Unrealize Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 (edited) Hey here. I've just started the journey into guitarmaking. I figured an Explorer would be relatively easy to start with, and I simply love the shape. I'll probabably have thousands of questions as I move along, but at least I have come to a start. Not too good quality on these pictures, just used my phone in the basement, better quality pictures will come soon. Here are the specs as I have them: * Bolt-on neck "ESP EXP" Explorer body shape. * Mahogany body. * Mahogany neck. * 24 3/4 inch scale. 22 medium frets. 44 mm nut width. * 14 inch fingerboard radius. Graph-tech nut. Ebony truss rod cover * Ebony fingerboard, as dark black as possible. * No fretboard markers (except 11-12-13 inlay, as noted below). Side dots. * "Chaos star" MOP inlay on the 12th fret. * “KL-style” headstock, at 13 degrees angle. * Sperzel 3+3 machines, Gotoh T-O-M set. * All hardware black. * EMG 85 (neck) + EMG 81 (bridge) . 100% cavity shielding. * 2 knobs, individual volume controls for each pickup. * Switchcraft (USA) Toggle switch in the ESP Explorer position. * Output jack mounted on the side of the guitar. * Battery for the EMG's mounted in separate box on the rear of the guitar. Another thing, I probably shoud angle the neck before I cut the shape, right? Here is the drawing I made attached to the plywood template. Finished tracing the drawing onto the template. http://www.dimensionf3h.com/images/gitarby...late-layout.jpg Cut the template, and started to sand and finetune it. Pup-holes next up. http://www.dimensionf3h.com/images/gitarby...te-cutout-1.jpg Edited September 21, 2006 by Unrealize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 I'm unsure about usin Alder for the neck. I don't believe I have read about Alder necks. Anyone who can share some input on this? Another thing, I probably shoud angle the neck before I cut the shape, right? Would you happen to have a CAD/PDF copy of the neck ? I'm working on a similar project and haven't had the time the draw out the headstock. As for cutting the angle - Yes, angle then shape. If you shape first, the dimensions will no longer be correct when you angle it (I assume you're building your neck from one piece instead of using the scarf joint method) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 Yay! I love explorers and can't wait to watch this build. Best of luck to you. I wouldn't recommend using alder for the neck though. I though of doing that before and searched the site for info. and everyone seems to say that is not strong enough for a neck. But you can find maple for pretty cheap and that is a strong wood for necks...might want to give that a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skelf Posted September 4, 2006 Report Share Posted September 4, 2006 I would keep away from Alder for a neck. Maple would be a better option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 I agree, maple for the neck definitely. I myself bought a premade neck, saved me a ton of hassle (if you don't count the 6 weeks it took to get to my house) http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=25304 Check that link for the thread on my own ESP-style explorer, if you're interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted September 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Did some more sanding on the template, and cut out the pupholes. I guess you can see on the picture which one I did first and which I did last. I have no prior training in using a router, so I think it turned out quite well. the second hole I routed partly by hand, so I'm happy with that. A question on the side here. I don't plan to do too much of an inlay on this guitar, only one at the 12th fret. But I can't seem to find any information about this, isn't it best to inlay before cutting and radiusing the fingerboard? I mean, since it is hard enough in the first place to cut the inlay, to cut and make it fit frets that are already cut must make it harder than necessary..? Or am I way out here..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Normally I make templates for all items separately. So..... A separate template for the body, pups, tremolo. This way you can keep everything nice and neat. With pup routes you also can get away with just one neatly made pup hole. Just position template on body twice. MDF is also easier to work with then multiplex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted September 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Normally I make templates for all items separately. Yeah, I thought of just making new pup templates from the puphole that turned out best. MDF is also easier to work with then multiplex. To be honest I have no idea what MDF is, it is not an expression I'm familiar with here in Norway, and I don't know how to translate it... Now, anyone up for that inlay question... