slmguitars Posted July 20, 2014 Report Share Posted July 20, 2014 I stared at the repair picture for about five minutes before I could spot it. Excellent work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck_Chill-Out Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 +100 on the guitars, the repair (I STILL haven't found the piece you replaced) and fixing up the book press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted July 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I stared at the repair picture for about five minutes before I could spot it. Excellent work. +100 on the guitars, the repair (I STILL haven't found the piece you replaced) and fixing up the book press. Thank you. I honestly have a hard time finding it now myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 That's the kind of repair that gets the girl, man. If the builder honestly can't see it, I doubt anybody else will either however good their eyes are. As usual, all top drawer work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Flawless repair work there - darned if I can tell where the piece is. Good job on the book press. I've always thought they'd make great body clamps, but the only ones I can find are always sold in secondhand shops for $400+. Seems there must be some kind of weird market for them down here that allows people to charge that kind of money for 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Here's a follow up to the repair after dying. Hardly noticeable. Hardly noticeable my a........arm pit. That's flippin' invisible. Masterful job by a master of understatement. After a few more coats the color starts to get a breath of life and come into its own. This stage always gets me going. Amen brother. These are looking great. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Indeed. That repair certainly does warrant a little re-writing for a tutorial on the main site. That was masterfully done. Careful, controlled and with an excellent end product. Well done that man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted August 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hello from Sunny San Diego again and thanks for the previous comments on the repair. No huge update today but I did finally manage to finally find some time to finish these three up. Well at least the actual build portion. I still have to grain fill and shoot em. Ahh the joys of grain filling. Its an ugly job but someone has to do it. This is the back of the one with the spalted top. I'm using chocolate pudding this time with a brush. It takes a little longer to dry and can gum up your paper something fierce but I think its going to make for a tasty guitar. And a little wood porn. I regularly visit my lumber suppliers but I usually come back empty handed. Not this time though. I just picked up two really nice pieces of very tight and evenly figured maple. Top pieces is 1" x 5" x 6ft Bottom piece is about 1" x 7" x 8ft. Stole these for $70. These are going to make some way cool necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 That is going to be a fine looking trio. Have you modified your goal for the year, or do you have some background builds going on? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 You have a Baby Snake in your Maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted August 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 That is going to be a fine looking trio. Have you modified your goal for the year, or do you have some background builds going on? SR Pretty sure I'm not going to hit that goal so yes, but we'll see where I'm at in 4 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Two more questions then. Does doing multiple builds add to the pleasure of building or take away from? Does setting a goal of a specific number of builds in a specific time frame add a level of pressure or stress that takes some of the fun out of it, or does it add a level of focus and motivation that makes up for that? I sound like a dadgum reporter don't I? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Two more questions then. Does doing multiple builds add to the pleasure of building or take away from? Does setting a goal of a specific number of builds in a specific time frame add a level of pressure or stress that takes some of the fun out of it, or does it add a level of focus and motivation that makes up for that? I sound like a dadgum reporter don't I? SR Those are good questions Scott. Sure there's a little added pressure but nothing that makes me lose sleep just yet. These aren't being built to spec for a specific client (Well sort of. Your aware of where these three are headed Scott). If they were commissioned builds for specific individual clients I think I would feel the squeeze more than I do. That being said if that were the case they would most likely be complete by now. As far as being enjoyable. It goes through cycles for me with most of the process being positive. Some stages like carving, shaping and fretwork are more enjoyable than let's say grain filling or wet sanding. I'd be interested to hear how others here would answer that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've said this a number of times in different threads, but I love making small runs of things. Currently I have not had chance to do so on guitars for various reasons (mostly financial) however I would love to. Solving approaches to specific processes and applying it to several workpieces floats my boat. I love a well-made jig that serves its purpose gracefully and as intended. It makes the final work a pleasure, even if it is two minutes of routing after spending two hours making a jig. Like setting up a domino rally and watching it run. I find it intellectually fulfilling. Talking of filling, there's no way to make grain-filling a small job. That and finish sanding. They just soak up time and soak up the fun. Carving isn't something I would dislike, however since I have very much of a manufacturing hat on at the moment I would instantly be thinking of making a duplicarver or a set of stepped contour routing templates for the overhead pin router.