Walnut/mahogany Lap Steel-

[Mr Natural]

Build- lap steel- 25" scale, chambered mahogany body and neck, figured walnut front and back, p-90 pickup

I need some input here please- I could kick myself for letting this happen. I have been saving a couple of pieces of figured walnut for -I dont know- atleast 12 years now. One piece is flamed- the other is like a feather crotch pattern. I started to plan this lap steel out this past weekend, and I left the crotch figured boards out of my "controlled" storage room where I keep my lumber, and left this out overnight in the garage. its been really dry here- and low and behold- one of the pieces cracked.

I want to save this board- but I am scared to get this anywhere near a jointer fearing that crack is just going to blow out completely. If I can save this- I may opt for a sanding board or similiar to join the edges.

I have the board back in my wood storage room, I have been watching for the last 4 days, the crack has not grown any. my main concern is to stabilize it, it would be a bonus to hide it. The boards are .25" thick- the crack is just under 2.5 inches long.

I was planning on using oil on this- however- being a lap steel it may be better to shoot laquer on it to provide more protection.

Any recommendations on fixing this? I didnt want to put any type of glue in it fearing that it would ruin or not accept the finish. I dont think I am going to be able to "close" this up completely, and unfortunately I cannot position the wood to where this will be (completely)cut out for a bridge or pickup. atleast not with the plan I have at the moment. At first I thought just force a little glue in and clamp it- I thought I would ask opinions incase anyone here has gone thru this already. I dont want to clamp it and have the crack just grow.

any suggestions appreciated-

[ScottR]

Because of the angle that may close up a bit when you glue those two pieces together. Then glueing it to the body wood should keep it from growing as the entire back surface would be a glue join. Then you could use your chosen finish to fill whatever gap remains. Paint it into the crack with a fine tip brush repeatedly until it stands proud after comepletely curing. Then level sand it while finish sanding the surface and finish normally from there.

SR

[Mr Natural]

Because of the angle that may close up a bit when you glue those two pieces together. Then glueing it to the body wood should keep it from growing as the entire back surface would be a glue join. Then you could use your chosen finish to fill whatever gap remains. Paint it into the crack with a fine tip brush repeatedly until it stands proud after comepletely curing. Then level sand it while finish sanding the surface and finish normally from there.

SR

Thanks Scott- hey- what type of glue do you suggest? This may or may not be glued to the body wood -as I was planning on chambering-or rather hollowing out-parts of the body. The back side of this may not contact solid body wood.

edit- disregard- I just re-read your response Scott- sorry- mulitasking at work- would rather be building!!- I see what you are saying now. I guess I was thinking I should glue the crack first- then join- I see now you are saying it may close up when I join the boards and then drop fill. Gotcha- didnt think of that. I may try just a bit of glue on the back side of the board that wont face out. let that dry and then sand join these boards and give it a shot-

Not sure why I am so freaked out about this- maybe cause I have been holding on to those boards so long I dont want to waste them!

Edited October 22, 2010 by Mr Natural

[ScottR]

If you wanted to glue the crack, I'd go with original titebond so you can clean up and finish with no problems. I thought you were worried about that though, so I didn't suggest it. Another option would be to wick in some thin CA from the back while it's clamped.

SR

[3DogNate]

If you wanted to glue the crack, I'd go with original titebond so you can clean up and finish with no problems. I thought you were worried about that though, so I didn't suggest it. Another option would be to wick in some thin CA from the back while it's clamped.

SR

yep

[Mr Natural]

I glued the crack from the back of the piece- I tried clamping it- but it didnt really close up. On the back side I really soaked in some CA ahead of where the crack was going- as to reinforce that wood. I will try to "fill" in the crack on the face side when I finish this.

I found some plans online- well- actually - a picture of some plans, there was no name, no measurements, nothing- so- I looked around and it appears to be a copy of an Asher laptop. Asher states their scale is 25"- so that is what I am going with. Using my "ghetto method" of template making- I blew this up in MS paint, glued up to some mdf, and I am in process of cleaning up the edges. You can see where the plan's lines pixelated once I enlarged the picture to scale. Since the sides are symmetrical, I am only using a half template, that way I can flip it along the center line and get an exact match vs trying to make both sides exactly the same using the belt sander (which is no fun)

Edited October 31, 2010 by Mr Natural

[Mr Natural]

ok- tool plug here-

all of my tools for the most part are benchtop tools. While this isnt the best jointer compared to larger models - I will say its probably the best benchtop jointer out there. Sears craftsman 4" benchtop. Weighs a freaking ton, doesnt have the plastic fence like other benchtop models- does the job. Obviously it would be better with a longer bed- but it works and I think its a good value for the buck..

ok- found a piece of mahogany in my pile o'wood with some knots that wouldnt be the best for a guitar body- but will fit the bill here and I can avoid the blemishes

marked the body halves on the board with the template, outlined, and cut between them with a jigsaw-I started to glue them up, and then clean up the glue when the trick or treaters started showing up at the door. So I bailed on cleaning up the squeeze out- took a pic and called it a night. My job has told me to start taking vacation time (3 weeks worth)- so I will be building like a mo fo here pretty soon. Cant wait.