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 MDF = medium density fibreboard. All the sawdust and grains from the excrement of a sawmill mixed up with UF resin and squashed under pressure into a thin sheet. Not up to speed on precise inlay technique though. Good luck with the project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted September 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 MDF = medium density fibreboard. All the sawdust and grains from the excrement of a sawmill mixed up with UF resin and squashed under pressure into a thin sheet. Thanks a lot for the information, that one has puzzled me a bit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 every time I've ever done any inlay work, I did it before I slotted and radiused the fretboard...That might be the wrong way, I have no idea, BUT it did work quite nicely for me.. -Devon Goodspeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomlord Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 That worked well for me too. I tapered my ebony, routed the inlay pattern glued the pearl in then slotted it, then added the radius. I sank the pearl very slightly below the top surface of the ebony so it didn't become paper thin at the edges when adding the radius. If your inlay doesn't touch the binding I wouldn't get too worried. However on reflection I think for my next fretboard I will taper, slot, route and fit the inlays as cutting through the mother of pearl was a real pain as I proved to myself if you rush whilst cutting through it, it cracks and delaminates very easily. (inexperience shining through) I am a massive Explorer nut too!!!!! Good luck can't wait to see the your grinding appliance complete!! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 (edited) MFD is great for building templates. It's cheap, it's easy to work with, sanding and routing is like going through butter....... Wear protection when working with the stuff as the dust contains nasty formaldehyde resins. http://www.design-technology.org/mdf.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium-density_fibreboard http://sres-associated.anu.edu.au/fpt/mdf/manufacture.html Edited September 6, 2006 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted September 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Alrighty, at least I got a little more done. I finally got hold of some wood, and I guess I was lucky. I got the idea of recycling wood (ok, not a bright new idea, but hey..). I was a little afraid that I could buy a table, and then find that it wasn't mahogany all the way through, so I started phoning around to some local furniture makers, and I got hold of a great big slab of mahogany. All in all I paid like 75$ for it, I guess that is a pretty reasonable price. Here's the wood: Mahogany image 1 - pretty neat... And here's another one of the wood. It is actually big enough for the guitar as a one-piece. No need for glueing this baby... Mahogany image 2 So, I headed over to a friend of mine who has a proper workshop with proper tools, and he helped me out getting the right thickness and planing the wood. Here he is at the thickness planer, with a nice piece of wood, and some really nice red pants.. Thicknessing by Lorenzo Mad... Here he is helping out with planing the wood. I'm soo drooling over the tools they got in that workshop, I wish I had such tools, but I'm lucky that he helps me out at least.. :o) Lorenzo Mad planing the wood.. Then I was homeward bound, and I was eager to try my new bandsaw to cut out the body. I quickly learned that the saw was just as bad as it was cheap, which I feared. It really was a challenge to make it cut straight, and my cutting really doesn't look good at all. I'm almost ashamed to put this picture up, but still, it is the progress I got. At least it is starting to look like an explorer. Lorenzo helped me to rout the neck pocket with a template he had from an earlier build, that too doesn't really look good at the moment, but it will come through in the end. So, now I don't get too much done until I get some new router bits, the ones I have isn't large enough. I ordered a couple today, so I hope it won't take too long to get them here. I'm eager to get more work done, but I keep reminding myself not to rush this. I can get some more work done on the neck in the meantime, but I can't get much more done without the router bits anyways... That's all for now folks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 I used a drum sander after I band sawed it to get a smoother line. then I started using a block sander by hand to be perfect. and thats taking forever.. looks good though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 The lines look very close to dead on except the bottom. A very small amount of sanding with a stationary belt sander or drum sander will clean that up very quickly. What kind of bandsaw do you have? Did you have the ball-bearings adjusted to where they were against the blade? Were the ball-bearings adjusted to the correct thickness of the wood? Remember, a tool is only as good as the user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted September 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 I tried to flush trim the body yesterday. and I must say, it was waay harder than what I anticipated. Perhaps I wasn't as patient as I should have been, but I spent more than an hour routing the thing. I suffered quite a few chips in the wood, nothing "lethal" I think, but stil, they pulled my moral to the bottom. So, a question this time, how do I fix those chips. I know that some chips are fixed by routing out more space, and glueing in a new piece, but my chips are not that big. I was thinking of this substance that one can buy, glue mixed with wood, and then rout or sand this flush to the body after it has cured? Or..? Or should I use normal wood glue, and use dust from the mahogany I have from the guitar already..? Thanx, I'll add a few pictures laters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heggis Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 If you want a good site for woodworking tips, go to New Woodworker You'll find some useful tips on routing there, like how to avoid chipping the wood and losing more fingers than necessary. Lykke til! Andreas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 So, a question this time, how do I fix those chips. I know that some chips are fixed by routing out more space, and glueing in a new piece, but my chips are not that big. These chips are called tear-outs. Mostly they happen when you are trigger happy and trying to take too much wood off the body with the router at the same time. Search for "tear outs" on this site and you will see tons of information on it. It's everybody's wworst nightmare and really can ruin your day......unfortunately we all had to deal with them. Rules: 1. Sharp bit (new bit for new project). 