From The Beginning

[orgmorg]

Thanks!

My internet connection is being screwy again, and the PG forum doesn't seem to work a lot of the time, so updates may be sporadic, but I am looking at getting this wrapped up over the next month or so.

Anyway, The top on this will be carved, so here we see a small ledge I have routed on the pin router using a 1/2" bit with a 3/8" guide pin

Then it gets flipped over, and I use a 1" radius roundover bit at about 3/4 of its depth.

And back to the top again, starting to carve with a 35mm #5 gouge. This old poplar carves sooo nicely! Didn't use a mallet at all.

[Muzz]

Groovy

[pauliemc]

Woe ! either the guitar shrunk - or that one big ass chisel

gouges I use are about 1/4 that size.

[avengers63]

I realy like Poplar for bolt on builds. It gets unfairly slated sometimes, But screw it. I like it, im right & everybody else is wrong

IDK why some folks hate on poplar either. It's pretty middle-of-the-road for tone, but that just means you can push it whichever way you want with the neck without going overboard. Add in that it's inexpensive and really easy to work with and you have a winner. The only drawback is that it's kinda ugly and needs to be painted.

[pauliemc]

Exactly. Ibanez churn out the Basswood gitirs, bland lookin as hell & no real tonal anything to it - but nobody bitches about it. More poplar gitirz I say

[eddiewarlock]

I hate basswood. I think it sucks. So there, i am bitching about it, hehehe

I would like to use poplar but i can't get it here. Same with ash, alder or maple...

[pauliemc]

Sometimes it can be a bitch getting some timbers here aswell. I need sapele, Ash, Maple, Limba, Spalted beeech, poplar & rosewood just now. Did the usual tour of my wood suppliers & found most of it, But Ash, sapele & limba are a no show in the sizes I need. Rosewood is non existant. Found one poplar board I can use.

There is something very annoying about not being able to get Ash in IRELAND, it grows here like grass, everywhere. I mean my house has 6 out the back along with some beech & 2 huge eucalyptis.

[eddiewarlock]

Yeah you'd think that me, being in Venezuela, South America would be able to find all kinds of exotic woods. WRONG.

No more mahogany, spanish cedar, apamate, pardillo, and other cool timbers.

No ebony or rosewood at all.

You can ( i dunno if you still can) find some Jatoba or purpleheart. I use lignum vitae for fretboards. They sell it as roofing material, or whatever it is called what you put at the bottom of a wall...

[masterblastor]

Sometimes it can be a bitch getting some timbers here aswell. I need sapele, Ash, Maple, Limba, Spalted beeech, poplar & rosewood just now. Did the usual tour of my wood suppliers & found most of it, But Ash, sapele & limba are a no show in the sizes I need. Rosewood is non existant. Found one poplar board I can use.

There is something very annoying about not being able to get Ash in IRELAND, it grows here like grass, everywhere. I mean my house has 6 out the back along with some beech & 2 huge eucalyptis.

Do they sell chainsaws or axes in Ireland?

[RestorationAD]

Do they sell chainsaws or axes in Ireland?

Not at the pub.

[Juntunen Guitars]

All this hating on basswood makes me laugh a little. My dad just got done building a house for a guy who sells carving wood and basswood is all he uses. Once he learned I liked woodworking everytime I saw the guy he was always asking if I had made a guitar out of basswood yet because it's such a superior wood with how easily it works and how nice it looks and this and this and this

So I gave in and cut down 7 basswood trees this winter... I now have a ridiculus amount of the wood drying waiting to be turned into guitars.

[avengers63]

In the dude's defense, basswood is an elite carving wood. It IS really easy to work with, it's light, and has little discernible grain. It's about as perfect for carving as you're gonna get.

For guitars, it's reasonably light and has good mid-range definition.

For anything else....... it's really easy to find it in really wide & thick slabs. (I was looking for something positive to say. That's all I got.)

[orgmorg]

Poplar is a very different wood than it used to be.

Most of what you find today is indeed rather boring, mostly whitish sapwood, and the heartwood is a very pale green. The old growth stuff is wonderful. Deep green with very little sapwood, softer and lighter, very resonant.

I am having the worst time trying to post this. I am writing it in my word program, and hoping to paste it in the reply box and hit send before I get timed out or whatever the heck is going on.

