Muzz

On 11/9/2021 at 3:27 AM, ScottR said:

Every cat should be so lucky.

SR

Absolutely, so cool how the whole group get on and with such enthusiasm.

What's not getting on is the progress of my fret end file in it's travels, I think my file is on a slow boat from China, I am getting to the point where I am going to use my old file. While I was waiting I had a practise run on the headstock veneer. I cut a piece of scrap veneer to the same size as the piece of veneer I have for the project. Then cut out a piece for the headstock within that.

And stuck it on and clamped it.

It fits, just. Things I learned from the practise run, don't split the veneer when cutting, you can see the split near the truss rod channel, don't draw pencil on the upside and then try to rub it off with a purple rubber, it leaves marks, 

I got a nice shot of a helicopter on Sunday.

What a beautiful guitar Scott, the blackburst on those V stripes looks amazing, great fun watching it take shape.

On 11/3/2021 at 12:30 AM, ScottR said:

They forgot the scene where the cat comes in, sits down, gives itself a good cleaning, and then calmly reaches out and whacks each obstacle  one at a time till they are all down. And then for unknown reasons, leaps straight up into the air, turning and landing facing back the way it came in, and spinning its wheels right back out of the hall.

And the dog that comes in, surveys the situation, and calmly lies down and begins to eat the nearest obstacle.

That last dog nearly went there......

SR

Animal behaviour is fascinating isn't it, and amazing how it can be so adaptable when the animal is young, this is a great video about a cat adopting canine culture

I found some nuts in a parts box, the one on the left that's hanging a bit low, I'm not going to use that one, it's plastic, I'm going to use the TUSQ nut on the right,

I'll put that on and then fix the veneer on the headstock face, it just fits.

On 10/31/2021 at 8:04 PM, Prostheta said:

Colour me surprised. I must like living dangerously with my free-range lead rolling pin!

20 hours ago, ScottR said:

One step away from a loose cannon.

SR

This gave me the weirdest image of a crazy chicken on a pirate ship, firing a cannon and yelling out where's your buccaneers? 

20 hours ago, Prostheta said:

A ticking loose cannon on fire in a china shop?

And for some reason this came to mind

In the past I have used this bit of wood with a bevel to clasp a file and put the angle on the fret ends.

But to use it you have to hold on to it tighter than Jack holding on to Rose's door. So this is winging its way to me.

It left Guandong a few days ago.

13 hours ago, Prostheta said:

A rolling pin rest?

As if such a thing exists. Somebody was desperate at Kitchen Doodad corporate HQ rattling out gift ideas so the execs can afford to buy another Beemer SUV for their wive's country club sojourns. Whatever next?

That's right, I would have been less surprised finding it at the bottom of the garden with unicorns frollicking around it than seeing it in a shop. The proliferation of kitchen gadgets is getting out of control. Even so I do like my Nutribullet and Sunbeam pie maker. I was in Target the other day and saw a sausage roll maker, I am tempted. 

11 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

They seem to be a common thing with marble rolling pins. No wonder, a freely rolling marble rolling pin can make serious damage if it rolls off the table. 

You got it.

I tapped the rest of the frets in.

Checked the level.

Fretboards made out of softer wood will still grab a fret as long as the slot is cut well, It looks like you have cut your slots without a jig, the third photo shows a slot about 30 degrees off angle, and that kind of wobble can also make the slots too wide to grab the fret. There is a solution, fill any off right angle slots with veneer and recut. Then use fret wire pieces with about 1 cm overhang each side. put epoxy on the tangs and in the slot, put in each fret and put elastic bands around the overhanging ends and tightly around the back of the neck to hold them in place until the glue sets. Good luck with it.

Grabbed this fret holder by habit, I didn't need it, the frets are all the same size out of the bag.

Using these tools.

Five sploges of glue in the slot, then tap the fret in.

Then give it the snip.

Time to switch to my guitar neck rest (actually a rolling pin rest).

Nearly half way there.

I can almost hear the lasers and the shuffling space invaders 

I made a second unsuccessful shopping trip to get one of these today

I might have to get that online too. The frets arrived today

and they were the right dimensions.

Just the right amount of rise off the fretboard.

I will get those into the fretboard on the weekend.

Everything's looking good there.

This is a gorgeous work of art.

Hope it all goes well on the weekend

16 hours ago, Prostheta said:

I might be able to surface the board Tuesday or Wednesday if the epoxy is sufficiently cured. I'm concerned that 15th, 17th and 21st didn't work well enough and may need recutting and filling. 

The space invaders look terrific, looking forward to seeing those sanded down. If you are concerned about those fret slots then they do need filling and recutting. So easy to do and you are not going to be happy about it until you do it. 

I am going to have to wait a few days until I can put the frets on, the fret on the left is what I thought had a full set of, the fret on the right comes from the pack of 24 frets I had put aside for this guitar, expectation was 2.9 mm wide. 1.3 mm high. reality is 3.0 x 1.0, what a difference 0.3 mm makes.

The fret resting on scrap wood on the right looks as though its been on the guitar for 30 years, I am not putting those on. I have ordered a set of the desired height.

I am jealous, that phat blade encased in resin looks awesome, 

On 10/12/2021 at 2:56 AM, Prostheta said:

You used the beer bottle?

