charisjapan Posted September 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 On 9/12/2017 at 10:29 PM, Prostheta said: That tape is burning my eyes!! Lovely how that brass nut sits in there. I should maybe have suggested Evo gold wire, however it's a bit more difficult to work than NS. Hehe! I love that lavender tape. I actually had EVO in my shopping cart, but decided it would be too much gold, and clash with the chrome/black theme of the Filter'Tron and Hipshot parts. I agree that shiny brass is eye-catching, so maybe better by itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 22, 2017 Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 That nut looks lovely. Have the slots been polished out yet? Brass is soft enough that a cheap set of steel strings can be run through with the nut in a vice to burnish any sharp edges out. I love brass nuts, but they're difficult to keep shiny unless you keep on top of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2017 Was pondering how to thickness the neck before carving. The Limba 6 will be a soft-V profile, and the other (to be announced) Padauk will be a C profile. I don't have a bandsaw, and rasping it down is tedious ... and potentially uneven. I had some other work to do on a gift to my daughter, so used the router table with a 12mm radius roundover bit, then a dishing bit to give me a 25mm neck thickness as a starting point for the carves. Next, marked centerlines and a pair of reference lines, just to get me in the ballpark. We'll see how this works out! And notice the brace? Got tendinitis ... top of my right thumb is numb, and any extension is REALLY painful. Was prescribed Loxoprophen Sodium, and 3 days later seems to be getting better. Life goes on ... but after 60 there are (ahem) issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2017 14 hours ago, Prostheta said: That nut looks lovely. Have the slots been polished out yet? Brass is soft enough that a cheap set of steel strings can be run through with the nut in a vice to burnish any sharp edges out. I love brass nuts, but they're difficult to keep shiny unless you keep on top of them. Nah, just a shallow cut to get the angle to the pegs. Will probably be at least 2X that depth, then tweak, then reshape and polish outside and slots. This is my first 6-string brass nut, but love the one on the Chinaberry bass. I kinda like to let it get tarnished, except keep the top shiny. We'll see how the Padauk color changes, and whether I will pamper this guitar ... or allow it to "slow-relic." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 23, 2017 Report Share Posted September 23, 2017 The orange evil has stained my tablet screen. Damn you Padauk! Those oils even contaminate the Interwebs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2017 On 9/23/2017 at 3:28 PM, Prostheta said: The orange evil has stained my tablet screen. Damn you Padauk! Those oils even contaminate the Interwebs. It's ALIVE!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2017 Indeed, Padauk has become an obsession ... Had a nice slab to make a thin (38mm) guitar body, but my daughter "appropriated" it as a gift from me, and "commissioned" me (gratis, of course) to make a shelf in her kitchen, and while I was at it, a matching keyhook and coathook. There were a few pieces left over, so my other daughter asked for a carved table top decoration. Seeing as my kids have granted Mrs.Charisjapan grandkids (which she dotes on), how can I refuse?! All this has to be done in a week, so that I can bring it to Hawaii ... After having a precious piece of Padauk "stolen" from my stock, this gorgeous, gargantuan plank came up on auction, and nobody else bid! About $40. I'm not promising anything, but doesn't this look like a one-piece guitar blank????? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 24, 2017 Report Share Posted September 24, 2017 Body blanks at the most! Single-piece guitars are a bit silly in this day and age. The last good one that I saw was a single-piece Ziricote 8-string by Oni. Google it....at least I think it was a single-piece instrument. There's zero real use of a single-piece instrument other than bragging rights I guess, and even then, those aren't that useful. haha This Padauk is poisoning my monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2017 Back to the Limba 6, I started playing with the neck carve up at the headstock. It's not a "V" yet, but I think the headstock transition might look something like this. Went down to the heel, and found that I got over-exuberant on the router table. It's about 4mm beyond my mark ... guess I wasn't paying attention. After looking at things, I think I can salvage the situation by just carving the body back a bit. That heel area was kind of undecided anyway, so ... Shhhhh .... don't tell anybody! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2017 Just now, Prostheta said: Body blanks at the most! Single-piece guitars are a bit silly in this day and age. The last good one that I saw was a single-piece Ziricote 8-string by Oni. Google it....at least I think it was a single-piece instrument. There's zero real use of a single-piece instrument other than bragging rights I guess, and even then, those aren't that useful. haha This Padauk is poisoning my monitor. I know, I know! ... but bragging rights are legitimate desires! That said, I will most probably use this for a body blank, and maybe 4 necks ... if I actually build 4 more guitars with Padauk necks. Sorry 'bout the monitor, hope it doesn't totally saturate all the pixels, then leak into the PC and cause Blue Screen Of Death!! Btw, this is the block for the table ornament ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted September 24, 2017 Report Share Posted September 24, 2017 25 minutes ago, charisjapan said: After having a precious piece of Padauk "stolen" from my stock, this gorgeous, gargantuan plank came up on auction, and nobody else bid! About $40. $40!!!!??? what a deal. Even if that was craft quality lumber- wow. I dont even want to mention what that would cost me here in Georgia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2017 Used the sanding drum to "adjust" the area under the neck pocket ... to fix the goof I made with the "router method" of neck thicknessing. Next was a gouge chisel to get basic shape, then the card scraper to clean up there and the headstock ... and just kept going on the neck profile. Not the best way, but had lost of fun making long. curly shavings! Some folks have mentioned Padauk odor, but mine must be a fragrant piece, pleasantly spicy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 27, 2017 Report Share Posted September 27, 2017 Precise and clean. Great that the heel ding cleaned out. I'm relieved to see that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 27, 2017 Report Share Posted September 27, 2017 Nice save! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2k Posted September 27, 2017 Report Share Posted September 27, 2017 I've been quietly lurking along with this build CJ. It's turning out great. I might have to come back to Japan just to see it in person. (By the way, our stuff is finally scheduled to arrive next week after three months of transit. That breaks down to 2 weeks of transit and 10 weeks waiting for the customs inspectors to clear it - good thing I didn't send back a bunch of rosewood. I'm looking forward to getting my basses and starting to set up my shop so I can get back to work.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 Got a bit more done on the neck profile, just using the card scraper. It's getting close to a soft-V-to-C that I like. The profile tool is the 1st and 7th frets, and with the fretboard on is 24mm at 1st fret, 23mm at 7th, and back out to 24 past 12th. I will pull the neck and put a straight edge to I and take some more profiles every few frets ... then go down about another millimeter for a somewhat slim profile neck ... similar to the EC strat neck, my favorite. Btw, I probably had more than five piles of shavings ... I wonder if Mrs.Charisjapan would appreciate a potpourri? Oh, and never, NEVER throw a microfiber cloth on top of Padauk shavings!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted September 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 11 hours ago, a2k said: I've been quietly lurking along with this build CJ. It's turning out great. I might have to come back to Japan just to see it in person. (By the way, our stuff is finally scheduled to arrive next week after three months of transit. That breaks down to 2 weeks of transit and 10 weeks waiting for the customs inspectors to clear it - good thing I didn't send back a bunch of rosewood. I'm looking forward to getting my basses and starting to set up my shop so I can get back to work.) Hey a2k, good to see you here! Sorry to hear bout your household goods ... boats are relatively fast, then there's bureaucracy. Good things on your home, and hope you can get building again soon. Come on back any time, there's a place to stay, as long as you're good with the dogs bothering you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 Saffron from hell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted October 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 Almost three weeks in Hawaii visiting kids, grandkids and "Ohana" (non-blood family) kids. Found a LOT of carpentry, plumbing, electrical and various handyman chores waiting for me ... it's what I do ... and my Ohana help to make sure I feel wanted and needed. Here's a picture of my "Workbench" out on the lanai ... living in Japan, I'm used to working in tight and uncomfortable places. 12 hours of sun a day, and a bit hot, but the view was great! Back to the build, my Ohana-daughter gave me a nice strap for it! Not sure it's a perfect match color-wise, but it IS a high-quality strap, and much appreciated. This is my "haul" from this trip. The Odie's Oil and Wood Butter are for this build for sure. The rest are things that are hard to come by in Japan, or very expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted October 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 Not precisely a guitar build, but this happened in the middle of this build. You may recall I had some Padauk lying around, and my daughter found out. They just bought a small condo in Hawaii, and "needed" a small shelf near the entry for "pocket junk." and "just-got-home" junk ... AND a key hook, AND a coat hook (technically, nobody has coats in Hawaii, so jacket/hat/handbag hook). She and her hubbie also had a LONG list of "Daddy-Do" chores, many of which were to make their little place easier to live in with their new baby, my grandson. Here's the preparations in Japan, the adjustments on-site, and the finished products ... The last two pics are a table ornament I made for my older daughter's church in their home. The lettering was freehand with a trimmer/router, and the backside was with a template using a dish bit on the larger router. Finish on the home accoutrements was 2-part waterbase urethane, the church ornament was wood oil I got from @a2k. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 Tooled up and ready to get back to work eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted October 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Grrrr! Beware iOS 11.0.3 update will delete your ability to upload pics directly to Flickr. This won't affect folks in the US, as a Flickr app will still work (maybe?), but said app is not available in Japan. The only app that works here is limited to one pic at a time. So back to physically connecting phone to PC, then bulk uploads to Flickr. Please don't tell me about iCloud ... it always dumps everything from all devices, and any edits change all pics on all devices. Sorry for the Apple Rant ... I feel better now. Cleared away just enough mess to drill the 45-degree string-through holes using a simple jig and a long 4mm bit. Worked okay, predictably the holes on the backside are not lined up very well. I have a plan!! (but until I make it work, I won't tell ) Next was side dots so I can (finally) glue the fretboard to the neck. I was a bit lazy (again) and the holes were not perfectly the same ... but unless you sight down the edge, you really can't see it. I will file that away as "full disclosure" here, but never tell anyone I show the guitar to physically ... not many folks would notice. Soon I get to use Odie's Oil ... Yay!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Splendid! Well, I have to say that your incorporation of different materials and contrasting colours looks very in keeping for say, a lacquer box or other pieces of Japanese/Korean craft work. Is this coincidence, subtle influence from your surroundings or completely intentional? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted October 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 7 hours ago, Prostheta said: Splendid! Well, I have to say that your incorporation of different materials and contrasting colours looks very in keeping for say, a lacquer box or other pieces of Japanese/Korean craft work. Is this coincidence, subtle influence from your surroundings or completely intentional? Thank you! Well, the materials are not very traditional Japanese, but I'm certainly influenced by "Hakone Zaiku" woodcraft. That is an area just east of Mt. Fuji (and only about 2 hour drive from my home) that is famous for multi-colored wood inlay and patterned veneers. They are also famous for the "Magic Box" craft. I've been a fan of that stuff for 50 years. A lot of then methods are secret, but most of the master artisans have passed away. Young folks of the area just want to got to Tokyo and work for a big company ... idiots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charisjapan Posted October 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2017 Doki-doki ... (the Japanese "sound-word" aka "onomatopoeia" meaning an anxiously beating heart ... nervous) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.