iluvteles Posted November 6, 2010 Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 Hi, my name is Lee and I have handmade a strat and 2 teles and this will be my 4th build. I've started by cutting some Idigbo for the body back. I had it at 36mm thick so the spalted beech top which is 9mm would laminate on the top and make 45mm but I noticed a few saw marks which were about 2mm deep so decided to put a thin 2mm lam of Sapele in the middle. I've split the Sapele and will glue it onto the Idigbo and when plane it down to 2mm thick and then plane the back of the Idigbo to remove the saw marks. I've also cut a strip of Wenge to run down the middle of the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 (edited) The Idigbo had some saw marks in that needed to be planed out so the best time to do it is now. I've also decided to use one of the old 4th build necks because it would be a shame to waste them. However I dont think the Bubinga/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Bubinga neck goes thith a Idigbo and Wenge body back. I think the best thing do do is swap the central wenge strip for a Bubinga strip. What do you all think? Edited November 6, 2010 by iluvteles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzI Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 I would remove the strip from the top all together. It takes too much away, visually, from the great spalt you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Today I have planed the Sapele laminate down to about 2mm and cut the spalted Beech so its a bit more tidy for gluing onto the Idigbo and Sapele body halfs. As MzI surggests I was thinking of omitting the central stripe altogether because I thought it may be getting cluttered but without it the total width after jointing and gluing will be about 315mm wide and a Tele is about 325mm. I'm going to glue the spalt on and sleep on it overnight and decide what to do because I dont like wasting wood. trees have died for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I have gone with the original plan and use a Wenge stripe through the middle because the body sides were short by 10mm on the width. Now all glued up and away at a local wood shop to be machine belt sanded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 What kind of glue are you useing there? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I use polyurathan moisture curing. I find its cheaper than Tightbond and it cures in 30mins so I done this body blank in two halfs in about one hour to first glue up to unclamping. The wood will break before the glue gives in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I use polyurathan moisture curing. I find its cheaper than Tightbond and it cures in 30mins so I done this body blank in two halfs in about one hour to first glue up to unclamping. The wood will break before the glue gives in ummm...maybe not. I am just saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwcarl Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 That spalted beech looks nice, but I'm disappointed about the wenge stripe. I may be biased though since I don't really like the look of wenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I had to build the width out a bit because I was 10mm short on the width. I did not want to waste the wood and I thinking alot about it I wanted to just have the spalted to by its self but its done now and so I will continue. I'll be starting on the neck blank soon. Its Goncarlo and Wenge laminate with a Wenge fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Interesting reading about the glues. It took me a while to figure out that your maybe not was a link. Maybe I should stick with the tried and tested Tightbond original. I just like the poyurathne because you only need to glue one side and the squeeze out cuts off with a scraper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Interesting reading about the glues. It took me a while to figure out that your maybe not was a link. Maybe I should stick with the tried and tested Tightbond original. I just like the poyurathne because you only need to glue one side and the squeeze out cuts off with a scraper. Glad you read it. We have had this discussion a 1000 times so I just thought I would circumvent discussion and tell you to go back to titebond or a PVA. Nice build so far. Remember to wear a dust mask while sanding Wenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Thanks for the tip. Thats why we join forums to tap into experience of other builders and make us better. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Started on the Goncarlo and Wenge neck today. This Wenge is horrible wood to work with. It chips real easy. The Goncarlo Alves on the other hand is real nice to work with. I have cut the stock and will glue up soon. The lam neck blank is 45mm so I could get two necks at 20mm thick. The Wenge fetboard is 6mm thick. Is this too thin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2010 Just a little bit work this weekend. I've rough cut the body shape and planed up the laminate neck blank plus a spare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I'm not very good at doing scarf joints. No matter what I do they dont turn out square and they move all over the place when trying to glue up. If this does not turn out very good I'm not doing anymore. I'll just waste a big neck blank and saw the 13 degree angle out of one piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 I've profiled the body out now to its final shape. Had some tare out and one are where the dug in too much. Nothing that cant be sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 The Goncarlo Alves and Wenge laminated neck looks great but its warped and to add fule to the fire I've made the headstock to small. I should heed the measure twice and cut once rule. This is now in Lee's junk pile. I'm thinking about trying a non laminated neck made from Utile with a Wenge fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 how thick is your headstock at the moment? how long would the headstock be when its thinned down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 Hi Wez, its about 50mm short after taking 5mm off the thickness. But the main problem is that its starting to bend. Its its not flat at this point in manufacture then I think its scrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 OK a bit of amn update. I decided not to use the original neck blanks because the headstock was too short. I had a spare neck blank so started to remake the neck and I made exactly the same mistake again. I wanted a 200mm headstock so I measured 200mm drew a line and cut it. When I flipped it over to do the scarf joint its was the same length as the original. I have learnt the hard way. Because its cut at an angle you must add the length of the angled cut onto it so when its flipped its the right length. So...I cut a new bit off the original neck blank and cut a new headstock to the correct length. I've used some cut off nails to stop any glue slid this time and also some tape. All glued upm now and drying. Fingers crossed. I am a eeeejut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2010 neck number 2 has now had the top part milled flat and also the headstock has been milled flush and down to 15mm thickness. Just need to mill the truss rod channel in next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 I routed the truss rod channel today and was going to rough cut the neck out but noticed that I was 5mm too short on each side of the headstock so I'm going to glue two little bits of Wenge to build it up and then cut it out. Though I would include a pic of the Wenge fingerboard just to show a bit of the design. The only problem is that I've cut the board to thin at 6.3mm and I think it should be more like 8mm. I'll have to cut another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 The headstock was just a little bit short so I added two bits of wenge to either side to build it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 (edited) I use polyurathan moisture curing. I find its cheaper than Tightbond and it cures in 30mins so I done this body blank in two halfs in about one hour to first glue up to unclamping. The wood will break before the glue gives in ummm...maybe not. I am just saying. Great link. Boy was I relieved after I went through this. I used Elmer's carpenters glue on my last build. Seems a close second to the titebond. Edited November 30, 2010 by sdshirtman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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