2. Shallow passes. 3. Read wood grain and adjust routing direction appropriately. 4. Propper routing speed. 5. Patience....is name of the game. (1 hour for routing complete body is way way fast. I takes me couple of hours, with adjusting router, the wood, the speed, direction, etc....cleaning up, measuring, more routing, etc.... When going for natural finish, you are f*cked. When going for solid color, it just means you have some more filling to do. Any kind of putty (even car repair) will do. Depends bit on paint system your gonna use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted September 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 These chips are called tear-outs. When going for natural finish, you are f*cked. When going for solid color, it just means you have some more filling to do. Any kind of putty (even car repair) will do. Depends bit on paint system your gonna use. Thanks for the reply, I wasn't aware of the term tear-outs, I'll do some reading about that. Luckily I was always going for a solid finish, so I am not that bummed. More work, ok, so be it.. Putty is also a term that I'm not familiar with, so I should buy some kind of component, or will it do with just glue and sawdust mixed together..? It is my first build still, and I have learnt quite a lot already, thanx to everyone who replied to this thread, I really appreciate it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathcorip Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 solid colour....only seen one KL explorer in solid colour,it was sexy but natural is best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted November 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Finally I think I'm back on track again. I got the tearouts clean, I simply sanded them down. Noone of them prooved to be too severe, it looked worse than it was, and I guess I got a little shocked when it happened. I got a package with all kinds of stuff from StewMac today, got the miterbox and fretsaw, and I have a couple of questions regarding the fingerboard. Firstly, should I taper the board, and then slot it, or should I slot before I do the final shape? Also, I got the fretscale template to use with the miterbox. I figure I could do without it, but this makes me feel on the safe side when it comes to slotting correctly. BUT I am unsure if the template starts at fret zero or fret one..? It doesn't say in the papers that followed with the templates, so I thought someone here might have some experience to share... That's all for now, I appreciate any feedback. Hopefully new pictures will flourish on this thread.. All the best! Unrealize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Brian Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Slot the board, then taper. Getting the fret slots cut when the board is tapered wouldn't be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 A few updates here, firstly, I needed some more wood to fit the headstock, so I glued it on. Headstock Glue Now this is my first ever attempt at inlaying. It looks slightly rougher than it is, it will be smoother when I sand and radius the fretboard. It is not as sharp in the edges as I wanted it, but being my first ever attempt, I'm am happy with the result. Probably should have made a simpler design, but this was what I wanted to do.. My first inlay ever And here I am attempting my first ever fretslotting. I need to work a little more on a couple of the slots, they aren't entirely even, but all in all I think I did a good job with it. I have one question regarding my neck. I do not have a bandsaw that is big enough to cut the neck. I have a jigsaw that I could use, it's just that it has a tendency to bend while I cut, so I'm not comfortable using it. I could use a handsaw, and then use a robosander to do the final touches, but what would you guys recommend..? Thanks a lot for reading... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 My first inlay ever I have one question regarding my neck. I do not have a bandsaw that is big enough to cut the neck. I have a jigsaw that I could use, it's just that it has a tendency to bend while I cut, so I'm not comfortable using it. I could use a handsaw, and then use a robosander to do the final touches, but what would you guys recommend..? The inlay does look kind of rough but my first inlay isn't all that great either. I'll be doing some practicing on scrap before I commit to the fretboard. I'm not sure I understand the process you're following. It looks like you routed the fretboard to accept the inlay but do you have the inlay ready? For the neck, you don't need much clearance to cut to shape right? What is the limitiation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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