Kenny Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Nice choice... even though I would have just left the knots. Unique is one reason we build. i could see your point there, and i love the figure around the knots but a problem i have is that there are bug holes right next to the knots that arent very visable. 1 large one on each side, and i would ahve to fill them and make it not look very visable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 (edited) Not sure if I would build something with that wood. Sure it's beautiful, but seems very unstable.. I think you should wait a while, let it work and see if other cracks appear. You said these cracks weren't there when you got it. That means the wood has suffer a terrible climate shock. I've rarely seen a thick piece of wood crack like that in a very short period of time (24 hours). I've got a 8/4 walnut piece once. Been stored outside for a good 2-3 winter months. I let it dry in my shop. It cracked pretty bad, but after a week or more.. Edited January 25, 2008 by MescaBug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 yeah, let it sit a while aand see what happens.... if there does happen to be any hint of flaws in the final piece, even if all else seems completely stable, dont do a direct stain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 i think it might have been becuase it came from oregon, where its very cold to sandiego where it very warm and we were having a big rainstorm at the time. so far the wood seems stable, i just cut it and it didnt warp at all, i havent seen any signs of movment, but i will end up making the fretboard before i touch the top i guess, just to let it time to...stabalize and become acclimated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 If the checking is very deep the wood was most likely not fully dry (do you recall if it was sold as fully dried seasoned wood?). Softwoods are much more prone to splitting in large form than hardwoods (generally speaking). With Redwood being a wood that happens to be even more prone to this than others. I often resaw softwoods closer to thickness even when they are green to avoid heavy checking or splitting. Actually I just looked at the link to the Ebay auction- Quartersawn Curly Figured Old Growth Redwood - Resawing Billet - Great Color and Figure - Thickness sanded to 120 grit - Most of the way Air Dry Measurements are approximate and are usually taken from the longest points. Sometimes the piece will be a bit larger. Photos show the wood misted with water so you don't have to guess what the figuring looks like and how it will finish. Presanded both sides to 120 grit so a lot of the prep work is already done for you. It will look even better when you sand it further and apply a finish. Heavily figured wood like this will usually have some cracks and checking, bark pockets, bug holes, voids and softer spots. That is characteristic to this type of wood. I took good closeup photos so you can see just what you are getting. This is not the sort of wood you will find in the lumber stores. This is like a one of a kind piece of art. Your project doesn't deserve anything less. Pretty pricey for partially air dried Redwood, because this type of checking and cracking is very common until it has stabalized. This is why wood that has not fully dried is not worth as much, you will have losses, and need to have your money invested during drying. I would have taken them up on the offer to replace it, unfortunately the shipping would probably make it a pretty poor deal for you. It has been cold with a low humidity level lately up here in Oregon. You tend to have warmer weather in southern Cali, but your humidity also tends to run higher. That would cause the wood to swell normally if it was fully dried. FWIW. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 i can still get a credit towards another purchace :-p he said "if resawing it doesnt work out for you, you can have a credit towards another peice of lumber" so i will wait a while for it to dry. i might look into having it kiln dried, but im not sure what that entails. either way i think i made a good move cutting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 (edited) GREAT NEWS! lots of progress on this project heres a little background. im 17 and i rely (right now atleast) on my schools facilites to do my woodworking, there was a fire and it was rendered unusable. BUT i was so graciously willed almost an entire woodshop. delta planer, jet table saw, jig saw, mider saw, chisles, belt sander, ect. im gonna get the 14" laguna bandsaw and dust collector. besides the point though. i now have a way to work on my wood! this is what i did i cut the bindings to size and got freboard material (more on that later) bindings and fretboard blank made up a taper jig for my table saw, that was posted a while back, I HAVE FEEDBACK (but ill get to that in sequence) Taper Jig Then i continued on to print out my cad plans, check scale yada yada, no adjustment needed, anyways ehres all that, and the 1st attempt slotted and tapered Heres that mess the problem with this board was that cutting along a straight edge my saw appeared square but actually angled out of my view for the first 3 frets, mixed epoxy for one of them, turned out fine, then mixed for the next two, then i guess didnt put enough hardner becuase well...anyways Attempt 2 i was out of decent maple, so i decided to go down to Th&H and pick up some new hard maple. i found a board i was very content with, and squared it, planed it to thickness (it was a 1/2 inch board dont worry!) now, the thing with my fence is that i have a 30" fence on my jet contracters table saw. for the jig to work correctly it needs a 40+ inch fence. So i made a rough extension, and