avengers63 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 A surprise day off yesterday landed me at the major lumber yard 45 minutes away. They had maple, cherry, walnut, and hickory shorts on sale. I took home a nice neck blank of maple & cherry, a 7" wide piece of crotch walnut, and an 8' long piece if 4" wide hickory. So the neck will be hickory. Cuz why not. I wanna see how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 Hickory ought to make a great neck. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2018 SHIT. And I thought I was working so hard during the glue-up for that NOT to happen. Well, short of trying to sand it down, which seems sketchy to me, this is what it is now. So y'all should know me by now... What the hell. Let's see what happens, My gut says there is enough under the wood (spring steel & heating blanket) to keep it from going variegated. In other news, I slotted the fretboard to 25.5" scale and made the scarf cut. I though about it for a few minutes and decided to at least do a mid-grade pimping out of the neck, so I stopped there to decide what to do. Bare minimum is a 1/8" accent stripe in the scarf. Maybe a matching pinstripe under the fretboard. Lots of options there... like a 3-5 layer veneer sandwich. It'll prolly be a bound fretboard. And do I wanna make my own inlays again? Some fancied-up theme again? I love this hobby. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 So the vend on the waist scorched and cracked a little. I was concerned about this possibility. I'll be thinning down the other side a bit before i try and bend it. I'll still be using this piece. This is the learning curve box. I'll just reenforce the inside of the curve. Maybe it won't be totally horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 Wow, you do a lot of elaborate jigs. not anywhere near this level yet so I very much appreciate you sharing all the detailed photos. rock on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 I'm sure that you've gathered this about myself Mike, but making elaborate jigs is probably one of the most satisfying aspects of building for a lot of people. For me, it's about the jigs working beautifully with minimum effort. Like building a better mousetrap. John - how about multiple pinstriped binding on the board and body, and a shaped scroll end to the fingerboard? I forget who built that beautiful Byrdland here, but that was just something else. The elaborate binding just came to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 26 minutes ago, Prostheta said: John - how about multiple pinstriped binding on the board and body, and a shaped scroll end to the fingerboard? I forget who built that beautiful Byrdland here, but that was just something else. The elaborate binding just came to mind. Interesting that you should make this suggestion today and mention the Byrdland. While i was driving my route this morning, I was thinking about the Byrdland name, and my mind went to a hummingbird theme for the inlays. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 I would imagine this could involve penstemon and hibiscus blooms.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 3 hours ago, Prostheta said: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 Think you're up for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 I can DEFINITELY make the inlays and put them in well. Affording all the shell blanks.... that's the hard part. I've used plastic pen blanks before, and they've all worked well except the white pearl. It's a bit transparent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 If I had the money for the inlay material, I know without a doubt I could pull off some sick shit like this... No doubt whatsoever. And even though these are stickers, this is do-able too. but those are both gonna be hella-expensive for the raw materials. There's no way I can make it happen with real shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 Are you in that much of a hurry to make it happen this week or something? Can't half realise a thing you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 What would give you the idea that I'm wanting to rush through things? I just can't afford the shell blanks and have to use alternative materials. Unless you were thinking that I was saying "I can just use these stickers." I was saying I'm capable of replicating the stickers as real inlays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 Oh no, of course not. Gather the shell progressively, piece together the parts and base it around that. It also gives you opportunity to improve your game. Sharper, tighter and more refined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 And after it's all said & done, I'm just considering an idea and exploring what it might look like and what might be involved in doing it. Sometimes I come up with a theme - hummingbirds, for example - and just get into the creative thought process... look for inspiration is what others have done. I also have an artistic hard-on for Alphonse Mucha. I'd get off on making a wood portrait of one of his many vertical pieces and using an art nouveau theme throughout the entire thing. Right now, the main problem is that I don't know what I really wanna do with this one. The mental focus is on working out the process of making a, ES-style jazz-like ax, not the visual theme. BUT..... My built speed has slowed down to SUCH