sdshirtman Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Hello all. I've been working on several new builds this year but I havent been posting progress of the work that I've been doing lately. Partly because I've been crazy busy and partly because they are small production duplicates of the same design I've done previously. I've been asked to start posting some progress on my builds so here goes. I'm just going to have this one thread going with everything I do this year. I set a modest goal of 12 complete builds this year. I'm already behind that schedule. It should be interesting to see where I am at the end of the year. Like I said I've been pretty busy so I haven't been taking as many pictures as I usually would for a build thread. I'm missing the beginning stages of these three builds so we'll just start off with what I do have. Rough bodies and necks. Two of these are south american mahogany with maple tops and the darker one is sapele with a spalted flame maple top. All will be carve top set neck with a wrap around bridge. And my fretboard blanks. I'll start updating this thread a bit each day until I get caught up to where the builds currently stand. Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Given how amazing the last ones were, I see no issue with a repeat performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 I've been asked to start posting some progress on my builds so here goes. ****raises hand***** Like Carl said, we know these are going to be good, so in addition to the pleasure of watching fine builds progress, I'm interested in learning if building in multiples and setting production goals with deadlines takes any of the fun out of it. Or perhaps, if three at a time means three times the fun. It looks like you are either a fretboard ahead.......or a neck and body behind, depending on whether your glass is half empty or half full. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Any chance of a shot of your CAD work? You know how jazzed I get for that kind of thing ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted April 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 I've been asked to start posting some progress on my builds so here goes. ****raises hand***** Like Carl said, we know these are going to be good, so in addition to the pleasure of watching fine builds progress, I'm interested in learning if building in multiples and setting production goals with deadlines takes any of the fun out of it. Or perhaps, if three at a time means three times the fun. It looks like you are either a fretboard ahead.......or a neck and body behind, depending on whether your glass is half empty or half full. SR Well thanks for the vote of confidence Scott (and Carl). You'd be right on both fronts. Deadlines and building in multiples takes some of the fun out at times. During some of the other stages of building such as carving and shaping necks and bodies its triple the fun and relaxation IMHO. I spent Easter Sunday fretting three necks and I couldn't think of a better more relaxing way to spend the day. The extra fretboard is an extra rosewood board I ordered. I ran the slots on it while I had everything set up for slotting. In reality I'm not a huge rosewood fan and it will probably never get used unless its requested. Any chance of a shot of your CAD work? You know how jazzed I get for that kind of thing ;-) Here you go Carl. Its pretty simple and straight forward. I work in adobe illustrator vs CAD. Its what I have and what am comfortable with after working with it for the last 18 years. I have a copy of solidworks I've had sitting around for a year that I want to tackle but I just cant seem to find the time. I'll get to it someday because there WILL be a CNC machine someday in my future. _______________________________________________ Here are the cavity covers cut. I used some screws with thinner heads on it this time to allow me a little more freedome with the back carves. The darker one is cocobolo. Scott asked me a while back if I was going to ever do more inlay like the last one. Well the answer is yes. I really like the pattern. This time I cut them all by hand. This would be one of those times where doing two or three at once is a little draining. After going to the NAMM show my wife and seeing so many guitars she insisted I do one with block inlays. After cutting the other two this was an easy decision. Sooo much easier. For me the hardest part of doing the 3 pc pattern was getting them placed correctly. I really like this pattern and I think I'm going to be using it a lot in the future. I'm considering having a steel template cut out to speed the process up. That combined with having someone cut the shell with a cnc would shave so many hours off this task. And the finished boards. On the cocobolo board there was little room for error. Filling in the routing errors with brown dust would be pretty noticeable when done so they had to be routed as close as possible. The whole time I was doing this I was thinking about how nice it must be to have a small CNC for inlay work like Parable does. Thats it for today. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Those are three really nice boards. Very classy-classic looking. I'd have a twich after doing that much inlay work. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted April 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Those are three really nice boards. Very classy-classic looking. I'd have a twich after doing that much inlay work. SR Thx Scott. I twitched a lot afterwards. Had to see Dr. John Walker afterwards. I've been saving the cocobolo board for something special. That ones getting matching rings and binding. Last build I routed my truss rod recess and didnt like the result as much as when I hand carved it. So I went out and bought a smaller gouge and I'm back to doing it by hand. Better result and lots quicker and more enjoyable. You've seen pics like this in my previous builds but here are a few shots of the headstock binding being installed. This headstock goes with the cocobolo board. (Obviously) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Dr. John Walker.....what a skilled physician. He can heal you when you're seeing red, he can cure you when your mood is black, and mellow you out when you're feeling blue. You've seen pics like this in my previous builds... I find myself thinking the same thing. Most of the steps in each build I do the same way and there are only so many ways to can take a shot of it. I think it will be like watching reruns to folks looking in. And maybe it is to some of them, but there are also new ones looking in at each build, some of them seeing this stuff for the first time and soaking it up to use on their builds. So it's okay for us to repeat ourselves each time, we're like professors with a new crop of students each term. And even us repeat students find ourselves can discover something new after repeated looks. Methinks that cocobolo build is going to be something special. Are you going to make the rings out of cocobolo and bind them the same as the fretboard and headstock? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Came away from my last consultation with Dr Walker unimpressed. Decided to go to the source and consult Dr Talisker and Dr Caol Ila instead. I sensed their teachings in Dr Walker, but the student really doesn't compare to the masters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Purist. Students are supposed to absorb the teachings of all their professors and blend the ideas together. Only after years of distilling down the process can they become a teacher in their own right that presents a single perfected elixer. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Really love the inlay work. Despite you feeling that it is gappy, it is not. You're too damn critical of your own work! It's fine to "hold yourself to higher standards than your last job" however this should always be tempered with an understanding of how your work stands to third party scrutiny....lest you give yourself a complex of some sort! What you perceive as a minor flaw might well be perfection to others, and they're pretty damn close to it from what I can see. Have you had a chat with Doug about inlay work costing? Whilst your results are fine work, if you want to offload a bit of the stress from the process you have that option. You say you have difficulties lining them up....how are you marking? I very much recommend using either a carbide scribing pen or a marking knife over a pencil any day. Took most of the worry about fine drill locating, and for only a few Euros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Purist. Students are supposed to absorb the teachings of all their professors and blend the ideas together. Only after years of distilling down the process can they become a teacher in their own right that presents a single perfected elixer. SR Diplomatic word for "snob". Hell, Black Label was Hitch's tipple of choice and you're not going to top that recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Purist. Students are supposed to absorb the teachings of all their professors and blend the ideas together. Only after years of distilling down the process can they become a teacher in their own right that presents a single perfected elixer. SR Diplomatic word for "snob". Hell, Black Label was Hitch's tipple of choice and you're not going to top that recommendation. Yeah. Dr. Walker will take care of a twitch nicely. Your guys are specialists and are just the ticket for more exotic ailments. Still I gotta say I'd love a taste of the Blue label sometime. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 No doubt it will. It'll sort out that twitching in your wallet too at rate of knots! Not sure how long it'll be around given the fragility of supply on some of the singles in there. Port Ellen doesn't exist any more so that'll be the last of the stock in the blue label. My birthday present this year to myself will be a bottle of the new Ardbeg release, Auriverdes. It sold me at the "smoked bacon" note. You really seem to enjoy using the outcannel gouges a lot. How are you sharpening those? I have one which I bought to try out and I'm just not getting along with it. I made it sharp as anything but I'm not used to a tool not following the length of the body. Too weird for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 I sharpen mine with slipstones and 3 grades of fine diamond pads (sticks, plates, whatever you call them) and then polish the edges with what is essentially a power strop. That's a wheel of pressed paper--mdf would probably work nicely as does leather-- that is loaded with white jewelers rouge, mounted on a bench grinder. It's a set up I got at Woodcraft some 8 or 10 years ago. What are you using John? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted April 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Looking good! Thank you thank you. Dr. John Walker.....what a skilled physician. He can heal you when you're seeing red, he can cure you when your mood is black, and mellow you out when you're feeling blue. Methinks that cocobolo build is going to be something special. Are you going to make the rings out of cocobolo and bind them the same as the fretboard and headstock? SR Dr. Walker is my general physician that I see for minor aches and pains. When I really want to get to the bottom of what ails me I go see my specialist - Dr. Laphroaig. But he's a specialist and thus, kind of pricey. I have high hopes for the cocobolo too Scott. Binding the pickup rings in maple is a pretty novel idea. I hadn't thought of that. Just goes to show you how we all see differently from our minds eye. On this one I think I'm leaving the body natural and am going to make the rings from cocobolo. The body is going to get cocobolo binding. I'm thinking this will offset the fretboard and tie it all in. Its going to be interesting though. I've done some bending tests and cocobolo is a bitch to shape. One of the problems is that its pretty impervious to water and steam which is a key part of the bending process. Came away from my last consultation with Dr Walker unimpressed. Decided to go to the source and consult Dr Talisker and Dr Caol Ila instead. I sensed their teachings in Dr Walker, but the student really doesn't compare to the masters. I've consulted with Dr. Talisker before . He's a pretty good doctor. Really love the inlay work. Despite you feeling that it is gappy, it is not. You're too damn critical of your own work! It's fine to "hold yourself to higher standards than your last