first acoustic build

[avengers63]

More details to come, but I'm back in business (so to speak) and going through the learning curve of how to bend the sides for acoustics. After 7 failures, I think I finally have it sorted out how to bend the top shoulder without cracking it.

[ScottR]

My goodness but it's been a while. I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes. The idea to build an acoustic has begun to tickle the back of my brain.....but I think it is going to have to keep tickling for a while. I'm not sure I want to face all the lessons in humility.

SR

[avengers63]

I needed some time away from building. I just HAD to put it all down for a while. But I feel much better now.

[psikoT]

I'm almost a year without smelling woods... it's killing me slowly.

Looking forward to that acoustic.

[avengers63]

So......

I was at a new dentist for some fillings when he asked me abuot making him a guitar. My wife had been seeing him for years and had told him all about me and what I do. He's retiring and wants to take it up. He'd rather give the money to a patient than to a faceless factory.

I don't make acoustics. But I'd like to.

After talking things through with him and running some numbers, he agreed to buy the tools necessary in exchange for my first three guitars. I explained that the first would basically be crap b/c 1)I don't know what I'm doing yet, 2)it'll get me through the learning curve and there will be serious flaws, and 3)it'll be from VERY low-end lumber. He didn't care b/c he doesn't know how to play yet, so he won't know the difference.

He fronted me +/- $800 so I could order the LMII side bender, dreadnaught mold, and neck angle jig. He just wrote a check without batting an eye.

So for the last month, I've been destroying lumber trying to bend the sides. I FINALLY have it figured out. I'll post some pics before tooo long.

[ScottR]

COOOOOOL......

SR

[avengers63]

Finally time to post some pics.

First, I show off.....

super dee-luxe brand new side bender from LMII

.....and accompanying mold

...and the jig I made to slot ferfing on the cheap-ass Ryobi table saw I haven't really had any use for.

[avengers63]

For the first build, I'm intentionally using "substandard" woods. I use the "quotes" becaise I don't believe that ANY woods are substandard for building, although some do not meet the minimum structural requirements. I'm using the least expensive timbers available without any thought about their musical properties. The first one is to get me through the learning curve and to make mistakes on. It's MUCH better to screw up cheap junk when I clearly don't know what I'm doing yet.

So a few weeks ago, I attempted my first bend.

I forgot to thin it down first. I grabbed some sapele from the "scrollsaw stock" pile and went to town. 1/4" will apparently break every time.

Let's try this again....

Next up, I thinned down some poplar to 1/8", because that's how thin my planer will go. This piece was 2" wide. This was the last piece I was able to successfully bend for a month.

With the short-lived success of the 2" wide poplar bend, I went off to get some cheap 3/4" aspen which I re-sawed and planed into two 1/8" pieces.

They didn't break, but they DID buckle around the shoulder. Confidence successfully beaten up.

The next trip was to the lumber yard. I pikced up a couple of fence post 4x4s - douglas fir and red cedar. These were re-sawn, planed to 1/8", and.....

...snapped at the shoulder ecery snigle time. I didn't take pics of all 4 failures. I tried everything I could imagine to finesse and tweak the bending instructions, but everything failed.

Defeated, I called LMII. The answer was simple: the sides are too thick at 1/8". This translates to 0.125". LMII said they use 0.070"-0.090". I rigged up a sled and thinned some more cedar to about 2.5mm, which translates to +/- 0.98".

.....and it's about gosh dang time!

Since the sides are red cedar, the back will be too. Ready to cringe?

That's right.... the pieces come to a little over 3" wide each, so both the top & back will be 6-pieces instead of the traditional two. They'll probably implode under the tension in a few months, but as I said in the beginning, I'm giving -zero- consideration to that. I'm going throuhg the motions and learning the process. As long as it stays together long enough to finish it, I'll be satisfied.

end blocks glued in, and the first piece of kerfing glued in

The neck will be poplar. The face-plate is douglas fir to match the top. The fretboard is a piece of walnut I've had lying around the shop for 5 years.

[Workingman]

One of the things I like about your build threads is you give it to us warts and all.

There are some good books out there on building acoustics which could help with things like dimensions.

[SwedishLuthier]

I'll be following this one! Far to few acoustics here. Regarding side thickness, I take stubborn woods (bloodwood etc down to .080" for a tight cutaway. The trick is, in my book at least, let the sides sit a bit longer at a bit lower temp so that the get really plastic before you start to bend. And of causer to practice practice practice.

[avengers63]

I had to write a note on the neck to remind myself NOT to glue the fretboard on until the tenon has been cut... which can't happen until I build the neck angle jig... which can't happen until I get the 1/2 sheet of 3/4" plywood. This is a clear reminder that there are diferences in the order of operations for acoustics and electrics.

The last of the kerfing is in the clamps. Not very exciting, so no pics. The top & back have likewise been glued & leveled without additional fanfare. Time to work on the soindhole & rosette.

I dug through the cases for the Dremels I've bought, and check it out - I have a circle cutter! Two of them!