witha lot of what looked like mickey mouse adjustments i got it to work nicely. Heres the new board tapered (i like this grain pattern better. simpler) now time to review the taper jig. the theory can be read here my fence is pretty straight, but as i mentioned a 54" fence would work much better this was the only problem i had with this jig, i always had a small segment at the end of the board that was, well...not tapered. i think its becuase the front of my fence isnt actually supposed to be used as a fence, but i have no clue TBH other than the end, I LOVE this technique of tapering, and will do ONLY this from now on. i highly recomend it, its extreamly accurate. mine was accurate to .5mm Here are those two little nubby ends i was talking about i didnt have this problem on the first fretboard i did, but this is really my 3rd attempt so i was able to compenstate as shown by the template positioning I learned my lesson. what i did guarentees accuracy. i spent about 5 mins and a magnifying glass this time to see when the fibers were COMPLETLY gone and it was exactly on the black line (i might use glossy paper next time) and use a very fat precision groung straight edge. now on cad i set the weight of my lines to be .23 *the same as the kerf on my saw* (the stew mac saw to be precise) (works like a charm btw) so i could use the lines as an accurate benchmark. i pushed the saw perfectly parallell *or close to it* against the straight edge, then placed another thick straight edge on the other side, sandwiching the saw inbetween. measuring and rechecking for accuracy, this way guarentees me a slot perpendicular to the plane of the fretboard. Shown here (this is kinda a bad pic becuase you cant see how paralell the saw is to the 2 straight edges) here is the end result of that process its not possible to see in the picture, but the wood on either side of what was behind the nut was near perfectly level with the straight edges (more like straight sides :-p) anyways less talk right? i doubt anyone actually got this far in reading, if you did congrats!!!!, were almost done here... so i decided, i wanted to route the cavities for the slanted ebony trapeziod inlays before i continued slotting, becuase i didnt want another catostrphic melt down. so i set out to make the inlays i have lots of progress pics on the jigsaw and sander. it got progressibly more and more difficult the thinner the trapz got so i eventually just said hell, ill sand it down by hand. and thats exactly what im going to do. i got the first 3 inlays to final shape tonight and i have work early tomorrow, so heres the last pics these look funny becuase they are ment to be slanted, but the grain will run paralell to the grain on the FB. thats all for today, im going to glue the bookmatched top tomorrow, add the last 2 laminates to my neck blank *it was originally for a 6 string* and then fill a surface crack in one of the ebony bindings.... thoughts? comments? Kenny Edited March 1, 2008 by Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 new update i finilised the inlays and finished slotting the board. and sliced my finger and got 11 stitches after severing the nerve heres a pic of the board the last inlays look like they are 2 big because thier height and angle i think i did an ok job opinions? Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 i finilised the inlays and finished slotting the board. and sliced my finger and got 11 stitches after severing the nerve Ouch! Careful, there! You still need to be able to play this thing when it's finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 haha, we will see i got black stain today, so im gonna try a few different finishing scheduals. what do you guys think of the inlay deisgn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 little more progress and a set back i did a rough cut for the top today, looking HOT (the figure is so much better in person, it moves mcuh more and isnt as spread apart as it appears) this is the backof the top front of the top, underneath there are no checks and beautiful figure! setback, i originally was going to make a 6 string and was going to use that neck blank, when gluing on extensions it became clear that the extensions i cut had warped (becuase they were so thin) i had to scrap that blank and am going to amke a new one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 i finsihed the fretboard today, no long explinations except im not too happy with the inlays up close. but very happy with the overall product here are 2 pictures of it radiused(ill glue it wiht a 12" radiused sanding block...a very long one ) here are progress pics with descriptions if anyone cares to see progress pics and story line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngaa Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Looking good so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Nice work on the fingerboard, that's looking sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 lots more progress, glued on the wings, with rough cut, routed trussrod canal (i made a dumb mistake of not measuring the thickness under nut before cutting shape out) so i had to file down my truss rod :-p and burnt my thumb in the process i also did a test finish that is the only thing i took a picture of, got as close as i think im gonna come 3 applications of a/b woodbleach 2 coats of black stain (didnt sand back) ill take pictures of more progress tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 more progress i cut out the neck blank, the body wings and glued them together heres the back Back of the guitar i also fretted the whole fretboard since i cant press them all on a thru neck, i made that mistake once and im not about to make it again :-p (sorry for more than 1 pictures) what do you guys think? this is only my second build, i think im doing pretty good, but im sad becuase very few people have shown intrest Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewey Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Looks awesome mate. I love the contrast of the fretboard with the inlays. Are you having a neck angle or is your bridge designed to be low? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 im building the bridge so im designing it to be low, i figured it out on cad and i recall the angle needed was less than .5 degrees, so it had to go a little lower just to make it no angle, ive never done a neck angle before so i though i would skip the compication this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpatton Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Great looking build, I love the contrast on that fretboard and the top is stunning, keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Whoa, nice guitar you have there! Too bad about the fire but at the same time, what luck that you now have all those tools. Try to stop hurting your hands so once you finish this one you can play it! Great work Kenny, keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 You COULD have fretted the whole board if you didn't glue the wings on already How're you going to glue the board already fretted onto the neck without messing/scratching/flattening the frets? Not to rag on you, just curious It looks pretty sweet! All y'all building fanned fret guitars makes me want to at least pick one up and try it. I need a nice boutique guitar shop around my way. Do you have any plans on the bridge that we could see? And are you going to be hollowing out the body at all before you put the cap on? And what stain are you using? Grainfilled at all? I'm leaning towards a transparent black finish for my V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) You COULD have fretted the whole board if you didn't glue the wings on already wink.gif How're you going to glue the board already fretted onto the neck without messing/scratching/flattening the frets? Not to rag on you, just curious smile.gif It looks pretty sweet! All y'all building fanned fret guitars makes me want to at least pick one up and try it. I need a nice boutique guitar shop around my way. Do you have any plans on the bridge that we could see? And are you going to be hollowing out the body at all before you put the cap on? And what stain are you using? Grainfilled at all? I'm leaning towards a transparent black finish for my V. well, i was having problems with the centerline, being as im putting a top on a thru neck, i had to route the a space out so the fretboard sits flat on the top, and since laying the board on a midline is especially important i didnt want to take any chances. im just going to glue on the top and then continue a mid-line to the end of the guitar, from the neck blank. (just try to use the bookmatch as a reference) also, i routed the cavities for the controls, pickup switch, and i added a few small chambers. for finishes, i was hoping to do a trans black, but since its redwood i got more of an espresso finish. i bleached some test peices 3 times and found i could get a nice satin black finsih, although its not really trans black :-\, you can still see the flamed figure, but its more of a light effect. im going to look into different finishes aswell because i dont want to finish the mahagony or the stringers anymore :-p as for the fretboard...well :-p i superglued all the frets and made sure that they wouldnt move when i glued it in. Im going to buy the steel radius block from SM and just use it as a caul in addition to the wooden on i have now to glue it on. I know the boards thin so fretting it without and back support makes it curl slightly (the tang adding more width at the top of the board than say, underneat the slots) i currently have it sitting in a cabinate with the radius board ontop and a few 2 1/2 lb weights to keep it flat :-p fanned frets are fun, and surprisingly easy to do! :D EDIT: im not at my house right now, but i have all the plans for the bridge in cad at my house, i can post pictures later if you want Edited March 18, 2008 by Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 I would simply put a piece of leather or felt between the clamping cauls and the fretboard when clamping it on, should keep from unneeded scratching of the frets... Beautiful build though. I'd avoid bleaching figured wood - in my (albeit limited) experience, it really kills the figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 i dont know what im going to do for the finish anymore :-p, im just simply confused haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 (edited) more progress, i glued on the top, im not sure if i reported that, i begun getting the back sanded. i routed the pickupcavities bummer there, the routerbit jumped (i need router help!, wish i had wood working experiance haha) so i had to make the bridge cavity slightly larger than i wanted, but its ok becuase im making my own pickup covers , yea, im goofey regarding the finsish, i dont think im even going to stain it black anymore, since i cant get anywhere near the results that i want. i think im going to do a clear finish, but do black hardware (still maple/ebony bridge and maple pickup covers tho to try to tie in the ebony on the fretboard and black knobs) any suggestions on a finish? haha a little late in the game, i know also ignore the camera trickery, i used a straight edge as a fence to make sure that the PU cavities were square and straight Edited March 22, 2008 by Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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