Juntunen Guitars Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 The only "glue-up" pic I feel is mandatory is the "every clamp you can fit on" when the f/b is being glued on. Oh come on you can get that gluing tops on too, have you seen the top gluing pictures from my builds? Thought I might chime in on the bracing question on the first page. The top braces don't have to be the same wood, it doesn't hurt to have it be the same wood but it doesn't have to be. A friend of mine uses spruce as the x brace and the upper of the two lower transverse braces and cedar for the fingers and lower transverse. When it comes to voicing the top you can get a lot better vibrating top that way it seems. I really like how his guitars sound compared to guitars with all spruce braces. The other thing he does is laminate braces with cedar cores on the bass side and spruce cores on the treble because cedar vibrates more freely it makes for better bass tones. That's part of why I don't scallop the lower part of the x brace on the treble side of my acoustics much. A general rule to go by is the floppier the top the lower sounding it will be and the stiffer a top is the more treble you'll hear (at least those are the terms I use when describing sound) That's why planning your tops/sides/back to a set thickness isn't the better option. Since each piece of wood is different and more or less dense thicknessing it to where it "feels" right is where you stop (obviously don't go until you can see your fingers through it!) I thickness my tops until I can freely twist and flex them pretty loosely across the grain but it is still good and strong with the grain. You can always brace heavier above the soundhole near the neck block if you feel it's to thin since most of the vibrations there are killed off by your upper transverse brace anyways. As to the woods moving separately. This can happen but more so if the wood isn't truly dry or acclimated to your shop and the glue you use will affect this too. With titebond 2 chances are you'll see the braces through the top throughout the year no matter what wood you use since it doesn't let water move as much as titebond 1, avoid titebond 3. Epoxy ... please go jump in a well with cement shoes if you use epoxy for acoustic guitars ... that is all. I like hot hide glue but you have to work fast with it and it will release with heat much faster than titebond. I use titebond on everything in an acoustic except for the neck joint if it's a dovetail, then I use hide glue because it makes neck resets easier (another reason to never use epoxy) the idea of "if you build it right the first time you won't have to worry about it" does NOT work on acoustics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Great build so far. Couple questions though, why are you running the finger braces off the upper half on the x brace instead of the lower? I've seen builders doing that more now but haven't had the chance to ask them about it. How are you bending your sides? I'm assuming a heating blanket from the water marks on the inside of the bends. On your next acoustic you should try making a rosette like on a baroque guitar in you decide to do another one like the crane one you did here. I'd post a picture of them but I can't post links or pictures right now for some reason, it just freezes my screen if I try but I'm talking about the stacked parchment ones they put inside the soundhole, not the rosette on the top like a steel string. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 ScottR - I just noticed your comment on the scrollsaw. Thanks! I'd love to be able to carve with a hammer & chisel. We all have our strengths & weaknesses. juntunen - Thanks for the backup on the different wood / bracing debate. re: finger braces - Because that's the bracing pattern I found. Seriously, I looked at a LOT of patterns, and that seems to be common to many of them. I couldn't even befin to tell you what effect it'll have on the tone. So...... We have a bew bridge slotting jig. Let's see what happens! The slot is too close to the edge for my wants, but it'll be fine this time. As usual, I forgot how to math and jacked up the measurements. Easily fixed for next time with a spacer. truss rod slot routed new mahogany for the sides The cutting cuide I made for the circuklar saw works perfectly. I wasw able to make 3 slices in a 4/4 board, yielding 4 pieces. That's at LEAST one more than I was getting before. It still seems like a lot of waste, bnut it's a damn sight less waste than I used to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff St. Germaine Posted October 8, 2014 Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 The build is looking great! Too bad about the side splitting. I go down to 0.080" with my sides now and haven't had any issues with splitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 juntunen - re: finger braces After looking at the bracing patterns again, I put them on the upper half of the X because I f-ed up. Yes, they were supposed to go on the lower half. Here's hoping it doesn't do anything significant. As for the bending question which I totally forgot to answer last time, I'm using the side bending machine from LMII. Yes, it uses heat blankets. Good news! The bracket for the scroll saw came in, so I'm back in business there. Also, the kerfing is almost all glued on. Today is my Friday, so I'm looking forward to two days of productivity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 starting on a cedar chest for the 2nd kid's high school graduation present I'm really high-tech with my jigs. The lines allow me to trim the sides to exactly 4" before using the sled to plane them at the same time. Yes, I have to put reminders on the thing so that I don't accidentally use it for something. One of the sides had a tearout along the grain. Gluing it back on (and later trimming it down) will let me do an experiment in the bender involving glued sides. I was wanting ot do it anyway, but this is really convenient. Headplate inlay before and after insertion 12th fret inlay, not inlaid yet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 Just watch how much the top flexes in that area. I think it'll be fine but it's something to keep an eye on. Like I said though, there's a number of builders who have brace patterns like that. What is the x-brace angle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 wow - almost 2 months since an update. I'm really lazy about updating my threads anymore. X-brace angle: uummmmmmmmmmmm...... 