Since I only want to learn the process and make the mistakes, I'll be keeping the rosette as simple as possible - just a plain circle of plastic binding left over from an electric build. This is EXACTLY why I don't throw anything away.

There was a bit of tearout in places. IDK if it's the bit, cutter, speed, or wood. I'll have to monitor this closely on the next one. Likewise the soundhole wasn't as even as I'd like it to have been. I suspect it's the wood. Douglas fir is very similar to yellow pine in that the rings are significantly harder than the growth.

[avengers63]

Since the bracing for the top will be a LOT more involved than for the back, I choose to do the back first. I glued on the center joint reenforcement when gluing the pieces together. Saving steps is a good thing. I'm all laid out and ready to take out the pieces from the center strip to fit the cross pieces....

...and this **** is gonna take WAY too long with chisels. AND I'll end up gouging the wood underneath the bracing. So this is either gonna screw up the whole thing or save me a buttload of effort.

YAY!!!! I'M NOT AN IDIOT!!!!!

The scallop pattern is rough drawn. Let's pay a little visit to my BFF, Mr. Scrollsaw. THen it's time to rig up some clamps.

Will this clamping improv work? Who knows. Later on I'll have to build a miniature go-bar deck.

[avengers63]

And as I go to draw the bracing pattern on the inside of the top, I find that I placed the soundhole off by about 1". Re-reading that part of the book I'm using (Kincade book), I did exactly what he said. harumph

Nothing to do now but remember that and push forward. Yes, I could re-make the top, but I ain't gonna. This is for learning the process and making mistakes, and this is the 1st major one of the build.

[verhoevenc]

I cannot say this with enough gumption: this video is the only video you need on how to bend sides using a bender.

I follow this technique (almost) to a T and have only ever cracked one side for a build... on my second acoustic and it was padauk... and even then it was so small it disappeared in a quick repair. Mind you, look at how tight some of my bends are. This way just works, plain and simple.

Chris

PS: The reason I say "almost" to a T is because I don't bother with the timer, thermometer (neither does he now actually hahahaha). I just turn it to max, wait til I see a good amount of stem, that's when I crack down, not based on some temp. Once cracked I'll switch to variable heat and just time using my phone instead of an on/off timer like the video.

[avengers63]

Thanks for the video! I appreciate any input, considering this is my first time.

I figured out why the placement was wrong when I used the measurement in the book: the dimensions of the two guitars are different.

So here are the bracings roughed to shape on the scrollsaw and just lying in place, then the first part of the clamping process.

[verhoevenc]

See how right between the two clamp spots you have zero squeeze out, and in other places, a good amount. Time to invest in some long throat cam clamps

Chris

[avengers63]

Time to carve & shape the back bracing

THe bracing doesn't look horrible, but I really gouged up the inside of the back. Lesson: be a hellofalot more careful and take it a lot slower.

And now for my high-tech clamping system.....

I won't be able to get away with this for the top, so along with the deep-throat clamps, I have to invest in some more trigger clamps and make a clamping caul.

I was wanting to make the neck angle jig yesterday. But.... when I went to discect the plans, they're formated like a drafting plan, not a woodworking plan. No cut list, no exploded view, nothing I'm used to working with. So now I gotta REALLY pore over them and figure out how to build it.

[ScottR]

How did you like using those small rasps? I've got a set and find them nearly useless. They are sized for detail work and toothed to tear stuff to shreds.

SR

[avengers63]

They are total crap. As you said, not enough teeth for finesse work.

[demonx]

Coming along nicely.

[avengers63]

A trip to Harbor Freight was quite fruitful. I came away with a set of files/rasps that actually work, a digital caliper (for measuring side thickness), and a pile of cheap-ass $3 trigger clamps to use for gluing the box together.

And here we are with the binding channels routed.

Yes, I put the kerfing on two different ways. I wanted to see which one I like best. Everything I've read about which way they're glued on boils down to 1)voodoo and 2)personal taste.

Here's the end caps being glued on. I'm not ashamed to say that this is just terrifying me. An ounce too much pressure and I crack the whole thing!

oak bindings

No, this one isn't worth natural wood bindings. But as a learner project, I wanna try gluing them on before I try it on a "real" one. And you'll notice a bowie knife and handle at the top left.

3/8" oak dowel rod fret dots.

[ScottR]

Almost ready to play.

SR

[Tim37]

Any updates bubba?

[avengers63]

No pics, but not much to update.

The fretboard is radiused and oiled. It looks a LOT better than I was anticipating. yThere are some interesting streaks where the heartwood merges with the sapwood.

Natural wood binding is a royal PITA. I'm only doing this again on a "high-end" build with a ton of bling.

I've been putting off making the neck angle jig b/c I was having a hard time reading the drafting plans. I can read traditional woodworking plans, an exploded view, and a cut list, but a 2D drafting plan wasn't working for me. But I finally figured it out. The pieces were all cut a few days ago and are now getting 2x coats of poly. It may not be necessary, but my personal voodoo wants an ounce of protection between the kig and the guitar pieces.

[demonx]

Looking good.

Need more pics!