[Mr Natural]

a couple of boring updates- made the hollowed out sections in the templates, started hogging out that wood. Will route that out later tonight.

[Quarter]

Cool to see some lap steel builds going on! ... looking forward to seeing her shape up.

[Mr Natural]

made a little sawdust tonight. Routed out both chambers, started routing the outside profile.

[Mr Natural]

cut out the body- decided to add some free-hand routes connecting the 2 chambers. This wood has a seriously loud ring to it- and I want to see what this will be like "acoustically" . I will add F-holes or similar to the top.

well-2 little friends popped up. The knot on the left I didnt see coming- that one didnt show itself on the surface- and surprised me.

The knot on the right is my own fault. I thought I could cut the body and keep that one on the INSIDE of the body- and then covered by the top wood. Unfortunately as I was cleaning up my templates I didnt notice that in doing so I was now cutting into that knot. and look- it runs thru the entire width of the body- way to go dumbass.

My record is intact- on all my builds I have screwed up something on each one. Oh well- this is my first lap steel- and a good learning experience. (and lots of fun)

I might be able to sand it out -then touch up the other side as well to keep it symetrical- we'll see. I dont want to mess with the profile too much. I imagine though i will need to take care- that knot on the right could shrink and eventually fall out (that would be unsightly- perhaps I can seal that puppy up.

[WezV]

i dont think you can really call it a screw up.

wood has knots, its nice if we can keep them out the builds but the odd small knot is not a problem in body wood. the other option would be that nice peice of mahogany never getting used for an instrument - and that would be a real waste

seal it up if you think it might be a problem then move on

[Ken Bennett]

Looking good so far.

[Mr Natural]

I wont be using a walnut back on this one- I am saving what I was going to use as the back wood for another lap steel build. This thing has been a blast to build so far and I am already itching to get going on another. Have to finish up a couple other projects first though.

top wood joined and glued.

started working on the bridge- a nice hunk of cocobolo and the paper template glued to mdf

the cocobolo was 2 inches thick. Cut that in half, flatened out that cut side on the beltsander, then glued the mdf template to the cocobolo and started cutting away. My poor old 9" ryobi band saw was about to die. I really need to get some proper tools. Ended up having to clean the bandsaw blade with a file brush.

I tried to pay attention to the grain pattern on the bridge blank-and get the grain dip right on the tip of that bat tail on the bridge shape. not sure how this will look once the cocobolo is finished- it may darken up too much to tell- but this kind of looks cool. (I think anyway)

I am planning final placement of top wood /control layout tonight and will either glue up tonight or first thing in the morning.

[Drak]

The Walnut top is absolutely gorgeous, what are your plans for a finish, I hope you can take full advantage of that beautiful figuring.

PS, the crack you had in the knot is pretty normal, it happens a LOT, so don't feel down about it.

[Mr Natural]

The Walnut top is absolutely gorgeous, what are your plans for a finish, I hope you can take full advantage of that beautiful figuring.

PS, the crack you had in the knot is pretty normal, it happens a LOT, so don't feel down about it.

Drak- I was originally thinking of doing Danish or True Oil, but I may end up spraying laquer. With the holidays/family over- the wife may not be too cool with the smell of laquer though- we will see.

[Mr Natural]

lots of work done today-

I created a "see thru" template using 4 sheets of overhead transparency sheets that I super glued together. I roughly outlined the body shape and using my template drew in witness lines to where the fingerboard ends, pickup and bridge are. I then taped in those areas so I could see exactly where to place the wood, get the most out of the figure, and avoid the crack. 2 changes to the plan here- I will now use a humbucker, and the scale will be 24 3/4. I had an ebony fretboard that I have had for a while, collecting dust (so- I will use it here). I wasnt liking how the rosewood board I had originally planned on using was looking with the walnut.

the obligatory "too many clamps" pic

[Mr Natural]

made a control cavity cover out of some of the left over walnut

rounded over the top- 3/8" roundover bit

and the back

glued in maple filler strips for the fretlines

[Mr Natural]

so- I ended up yanking out the maple fret lines on this as I didnt like the yellowish lines with the pearl. Removing wood filler strips from an ebony board is loads of fun. Chipped out a couple places so had to do the old super glue and ebony dust routine- sanded the board and dyed it again. I am going to fill in the slots with bondo with a color added- waiting for the board to dry out for a few days first before doing that though.

in the meantime- I wanted to put some sound holes in this vs leaving the top solid. I had wanted to do cresent moons, but figured I might play it safe and go with circles for now. Maybe on the next one.

