curtisa Posted April 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2012 Thanks, though time will tell. The photograph above is probably the better angle. There's a definite hair-width dark line visible on the opposite side of the tip that will require more work to hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 That is a fantastic save, I think it actually adds to the guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 24 frets, 6 tuners and 12 coats of Minwax Wipe-on Poly satin later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 That's a beautiful neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I'd leave it as visible as possible and fill it with a high quality clear epoxy before shaping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 Thanks Guitar2005. I've already beaten you to it - I filled it with clear epoxy not long after that photo was taken. For better or worse it's been immortalised forevermore on the treble-side of the fretboard. Consider it character-adding... The sheoak fretboard is weird when it's been coated. From some angles the flame pattern disappears completely. Tilt the neck another way and the pattern jumps straight out. Progress has slowed a bit recently. Still waiting on an order to come in for an Ibex finger plane and some cabinet scrapers and so I can start carving the blackwood top. I could do it with the flapdisk on the grinder like I did for the SY7, but I'm a little cautious it creating mountains of blackwood sawdust (known sensitiser), and I wanted to try a different technique this time round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Decided I couldn't continue to wait for this Ibex plane to turn up and carried on with the tools I have at hand. I'm doing the carve with a long Sureform and a curved-sole spokeshave. Possibly not the most ideal tools to be using but they seem to be working pretty well on the larger curves around the bridge-end of the body. Carve depth routed out and control recesses added: Carve starting to take shape: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Nicely carved. You got some long curlies. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 That's what all the ladies say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Carve done and sanded to 600 grit: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Very clean carve--love the blackwood top. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Looking forward to seeing the first finish going on that Blackwood. Bang, instant awesomeness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 Thankee very muchly, chaps. Started applying the finish to the body today. Getting a good idea what the final outcome will look like now, even though the photos don't really do it justice. My camera isn't too crash hot, and the lighting in the shed is all fluoro-tubes. The actual colour is somewhere in between these two shots. The brown in the first shot is about right (camera flash on), but there's more golden "flares" going on in the flame pattern which comes out better in the second (no camera flash): 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 27, 2012 Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 Very nice. Does the flame have plenty of movement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 It's pretty vivid. The golden section around the pickups wasn't immediately obvious until I started coating it, which was a nice surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 27, 2012 Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 Fantastic. I might have to get my hands on some Aus Blackwood as a substitute for Koa one day. I've always wanted a Koa tele but the availability of good Koa is through the floor these days. The surprise you describe is something I look forward to also....the woodyard we scoped out last week has a big store of Masur Birch in which I could perceive a lot of very wild tight quilt (probably not the right term for the figure, but hey) so seeing how that would emerge in a finished piece is quite exciting. Scott pointed out about your curlies (har) and I only just took a second look at them....did the Blackwood show much tendency to tear out? Obviously you didn't have too much of a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 The router got a bit hungry at the deepest part of the treble cutaway, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with some minor reshaping with the spindle sander. The tools I used for carving probably weren't the most ideal (primarily used a curved-sole spokeshave for the bigger areas, half-round rasps and spindle sanders in the cordless drill for the rest), but provided I kept the blades nice and sharp it generally gave me no real trouble. You can just see in those photos further up the page some blade-chatter marks around the control recesses - that was about as bad as it got. Generally whenever the spokeshave started making ridges in the wood I found I could get around it by changing my cutting direction, or rotating the spokeshave so I was cutting diagonally while drawing across the curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Great alternative to a maple top, cool shape too, the router was telling you the cutaway needed to be a bee's todger deeper, that guitar is built to RAAWWKKK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Dangerously close to being finished. Just the trussrod/trem/control covers to make: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I just want to play Whole lotta Rosie on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestvic Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 damn that flame showed up out of nowhere! looks awesome! This is probably the first natural looking guitar that I actually like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi79 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Wow dude! Beautiful guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted July 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Thanks chaps. Why is it that the tiniest last few things always take the longest to finish? The guitar is done now, just waiting on a Graphic Designer friend of mine to help me with some decent photographs of the finished instrument. Pics to follow (hopefully) soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Aaaaaand done. I wasn't able to hook up with my photographer-friend in time, but I think what I was able to achieve with the old "point and click" camera is a decent representation of the instrument in person: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Wow, that works together as a beautifully cohesive whole. Nice and "uncrowded" look to it, which is what you want with such a beautiful top! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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