Aakoo Posted December 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 (edited) ...Slow progress... Been working on the Acoustic guitars lacquering it's been a pain, so no progress on the electric one. I've sanded the top at least twice back to wood, and I had the spray gun failing on me, dropping some nice drops on the back, just when the finish was just about perfect.. Well.. Now, I think the lacquer is good enough so I can start polsihing it, here's a few shots .. The longhorn I have cut the neck and body to raw shape, trussrod slot was made. Of course the router screwed on me here, but I managed to save the neck. the routers locking mechanism gave up, and there is a small area where the router took too much wood, But it's not deep enough that it would go through the neck when neck is in shape, so I just fill it. I also made a fretboard sawing box, to the template I had bought a few years back, and made marks where the frets go. Also the head stock veneer is cut, although not seen in the photo. Edited December 4, 2015 by Aakoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 I bought a few bits from Petri over at Korpi Instrumentti a few years back. Not too bad. Sorry to hear about the router issues....did the cutter change height? Often that is because the collet (kiristysholkki) is damaged. If it is scratched or worn, the cutter slips and moves. Spots on lacquer are possible to fix by making a simple "de-nibbing" tool. Take a new craft knife blade and "turn a hook" on it using the shaft of a screwdriver. This is the same as making a hook on a scraper (sikli). Add two pieces of masking tape to the ends and you have a scraper which can pare off the bumps until they are almost flat. If you're not sure what I mean, I think your teacher may understand. I usually mark the side where the hook is using a black X (you can just see that in the photo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted December 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Thanks for the tips. The router I used was not mine but one from the school we have at the course, I am not sure what went wrong, but I assume it was the depth locking mechanism, it is very troublesome on this router. It could be also that the router bit was not tightened enough, and it gave up there, I had to have the bit pretty out on the tip, because I had to make a jig of the scrap wood at the school, to get the line right and I did not find a very thin board to support the router, so I used a bit too thick one.. Anyhow, the router did just a 3 mm deep 8mm wide round hole, so I plan to make a wooden dowel of 8mm of the same wood that the neck is of, and glue it in..and sand it to correct level. The spray gun leaking just slightly at the end of my previous lacquering session, so that the last coat made the surface pretty ugly, so instead of only fixing the drops, I sanded the back, so that it had a good surface with some 600 grit paper, and then applied the final coating.. Now I am happy with it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Good to hear that these problems are fixable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) I really have no progress on the threads subject, the longhorn, but i've just stringed the acoustic. Next week i will do the final adjustments to the nut, change heavier cauge strings and put the strap buttons. Then its ready. It already sounds good, but i expect 012 strings to really make the guitar alive. Heres a link to instagram: Edited February 10, 2016 by Aakoo Photo did not show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 Wow. That looks a real achievement! I had a look on your Instagram, and it sounds like you've got the right idea on many things. Beer, chillies, guitars and ink. Did I miss anything? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted February 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 Some progress yesterday on the "long horn", I Cut the fret slots, and cut the top to rough shape with bandsaw. By accident I found a nice trick to see the measured fret positions, that I had made with a carpet knife. The saw I was using for sawing the slots got stuck very easily in the frame, that guides it going straight. I tried to add some chalk to the blade, so it'd glide better, and while I had the chalk in my hand I decided to rub it to the fretboard too, and wipe the excess off.. That left the white mostly in the marker lines leaving the lines very visible. That made my work much easier because I could see better the lines! Next week we have a break from the course, but then my plan is to shape the fretboard and add bindings to it. Will add a narrow, 1 mm or so thick maple stripe and then a thicker ebony stripe on the outer edge. No fret markers on fretboard, but for side markers I have plans cooking in my head. Currently thinking of doing square markers by sawing slots to the ebony binding, but will have to see what I come up with later.. I've now had a few weeks with the acoustic, I posted above. I switched over to thicker gauge string set after a week (053-0012), and I must say i love how it plays now. I've never been a huge fan of acoustic guitar sound, but I think I'm getting there.. Now I'm wondering if I should build one more starting next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 It's a good aim. Now we'll have access to a workshop of sorts 7 days a week I can consider pouring more time into things like acoustics and archtops. Good idea about the chalk. I usually use stearine for my saw so I would have missed out on this trick :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 So you have the workshop settled, that is good. Maybe we should meet for a day in the workshop sometime at summer? Before that I am pretty busy. I could bring the acoustic (for showing off) and the longhorn (for working), and let's see what we could do with these two ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 It's only going to be a small home workshop for the moment. The longer-term aims are for a permanent workshop for ProjectGuitar.com, however until we build up sufficient income via Patreon that is not something we can do yet. If you're down here at any point, drop by for coffee, sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Dammit, I am having hard time with this one. This week I saw the neck tenon, and routed the tenon to body. It become a bit too loose,so I glued a thin veneer to the tenons side on neck. Now it was very snug, but I was able to push the neck in to the body... then the body split ? I don't understand how.. the glueline was ok, not perfect, but ok. Well... next week I do some sanding and re-glue the body... