"Closing the Box" this weekend is it!!

[ClaptonWannabe2]

Spend time today cleaning and prepping shop(garage). Do some final sanding and scraping of plates. I bought new and better quality cabinet scrapers with a proper burnisher. I am scraping now just because it is enjoyable. LOL

A. Wishing me luck is appreciated.

B. What have you gentleman forgotten in closing the box on your first couple of builds? Hoping to avoid same. Meaning, you close the box and forgot the hole in a transverse brce to access the truss rod or forgot to place side braces or (what I nearly did) forgot ALL about the bridge plate.

C. Aside from a go-bar deck, what was your preferred method of glue up? I believe I will go with wooden screw clamps on the head and tail block areas with various clamps at the edges. I also have homemade radius bars that I can clamp over the plate being glued as a caul.

D. Cut the mortise in the block before or after? OR really doesnt matter.

[packocrayons]

Good luck! I tried wrapping (a la Cumpiano) the first time, and have used clamps the rest of the times. A good fit requires less clamping force (tape works, careful not to peel the top grain) than you'd think.

If you cut the mortise before you put the back on, then you can go all the way through and then cover it when you put the back on. If you're doing it with a router it's not as big of a deal but doing it by hand makes it easier. I mortise my neck block before it's even on the sides.

[Skarsaune]

I use spool clamps around the outside. Made myself a pile of them.

A good thing to do before you close the box is make yourself a bridge gluing caul for the inside. Easier to make while you can still check the fit against the braces.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Skarsaune

A good thing to do before you close the box is make yourself a bridge gluing caul for the inside. Easier to make while you can still check the fit against the braces.

Ideally, one already did, using it to glue the bridge plate.

[Neil K Walk]

Good luck. Next up: lots and lots of scraping and sanding. Binding is on the horizon.

[ClaptonWannabe2]

Well the weekend wasn’t it. More problems.

A. How many of your first builds were hideous?

B. More important. How many are playable to this day?

[Skarsaune]

Originally Posted by ClaptonWannabe2

A. How many of your first builds were hideous?

Not mine. While it's not perfect, it's definitely not hideous.

Originally Posted by ClaptonWannabe2

B. More important. How many are playable to this day?

Mine. It's not quite two years old. Played gigs the last two weekends with it. It's remarkably good.

Keep your chin up.

[redir]

I built my first acoustic guitar in 1992 and I still play it today. It doesn't look great, it's had the neck reset once, but it actually sounds pretty good and I like it just becasue it's my first.

This is how I have always closed the top by gluing on the back:

[packocrayons]

Originally Posted by ClaptonWannabe2

Well the weekend wasn’t it. More problems.

A. How many of your first builds were hideous?

B. More important. How many are playable to this day?

Keep in mind that you're the one who will see all the mistakes, and nobody else will be able to find them. I could still point out every mistake on my first guitar, and nobody would even notice most of them, some even when pointing right at it.
The photos posted in the custom shop threads really are another level, the close ups of miters on bindings are honestly just gloating at this point

My guitar is still playable. The action is a little high, because neck geometry is very difficult to get right, but it plays nicely, and sound improves with age.

To make you feel better, here's a closeup of the soundport on number 1 - this tear out is something I have pointed out to tens of people, and very few of them can see it despite me pointing right at it. To me, it's glaringly obvious.

http://https://photos.app.goo.gl/49cKE9QBb4HVd1SL6

You always remember your first.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by ClaptonWannabe2

Well the weekend wasn’t it. More problems.

A. How many of your first builds were hideous?

B. More important. How many are playable to this day?

What exactly was the problem? Did the back curl again?

A: I had lots of help and had access to better tools for my first. The only thing really hideous about it is the tenon on the neck. I tried using barrel boots like Cumpiano but it compromised the durability of the tenon so it’s now a “semi-butt” joint. For my second I’m trying to do a lot more on my own - and it shows! The neck joint is much better though because it learned from my mistake and did threaded inserts and sealed them in with epoxy.

B: my first build is 6 years old. It’s too soon to tell but could use a setup. I’m not entirely happy with the neck profile but am glad that the neck is stable. The neck joint is a bolt on and I intentionally chose not to glue down the fretboard extension because I didn’t want to have to resort to steam when doing the reset.

[H165]

It's a learning process. Every builder, including C. F. Martin, Bob Taylor, Ren Ferguson, Olson, Lester DeVoe, etc. has been where you are now.

Keep in mind that you're the one who will see all the mistakes, and nobody else will be able to find them. I could still point out every mistake on my first guitar, and nobody would even notice most of them, some even when pointing right at it.

Remember this! While some may be better than others, nobody makes a "perfect" guitar. Keep going. Nothing is off limits. If you do or see something you later don't like, create a change that works for you.

Clamping:




I have forgotten the brace between the block and the top transverse brace (this little flat brace helps delay neck reset):

I mortise my neck block before it's even on the sides.

So do I.

A. How many of your first builds were hideous?

B. More important. How many are playable to this day?

This is my first build (1986). Still playing it, with no repairs and no mods:

[ClaptonWannabe2]

Bump.

Because the box is closed. I think it went pretty well. Need to refine my clamping process. Maybe if I can find a way to make cheap spool clamps. My errors with the back plate are still there and are still errors.

The rim expanded/slipped while being bent and glued. It left it an inch longer than the back plate that I foolishly cut already. I need ideas for thick back purfling to cover the error. Plan is to model a Martin 000-28. So the back should be simple white binding. This will not be thick enough to cover my boo-boo.

I am here for ideas. I don't know that I like herringbone on the back, so I want to shelve that idea. Unless you guys can point me in the direction of some examples where I am wrong?

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by ClaptonWannabe2

I think it went pretty well...The rim expanded/slipped while being bent and glued. It left it an inch longer than the back plate that I foolishly cut already.

I suggest that that is the very definition of not going well.

If it were mine, I'd remove the back, clean it up and re-glue.

I suggest employing some means of ensuring that the side assembly remains the size of your templates - the intended shape. There are numerous methods of doing that.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I suggest that that is the very definition of not going well.

If it were mine, I'd remove the back, clean it up and re-glue.

I suggest employing some means of ensuring that the side assembly remains the size of your templates - the intended shape. There are numerous methods of doing that.

You mean like a solera work board? I’m guessing that the waist spread and the tail and neck blocks are closer together.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

You mean like a solera work board?

That's one approach, yes.

Although this isn't my work board, it is very similar to the one I use, though mine has provision for the neck to allow building Spanish style, face down. The back and bindings can be clamped in conjunction with the board using rubber bands through the slots.

I also use outside molds.

I’m guessing that the waist spread and the tail and neck blocks are closer together.

My interpretation of what the OP wrote is that the back is too short for the side assembly, a result of the waist pulled in and the blocks further apart.