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  #91  
Old 05-11-2019, 02:43 AM
nobo nobo is offline
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Preparing the body... Getting close now!





Due to the huge width of the neck (particularly at the body join - c. 61mm at 12 fret) and the position and construction of the cutaway, the neck is slightly off centre - it extends onto the bass side of the upper bout (as it does on my Wingert). If there isn't a fingerboard extension, the "beards" of the fingerboard wouldn't be the same length as it hits the soundhole, which would look oddly asymmetrical. So a fingerboard extension was in order. I do use the dusty end quite a bit (hence the cutaway ... and the limited amount of £££ I generate from my playing!), so a fingerboard extension is quite handy, particularly for right hand/harp harmonics, which I use a fair bit of (they sound particularly lovely on baritones, IMHO). I also use a soundhole pickup, so we couldn't go the full 24 frets without interfering with that; for me the aesthetic of the full double octave extension was a bit much too. Plus, there's always harmonics for the 24th instead! So Tom and I talked about it a fair bit and this is what he came up with. I love it!





Tom: “ll do the last bit of neck shaping and heel carving with the neck attached to the body. And then we’re off to finish with this baby!”

Trimming back the heel to receive the heel cap. Tom will then finish the heel shaping and neck transitions! Home stretch!



Sheer cut scraping, also known as the @beauhannamguitars ‘pinky out’ technique.



Heel cap on. Tom says: “Really dig these new forged f-clamps from the @axminstertools trade range. Lightweight, but really solid. Definitely worth having a few to hand for guitar making.”

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  #92  
Old 05-15-2019, 10:19 AM
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Heel carving

From TS: “Marking out the heel roundovers. 3.5mm quarter radius to be exact. Maybe 3.4...

I got this sliding square when I was starting my cabinet making apprenticeship and it’s remained one of my most reached for tools. Can’t find a replacement anywhere! If you spot a Moore & Wright one in good nick, lemme know!”



From the maker himself:

"Softening the heel with a 1” Masashige paring chisel.

If my workshop was burning down, I’d definitely grab this chisel for my hypothetical emergency toolkit. I purchased it from the most wonderful tool shop I’ve ever visited, @hidatoolin Berkeley, CA with a gift voucher from Ervin (a gift voucher that fell out of my back pocket as I rode my bike to the store resulting in a 20 block backtrack). Anyway, as I perused the chisel section (shelves of dreams) I came across this bad boy, I remember thinking at the time that I’d never use it, it was a frivolous waste of a (hard won back) gift voucher and that I should probably get something more useful, but no, I had to have it, it was just so gorgeous.

As it would turn out, it is rarely far from my grasp and is definitely one of my most used tools, and certainly my no.1 chisel. Funny how it goes.

A note on paring chisels; The main reasons I like them centre around control. First, the longer Japanese red oak handle provides balance combined with a typically much finer business end than its western counterpart. Second, again thanks to the longer handle, what I call ‘the angle of incidence’ or the approach can be much more finely judged and manipulated due to the guiding hand being that much further away from the cutting edge. That and it feeling more and extension of your arm the your pivoting wrist.

Since acquiring this chisel, I’ve subsequently replaced all of my western pattern chisels."









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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists

Last edited by nobo; 05-18-2019 at 01:34 AM.
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  #93  
Old 05-15-2019, 01:10 PM
ericcsong ericcsong is offline
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so satisfying! can't wait for it to finally come together!
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  #94  
Old 05-18-2019, 01:33 AM
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Originally Posted by ericcsong View Post
so satisfying! can't wait for it to finally come together!
Indeed Eric! Whist the thread is a little bit behind reality, the gap is closing. It's still not NGD yet, but not long to go now. Very exciting!
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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #95  
Old 05-18-2019, 01:48 AM
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Photos and commentary courtesy of TS:

"With @daisyellatempest out of town and @juno_the_shop_dog [edit from Dan - more on the mini chocolate horse to come ... ] not having opposable thumbs (or an eye for composition), it’s just me and the self timer.

Shaping the volute is something I’m super picky about. I don’t know about you but whenever I pick up a guitar, it’s where my hand naturally first goes to, for me tracing the line of the volute with my thumb is an indication of how a neck is going to play. Why? Because it’s so hard to get right, there’s so many intersecting curves and transitions, and they all should flow together seamlessly like a beautiful mini sculpture, get the volute right and chances are the neck carve should take care of itself. The attention to detail in this one spot generally says a lot about the instrument as a whole."



"Something I love about a volute is that it’s often a signature, my favourite luthiers are have their own variation. I love what Julian Gaffney does with his and especially Hiroshi Ogino’s.

I’m still searching for my signature shape, it’s such a subtle thing!"



