple: $7.29
Brace stock, sitka spruce: $38.97 ($12.99 apiece x3)
Back and sides, matched, unsanded, AAA Honduran Mahogany, for OM: $49.99
Inlay, Backstrip, HD28 Zig Zag: $11.99
M size mahogany neck block, mortised for dovetail neck joint: $13.00
Cedar Kerfed Lining, standard size ribbon: $16.00
AAA Honduran Mahogany Neck Blank, 1"x3"x36": $33.99

Total Cost of Materials (so far) : $208.41

I was hoping to start sanding, joining and bending the major components but we've already had a frost so I'm leaving them stickered so that they don't twist or warp. The RH is around 35% but I may have to move them to my office upstairs (where I keep my guitars) which has a room humidifier.

[Robin, Wales]

What a great project.... I wouldn't know where to start!

It would be interesting to to make a body using aircraft grade birch plywood for the back and sides rather than solid mahogany. You sort of know what you are going to get with mahogany - a really sweet instrument. Birch plywood, however, could be dry and punchy. Something a little different, and perhaps closer to the original?

[Treenewt]

Very cool build Neil. I love the idea. I got excited today because we’d had some rain yesterday and the humidity was PERFECT for working this am. By the time I got ready to go, it had dropped 10% and now is in the teens. So much for North Carolina being humid, right? Oh well, got a lot of non-bracing related things done instead! I look forward to following this one.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

What a great project.... I wouldn't know where to start!

It would be interesting to to make a body using aircraft grade birch plywood for the back and sides rather than solid mahogany. You sort of know what you are going to get with mahogany - a really sweet instrument. Birch plywood, however, could be dry and punchy. Something a little different, and perhaps closer to the original?

I don't think I understand. I make all my jigs out of birch plywood but never really dreamed of making an instrument out of it. That being said, at some point in the future I may attempt laminating sides for better rigidity and resistance to cracks and cupping but I don't think I'd use birch.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Treenewt

Very cool build Neil. I love the idea. I got excited today because we’d had some rain yesterday and the humidity was PERFECT for working this am. By the time I got ready to go, it had dropped 10% and now is in the teens. So much for North Carolina being humid, right? Oh well, got a lot of non-bracing related things done instead! I look forward to following this one.

Interesting. I imagine that there are still leaves on the trees down there and that the furnace hasn't kicked on in full force yet. Do you have a humidifier hooked up to your blower?

That's my current project: to clean out the clutter around the furnace and try to figure out why mine's not working. I have hard water and I think I need to replace the supply line off my water heater. Normally I can feel that the copper is warm and can see the excess dripping into the drain below. Unfortunately it's also a mold risk and my son has terrible allergies. There's already a condensation issue with my furnace.

I also like to do all my sanding either in my driveway or my garage. I bought one of those cheap workbenches from Harbor Freight and put wheels on it and keep a sheet of plywood near the door to use as a ramp.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

I don't think I understand. I make all my jigs out of birch plywood but never really dreamed of making an instrument out of it. That being said, at some point in the future I may attempt laminating sides for better rigidity and resistance to cracks and cupping but I don't think I'd use birch.

Beard made some guitars recently with birch plywood back and sides, and a lot of cheaper guitar brands over the years have been built with it. But making guitars using birch plywood seems to have gone out of fashion. It does have a timbre all of its own.

I've just been playing one of my cherry plywood b/s guitars at a session this afternoon. Those northern plywoods perhaps don't make sweet guitars - but they really cut through. I was just using a mic' on stage and had no problem getting over the drummer.

It was just a suggestion that now you have the mould for the Kay, it might be quite interesting to build a "campfire" guitar using birch ply b/s and with a solid spruce top (perhaps a maple or nato neck). Nothing fancy or too intricate. It would be a contrast to your fine wood builds.

[Treenewt]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

Interesting. I imagine that there are still leaves on the trees down there and that the furnace hasn't kicked on in full force yet. Do you have a humidifier hooked up to your blower?

That's my current project: to clean out the clutter around the furnace and try to figure out why mine's not working. I have hard water and I think I need to replace the supply line off my water heater. Normally I can feel that the copper is warm and can see the excess dripping into the drain below. Unfortunately it's also a mold risk and my son has terrible allergies. There's already a condensation issue with my furnace.

I also like to do all my sanding either in my driveway or my garage. I bought one of those cheap workbenches from Harbor Freight and put wheels on it and keep a sheet of plywood near the door to use as a ramp.

Oh yeah, still a lot of color on the trees here. We’re finally turning the corner into fall this week it seems. As to my shop, it’s the garage so that tells you why it’s so finicky. I have a “Harry Potter” closet under the stairs that serves as my wood locker and “safe space” for my work. If it wasn’t for the big drastic drop yesterday I’d have braced it and then returned it to the closet, but I wasn’t gonna mess with it when it was like that.

The dream is a stand-alone shop. We are renting now but hope to find something when/if the rates and market return to a somewhat normal state. This will (hopefully) be our last move and I plan to either build what I need or, ideally, find something with a shop I can convert to year-round safe space. I know, a guy can dream, right?

[Neil K Walk]

After yesterday's setback I needed to shift gears, so I started working on this. I admit I didn't make much progress.



Here's what I accomplished:

- the back is about 95% jointed; there's still a couple of small gaps but I'm wondering how crucial it is on the back? The center strip is just going to be a strip of black purfling that I'm jointing in between the halves. I may revisit it later tonight and glue it up in the basement.

- the sides are down to about .140" thick. They started at .220" but I had to quit because my teenager was coming home from school and he has terrible allergies. I kicked up quite a bit of dust. I'll finish up tomorrow (I'm shooting for .095") then cut the profile. This is mahogany so I'm a little anxious about cracking a side or cupping.