2.5itim Posted April 2, 2016 Report Share Posted April 2, 2016 2 hours ago, killemall8 said: Nice recovery. Ive never seen wenge do that, it normally has really strong gluing properties. Now that i see the neck on the body, is it just me, or does the neck look extremely long compared to the body size? I took a look at that also, to me it looks like an optical illusion because the bass side of the body is a lighter color than the top it blends in with the back board that the guitar is sitting on and the headstock keeping the neck taper just exaggerates it. When I keep my eyes focused on the bass horn it looks like it's normal sized but if I focus on the entire body it looks really long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 The neck has a specific scale and twenty some frets, no way to get it longer or shorter... ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 Nothing exciting at the moment, as I'm just waiting for glue to dry. The spare bedroom is a disaster at the moment, so no clamp collection pics! I did, however, venture out to my local Woodcraft and got some cool stuff on sale. A nice piece of cocobolo, which will be the fretboard for an upcoming LP-style build: And a billet of goncalo alves with great color and even a bit of flame, enough for 2 fretboards: Tuesday night- the neck shaping begins again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 You've worked Cocobolo before, right? It's the worst. It truly is. Beautiful wood and works well (other than producing oily dust) however it will bring out ANY allergy you have to woods. The oils colour-contaminate if you get solvents near it, and that dust is something that needs a lot of controlling. Scraping is a good idea rather than sanding sometimes, and sealing neighbouring light woods with shellac can be a useful option. I've made all of my mistakes with Cocobolo and they all sucked balls. Imagine Padauk that makes you wheeze, sneeze, produce a nation of snot and make your lungs feel like they're trying to escape using a good cop/bad cop routine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 I haven't done anything with cocobolo yet, but I'm well aware of its diabolical qualities. In fact, coco's gnarly reputation is exactly why I've been avoiding it for so long. I've got googles with sealed eye cups and a few respirators that I swap every so often, so I'm going to do my best to stay safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 Oddly enough, cocobolo doesn't bother me in the least. It sure does look good and feel good when polished up. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 I don't know if it'll get to me or not, but I suppose I'll find out sooner or later. I haven't reacted poorly to anything thus far and don't have any other allergies, so I'm hoping that my luck continues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 It affects everybody differently, however it's a sensitiser....if you're not melting into a puddle with it now, you will be the more you work with it! haha I suffered something rotten a few years back when radiusing a board by hand. That stuff just wouldn't be controlled. That Goncalo Alves looks like an interesting piece. Begging for an ominous dark tower to be inlaid at the 12th fret on top of that hill. Better yet, rays coming out of that eye...hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 Tonight I did some rough shaping of the neck. I started with the taper and general thickness. Once again, it's back to the router jig. Bonus feature- it does headstocks as well! After a few minutes on the edge sander and some light rasping, we have the beginnings of a nice neck profile. This'll be 19mm at the first, 23mm at the twelfth. That's it for tonight! My plan is to get the neck rounded off and in a somewhat comfortable state when I get back to work on Thursday. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 If I can score some thicker acrylic, I'd going to make my own router scarfing jig also. I've seriously meant to do that for the better half of ten years. See what you made me do? Simple but effective jigs....can't beat em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Another night in the shop, another night of carving away. The neck is feeling pretty nice by now, it just needs a few little tweaks here and there before I can call it done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Wow, that thing is messing with my eyes. All your wood has prominent lines that my eyes are drawn to follow. And they all send them in slightly different directions. Add the multi-scale fret slots to it and it looks all twisted and bent. And then I look at one of the shots sighted down the neck and obviously it is perfectly straight. You've built an optical illusion. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Yeah, this is visually hypnotic. I think I need a glass of wine to cope with this. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Man, I must be too used to looking at this guitar, it looks pretty normal to me at this point. If I've made something that makes you keep looking, I suppose I've done my job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Well, that one was done quickly, great job!... I don't know why, but my necks take some weeks to look like a neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Thank you! I don't really try to go quickly when I'm shaping the neck, but it just seems to go that way. I think knocking the bulk of the thickness off with my router taper jig helps a lot. I also get pretty bold with the big edge sander in the shop, I use it to rough in the facets and round everything with my rasp and scrapers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 I like how you create tiny little puddles of dust in an otherwise clean workshop. Last time I shaped a neck, I was crunching shavings underfoot in a very unreasonable blast radius. Spokeshaves make for much mess, thankfully dustless though. Can't agree more about the tapering jig. Dialling in that centreline early on makes all of the shaping far easier and controlled. Are you using any sort of profile templates or going by feel? Both are important of course, however I'm wondering how you're dialling yours in right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Heh, next time I do something really messy I'll make sure to snap some pics. I don't always manage to keep the dust under such tight control. When I do initial shaping and routing for my next bodies, it'll look like a proper tornado of dust and shavings. I'm normally a massive template hound (like you guys couldn't tell), but necks and aesthetic carves are done to suit each individual guitar. It's not much of a method, but to me, it feels like the right thing to do. So I basically go by feel, but I do have depth targets to hit and a profile in mind. For this one, I actually shifted the facet on the treble side more towards the centerline, giving a nice asymmetrical profile. It effectively disappears if you play all properly with good thumb position and so forth, but still retains a bit of reassuring heft if you do go for a full-handed grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Which finish do you plan for this one?... wenge is the hell to get the pores filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Same as the padauk twin, totally open-pore with Odie's Oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 OK friends, as this build is getting close to wrapping up, I'm preparing for the next one. Trouble is, I can't decide what to try next. I find myself pulled in two very different directions: either very retro-inspired or even further into the hypermodern scene. Which would you guys rather see? 1- very Les Paul-esque. Will have PAF clones, carved top, full binding, inlays, the whole shebang. 2- headless multiscale 8 string Voyager. It'd be a testbed for the Mera hardware and also just a barrel of fun to play around with. Honestly, I'll end up building both guitars... I just can't decide which to do first. Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 9, 2016 Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 Go for the 8 strings first... no, wait, make the les paul first... damn, I can't decide either... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 9, 2016 Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 Temporarily returning to the wenge project, almost every aspect (in both the visual as well as design sense) makes you go 'wow'. A truly inspiring build. Ref the side topic of cocobolo, I've never had any reaction to it (but as Prostheta says, it is a sensitiser and, as such, a reaction can happen at any time and once you are sensitised that's it for life...) but it's a truly horrible wood to work with. On 'Tom's African Build' fretless I ended up using epoxy for almost all of the gluing jobs (in spite of trying acetone, etc, etc, to get normal wood glues to work) and it was truly dreadful to sand to shape. Once done, though, as ScottR says, it looks and feels beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 9, 2016 Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 7 hours ago, KnightroExpress said: Honestly, I'll end up building both guitars... I just can't decide which to do first. Help! That's easy. Build an 8 string headless Les Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted April 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 7 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Temporarily returning to the wenge project, almost every aspect (in both the visual as well as design sense) makes you go 'wow'. A truly inspiring build. Thank you so much, @Andyjr1515! I also appreciate the coco advice. I'm hoping that the acetone/regular glue combo will work, but I should pick up some epoxy just in case. And some new filters for my mask.... 7 hours ago, psikoT said: Go for the 8 strings first... no, wait, make the les paul first... damn, I can't decide either... See? I really am having a tough time here. 2 hours ago, curtisa said: That's easy. Build an 8 string headless Les Paul. Hm....I wonder what that would look like. Back to the sketchbook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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