ADFinlayson Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 TBH I can't tell from the footage if there are gaps or not. I also can't work out if you've already tapered the fretboard or not? If not, I'd say to get that done and then reassess. You've had that fretboard a while, it could have cupped in which case the bad joint will only be along the edges, it could be the neck wasn't flat or it could just be that you don't have enough clamps. A bad joint is not ideal but it's not the end of the world, you can hide it with binding but obviously you will need to get that joint right. If you decide not to bind, you can just fill with ebony dust and superglue and it will be invisible. For next time, do a dry clamp then drill a couple of locator pins to keep it square thus killing two birds. I use 2mm cocktail sticks from the supermarket and drill into the fret slots. You've also got your thickness planer now - I put my fretboards through the planer just before I glue them to get them to a perfect 6mm, then I take the little planer marks off with a cabinet scraper. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Latest vid covering fretboard woes is up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 I can't imagine keeping a plane square planing an edge of a fretboard... not much area there. again, nice choice of background music. I buy my fretboards cnc cut and radiused (yes I'm a cheater) so the back side has generally been pretty well prepped... but with ebony many recommend ruffing it up anyway, and also a wipe down with acetone as the natural oils might interfere with the glue bond. for those reasons I usually hit it with a level w sandpaper on it and then acetone. watching this, it hadn't occurred to me how much work I'm saving by buying those. money well spent... but admittedly don't get the pride of diy on that. anywho, just some thoughts. good job on your video. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 4 minutes ago, mistermikev said: I can't imagine keeping a plane square planing an edge of a fretboard... not much area there. again, nice choice of background music. I buy my fretboards cnc cut and radiused (yes I'm a cheater) so the back side has generally been pretty well prepped... but with ebony many recommend ruffing it up anyway, and also a wipe down with acetone as the natural oils might interfere with the glue bond. for those reasons I usually hit it with a level w sandpaper on it and then acetone. watching this, it hadn't occurred to me how much work I'm saving by buying those. money well spent... but admittedly don't get the pride of diy on that. anywho, just some thoughts. good job on your video. Haha yes you have a point with the acetone, I need to put in an order for some. It's recommended for the palmwood also. And probably the wenge. I've come away from the shed with what looks like henna tattoos before. Yes i really wanted to do everything on this build. I am very much in favour of CNC fretboards and inlays, I think if i could get the right software I'd have quite a bit of fun programming inlays in, but also so i can cut fret slots that do not reach the edge of the board. if i do manage to expand to a larger work space i'll be looking at sticking linux on a crippled old laptop and getting a cnc at some point no doubt when they can be had for a price i can afford. I can still convince myself its DIY if i program the CNC =). I note there is a CNC "tutorial" on this very site although it seems to leave out a lot of nescecary info and the more complete packages from cnc companies are still up in that semi pro price bracket at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 17 minutes ago, Urumiko said: Haha yes you have a point with the acetone, I need to put in an order for some. It's recommended for the palmwood also. And probably the wenge. I've come away from the shed with what looks like henna tattoos before. Yes i really wanted to do everything on this build. I am very much in favour of CNC fretboards and inlays, I think if i could get the right software I'd have quite a bit of fun programming inlays in, but also so i can cut fret slots that do not reach the edge of the board. if i do manage to expand to a larger work space i'll be looking at sticking linux on a crippled old laptop and getting a cnc at some point no doubt when they can be had for a price i can afford. I can still convince myself its DIY if i program the CNC =). I note there is a CNC "tutorial" on this very site although it seems to leave out a lot of nescecary info and the more complete packages from cnc companies are still up in that semi pro price bracket at the moment. hehe, I had to go google henna tattoos... yes I'm THAT out of the loop. fretboard is the one thing that kept me from ever trying to build a guitar 20yrs ago. Just couldn't reconcile getting that kind of precision w/o some time of tool, but people seem to do it all the time. that said, it'd the one part of the build I'd just rather pay for. down side to that is no 1 piece necks and it's also difficult to find really exotic/figured woods. will likely have to cross that bridge someday. yes, blind fretslots are cool. also the (I forget the term) fretboard inset into the neck wood. so many cool things that cnc opens up. that's on my someday list too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 I think your glue up will be fine mate. If you don't decide to bind then ebony dust and superglue will hide any gaps. But I see you've got some nice flamed maple binding strips there. You mentioned that you're going to radius your fretboard, route binding and cut off neck excess neck. Make sure you do that in the right order. 1. cut the neck and route it flush with the fretboard. 2. Route your binding channel. 