Big Red

[Muzz]

I too love the handmade stuff. I slot my frets by hand and eye, no miter box involved.

Double n triple check ur measurements on the upper frets. intonation becomes critical when the spaces are so small.

P.s., I love how you can make a 5 page thread and still not have the body cut or the board slotted.

That .

Is it 5 pages already? That's good advice on the slotting, will do

[verhoevenc]

I agree, it is fun doing things minimalistic. Trains the hands well. But I can't bring myself to go that far! Stronger than I!

Chris

[Muzz]

I used the Stew Mac fret position calculator for my 648 mm scale

I measured my scoring knife thickness, it's 0.3 mm.

Measuring out, scoring with the knife

marked out

Scratches widened up with a Stanley knife. Ready for the slotting saw

[supplebanana]

I do it the hard way too... gives me a certain satisfaction. I was recently carving a neck by hand with rasps & surforms & my brother was like "Whoa - you're making hard work for yourself there - why don't you use a power-file or something"

My reply? - "1. I don't have a powerfile. 2. I'm not afraid of hard work."....lol

[avengers63]

There's a certain satisfaction n doing things "the hard way". It really makes you feel like YOU did it, not just guided the tool.

That being said, there are a lot of things I'd never want to do without a power tool. EG: thickness a board, resaw, hog out a cavity (pickup, control, body chamber, etc)... None of that would give me anything but a sore back. I'd much rather put the time & effort into paying more attention to the small details or doing some ridiculous inlay work.

[Muzz]

I do it the hard way too... gives me a certain satisfaction. I was recently carving a neck by hand with rasps & surforms & my brother was like "Whoa - you're making hard work for yourself there - why don't you use a power-file or something"

My reply? - "1. I don't have a powerfile. 2. I'm not afraid of hard work."....lol

I agree, the neck shaping is one of the processes that is good to do by hand, seeing the shape develop bit by bit is fun.

There's a certain satisfaction n doing things "the hard way". It really makes you feel like YOU did it, not just guided the tool.

That being said, there are a lot of things I'd never want to do without a power tool. EG: thickness a board, resaw, hog out a cavity (pickup, control, body chamber, etc)... None of that would give me anything but a sore back. I'd much rather put the time & effort into paying more attention to the small details or doing some ridiculous inlay work.

Can't argue here either, I can't imagine doing a pickup cavity by hand, inlaying makes a big visual impact on a guitar, I must try it sometime.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Muzz

[Muzz]

Ok that was hard and fiddly work, next time I am getting the Stu Mac slotting jig

4 frets done

all done

But the slots are in the right places so everything is OK

A few scratches and a bit wide on the edges of the 13th fret, but they will all sand out when the radiusing gets done

[Muzz]

I drew this shape up, thinking about it rather than a standardish strat shape.

Deciding whether to go 22, 23 or 24 frets

[Our Souls inc.]

There's a certain satisfaction n doing things "the hard way". It really makes you feel like YOU did it, not just guided the tool.

That being said, there are a lot of things I'd never want to do without a power tool. EG: thickness a board, resaw, hog out a cavity (pickup, control, body chamber, etc)... None of that would give me anything but a sore back. I'd much rather put the time & effort into paying more attention to the small details or doing some ridiculous inlay work.

John, Using a chisel to cut out a pup cavity is easier than you think. I did it on my latest project, just to do it. Not as hard as I thought. There is something relaxing about chiseling the cavity out. To be in a hurry would make it torture, while taking the time to place the chisel just right and cut 'curlies' out of the wood is somehow calming.

@ Muzz- the Sm slotting jig is kinda pricey for a home-builder. If you made necks all the time, I could see it , but consider the cost before you buy it.

I'd roll with 22 frets ( if it were mine ) and dull the bottom point just a tad to match the top horn.

Looking neat so far.

[ScottR]

while taking the time to place the chisel just right and cut 'curlies' out of the wood is somehow calming.

+1

SR

[Muzz]

There's a certain satisfaction n doing things "the hard way". It really makes you feel like YOU did it, not just guided the tool.

That being said, there are a lot of things I'd never want to do without a power tool. EG: thickness a board, resaw, hog out a cavity (pickup, control, body chamber, etc)... None of that would give me anything but a sore back. I'd much rather put the time & effort into paying more attention to the small details or doing some ridiculous inlay work.

John, Using a chisel to cut out a pup cavity is easier than you think. I did it on my latest project, just to do it. Not as hard as I thought. There is something relaxing about chiseling the cavity out. To be in a hurry would make it torture, while taking the time to place the chisel just right and cut 'curlies' out of the wood is somehow calming.

@ Muzz- the Sm slotting jig is kinda pricey for a home-builder. If you made necks all the time, I could see it , but consider the cost before you buy it.