4x90? It's a perfect X with 4 90 degree angles. headplate glued on and sanded flat fretboard & 12th fret inlay before & after radiusing neck-end of the box WHOOPSIE!!!! I gotta be a LOT more careful with that in the future As of right now, the neck mortise & tenon have been cut, frets are in, top is on, and I'm working out a hardware search so I can use a bolt-on neck and still have it 1)look good and 2)still access the bolts from the outside. The bridge is also essentially done. I'm gonna make top-loaders instead of using string pegs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Love the cranes. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Any more progress on the build? How are you going to do a bolt on from the outside, is there a reason for not doing a regular bolt on where you reach through the soundhole? If you want hardware ideas for the bolt on part you can look through my 8 string acoustic build, I did a bolt on with that one but I set it up so the bolts were inside the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Now that it's warmed up a bit, I can get back to work. I decided to go back to the traditional set neck, but I'm still not going to give up on the idea. I'll start posting some update pics soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Still trying something different. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm a bit paranoid about tearout in the binding chanel, so I taped the crap out of it. It all turned out OK. The binding is in, scraped, top sanded, and the 1st coat of poly is on. Before you ask...... I have to glue the soundhole cover on before I put the back on the bridge/saddle needs to be glued on before the soundhole cover the top needs to be finished before the bridge/saddle goes on 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Very interesting bridge design! I'm very curious about how it turns out. Especially how that narrow string holder will hold up against the pressure from the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Doh! I read your posts from the bottom up....I now have the answer to the question I posted in your topic #3. This one is getting close. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Very interesting bridge design! I'm very curious about how it turns out. Especially how that narrow string holder will hold up against the pressure from the strings. Yea... I'm curious about that too. Worst case scenario - I replace the whole thing later if it pulls off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Starting in on the neck. I'm not sure yet how I feel about mt new toy. It's taking some getting used to. Since I'm a bit concerned about the tailpiece being pulled off by the string tension, I strengthened it up with a couple of screws. I glued the bridge & TP in place with T-88 epoxy instead of wood glue b/c I wasn't 100% that it was a proper gluing surface. Better safe than sorry. And here I finally remembered to turn the flash on. All we can do is wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Time to close the box! I did this a few days ago. When you're sanding the box, you the palm sander's vibrations cause the wood to vibrate, which gives you some interesting bass tones. It REALLY varies depending on the speed and location of the sander. Quite a pleasant surprise. So anyway, Kids..... This is what happens when you use wood from different pieces of lumber. They ere all labeled "mahogany", but CLEARLY are not the exact same species. Because lumber companies suck. I'm gonna stain it all to camouflage the variance. I'll prolly try a sandback for a sunburst. I can always re-stain if it doesn't look right. I might even use a "Heritage Cherry" dye after the stain. What the hell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2015 Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 I think I like the contrast in colors. Are you fighting a crack in the side up by the upper bout bend or am I suffering from an optical illusion? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Your eyes work. I re-enforced the shoulder there with a cutoff from the back seam bracing. I'm hoping to make it disappear in sanding & finishing. I know better, but I'm still gonna try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 This sums up my reservations about building acoustics. You guys have my respect. I love your inlays and that sound hole piece is pure art and craftsmanship. Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 I like that lumber mess... looks like it was made on purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Not epoxy! I wish you luck when it comes time to do a reglue on that bridge. Titebond is a big enough pain to deal with on a reglue. Looks like it's coming together pretty nicely so far. I may have missed it but what neck joint are you using, dove tail or bolt on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 I'm going with a mortise & tenon joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 gosh dang the finishing is taking just forever! still trying to get the sides done it's so close to being done i can taste it, but it's just barely not ready yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 John I love your soundhole. The soundhole on your guitar, yes that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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