ScottR Posted September 5, 2016 Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 (edited) This one is going to make Carl crazy. I don't know what this is going to look like. Okay, I have a vague idea....I've got a nice piece of myrtle burl coming for the top, And I know what my necks look like, so I'm starting by making a neck.I've made several necks out of one piece jatoba and several multi-ply necks. I like the look, feel and liveliness of the jatoba necks best. Thirteen or 14 years ago I stocked up on some crate timer that granite slabs from Brazil came in. They were jatoba that had obviously been logged and cut up wet and put to use as crates for the granite slabs to be shipped overseas in.They are thoroughly dried now but are very rough cut and twisted. I used the straightest pieces on earlier necks. What I've got left could be used as one piece necks, but won't give me as much headstock angle as I like so I'm going to glue a couple together and take advantage of the grain direction while I'm at it. I also decided to get me a nice low angle plane and surface these by hand. I'm not in any hurry..... Cleaning up the gluing surface. You've got to love the thin curls of slice wood from a sharp plane. Reward at the end of the first day. SR Edited July 8, 2017 by ScottR Replacing images being held hostage by photobucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 Got both faces done and then glued them up. Out of the clamps and beginning to square up. This is actually the bottom and will all be cut away.....but I still need a flat surface for stability on the saw. You can see how rough cut this timber is. The top is flat. This jatoba is highly figured so there was a lot of chipping and tear out that will still need to be sanded clean. Â SR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted September 6, 2016 Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 Nothing like keeping us guessing, Scott. How myrtle is this myrtle of yours? A different version/misnomer of the stuff that grows down here, I assume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted September 6, 2016 Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 Sweet, can't wait to see what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, curtisa said: Nothing like keeping us guessing, Scott. How myrtle is this myrtle of yours? A different version/misnomer of the stuff that grows down here, I assume? http://nwtimber.net/shop-all-wood-types.html?limit=72&species=94 This stuff. It grows in California and Oregon, so probably not quite the same as yours. 1 hour ago, KnightroExpress said: Sweet, can't wait to see what happens! Me either. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted September 6, 2016 Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, ScottR said: This stuff. It grows in California and Oregon, so probably not quite the same as yours. Quite different, by the looks of it. Guess that comes from us living in a place where the native trees were named after what they looked like back home in Mother England, rather than their actual botannical genus. We've got "Oaks", "Myrtles", "Pines", "Maples" and "Blackwoods" here too, but they bear no relation with the trees they were originally named after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 9 hours ago, curtisa said: Quite different, by the looks of it. Guess that comes from us living in a place where the native trees were named after what they looked like back home in Mother England, rather than their actual botannical genus. We've got "Oaks", "Myrtles", "Pines", "Maples" and "Blackwoods" here too, but they bear no relation with the trees they were originally named after. I've noticed that. I've also noticed that many of them have much nicer timber than what they were named for. I wonder if that comes from growing upside down? SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 After a whole lot of time making little jatoba curly-cues, I swept up 10 gallons or so. They ought to make pretty decent fire starters. The ultimate goal of that was to get the neck blank square enough to cut the headstock angle and start sanding that flat enough for a glue up of the fretboard and headstock plate. Which I did. Over here I have about a hundred and forty dollars worth of Gaboon ebony partially sliced and diced for fretboards and a headstock plate. Whoever named crude oil black gold never ran across black ebony.... Also I have a couple of planks of Keruing, which is also known as Apitong, I have since learned. I know nothing about it, and it looks like it is going to be boring as hell to look at. But when I picked up that plank (which has since been cut in half), I knocked against the pallet rack and that thing rang like a big bronze tubular bell. Very clear and loud....so I figured it was telling me to take it home and turn it into a guitar. I bookmatched a headstock plate. And used my bandsaw table and fence and some 180 grit sticky back sandpaper to true up the gluing surfaces. To glue it up I clamp one side to a piece of acrylic, add glue and press the two halves together by hand. Then I lightly clamp the other half to the acrylic. Then with the bar clamps squeeze them together. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Watching with interest and excitement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Pull up a chair and get comfortable, this may take a minute..... SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 I didn't get a lot done this week as I was out traveling the latter half of the week. I had to go to a trade show in Vegas........I know, rough job, but someone's got to do it. And I had several events scheduled this weekend, so time was limited. I did get a few things accomplished though. Like planing the fretboard to an even thickness and cutting the fret slots. And routing a truss rod slot. I went all rookie on that and got some excess routing done at both ends. No harm done and nothing will be seen.....but I don't like the fact much that they are there. And my myrtle burl arrived. I wiped on some mineral spirits for a nice show. This is how it looked in bright sunlight. And this is in the shade. This is going to be a nice one piece top. There will almost be enough left for a second top. SR Â Â Â 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 Looks like a bunch of wood pictures right now Scott. That and a nice plane. :-D I'm sure you'll pull a guitar up and out of that lot though. You hunt in the wood, whereas I tell it what I want done. Artistry vs. wood management by perkele (basically, stand and swear at it until it does what is required). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 Basically a bunch of wood pictures is what it is at this point. The nice plane did take timbers that look like just came out of an old saw mill and turn them into wood pictures. I do hunt for what's in the wood.....but I often try to talk it into doing what I want. You have to be get it to buy into your vision, so it won't rebel. SR Oh and don't forget the beer. That was a really good beer I had that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 As long as the woods that need to be working as expected (neck mostly) are chosen rather than grabbed first off the pile, I'm sure you'll produce another one of your very Scott kinda things. Is that fore plane some kind of Lie-Nielsen jobby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 All the woods were chosen specifically for the job they are meant to be doing, particularly the neck. 10 minutes ago, Prostheta said: Is that fore plane some kind of Lie-Nielsen jobby? The plane is a Stanley No. 62 low angle plane, if that is what you are asking. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 The myrtle burl looks sensational, in the second piece I can see a quizzical beagle and above him the witch from Snow White. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Cheers Muzz! I found them too! Those are two shots of the same board in two different lighting conditions. It's crazy how the burl clusters that make those images in one lighting source make something totally different looking in the other. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Very Cool Scott, MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 59 minutes ago, MiKro said: Very Cool Scott, MK Well......I think it's going to be. As it stands just now, I think Prostheta's observation is pretty close to the mark. Changing a pile of wood into something very cool is what the magic is all about though, isn't it? SR  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 I made a new gear stick knob for our PT Cruiser out of burled Birch this evening, so yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Â I made a fire out of wood. Does that count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 How does it sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 16 hours ago, ScottR said: Changing a pile of wood into something very cool is what the magic is all about though, isn't it? A chap at my class the other night said something along the lines of: the wood contains a guitar, all you've got to do is sand its way out to freedom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 I convince wood into the finished item through coercion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 1 hour ago, Norris said: A chap at my class the other night said something along the lines of: the wood contains a guitar, all you've got to do is sand its way out to freedom Exactly. I often say that about carving. Question: How did you carve that gnome out of that walnut log? Answer: You simply cut away everything that is not a gnome. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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