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#3 Is A Single Cut


ScottR

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Excellent progress. I really like the detail and getting to see it progress!

Ecstatic those pups were found... there was a lot of PE 42awg on those bobbins. :D

Thanks--I've got one set of shots to post from this weekend's work...I watched some football game instead of posting. :D

The really hard thing to take about the mail fiasco was that mailbox is 20 steps from my front door-right across the street. It was mocking me everyday. Plus the package was small enough that it should never have gone in there in the first place. I shall appreciate them all the more for the experience though. They've already got some blues in them.

SR

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I did get another day of work in before I got distracted. I got the fretboard radiused and sanded to 230 and the side dots put in. They are almost perfectly straight. :D

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I got out my handy dandy rasp that I made from and old quarter inch bandsaw blade and roughed in the neck shape.

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I used a regular rasp to clean that up and then sanded with 60 and 100 grit so far. I also blended the neck shape into the headstock carve and cleaned up those curves.

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This ought to be enough about the headstock.

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SR

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Scott, that headstock is so kewwwl!! And the fretboard and headstock veneer are too. I love that you use hand tools for most of your work.

Thanks Joe. There are many times that the feel of the wood under my fingers tells me more about what's going on than my eyes do.

dude, this is AMAZING looking. Keep it up!

Glad you like it Tom. I certainly intend to, at least until all that's left is a guitar.

SR

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Those of you that have read my posts over the last couple of years (particularly the bear carving thread)know that I never go into the garage to work without my music.if you have read all of them you know that I am a huge Gary Moore fan.

This weekend was a Gary Moore weekend in my garage.I played all five of the Essential Montreux cds amongst many others. When Business AS Usual from Essential Montreux 1997 came on I thought it was especially poignant what with the reference to Phil Lynott and the refrain "These are my memories...coming home. I wanted to post the video and share the song. It was tougher than I ever thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ3FFoLdAeQ

Dammit. That choked me up. :D

SR

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I spent several hours getting the neck to the shape I wanted. Then I found I needed more sand paper so I made a run to Home Depot and picked up a bunch of Norton3X--the absolute best on the market. I picked up two clamps as per RAD's instructions. Then I changed my bandsaw blade to a quarter inch blade. I think this setup is my best ever. so I sawed out the body shape from the African mahogany.

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I did a good job cutting it out. I smoothed out the curves on the edges by hand. That works best for me as I can feel whether the curve are smooth better than I can see them. if you set the curved part on a smooth surface and it rocks like a rocking chair you've done good.

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I don't have a thickness sander or a planer but I do have a nice flat cast iron table. I'm not the first one to do this...but I'm glad i can. I glued four sheets of 60 grit and went to work flattening the surface to be glued to the top.

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I drew pencil lines on the face and went to work.

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This particular board has been in my garage for three years and has been the bady for two previous guitars. For some reason it wanted to check whilst I was working it today. Must have been the sunshine.

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I filled them with water thin CA. The back is going to be carve and the whole thing will be grain filled with Ca as well...so I don't think these will be very noticeable....

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SR

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I traced the body onto some poster board and cut it out to make a window to pick the best spot to cut the top from.

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Once it was cut I reversed the leftover pieces of Claro Walnut to see if there was enough for another book matched top.

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Here we go with some mineral spirits applied to the top to get a feel of what we have to work with.

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Here's my buddy Cooper who reminds me that there are other things to do beside work in the garage on guitars and stuff...like chase balls in the backyard for instance. He doesn't seem to like the smell of mineral spirits. I know he likes walnut...he's eaten some of it.

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SR......

Dammit.

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Excellent top!

Good dog.

Bad Checks...those looked serious.

Nice work on the clamps... soon you too will have many.

Thanks. I have heard worries expressed that the top is awfully dark....

I'm seriously considering airbrushing a mild black fade just to set it off from the edges.

The checks are not really all that deep but they look huge in that extreme close up. The one that goes the length of the back will likely get cut completely away during the contouring of the back. I've had that piece of timber for a long time though so it surprised me by doing that. It has gone through some pretty large temp swings in the last couple of weeks, from low twenties to high seventies several times and was in direct sunlight half of each day this weekend.

And that is the best dog I have ever had.

SR

You know, I could have sworn I saw a response from Mexican Breed before I shut down last night..... :D

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Thanks. I have heard worries expressed that the top is awfully dark....

Should be fine... however I might not use oil on it. A nice lacquer will keep it from darkening too much.

I'm seriously considering airbrushing a mild black fade just to set it off from the edges.

No. bad idea. IMHO ... hate bursts on good wood.

The checks are not really all that deep but they look huge in that extreme close up. The one that goes the length of the back will likely get cut completely away during the contouring of the back. I've had that piece of timber for a long time though so it surprised me by doing that. It has gone through some pretty large temp swings in the last couple of weeks, from low twenties to high seventies several times and was in direct sunlight half of each day this weekend.

Sounds like a plan, sucks when you trust a piece and it does weird stuff. I did a little "That is going to get cut out anyway" this weekend. A lot of times I am able to use pieces with flaws because I can see how it will end up.

We have been having crazy temp swings here as well. I have been regulating the temp in the shop with my heater and keeping the door closed.

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Scott,

Excellent execution as per usual and that carve on the headstock looks great! Bit of a signature for you.

I heard on the radio the other day that Gary passed :D I don't have much of his music but i know he is revered for his guitar work. RIP.

Chad.

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Scott,

Excellent execution as per usual and that carve on the headstock looks great! Bit of a signature for you.

I heard on the radio the other day that Gary passed :D I don't have much of his music but i know he is revered for his guitar work. RIP.

Chad.

Thanks mate.

I'm having fun with this one and like yours, I don't think it will take as long as the last one. And yeah.....Gary was good.

SR

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You know, I could have sworn I saw a response from Mexican Breed before I shut down last night..... :D

You´d be right Scott. I deleted it because I felt it was too light mooded (is this a real adjective) after what you posted about Moore. But basically, I said that top is fantastic! I don´t think it´s dark hue should be a problem if you offset the color with the hardware. I know gold might be too "bling" but I always think walnut looks great with gold.

Yeah, I remember exactly how you put it...and I appreciated it just fine! Thanks! Those posts ended up more somber than I entended, probably, so a good lightening is likely needed.

So on that note I'll go dark again. The hardware is going to be black. The cocobolo and the claro walnut are both pretty colorful and busy, so the hardware is not going to compete with that. Plus I just really like black hardware. The intent is to subtle it down a bit.

Hopefully, it won't end up looking like a "stealth" guitar.

SR

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No he was not good, Gary was a God. Easily one of the best ever.

I am in 100% agreement with you here.

(Sometimes I go in for the understatement thing).

As far as the checks go, neither are more than 1/4" deep. The one along the back will get carved away....and the other should become invisible, or so I hope. I'm so used to carving from whole logs that filling one of these is routine to me. All my carvings have them somewhere. Maybe I should be freaked about it...but I'm just not.

You know, I grew up where black walnut was so common they used to cut it down and build barns out of it. But I've never seen the kind of tree that produced that piece. I think they grow in California....everything looks a little different out there. :D

SR

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