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted September 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 Not a huge update but I'm finally getting around to shooting these. I put a little bit of a burst on the blue one. I like the way it came out. The spalted one is soaking up a fair amount of lacquer even with all the wood hardener its already soaked up. I dont think there will be too many more carved spalt guitars in my future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterOffShred Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 Those look so fantastic sir! I really like the blue burst, it has a great sparkle with that top -Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessejames Posted September 5, 2014 Report Share Posted September 5, 2014 As far as the spalted maple soaking up all that lacquer, did you go over the top with CA glue while working on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 5, 2014 Report Share Posted September 5, 2014 I always like the way a burst causes your eye to focus on the center of the guitar, just like the use of light in a Rembrandt. And speaking of composition, that is a cool set of pics. I'm not sure I'd ever have the strength to not dye a figured maple top, or even leave it with that subtle dye job you did on the natural top, even though I see that it works beautifully, particularly with the binding and body wood you've chosen. And I'm sure that all of us looking at that pic have completely forgotten you repaired a burn mark in it....which is exactly as it should be. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted October 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 Jessie, I didnt go over this with CA glue. I did some experiments and it ended up too difficult to level using CA. In place of that U used minwax wood hardener. In the first session I used almost 3/4 of a bottle. When I was done with the carve I gave it another treatment. Even using this method it was difficult to level properly as the softer spots sand at a different rate as the harder parts. Scott, You always offer everyone the nicest comments. I have to admit it was hard to leave this one as plain as I did but I figured in the end it would work out and the flame would stand on its own. I was going to give it a subtle burst but due to time restrictions was not able to. I havent updated in about three weeks but I have a decent excuse. I had an unexpected offer to go to Europe with most expenses paid so I did what anyone else would have done and went. It was an interesting journey and like all the previous trips to Europe I always feel a little different when I get back. I've been back for a week but I've been playing catch up so I dont have a huge amount of time to post today. I will give a full update soon. In the meantime here are a few selfies I took over the last three weeks. Fun time but its good to be back in the states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Looks like a fantastic trip, is that Rome in the top pic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 That is one of the best excuses for not getting anything done that I've ever heard. I'm going to be able to take the Vegas version of that middle pic in a couple of weeks. I'd love to see the original some day. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted October 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2014 Looks like a fantastic trip, is that Rome in the top pic? Yuppers. Thats the Vittorio Emanuele II monument. One of my fav building in Rome. Funny thing was I wasnt even supposed to be going to Italy but Air France rerouted us through there due to the pilot strikes and I got to spend a few extra days there. Been there several times before and still one of my favorite cites in the world. That is one of the best excuses for not getting anything done that I've ever heard. I'm going to be able to take the Vegas version of that middle pic in a couple of weeks. I'd love to see the original some day. SR I have to agree Scott. It was pretty spectacular for sure. Especially when your standing under it. I had been to the one in Vegas a few times before but I wasn't really prepared for how big the original was. Almost exactly twice the size as the one in Vegas. When you do go make sure you spend the money and go to the top for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Edited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Huh. I've been out of town and just remembered you had a question.......I guess it got answered. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted October 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Thanks Scott. I got my question answered so I edited my original post. I was having trouble setting up my new buffer. So yeah, I coughed up and bought a SM buffer. I was going to try and save some cash and build my own. That was until I calculated everything out. In the end the SM package was only $75 more than building my own out of comparable parts. Home made came to $577 vs the SM version at $654. That figure included a rake, buffs, compounds and all the shipping. The two most expensive parts for the home made version were going to be a good 3' x 1" machined shaft at $150 and a 3/4 HP motor at around $160. To me $75 was worth saving all the time and headaches of assembling everything from scratch. That and I get a cover for the belt and pulley wheels with the SM version. I'm happy with the investment. So heres some wet sanding pics my Daughter took Sunday. Because everyone likes pictures right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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