a crawl that I don't want to "waste" an opportunity to explore a possible avenue of inlay creativity. And I have sooooooo many themes I've thought about when daydreaming at work... they're all screaming to get out and be realized. I should REALLY move my scrollsaw station into the basement so I can work on it through winter, too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 On a more productive note.... I found a good-sized piece of thin chechen to use as a scarf-highlight. I decided to put ash veneer in between. A pinstripe highlight always looks great. First piece of the back getting glued up... And more bad news. Because of course there has to be more obstacles to overcome. The first side I bent... the one that cracked a bit in the waist... it kinda un-bent itself. So here's something that's prolly highly inadvisable, but I'm doing it anyway cuz fuck it and let's see what happens... I'm re-bending it. I mean, it'll either take or it won't. Might as well give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 8 hours ago, avengers63 said: And after it's all said & done, I'm just considering an idea and exploring what it might look like and what might be involved in doing it. Sometimes I come up with a theme - hummingbirds, for example - and just get into the creative thought process... look for inspiration is what others have done. I also have an artistic hard-on for Alphonse Mucha. I'd get off on making a wood portrait of one of his many vertical pieces and using an art nouveau theme throughout the entire thing. Right now, the main problem is that I don't know what I really wanna do with this one. The mental focus is on working out the process of making a, ES-style jazz-like ax, not the visual theme. BUT..... My built speed has slowed down to SUCH a crawl that I don't want to "waste" an opportunity to explore a possible avenue of inlay creativity. And I have sooooooo many themes I've thought about when daydreaming at work... they're all screaming to get out and be realized. I should REALLY move my scrollsaw station into the basement so I can work on it through winter, too. Substitute your she and you'd really have something there. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2018 Substitute what she for what...... Huh? I'm clearly missing something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 I decided to bend the piece for the cutaway today. When I started looking hard at what I have, I saw the bending mold (left) is the same size as the gluing for insert (right) This left no room around the form for the thickness of the wood, spring steel, and heating blanket. I also fiddled with it, trying to figure out how exactly I was gonna bend the whole thing around the form without burning the prints off my fingers. The short answer is there isn't one. An hour later and I have the other piece of the jig. I REALLY watered the piece down well. I figured this deep a bend, like the waist of the sides, will take longer and might need more steam. Here's hoping.... I gotta make some feet for it for the next time. And speaking of the deep bend in the waist of the sides.... It cracked all the way through. I kinda saw this coming. Next time I work on it, I'll be finding a big enough piece of scrap to plane down and use for another side. Oh well. THAT'S why I used crap wood for the trial run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 22, 2018 Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 On 8/12/2018 at 8:28 PM, avengers63 said: Substitute what she for what...... Huh? I'm clearly missing something. Apparently I forgot to hit submit reply when I responded to this a couple of weeks ago. By your she, I meant the nice lady whose pics you posted in your acoustic updates thread. Substitute her image for the ladies in the art you posted in this thread and inlay that image. It would be a challenge, but a worthy challenge. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2018 This couldn't have bent better. I took it out of the press 2 days ago and let it rest. It held it's shape beautifully. Its5nice when so.ething not only goes to plan, but exceeds expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted August 26, 2018 Report Share Posted August 26, 2018 That's a significantly tight radius! I'm impressed that it didn't revert a touch. Excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2018 For the replacement side, I found a piece of (I think) sapele lying around in the scroll saw pile. It was just a touch over 5.5" wide. I decided that I didn't like the waist bend in the remaining side, and that splitting this piece in two for a thickness of 2.75" would be fine. Then I started to plane them sown to thickness. Three passes into the process... OK... no problem. It's still a viable length. I'll just have to be careful when bending it. To no great surprise, the planer had other ideas. typical On the good side, the remainder of the destroyed piece found new life as a pinstripe between the fretboard and neck. So THAT'S in the clamps and the remaining side is spending the night in the mold after bending it. I'll just have to cut down the other side to match the width when they're both in the construction form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 27, 2018 Report Share Posted August 27, 2018 Waste is always a tragedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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