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Man that's rough, sorry to here that about the splitting. Its also to bad about not being able to make the baritone, I have a soft spot in my heart for extended range guitars and long horns! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Yes, I agree it's a bummer it didn't turn out as baritone. Next one i build will... Today was one of the more productive days. I fixed the split body. The split was exactly on glue line, so it was easy fix. I slightly sanded of old glue, added new glue and put some pressure. I also shaped the fretboard and glued maple binding on the sides. Next week I'll fix the outer ebony binding. Here's shot of todays situation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I was thinking about the electronics cavities. How much wood should there be for the pots? Is the 5mm maple top thick enough, or should I route the cavity from the back and leave some mahogany under the maple? If the top is enough, I plan to route from frontside of mahogany and make only a small access lid for the cavity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Measure your pots. Thread on the nut and washers and see how much the pot will "allow" you. What pots are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I don't have any at hand at the moment. I will buy when i order some electronic stuff from uraltone or tubetown. Been planning a tube amp project to start with. Also have a ross phaser pcb waiting for some components. Any suggestions what pots to use for guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 My builds tend to end up weird, so usually I am forced to buy whatever is available that suits my application. Generally CTS seem quite good. Whether that is because of real reasons is debatable. What does everybody else think? The only thing with CTS is to make sure your knobs will fit them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I buy from Uraltone also. Is Tubetown Finnish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 The last few times I've bought pots I have used alphas, I would really like to try cts the next few times to see if they are worth double the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I can't say I've done any comparative values testing, but the CTS just feel more solid and smoother when you turn them. I like them. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 42 minutes ago, Prostheta said: I buy from Uraltone also. Is Tubetown Finnish? I mixed Tubetown and musikding. Both are German, I think. But it's in EU and when have to rely on postal delivery, it really is not that much difference if the order is sent from Helsinki or Germany, the delivery time and price are somewhat the same regardless where the goods come from. To me it's matter of getting all the components I need that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 CTS here, although the last build I used a Dimarzio push-pull pot which I suspect is nothing more than a rebranded Alpha at double the price. Both work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 This week was a bit short on guitar build terms.. My wife gave birth to our third child, a son on Friday evening. So been pretty occupied with the family business, but there is always a bit time for guitar build! Yesterday evening I glued the fret board on the neck + fixed the fret slots go though the maple binding. Made one ebony strip for the outer fret board binding. Next week should fix the outer binding and start shaping the neck. I will do the side markers on the outer binding so that I will saw a vertical slot on the strips, so that the slot almost cuts through the binding, and I will inlay a maple strip in the slot. This way the one marker will act as side marker, and will also be seen on front of the fret board. I will do this before gluing the binding to fret board and neck, so that I will attach the ebony strip to a base, so that it does not break when sawing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2016 Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 Onnea! Third...man...that's a busy life. I guess it'll be a while before you finish this fourth child then eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted March 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 45 minutes ago, Prostheta said: Onnea! Third...man...that's a busy life. I guess it'll be a while before you finish this fourth child then eh? Thanks, the two previous human children already big girls, 8 and 9 years old, so it's not that busy at the moment. The girls love to help out - at least for now This little guy is the late surprise, I am turning 40 this year, and we were not expecting more kids, but you reap what you sow My plan is to get the guitar to a state until the summer, where I can just start putting it together and finalize it. So all steps where I'd like to use belt or oscilating sander or the planner should be done in 4 next weeks period. I can do the painting and lacquering at my parents place later in the summer. I would like to hear suggestions on how to make good templates for control cavity lids and the lid place on the back of guitar body. I am not very keen on going freehand. I am not sure if I am going to make the lids from wood or if I do it from plastic. On both scenarios, I'd like to have decent templates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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