3. Radius the fretboard. If you route your binding channel first, you will no longer have the correct taper to route your neck to, if you radius first, you will not have a flat surface to site the router on or place on router table. Loving that palmwood, will look stunning with some finish on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted June 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 aye so.... this is why palm wood is a nightmare. preeeety unroutable... This guitar is gonna end up 100% dust and glue XD It is exciting though when things start looking the right shape though! I weighed in all my wood as it currently is it comes to 9.2lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 Catch me up, what has happened here? Is this the result of you routing the palmwood flush with the fretboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted June 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 1 hour ago, ADFinlayson said: Catch me up, what has happened here? Is this the result of you routing the palmwood flush with the fretboard? yup: Latest vid is up: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 Just wondering... Would it have made any difference if you had not tried to reach the fretboard at every pass? I mean, had you just touched the surface all along several times until reaching the fretboard might have been more subtle. A four flute router bit might also have helped by cutting shallower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 Screw the new camera, you need better router bits bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 8 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: Screw the new camera, you need better router bits bud. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted June 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 Haha, yes I agree although the nature of the wood really does make tearout pretty inevitable. It was fine with the wenge which is a much harder wood. Still willing to post a sample of the palmwood to anyone that wants it. I did find the router very bitey. This was my first time using the 1/2 inch router, previousl having used the 1/4". I had the speed on minimum to avoid scorching, although i do wonder if higher speed might result in a better cut. Kind of liek a "whipping the table cloth out quickly" effect? All I know is im expecting when i come to build a 2nd guitar from standard woods im expecting to find it a breeze by comparrison :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 just a thought, but direction of the router and quality of the bit would probably play a big role in preventing this. downhill routing works wonders altho I have never worked with palmwood and am not certain it could be avoided. all that said: multiple passes at small depths and a big (3/4") router bit with a bull nose have served me pretty well in figured wood scenarios. there's only one guaranteed way to avoid it and that would be one of those guided sanding drums. (note to self: avoid palmwood!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted June 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 Check this out though... My stepfather (whos shed i currently use). Has a garage/glorified barn that he rents to work on his cars. Hes downscaling a bit so is keen to let me set up in there with him. Won't be for a while yet but when that comes about I'll be able to set up some decent bench space, probably build an extended table to sit the router and table saw in etc. Get all my tools set out. Dust extraction... etc etc.. lovely... Its probably a bit damp for wood storage but otherwise pretty awesome. I'm very lucky. Baby steps fo rnow though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted July 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 Latest vid is up. Could do with some feedback on layout before i commit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 18, 2019 Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Urumiko said: Latest vid is up. Could do with some feedback on layout before i commit. Looks OK to me. Camera position works, sound comes across fine and the real life myriad of options and considerations can be seen. Hope this helps Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 18, 2019 Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 That was a tough one! My logical thinking would say to put the longer stretch to the wider part of the body but looking at the different lines on top of each other both look good enough. As the camera angle may twist the view somewhat it's tough to tell which one looks better. Cut a pair of Acme® moveable f-holes out of black cardboard or black masking tape and attach them to the right place. Take a photo featuring all potential locations and put them side by side for evaluating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted July 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 Dunno if the photo helps? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 Well, that certainly looks OK to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Well, that certainly looks OK to me I couldn't say it any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted July 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 Well.. i took the plunge. And rough cut the holes.. started filing one of them. Camera angle etc makes them look uneaven but they are not 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 Having done the same I can share your feelings! Now you're facing the hardest part: Filing and sanding them symmetrical and to the same size and shape. One useful tool might be a sort of a template shaped to snugly fit and go through the f-hole. A piece of scrap mdf should be just fine. Your acrylic template is the perfect test piece for that f-shaped object. Or you can do like I did and go just by eye. Even there the original template and a sharp pencil can be useful for finding any irregularities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted July 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 Latest vid is up. Still wrestling with exposure settings a bit but i felt like the vid was decent quality this time out ^_^. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 I can't tell if cutting the holes before carving was a good idea or not. I did the carving first. It most likely depends on the carving method whether the holes are in the way or not. A chisel will most likely be out of the question around the holes, a flap or cup sander may work just fine. Funny that we seem to worry more about the video quality than the merits of the content despite this being a guitar building oriented site. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising. Also, those two go hand in hand. If you're not interesting you won't get viewers no matter how good your videos are. Vice versa you'd lose viewers because of poor video quality even if you were the most renowned guru in the world. Anyhow, that looked nice, both ways. An exciting project in a viewer friendly form. Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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