"A scraper is definitely my favourite and most versatile tool. A razor blade is a great mini scraper! Perfect for detail scraping and shaping!"

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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
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Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #96  
Old 05-21-2019, 03:01 AM
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Ok, somehow I’ve managed to get this far without giving any proper mention to the shop’s supervisor, chief of operations and overall woodworking supremo. How remiss of me. My apologies.

Meet Juno.



I believe her official title is “Resident wood sourcer and tester at Tom Sands Guitars”.

So, some gratuitously cute, just about relevant, animal photos...







The chocolate horse overseeing the installation of side position markers on my baritone.



For more, she even has her own instagram (@juno_the_shop_dog)!
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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #97  
Old 05-22-2019, 02:25 AM
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Ok, somehow I’ve managed to get this far without giving any proper mention to the shop’s supervisor, chief of operations and overall woodworking supremo. How remiss of me. My apologies.

Meet Juno.
I'm assuming she ensures Tom's guitars all have a very melodic growl to them?
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  #98  
Old 05-23-2019, 06:46 AM
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I'm assuming she ensures Tom's guitars all have a very melodic growl to them?
I would guess so! Along with a satisfying bite to the trebles, with no wolf (or woof) notes! (Sorry! )
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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #99  
Old 05-24-2019, 01:40 AM
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I would guess so! Along with a satisfying bite to the trebles, with no wolf (or woof) notes! (Sorry! )
The only one we're missing is "bark"!

Anyway, cute dog. Great to have in a work environment.
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  #100  
Old 05-30-2019, 05:31 AM
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The only one we're missing is "bark"!

Anyway, cute dog. Great to have in a work environment.
Indeed! Wish I could take one to the office! Looking forward to meeting Juno in a month or few.
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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #101  
Old 05-30-2019, 05:35 AM
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From Tom: “I love it when a plan/body and neck comes together. Things stop being so abstract. Finishing up a box is always nice, but at this point you finally get a sense of what the whole package looks and feels like. Somehow everything suddenly feels tangible.”





Looking good!
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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #102  
Old 06-01-2019, 02:20 AM
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From Tom:

"Manzer body wedge, fan fret, baritone, bevels. I’ve dubbed this ‘the kitchen sink guitar’ it has it all and we’re almost done!! (with the woodwork...)

This picture demonstrates why this guitar has been my most challenging to date. Look how long that neck is. Look how skewiff that body is. Look at that wonky headstock."





Raising the grain



TS says: "This Ovangkol has a few spots of mineral deposit in the pores. This is naturally occurring and I could leave it in, it’s part of the wood after all. Thing is, it’s white and can look like a flaw in the finish, sort of like buffing compound hasn’t been cleaned off properly. So, in we go with a scalpel tip to pick it out. I won’t drive myself crazy trying to get it all out but at least I can soften the visual impact. If this wood was plain and straight grained, I might be inclined to go in more aggressively with a wire brush but given the outrageous figure and colour variation in this back, a few soft white spots won’t be a distraction."

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danburne.com
Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #103  
Old 06-01-2019, 11:00 AM
steveh steveh is offline
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Man, that guitar is really looking sweet.

Pity the neck is 2 ft wide at the nut...

Cheers,
Steve
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  #104  
Old 06-03-2019, 03:02 AM
nobo nobo is offline
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Originally Posted by steveh View Post
Man, that guitar is really looking sweet.

Pity the neck is 2 ft wide at the nut...

Cheers,
Steve
Lol! To be fair, it's pretty much exactly 2" Pretty hefty, but I've come to love that (and the huge string spacing at the bridge) and am finding it really hard to play anything narrower! So can't wait for this to arrive! Not long now at all...!
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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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  #105  
Old 06-03-2019, 03:19 AM
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Here's that (unconventional 23 fret) fingerboard extension in close up.



TS says:

"My favourite saw in all of lutherie. I can’t remember what it’s called (for now let’s call it Horacio) but it’s invaluable for cleaning out fret slots before installation - very important for a securely seated fret.

It’s a nifty little tool, being double sided with opposing tooth orientation. This means you can make sure the whole slot is clear without having to move the guitar 180° and let’s face it, moving is for dummies."

Groovy!

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Bown OMX Lutz/Braz
Eastman AR405E & T486
Kostal MDC German/claro and OM Euro/Madrose
Larrivee L-05MT
Lowden O35cx cedar/EIR, New Lady, Baritone, O12 and O12-12
McIlroy A25c custom Cedar/Kew black walnut
Montgomery fan fret parlour Euro/ebony
Sands Baritone Swiss/Ovangkol (another due 2022)
Wingert Model E German/Braz
Yairi 1960s Soloists
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