This is the only site I seem to be having this trouble with, and it started when our satellite internet provider “upgraded” our equipment. I will try and use a friend's internet later on and get more posted, but for now, here are some pics of the neck stock being glued up. I started with a 1 1/8” x 5 1/4” piece, ripped it in half, jointed and sanded 2 faces, and glued them up with a thin strip of walnut in the middle.

[pauliemc]

Indeed they do sell chainsaws. I have one in the house. But you cant just go choppin trees down over here. Last time I took a saw to a tree, winds took down the big eucalyptus in the front of my house & almost tore half a chestnut tree apart on its way over. A neighbour (guy with the chestnut tree) helped me start clearing the 2 trees. But the cops arrived & gave us a bolliking - no licence for that kinda work. even on my own property.

Local authority guys came out to clear it up 2 days later. & I had to PAY the guy to let me keep the good lumber to cut into boards

ORG you have some nice tools there. Every time I go over one of your posts I start getting a case of tool envy.

[orgmorg]

Finally managed to get somewhere with internet, and it seems to be working fine. Satellite internet is so screwy.

Paulie~ Yes, I do like me some machinery

So, here is the neck stock all squared up:

And bandsawed into 2 blanks:

Then the neck portion is sanded to thickness on the spindle sander:

And headstock ears glued on:

[orgmorg]

Now, the headstock veneer.

I usually like to use one that matches the body, but as you will see later on, that will not work here, so I am using walnut, like the center strip.

Then it goes in a jig to cut the curve of the volute on the pin router

And the excess gets sawed off the back

[orgmorg]

Then the back of the headstock gets sanded on the spindle sander:

and over to the drill press to drill the tuner holes using an index pin underneath:

The neck blank locates on this jig via two 1/4" holes which fit onto brass dowels in the jig.

Now, using the these holes get transferred to the back of the blank:

so that it will fit onto this jig:

which looks like this underneath:

[maull]

Holy H311 man! That jig looks better than my finished work.

[orgmorg]

One of the things this jig is for is routing the trussrod slot.

Here is the routed slot with the rod in place:

And with the fretboard blank, which is persimmon:

You can see a pair of 5/64" holes here, and these are used to pin the fretboard in place with a toothpicks while gluing:

[ScottR]

You've got some nice processes worked out Org. It is nice to see that these actually do get built with the same sweat and sawdust the rest of us mortals endure instead of just popping into existance complete and and ready for GOTM.

....Dude, I hope that didn't come out wrong. I am a true fan of your artful creations.

SR

[orgmorg]

Thanks Scott, ya I do have a habit of entering guitars with no build thread, and not entering ones that I have actually done one for.

Anyway, now it is time to cut fret slots, which I do in a sliding jig on a tablesaw:

Then this jig is clamped on top to trim the end of the fretboard where the nut goes, positioned with a feeler gauge in the "0" fret slot:

[orgmorg]

OK, so now the excess is bandsawed away, and the neck gets put back in the jig with the outline template underneath and the outline is routed:

Side markers holes are drilled:

Fretboard dots holes are drilled too, and filled with phenolic dots from Warmoth, which are tall enough that I can saw them flush and use the ends too:

[RestorationAD]

I am enjoying your how-to build very much! Nice to see all the templates.

[orgmorg]

Cool!

I thought I had taken a pic of the walnut heel cap being glued on, but can't seem to find it; so y'all will just have to use your imaginations.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff! Here is the neck ( with the heel cap ) in my "rotisserie" jig on the pin router, with a 1/2" downshear bit:

A view underneath shows the guide channel, with adjustable stops, and the guide pin with a spacer:

The part the neck is clamped in rotates on a sort of eccentric axis. Not sure that is the best terminology, but after many passes up and down the neck rotating a little at a time, lowering the spindle, and repeating as necessary, it ends up looking like this, and I check it with my dial indicator:

After I get it to the desired depth, I switch to a 1" radius core box bit, replace the guide pin with a 1/2" one with no spacer, and cove the ends:

[zyonsdream]

This is absolutely one of the best threads on this website. I'm in awe of your saw milll. I'd invest in a small kiln or even make one out of an old refrigerator but I respect a man who can wait. I'd be itching to work with that wood so much I'd take it to a local kiln and pay to have it cut up. However,I'll bet that your method raises your profit margin considerably!