Buter Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 Well, it's been well over 5 years since I've built a geetar, but I've got a great project in the works, so I need to get back up to speed. Mostly parts left over that actually made the move from Europe back to 'Murica, but the gist of it is Maple/Purpleheart neck-through, quilt top, Sapelle wings, Zebrawood FB, JB/59 combo, Grover and Schaeller shiny bits. Wish me luck! Sun's going down and this is the view out of my shop, so I'm gonna grab a cold IPA and chill on the dock. Cheers Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 We've all really been bitten by that IPA thing haven't we? I remember years back when IPAs were just a minor subset of English cask ales. You'd find one or two doing the rounds in pubs, maybe a few put out by specialists on sale at real ale festivals. Now it's become an addiction....to bitterness! I like the white sheet of paper down in preparation. It implies a clean mind and working method going forward....how long will that last? ;-) Back in saddle, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Good luck!... Hágale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Sounds good to me ...the IPA and the build... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Forget the build. Look at the view. Jus' kiddin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 2 hours ago, curtisa said: Forget the build. Look at the view. Jus' kiddin' Shit! I'm not. I don't know how you'll ever get anything built with that just outside......it's a good thing the boat is not in the the shot, I'd be drooling and short out my keyboard. I like the profile on the neck, you will be able to get some serious headstock angle out of that. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Just noticed - the upper horn of the body template resting against the wall looks like a duck with a white bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 It does. and the horns themselves remind me of horns on longhorn cattle. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salamon-rs Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Man this looks great. My imagination is kicking in and I can't wait to see what beauty is hiding behind it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buter Posted December 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Ha! Didn't see the duck or the horns. I guess we'll call her El Toro (was gonna change the topic to that, but can't see how). I'm a full on hop-head now. I'd rather drink tea than "traditional American" beers. I'm not sure how you noticed that I was gonna do more than your average headstock angle, but you've nailed it, Scotty! In my experience, you need a greater angle with zero fret guitars. Thanks Salamon; I hope I won't disappoint you. Cheers Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buter Posted December 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I know there used to be limit on photos, but I believe that was due to server capacity and now we mostly use hosted pictures so no more picture limit. If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll break this up into multiple posts. Also, I'm on an iPad, so the chances of ther being no typos (unwanted commas seem to the favourite). My goal today was to get something glued up and be cleaning up with a cold beer around 5. Sounds like an easy goal, but I've got to make new jigs for everything. Soooooooo.......... We need to make this big hunk of wood a bit more guitarish, so let's fire up the ancient bandsaw and make some sawdust. 2 pieces Not too shabby for an old thing. I had a big panel saw with a big sliding carriage when I was in the Channel Islands which made doing scarfs a breeze. Alas, the big saw is still in the Channel Islands and I am not. I guess I need to make a quick scarf jig. Some old, oak floorboards planed and cut to fit these slots. Screw them into some 18 mil MDF. True up some lumber and attach in an eye pleasing fashion; 17.5 degrees to the blade in this instance. Clamp one neck blank in place and make sawdust. I'm a firm believer that the majority of time spent on any project should be spent in the thinking phase. The thinking phase is used to figure out what to do in the setup phase. Time spent in the setup phase is usually much more valuable than time spent in the doing it phase. Time spent in the doing it phase should be kept to a minimum. In this case, proper distribution of time in the three phases led to a scarf joint that I could have roughed up a bit with some sandpaper and glued straight away. Sadly, I will not be gluing this up immediately as I want to add an accent piece to the neck/volume. I think sending my little headstock piece through the planer would end in tears, so I knocked up a quick little thicknessing jig. Mission accomplished! Quarter to five, headstock and accent piece in clamps, cold Sweetwater 420 on the go, broom in hand and Hank Williams III on the tune machine. One more full day in the shop and then I'm all closed up until January. Cheers Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buter Posted December 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Buter said: Edited December 8, 2015 by Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Quote I'm not sure how you noticed that I was gonna do more than your average headstock angle, but you've nailed it, Scotty! In my experience, you need a greater angle with zero fret guitars. Mostly because you could. Your neck blank looks a bit like mine usually do in terms of depth and I usually try to get all the angle I can. These last few have been about 17 degrees. I just figured you'd look at it the same way.....presumptuous perhaps. You've made some nice jigs and rigs and what the hell is that massive slate looking thing you've got for a work surface? It looks very flat and true. Sweetwater makes good beer! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buter Posted December 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Yeah, even as I was marking out the blank I hadn't decided if I was gonna go with a one piece or a scarf. The accent piece won out in the end. What you see is a piece of slate from the pool table that was here when we moved in. I love playing pool, but there wasn't enough room to really play where it was. I contemplated setting it up under the house, but it didn't handle the move very well! Makes for a good, if not delicat, true surface to play with. I've been adulting all morning instead of building, so I may not accomplish my goals today. Why anyone ever wants to grow up is beyond me! Do you live anywhere near Kingwood, Scott? Cheers Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Hey it started snowing in here. Funny how as a kid you can't wait to grow up and as an adult you spend as much time as possible pretending you didn't.....and as an adult watching a kid it happens almost overnight. I'm about 30 miles west southwest of Kingwood in Copperfield. Do I recall you having an aunt in Kingwood? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buter Posted December 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) Yup. My Aunt and Uncle live there and we go there for Christmas (via Hong Kong this year...). As feared, not as productive today as I'd hoped. My first project this morning was to build a scarfing sled for the router. I thought before I did, I'd just see if I could put the glued up headstock back in the jig for the table saw and get a respectable result. Turns out I could! Made up a jig for gluing the headstock to the neck and clamped her up. Yeah, I'll call that a win (had to include a foot shot for y'all). While the glue was drying I made the fretboard template cut her to size. Normally I'd cut the board 3mm skinny, cut the fret slots, then glue the sides back on to create a grain matched binding type thing. I did that with this but the off cut started twisting up, so I abandoned that idea and won't bind the board on this one. I'm just playing, after all. By the way, the router bit with bearings top and bottom is one of the most useful tools I've got; very easy to make sure you are always routing "downhill". Go one way with the template on the bottom, flip the piece and template over, lower the bit to run the top bearing on the template and you're routing downhill again. i don't have the router table fully built yet, so I clamped the neck off cut to the table as a fence. Run a test piece to make sure I've got the fence set just right; wouldn't want to make a dumbass mistake here, would you? Perfect! A couple of passes along the fence and I've got a snug little channel for the truss rod, slightly offset to the treble side. Why offset, you ask? I'm running a fairly thin neck and wanted to put a carbon fibre rud in the neck for stability, so I offset the truss rod to the treble side and put the carbon fibre rod on the bass side. Well, that's it for a while. Work, Christmas and life are getting in the way for the next month. I'm slightly bummed because I was really getting into it and enjoying building again. Soon come... Cheers Buter ps - you didn't really believe I intended to offset the truss rod, did you? That little boo-boo really pissed me off since I am very careful and always make test passes. In this case, however, I didn't realise that I'd flipped the test block and was setting the fence to the wrong datum. I absolute nailed the wrong line, though, eh? Fortunately, I had a few CF rods that I used to use for reinforcing bass necks. I will be interested to see what effect this arrangement has on neck stability. Edited December 9, 2015 by Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 5 hours ago, Buter said: Are you sure that you don't need any graphite or CF reinforcement in your fence? INCRA produce some of the finest workshop tools I have had the pleasure of using. Is that a Mast-R-Lift II? I genuinely think that anybody who is spending more than two-and-a-half k on their workshop should be forced to buy one of those or be left in the dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 I was going to ask where you came up with the idea to offset the truss rod..... It's too bad you don't have the fret board glued on yet. You could put some tension on the truss rod and let it set over the holidays and see if any twist occurs from the offset. It does look like your router table fence has a couple more necks in it for future use. I'll be out of state over the holidays too. I'll raise an IPA on Christmas eve and send you a cross country cheers! In fact I'll raise several and send all you guys a cross planet cheers! SR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buter Posted December 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 Well, I said I was done, but my morning chores were finished earlier than I'd thought, so after going for a swim I thought I'd knock the next couple of items off the list. I almost wish I hadn't, because in my eagerness to get a few more jobs done, I've made life harder on down the road. I had planned on building a clamping/gluing jig to attach the headstock ears, but I just clamped the headstock pieces to my slate and clamped 'em up. The result should be fine, I just wished I been patient. I had also wanted to cut the wiring channels in the centre section while the neck blank was still square. Oops. Who wants an easy life, anyway? I'm already thinking about the next project so I thought I'd glue up a body blank. Does anyone ever get tired of putting two freshly planed chunks of wood together and trying your darnedest to find a bit of light poking through, even though you know you won't? So that really is all for now since I'm writing this from London. Happy holidays everyone! Buter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 11, 2015 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 These projects sort of build up their own momentum don't they? Nice wood, nice dog. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 11, 2015 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 2 hours ago, Buter said: Does anyone ever get tired of putting two freshly planed chunks of wood together and trying your darnedest to find a bit of light poking through, even though you know you won't? I don't ever tire of it because I always find bits of light poking through which I know will amuse me for hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 11, 2015 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 That just reminded me of a trick....place the boards vertically on top of each other (jointed edges together) and poke the top board just above the join line. You soon find out if they're not cool because the board spins around, then falls down denting the freshly jointed surface. Try it. It really makes life "fun". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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