Lwguitar Posted May 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2019 I went by my dads house to borrow his table saw. Probably took out 2 hours of hand sawing! Also I now have a nice deep kerf to help guid the saw blade. Two more hours of hand sanding and I should have two pieces of wood! I wish I had used this method for book matching the top, it would have been much quicker and resulted in a thicker flatter top. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 14, 2019 Report Share Posted May 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Lwguitar said: I went by my dads house to borrow his table saw. Probably took out 2 hours of hand sawing! Also I now have a nice deep kerf to help guid the saw blade. Two more hours of hand sanding and I should have two pieces of wood! I wish I had used this method for book matching the top, it would have been much quicker and resulted in a thicker flatter top. Yep that looks good, essentially that is what I do only with a hand kerfing plane. If you make the side you're cutting the underside, you've got some real nice grain-matching control covers there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2019 23 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: Yep that looks good, essentially that is what I do only with a hand kerfing plane. If you make the side you're cutting the underside, you've got some real nice grain-matching control covers there I can’t make up my mind on wether I want to attempt to match up the control cover using the Makore or just make a high contrast cover using Wenge (same material as neck). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 16, 2019 Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 13 hours ago, Lwguitar said: I can’t make up my mind on wether I want to attempt to match up the control cover using the Makore or just make a high contrast cover using Wenge (same material as neck). My initial thought when I did that was that it's an awful lot of effort for a control cover. If you can keep it flat over time then you could use it as a drop top, but my 15mm slither of limber I cut free cupped significantly anyway (wasn't dry enough) so my choice was use it for a cover or bin it. But IMO having perfectly grain matched control covers looks that little bit more boutique. I guess you could make your wenge one first and decide if you like it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 16, 2019 Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 7 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: I guess you could make your wenge one first and decide if you like it or not I was going to say "do both" but that might save a larger piece of wood for something more spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogg Posted May 16, 2019 Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 Wenge is rarely, if ever, unacceptable in my opinion..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 16, 2019 Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 56 minutes ago, Jdogg said: Wenge is rarely, if ever, unacceptable in my opinion..... Unless you use it for a body, then it's f$%cking heavy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 17, 2019 Report Share Posted May 17, 2019 On 5/15/2019 at 11:56 AM, Lwguitar said: I can’t make up my mind on wether I want to attempt to match up the control cover using the Makore or just make a high contrast cover using Wenge (same material as neck). would seem a shame to waste such a big and pretty piece of wood for just a few ctrl cavities. I think as long as you tie it in by matching with something else... it'll look good, possibly even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 17, 2019 Report Share Posted May 17, 2019 Have you got enough walnut left for a control cover? That would look badass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2019 On 5/16/2019 at 4:45 AM, ADFinlayson said: My initial thought when I did that was that it's an awful lot of effort for a control cover. If you can keep it flat over time then you could use it as a drop top, but my 15mm slither of limber I cut free cupped significantly anyway (wasn't dry enough) so my choice was use it for a cover or bin it. But IMO having perfectly grain matched control covers looks that little bit more boutique. I guess you could make your wenge one first and decide if you like it or not. I'm going to use magnets to hold the cover in place and if I was able to get the grain matched up just right it would look pretty awesome. I just hate to cut a whole in the middle of that big piece of figured Makore. On 5/16/2019 at 12:18 PM, Bizman62 said: I was going to say "do both" but that might save a larger piece of wood for something more spectacular. Yah, ruining the big piece of Makore is where I'm struggling! 19 hours ago, Jdogg said: Wenge is rarely, if ever, unacceptable in my opinion..... I'm pretty sure it would look awesome, maybe just not as awesome as a grain matched cover. 14 hours ago, mistermikev said: would seem a shame to waste such a big and pretty piece of wood for just a few ctrl cavities. I think as long as you tie it in by matching with something else... it'll look good, possibly even better. My thoughts exactly... but it would look so cool if I pulled it off! 7 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: Have you got enough walnut left for a control cover? That would look badass I'm pretty sure I will. A flamed walnut would look pretty cool! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 17, 2019 Report Share Posted May 17, 2019 Nice summary there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2019 No pictures but I sawed for about an hour and got 1/4 of the way through. Haha! The blade was starting to wonder off even with the deep kerf. I think the blade is flexing when I push it. Not sure what to do about that. I need one of these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 My fave thing so far is that it looks from the pics like someones turned their dining room in to a workshop... wife be damned! lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Urumiko said: My fave thing so far is that it looks from the pics like someones turned their dining room in to a workshop... wife be damned! lol... HAHA! Nope, pics are in our garage/workshop. I want to keep the wife happy! She is supportive and I want to keep it that way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 40 minutes ago, Lwguitar said: HAHA! Nope, pics are in our garage/workshop. I want to keep the wife happy! She is supportive and I want to keep it that way! haha, wait until you get 6 or 7 guitars in mate, the supportiveness may gain some sour undertones, in some cases may kick back like maple on a router. I make sure all jobs are done before I step foot in the garage, then regular application of wine and flowers with lunches out most weekends is just about keeping mine on side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 1 hour ago, ADFinlayson said: all jobs are done before I step foot in the garage, then regular application of wine and flowers with lunches out most weekends Boys, boys, you're doing it all wrong! What if one day you'll notice that the money coming is barely enough for some mac'n'cheese and the necessary wood? Should that day come, and it will when your babies start wanting a smarter phone than the kid in the kindergarten, you'll be in trouble. Keep your ladies on the edge now so reality won't hit that hard when powerty knocks on the door. You know what happened to the luthier who won big in the Lottery? He continued building guitars for as long as any money was left. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Pretty frustrating day, I spent two hours hand sanding then this happened. pretty much ruined the thin cutoff... The blade was wobbling like crazy so I also ended up getting a pretty big gash in the body as well which means it’s a Brit thinner than I was planning. I think it will still be fine but I may end up with a slightly thinner guitar than I was originally thinking. Ended up using my leveling jig to level it down to 1 3/8”. There is still a bit of a gouge but I’m gonna see how it looks once the guitar is a bit farther along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 that's unfortunate, when I've done this I've used the cheapest crappiest saw from b&q but it has quite a wide kerf, which means wasting more wood but it stays true. If that gouge is right in the middle, could you get away with putting it on the top so the glue up hides it? I guess you could stick your body template on top, draw round it and see if it appears at the edges. Worst case scenario, you could make the body a bit thinner or put a contrasting veneer between the top and body woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 ;( I imagine that if this happened to me I'd be a bit discouraged... sorry to hear. perhaps it can be hidden by pikups? inlay? just gotta find the right solution. here's to that coming your way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 4 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: that's unfortunate, when I've done this I've used the cheapest crappiest saw from b&q but it has quite a wide kerf, which means wasting more wood but it stays true. If that gouge is right in the middle, could you get away with putting it on the top so the glue up hides it? I guess you could stick your body template on top, draw round it and see if it appears at the edges. Worst case scenario, you could make the body a bit thinner or put a contrasting veneer between the top and body woods. My saws kerf is about double the blade thickness, my line is straight on the edge of the board but the blade flexes in the middle and makes a curved cut. There is probably something off in my technique. The total thickness should end up being around 2” when the guitar is done so it’s really not too big of a deal. I was planing on having it 2 1/4” though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 3 minutes ago, Lwguitar said: There is probably something off in my technique One main reason for a flexing saw blade is too much downwards pressure compared to the friction. Based on the images it looks like you followed the bottoms of the circular saw grooves, a method that maximizes the friction. Instead you should have knocked off the corners so you'd always be cutting the shortest possible stretch. I thought I already had posted a sketch about the sawing order, but apparently not: 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 that is an interesting and informative tip... storing that away. thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Don't take it as stone carved, it's just logical thinking based on elementary physics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 no, i take it as wood carved (hehe). by natural instinct I have loosely followed close to this pattern... but seeing it laid out like that kind of makes sense so... good call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwguitar Posted May 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 22 hours ago, Bizman62 said: One main reason for a flexing saw blade is too much downwards pressure compared to the friction. Based on the images it looks like you followed the bottoms of the circular saw grooves, a method that maximizes the friction. Instead you should have knocked off the corners so you'd always be cutting the shortest possible stretch. I thought I already had posted a sketch about the sawing order, but apparently not: Thats the technique I used. Not sure whats going on... Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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