I'd roll with 22 frets ( if it were mine ) and dull the bottom point just a tad to match the top horn.

Looking neat so far.

Yep, you have to be careful with this hobby, man it would be so easy to spend a motza, I am going to have to do a bit of remodelling on the lower horn, it's a bit stubby at the moment.

while taking the time to place the chisel just right and cut 'curlies' out of the wood is somehow calming.

+1

SR

I can totally see the point here, I just don't presently have the chisel skills, something I can work on. It would be great to make an electric guitar using only hand tools.

Real neck, easily enough room for 23 frets, bit short for 24, the overhang would be severe.

I flattened out the top of the practice neck today, I am using a welded rod.

Planning things out on the practice neck, the rod slot will finish 8 mm from the neck edge of the nut

6.2 mm wide, 10 mm deep.

[Muzz]

Truss rod channel practice run. Guide hole for the router to gauge distance.

Finally gave up my Arlec cordless drill, it cost me $30 about 8 years ago, it was still going strong but the NiCd batteries were cactus and you can't buy replacements any more, I got a lithium battery model from Bunnings.

Channel routed, what did I learn today, add 0.5 mmm on either end of the channel, don't make the router guide too tight, it set the channel about 0.5 mm off centre, although that wouldn't be a big deal, I could just redraw the centre line before shaping the net. The last 20 mm towards the headstock needs an extra 0.5 mm either side to hold the rod allen key nut.

I gave a bit more to the lower horn on the body plan, happy with that, I cut it out and got some masking tape, stuck the tape to my T shirt a few times too turn it into low stick tape and fastened the paper to some 6 mm MDF. Traced around it, re-positioned the tape and finished the tracing.

[Muzz]

Jigsawed out the template

And then the part that I really like, shaping the template with a rasp, I think this is an artistic part of the process, designing a new shape with a pencil and bendy curve and then hand shaping the router guide by hand.

Pointy bits on MDF can fray, I soaked the point with superglue, covered it with baking paper and clamped it for 10 mins, problem solved.

Then sanded the template to finish it off, this shot reminds me of killemall,

[Muzz]

I made the valley at the top of the body a bit deeper, I want the upper point more like a shark's fin

Drew some more of the plan

The neck will be going in about another 6 mm

And worked out where the machine heads are going

[Muzz]

I watched The Human Centipede First Sequence last night with the lights out, scared the crap out of me, if ever I go driving in the woods I am taking a motor bike in the trailer.

Adding the pick up pozzies to the plan

My philosophy on guitars is that they should look beautiful, and have lovely flowing lines, in other words, not a Corvus. And the top horn on my design is not horny enough. I am reaching for my pencil

[curtisa]

If it were me I'd bring the top edge of the upper horn down towards the centre of the guitar a bit, and stretched out a bit towards the nut. At the moment it looks a little like it's "looking upward" for want of a better term.

[Muzz]

Yes looking upward describes it, I have sharpened it up on a paper cutout,

[avengers63]

My philosophy on guitars is that they should look beautiful, and have lovely flowing lines, in other words, not a Corvus.

[Muzz]

What makes you think I hate the Corvus John?

but if I ever develop an ism it will be Corvusism

[Fagerholm]

I liked the original shape. Maybe the top point of left horn could be moved little towards center line (~20 mm) but not sharpened. You should decide whitch one you like the best. Looking great though!

[Muzz]

I liked the original shape. Maybe the top point of left horn could be moved little towards center line (~20 mm) but not sharpened. You should decide whitch one you like the best. Looking great though!

Cheers, I drew out the original upper bout a bit smaller, it is amazing that shaving off 10 mm from that part makes so much difference to the overall look of the guitar, now both designs look good to me. Choosing between them is now a nice problem to have

[Muzz]

Here's how I chose, I put the new shape next to my blue guitar, the template's horns started to curl up with embarrassment.

If I could't improve on a an existing twin horn pointy stick shape why try?

I screwed the template to the blank

and traced around it. Then drilled holes for the jig saw to turn in. That faithful old bench drill cost $40.

Straight lines so the jig doesn't bend inwards, that was the theory anyway

[Muzz]

Really rough cut, the leftover will be turned into a frame to balance the router when trimming up the body.

I then shaved off more from the body.

One patch the blade bent inwards to reach 3 mm off 90 degrees on the back, I said a few bad words until I realised it was 9 mm inside the tummy tuck zone, so who gives a #^%&

Beer O' clock

[curtisa]

Mmmmm, beer...

[avengers63]

The shape looks a lot like this '56 Ric: http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2012/04/1956-rickenbacker-combo-800-coolest.html

Personally, I don't care for one horn being sharp and the other rounded. It feels like contradictory themes; unbalanced visually. For all my opinion is worth.