Since I didnt plan this out- I was worried about making it symetrical- so- here is how I solved that-

I took my template and drew in where the hollowed out sections are on the top- I then took a piece of paper- drew a center line in the middle of it- folded it on that center line- lined it up with the center line on the lap steel and taped it in place

put the template back in place- traced the hollowed out sections on the paper

using forstner bits and drill bits, worked out the design on the paper- used a straight line for the largest 2 circles, then slightly turned in the smallest circle- I used the drill bit to punch the holes- marking the wood. I then removed the tape to the center line so I could fold the paper- then punched the other side with a center punch marking the hole centers on the other side.

removed the paper- took some mearsurements to make sure I was centered, equal distance, etc- drilled the holes

I also started the headstock. I used a saft-t-planer to hog the majority of this out- but seeing that its end grain I wanted to finish up by hand as going across the grain I run this risk of blowing out the one side of the headstock. The headstock is roughly 3/4 inch here- will take down to about 1/2"

[Quarter]

The "F" holes look cool

[Mr Natural]

well- as I stated in my other build thread a bad back has slowed me down some- sucks cause I have had vacation that I had to use and I was really looking forward to building. Got a little bit done though-

The "whitened" bondo fret lines look a ton better than the yellowish maple did. I think the veneer I used the first time had finish on it- oil- or maybe sealer- anyway- I think this looks better (in the pic-I havent cleaned up the bondo from the sides nor cleaned up the masking tape residue from the fretboard- but you get an idea of the color). I used this method once before on a fretless (with fretlines) that I built (poly over the fretboard)- and it came out nice. Should have done this the first time.

double checking the fit on the body- marking (in white pencil) areas that need more sanding (note for next lap steel build- use a non-tapered fretboard )

drilled the holes for the strings thru the template and bridge blank. not sure if you can see it or not- but I have a black screw in the control panel - and that s.o.b has stripped. So- I will be supergluing a drill bit to it in hopes of being able to back it out- if not- my crappy drill bits will be drilling it out- and i will end up needing a much larger screws. Like an idiot- I went thru my supplies- found a couple of (thin) black screws. I think to myself-cool one less thing to have to order. Drill a pilot hole- but obviously not wide enough- started turning the screw in- and should have backed off as soon as I heard the screw squeel- but no - I kept cranking. dumbass I am. if they sold black screws at home depot- no biggy- but it seems like a hassle to find black screws for whatever reason. I need to just order a boat load of them so I have them around.

[Mr Natural]

as I mentioned on another post I have going- been a way a while- "life got in the way". anyway- I shot lacquer on a scrap of the walnut and didnt like the way it looked -so I ended up putting danish oil on this- let it dry out for probably 2 months- and then shot about 11 coats of lacquer total- probably sanded 3-4 of those out completely. I think the oil helped the figure pop vs what the scrap with just the lacquer looked like. I couldnt get a good pic on this- without the flash blinding the shot. Now it gets to sit for a couple more weeks and I will buff it out.

[ScottR]

That's a combination I like as well. And this looks amazing done this way.

SR

[Mr Natural]

Thanks for the comment Scott. Appreciate that.

here is (maybe) a better picture of the walnut. Its been raining here so no outside pics. The bridge is cocobolo- this is my second time hard carving a bridge like that and lets just say I am still learning. Not perfectly symmetrical where the steel bar will be (the wood covering the bar on each side- a bit thinner on one side than the other)- but it was fun carving this. I had just purchased a black and decker 1/2" belt sander- great little tool- paid $34 at an outlet store for it- but I left a courser belt on it when I should have switched to a finer belt- and lets say I spent some time trying to "clean up its aggressiveness". 60 grit scratches in cocobolo run deep!!

[Mr Natural]

So after another 6 months of life getting in the way (again)- I went down stairs and found this still hanging up since Nov of last year. So I dusted it off- scuffed it and hit it again with some laquer. There were a couple spots where it looks like the laquer sunk in a little bit. Either that or I was just plain missed those spots previously. Hopefully I will have this one done by end of July. Who knows- maybe I will be typing this same paragraph a half year from now. Told the wife- when I retire- all I want to do is build. I just dont have enough free time these days it seems.