pauliemc Posted April 18, 2012 Report Share Posted April 18, 2012 holy crap did you just build 8 one piece Lotuses at the same time? How many hours a day are you putting in? Yea. 8 of the things in a single go. hours are killin me. I tend not to keep good track of time. The chick usualy has to let me know its time to come back in from the shop. Otherwise Ill be out there till i feel faint or dizzy or something else stops me. Case in point, She was away week before last & I was out finish sanding & gluing in necks one of the days. ran out of glue, so back into the house to get some from the stash. Looked at my watch & it said 4.15. I figured "ok, so thats why im hungry. I missed lunch again" but no. open the door of the shop to complete darkness. it was 4.15 in the fookin morning - id been out there for about 20 hours strait. I usualy have a few lotus blanks on the go. Guy booked the lot in an order a while ago. 40 gitirs - biggest iv ever had. in one way its cool, but then again its kikin my ass to meet the deadline But all of this is distracting from one very big issue here - PROGRES PIKS !!!!!! WE WANT MORE !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Quote But all of this is distracting from one very big issue here - PROGRES PIKS !!!!!! WE WANT MORE !!!!!!!!! So, here we go! laying out bridge and pick up routes. I started drilling the bridge screw pilots and thought, damn I sure miss being able to us my cross slide vise..... Never-mind I figured out how to make it work.Then I took a tip straight from one of RAD's most recent posts. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Routed and ready for these. Control cavity routed and rabbeted. I wasn't going to rabbet the edge of the top to provide a carve line because every route I had made into that maple so far had tear out....but I tried it anyway. You can see the steps and where the fretboard got in the way. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 One more advantage to having a floor standing drill press. I did get the control cavity ledges cleaned up. Now to begin my favorite part of the build; carving the top. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 There has been some interest in methods of carving tops lately.I prefer to use palm gouges and actually carve the carved top. Do any of you have a grandfather that used to whittle? He probably sat outside the feed store in a one horse town and whittled with his Case pocket knife all day long....chewing tobacco and and spitting it at his old hound dog. The dog was named Bubba and only moved if the juice got in his eye.... He was so lazy he layed down to eat, and sometimes took a nap in the middle of his meal.. (Oh wait, that was my brother's coon dog, Bill). It took a good boot to move Bubba...or a skunk. Granddad whittled and drank moonshine out of a fired clay jug with xxxx's across the front of it. i don't know why they put xxx's on the jug...maybe that was how you could tell the corn from the peach. Anyway do y'all remember your granddad's whittling...great granddad was it?.... Mine didn't either. But my buddy across the street's granddad died and he found a box of whittled treasures in his basement. There were chains and balls in cages whittled from stick and tree limbs that just fascinated me. He gave me a walking stick carved from oak with spirals and curlicues and a hooked end that made me think I had Gandolf's staff. And I took my Queen steel pocket knife and started to cut up sticks. I graduated to buck knives and making walking sticks and wizard's staffs and whistles. I like to carve. I could probably get this top carved a week sooner by using a flap disk and an angle grinder but I LIKE to carve. Carving figured hardwoods can be tricky. Most of the time you will find yourself cutting across the grain. With sharp tools this will give you a clean cut across the fibers with no splitting. Cutting with the grain can give you longer cuts, removing more wood, but will also often lead to splits and a cut taking more wood than you intended. When using palm gouges, use leverage. make cuts that start a scoop and use the blade like a lever to cut across the grain crating cuts like this. This shot reminds me of the dunes at Quintana beach. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 SR Oh my god call animal control a beaver has attacked your guitar... Those pickups look really nice.. were did you get them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 On 4/22/2012 at 8:16 PM, RestorationAD said: those pickups look really nice.. were did you get them? It's a secret. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I hope you got a warranty with them.... \m/ Did you finish the carve and not take pictures or did you have to call it a weekend before it was soup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Hell....I forgot where I was. So these two are my favorite to use. I prefer the use the bigger one most of the time....but when the wood is tricky, meaning highly figured, the smaller one often get the job done quicker.The smaller cutting surface takes less effort to push through the wood. More of the arsenal. You must keep these razor sharp for them to be the most effective. Touch up the edges every 15 minutes or so with a few strokes on the appropriate strop. Must be quitting time. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I hope you got a warranty with them.... \m/ Did you finish the carve and not take pictures or did you have to call it a weekend before it was soup? Excellent warranty......can't wait to hear them. The carve will take a minute or so....but I will love every last one of them. In the mean time.....soup. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I wasn't going to rabbet the edge of the top to provide a carve line because every route I had made into that maple so far had tear out....but I tried it anyway. You can see the steps and where the fretboard got in the way. SR I use a modified pillar drill for that. Changed out the pulley wheels that came in it to mess with the gearing from the motor to the drill head. Max speed is approx 10,000 rpm. I just use it like a pin router. But gotta be carefull to always clamp the piece to a heavy base before putting it near the tool, & only take off light shavings. Otherwise you have to replace the window accross the workshop & wait till your wrist comes out of the cast before you can do anything else Looking realy good. I think this needs a blue burst. so it can hammer everyone in GOTM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 So cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I wasn't going to rabbet the edge of the top to provide a carve line because every route I had made into that maple so far had tear out....but I tried it anyway. You can see the steps and where the fretboard got in the way. SR I use a modified pillar drill for that. Changed out the pulley wheels that came in it to mess with the gearing from the motor to the drill head. Max speed is approx 10,000 rpm. I just use it like a pin router. But gotta be carefull to always clamp the piece to a heavy base before putting it near the tool, & only take off light shavings. Otherwise you have to replace the window accross the workshop & wait till your wrist comes out of the cast before you can do anything else Looking realy good. I think this needs a blue burst. so it can hammer everyone in GOTM 10,000 rpm is blazing for a pillar drill. Unless the guitar tells me different, I plan to extend the slope of the carve into that rabbet, so the lip will change a bit when I get to sanding. A little tearout would not have caused a huge problem. The ledge is a great way to start a recurve, which is what I normally do. Blue burst huh? This one wants to be red with a black burst and black shaded edges. Which reminds me, I've been meaning to ask what you used to do a black burst on the edges of that walnut lotus you posted last year. The one that you feathered black on the neck join, hiding the fact that it didn't actually have a neck joint. Or am I thinking of the purplish black quilted JS? Did you spray black dye; tint the lacquer; both? Or paint? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 So cool Thanks Muzz. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 How do you sharpen your gouges? if you don´t mind sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I've been meaning to ask what you used to do a black burst on the edges of that walnut lotus you posted last year. The one that you feathered black on the neck join, hiding the fact that it didn't actually have a neck joint. Or am I thinking of the purplish black quilted JS? Did you spray black dye; tint the lacquer; both? Or paint? SR The entire guitar was stained black to accent the heavy grain in that billet. So there was a fairly heavy black dye put right into the timber. Then cut back leaving some of the black in the hearier grain areas. All I did for the black burst was not sand the edges. I used alcohol based dye that flashed off fairly quickly to avoid putting moisture into the timber. The fade is easy if you just take it slow. I typicaly leav the dye heavy where I want the fade to be, then sand away the colour in a circular motion. work from the centre out & do an entire lap of the body outline in a single pass - dont stop to concentrate in any area. I would not use anything courser than 320. Get it to where you are just about done, Then run over it with 000 wirewool to blend everything. Job done. Just be sure the dye you use is not soluable with the finish you will be applying or it will change the fade when applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 23, 2012 Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 Is this is the gitir you mean ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 On 4/23/2012 at 10:41 AM, eddiewarlock said: How do you sharpen your gouges? if you don´t mind sharing Most of the items in this shot are for keeping an edge. I use various whet stones, india slipstones, ceramic stones etc. to put the intitial edge on by holding the beveled edge (the bottom) at the desired angle and working it side to side across the face of the curve. These days I use little diamond sharpeners in three grades. I next to never touch the inside of the curve with a stone, that angle should be flat. The finishing touches are put on with a strop loaded with jeweler's rouge or aluminum oxide powder. Strop is kind of a generic term here. That block with various angles and curves in it is a strop as is the flat thing with a silicon surface. The grinder has a wheel made of pressed fiber board and is lioaded with white jewelers rouge. It gets most of the work and polishes the edges quickly, which is what all the strops are for. The gouges get a few strokes on the strop every 15 minutes or so to keep them razor sharp. I test the edge on my leg hairs.....I'll have a bald spot before this carve is done. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I've been meaning to ask what you used to do a black burst on the edges of that walnut lotus you posted last year. The one that you feathered black on the neck join, hiding the fact that it didn't actually have a neck joint. Or am I thinking of the purplish black quilted JS? Did you spray black dye; tint the lacquer; both? Or paint? SR The entire guitar was stained black to accent the heavy grain in that billet. So there was a fairly heavy black dye put right into the timber. Then cut back leaving some of the black in the hearier grain areas. All I did for the black burst was not sand the edges. I used alcohol based dye that flashed off fairly quickly to avoid putting moisture into the timber. The fade is easy if you just take it slow. I typicaly leav the dye heavy where I want the fade to be, then sand away the colour in a circular motion. work from the centre out & do an entire lap of the body outline in a single pass - dont stop to concentrate in any area. I would not use anything courser than 320. Get it to where you are just about done, Then run over it with 000 wirewool to blend everything. Job done. Just be sure the dye you use is not soluable with the finish you will be applying or it will change the fade when applied. Thanks, I thought it was dye, but wasn't totally sure, as you gots so many trickes ups your sleeves. I'll probably use a combination of that and an airbrush, plus a little additional bursting with a tint in the lacquer. Is this is the gitir you mean ? That is the very one. Gorgeous! I presume the customer was totally thrilled with it? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks, I thought it was dye, but wasn't totally sure, as you gots so many trickes ups your sleeves. I'll probably use a combination of that and an airbrush, plus a little additional bursting with a tint in the lacquer. Is this is the gitir you mean ? That is the very one. Gorgeous! I presume the customer was totally thrilled with it? SR Yea. lot of little tricks. Fine art background helps a lot. I use your proposed teqhnique of dye, spray & tinted laquer to do fake flame. Does not hold up once you spot it. but from 10 feet away - Flamed alder cherry burst strat yes please !! And then there are those who could not tell fake figure from the real thing anyway. fool em every time Customer loved that JS Lotus. Got a nice letter from him gushing about how much ass it kicked. Always nice. So hows the carve going, Are you a slow carver, over a few days?. Or do you pull a Paulie & try knock it out in a single 10 hour stint ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 On 4/24/2012 at 6:18 AM, pauliemc said: So hows the carve going, Are you a slow carver, over a few days?. Or do you pull a Paulie & try knock it out in a single 10 hour stint ? Depends on the day. During the week, I've got this regular job type thing that gets in the way of everything i'd rather be doing. I may get an hour or two in a day after work. On the weekends, it's an all day event, and when I'm in the groove, I'll set up lights and work on into the night. It would probably take me two 10 hour stints to carve this top though. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idmicheal Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Depends on the day. During the week, I've got this regular job type thing that gets in the way of everything i'd rater be doing. Don't you just hate that? "Work" totally kills my groove. Like today, I was in the zone and then *brakes screeching to a halt* it was time to go to work. *sigh* I love your carving stuff. Carving is very enjoyable to me. It is the closest thing in lutherie to drawing IMO, which I quite enjoy. I love feeling something just shape up right under your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Depends on the day. During the week, I've got this regular job type thing that gets in the way of everything i'd rater be doing. Don't you just hate that? "Work" totally kills my groove. Like today, I was in the zone and then *brakes screeching to a halt* it was time to go to work. *sigh* I love your carving stuff. Carving is very enjoyable to me. It is the closest thing in lutherie to drawing IMO, which I quite enjoy. I love feeling something just shape up right under your hands. Amen Brother. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 And so we carve. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 A little sanding......like 6 hours worth. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.