You can use something else to drive in side dots? I used this one

On 10/12/2021 at 6:01 PM, Bizman62 said:

You made me curious. First question is should the bottle be unopened or empty (an opened one would obviously spill beer all over the unprotected wood which even I understand wouldn't be ideal)? And more: Would a full bottle act similarly to a dead blow hammer? Would rounded glass be better than polished steel for tapping in the plastic rod? Is there a difference in how the glue reacts with the surface of the tool, potentially staining the wood? Or is there simply so much more surface on the bottle that you can turn a clean side for every hit?

I will be disappointed if your answer is that it's required for the builder as instead of being about a tool it would be about lubricating the engine powering the tool.

Note to self, don't drink two of those beers before tapping in the dots

On 10/13/2021 at 4:13 AM, avengers63 said:

Interesting timing that you're making a new neck for a simulated Marauder. One of the things I've been tinkering with involves genuine Marauder pickups.

 

Great to hear from you John, that is a coincidence, I am going over to your post now to check it out.

On 10/13/2021 at 1:27 PM, mistermikev said:

lol, a while back I was into building pedals... and a fav is combining an orange squeezer with an ibanez tube screamer... I used the name "Ibenhad" and it has stuck w me lol.  I like Ibemuz just as well.  bravo.

I love Ibenhad, and I am intrigued wondering what an orange squeezer / TS hybrid sounds like 

15 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Perfect logo! I absolutely approve.

Glad you like it, it's the front runner so far, I will print out logo variants on sticky plastic and put them on the headstock to see what they look like before choosing one and printing the water slide decal. I like this one because it fits the Marauder style but reminds me of the Japanese homage guitars that were done back in the 70's https://www.holdenhillmusic.com.au/collections/guitar-vault/products/cimar-marauder-gibson-copy?variant=40680768471194

I used to say I looked in the parts box, but those parts have been breeding and I looked in one of my parts boxes to see if I had some left over side dot sticks, found one and a half, score.

I stuck some masking tape under the fretboard to draw on and marked out the posies for the dots.

I used my side dot guide, to guide the drill bit to the right spot.

And made some holes.

Dipped the plastic stick ends in a dab of superglue and tapped them in with my beer hammer. 

Time to look for some fret wire.

This is looking awesome, for the neck fit in the pocket, you can just brush coats of varnish on the lateral sides of the pocket and/or the neck regions until you get the fit you want, all the best with it.

That body would look fantastic natural and clear or stained red and covered in red candy transparent finish.

On 10/6/2021 at 7:27 PM, Prostheta said:

Very smart thinking.

Cheers, I am getting towards the end of the woodwork, just finishing up on the sanding now, and will have to get to work on the logo soon and get ready to do the finishing.

Today I sponged the neck with some 120 sandpaper.

Motivated by Michael Devin, Jimmy D'Anda and George Lynch playing Wicked Sensation live.

Happy sawdust making  

6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

That's what I've done as well. As you may have noticed the abrasive band tends to curl no matter how you grab it. To prevent that I made a pair of handles as described here:

 

Fantastic collection of boutique tools  it should inspire readers to get busy making things like these that can make a huge difference to your lutherie

21 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

A carving guide for the heel!!! Why haven't I ever thought about that? Much less in the way than the guitar body, much less risk for ruining the body!

18 hours ago, ScottR said:

Clever! You come up with some of the most clever work aids. And every time, I'm like Doh! Why didn't I ever think of that?

SR

The guide is working pretty much the same as a router template, and analogous to that system I made up a sanding tool that will not degrade the template to do the edge. Just a bit of mdf with some sandpaper superglued on, trimmed and sanded flush with the edges that follow the template.

I started on the headstock

18 hours ago, ScottR said:

Yeah, it looks good from those shots, doesn't it. I'm not happy with it yet. There are still a couple dimples and visible bubbles that bug me. I've got to back up a bit and do some more healing work there.

SR

They must be very small blemishes, the finish looks perfect in the photos, one of the great things about making a guitar for yourself with no deadline is you can spend the time getting it just how you want it.

16 hours ago, ScottR said:

I usually save those and use them for fire starters in the old smoker.

SR

I think we both like cooking outside Scott, one of my friends recently got an outdoor pizza oven, an awesome addition to their garden. We are just coming into summer here, I got this  charcoal barbeque a while back and its been sitting on the shelves, I must try it out soon rather than just use the gas barbeque.

16 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Easier than rubbing two hamsters together!

You can start fires by rubbing your "hamsters" together, now that is a party trick!

16 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

I take my shavings from the class with me as Saturday is also the Sauna day and use them for starting the fire in the sauna stove. Sometimes a fellow builder has done quite a pile and asks me if I want their shavings. For garden use I get plenty enough from cutting my firewood logs into choppable pieces. The coarse sawdust keeps the compost bin in the kitchen nice and dry similarly to the sawdust on the floors in Wild West Saloons... And I've got several sacks full of that for the whole winter!

Saunas and spas are so relaxing, you are lucky to have a sauna at your house.

All this chat reminded me of this meme 

I made a carving guide and clamped it on the heel, and filed around it

Then removed the mdf guide.

I'll need to make one for the base of the headstock next