job" however this should always be tempered with an understanding of how your work stands to third party scrutiny....lest you give yourself a complex of some sort! What you perceive as a minor flaw might well be perfection to others, and they're pretty damn close to it from what I can see. Have you had a chat with Doug about inlay work costing? Whilst your results are fine work, if you want to offload a bit of the stress from the process you have that option. You say you have difficulties lining them up....how are you marking? I very much recommend using either a carbide scribing pen or a marking knife over a pencil any day. Took most of the worry about fine drill locating, and for only a few Euros. I get the critical thing a lot. I think being ultra critical of your own work pushes you a bit further than you thought you could achieve. In a million years I'll never achieve perfection, but I aim for it even though I know I wont hit it. It could be considered a character flaw by some. I think I have emailed Doug before. I have to follow up again. I've actually emailed several people on several different forums about doing CNC inlay. Its the way to go I think. I like doing it, but its so damn time consuming. These boards took me around 35 hrs for all three which is far too long. I sharpen mine with slipstones and 3 grades of fine diamond pads (sticks, plates, whatever you call them) and then polish the edges with what is essentially a power strop. That's a wheel of pressed paper--mdf would probably work nicely as does leather-- that is loaded with white jewelers rouge, mounted on a bench grinder. It's a set up I got at Woodcraft some 8 or 10 years ago. What are you using John? SR I use a combination of the scary sharp method to start with which is less than ideal on gouges, but its what I can afford. I mark the edge with a sharpie so I know I'm getting the correct angle. I use a slip stone at the end just to remove the burr on the concave side then I hand strop with leather and compound. Pretty much all my gouges are from pfeil. The steel they use is pretty decent and I can go a really long time without having to re-hone. I just strop it a few strokes on the leather before I start and get to it. What I'd really like is a nice used tormek. But wouldnt we all? _________________ So check this out. I'm browsing craigslist Tuesday night and I find this huge antique book press for sale. I spoke to this nice lady selling it the next day and she said it had been sitting out side for years and was pretty rusty. I asked her if it still worked and she said she couldn't budge the wheel and was frozen. Bummer. It was also in Newport beach which is about 120 miles from me. But as luck would have it my best friend was going up to newport yesterday for a meeting at the Newport yacht club and said he'd go check it out and pick it up for me if he thought it could be salvaged. He ended up picking it up because he managed to get the wheel to move about a half of an inch with a hammer. But it was still pretty frozen. So I gave the threads a nice soaking in PB penetrating oil and let it sit over night. This morning I gave it some more TLC and broke the screw loose. It needs a little bit of cleaning up but It now works as it has for the last 100 years or so. So new tool day! I think this will be perfect for clamping tops during glue up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 So new tool day! I think this will be perfect for clamping tops during glue up. Sweet! Great find. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 I told RAD that he needs one of those. Book presses rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supplebanana Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 I'm sure that you're all fairly familiar with the works of Dr Glen Morangie too? I have had the pleasure of working alongside him on a number of occasions and his work is outstanding. I'll also have to introduce you all to Herr Schnapps one of these days - in fact I have him staying with me this evening. I may even be able to persuade him to pop on here and say a few words this evening - but be warned - he can sometimes be a little "high-brow" & difficult to understand (it's the accent, you know). Tonight = Tomorrow = Any way I digress - great work so far - I'm looking forward to seeing these finished..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted April 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 OK next installment. I want the bottom on my fretboards as flat as possible to insure a good mating surface and to make sure there are no gaps between the binding and the neck. Pictures are kinda self explanatory. Double sided tape for the board and a piece of 120 grit paper stuck to a flat surface should do it. These boards looked nice and flat when I started. Looks can be deceiving. Almost there. This edge would have left an unsightly gap when glued up. Finished and ready to glue up. Das it for today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted April 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2014 Ironic that after the last post I scored this. I've been looking for one of these at a decent price for months. I finally found one this weekend. Apparently the previous owner just passed away and it was being liquidated by his son in law. I came with the optional in/out feed tables too. And he threw in 3 stocked boxes of paper for it. No flattening on that slab of aluminum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 30, 2014 Report Share Posted April 30, 2014 You'll appreciate this more for having done it the hard way first.......you dog you, you've been making some great scores over the last 12 months or so. Congrats on this one, and do report on how well it works. I've always wondered how well the open end stayed consistant with the closed end. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted May 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2014 Will do. All I've done so far are some tests when I was buying but those were promising. I'll put it through some paces this weekend and report bak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 1, 2014 Report Share Posted May 1, 2014 Green with Book Press Envy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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