ADFinlayson Posted October 13, 2020 Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 Looking very nice, what wood is that on the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 13, 2020 Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 On 10/11/2020 at 10:21 AM, mistermikev said: illegal move. you CANNOT do a les paul body with tele pickups. that is against the rules. I beg to differ..... I think it is a very attractive combination, sounds great too! SR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted October 13, 2020 Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 Just now, ScottR said: I beg to differ..... I think it is a very attractive combination, sounds great too! SR (dalek font) does not compute... illogical... self destruct in 3.... 2.... 1.... those are some lovelies. I bet if you posted them on the gear page you'd get all kinds of comments about how they don't sound like teles (hehe) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 2 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: what wood is that on the top? That's poplar that was felled in the centre of the town some years ago. I asked for the first metre, it was 70 cm in diameter. The colouring is due to it standing in my yard all winter and half of the summer, most likely some fungi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted October 15, 2020 Report Share Posted October 15, 2020 Very Nice! I love the colors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 After yesterday's Scotch tasting I wasn't at my perkiest this morning. Not only did I appear late in the class, I also spent quite some time helping other builders. But I'm happy with what I could do: I rerouted the neck and pickup cavities a couple of mm deeper and the fretboard now seems to be at the right height compared to the bridge. I also finished radiusing the fretboard and went through some grits up to 6000 to give it a nice sheen. The buttons are semi-transparent again. I also applied some Crimson penetrating Guitar Finishing Oil over the dusty board to fill the pores. Guess I should have made a proper slurry and spread it generously and let dry, then again the previous fretboards I've made of that very same blank have their pores unfilled without issues in playability. I'm more concerned about the buttons. Now that they're polished they have a friction similar to a lacquered neck. Most likely that won't be an issue either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2020 Not much done today, routed the binding channel, bent the rosewood offcuts of the sides of the acoustic of a fellow builder and glued them in place. The horny side bent smoothly but the upper side cracked a couple of times. You can see it on the upper bout. Some wood dust and glue is required on the top, the sides succeeded better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted October 31, 2020 Report Share Posted October 31, 2020 oooh that's tasty, I especially like that unbound area by the lower horn. You will probably find those splits will stick down with a bit of super glue and accelerator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted October 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2020 The splits have already been super glued as the entire binding. The rosewood is a bit proud so I'll have to either rout or scrape that flush with the sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2020 Some minor progress today as well as some drawback. The bearing of the router bit dug into the soft poplar so badly that I had to resand the sides. That made the binding very thin. I'm currently pondering whether I'd leave it as is or redo the binding channel deeper and get some fake tortoise shell. The latter would match with the buttons... After countersinking the control knob cavities to make them level with the control cavity I then routed the latter deeper. Despite several measurings I routed it too deep so I had to add some material. Luckily there was a piece of 3 mm Baltic Birch plywood in the trash bin! As the poplar is very soft I had already thought about laminating a piece of 0.55 mm birch veneer cross grained to the bottom of the cavity so actually I could as well say that this went better than originally planned! Or should I just say that I added a piece of Tone and Volume wood to the cavity? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 Nice save. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 Towards the end of the week I was a little afraid that our class would have been canceled due to Covid having been more active in our town lately. Fortunately not, but we all wore masks. In the morning before really waking up I came to the idea of using brass nails instead of white plastic to fill the button holes as that would tie the buttons to the brass tube side dots. The holes were 1.5 mm wide and the solid brass nails were 1.8 mm thick. I nipped the caps off of 10 nails, stuck the sharp end to the chuck of a hand drill and rolled the nails between a folded piece of sandpaper. Not only did that reduce the diameter, it also roughened the surface for better glueing. After filing the nails flush I then reradiused the neck, sanding through the grits up to 6000. The photos don't do justice to the shininess of the brass... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 On 11/21/2020 at 8:17 AM, Bizman62 said: I came to the idea of using brass nails Brilliant! And they look really nice too. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 Very clever stuff. And very clever stuff done well is always pleasing to see 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaly_V Posted December 8, 2020 Report Share Posted December 8, 2020 Interesting project. I like. By the way, this season I also saved a small log of poplar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2021 There's going to be somewhat of a hiatus. The community college sent an SMS saying that due to Covid-19 there won't be a spring season. I've got some tools but the only place I have is the kitchen table and power tool generated wood dust isn't my favourite spice. Let's see... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted January 9, 2021 Report Share Posted January 9, 2021 12 hours ago, Bizman62 said: power tool generated wood dust isn't my favourite spice yup, that's why I also have a hiatus between october and march. Need proper weather conditions to work outside... probably mentioned already but what kind of course are you doing? is it an 'official' luthery school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2021 4 hours ago, 10pizza said: probably mentioned already but what kind of course are you doing? is it an 'official' luthery school? I don't know how it should be translated. There's several versions, none of which seem to perfectly fit: Community College, Adult Education Centre etc. Anyhow, in most towns here they organize spare time courses around various subjects from languages to dancing to woodworking. The skill level of the teachers can vary from advanced hobbyists or native speakers to trained professionals. We're lucky as our tutor is a trained and qualified Master Luthier who has been in the business since 1984. For many of us the course is some sort of counterbalancing therapy after a week at work. So no, it's not an 'official' luthiery school, we don't get diplomas nor do we qualify as luthiers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted January 9, 2021 Report Share Posted January 9, 2021 well, a diploma gives you nothing anyway. Nice to be able to learn from a master though! thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 It's a great shame that your course is being interrupted. That said, your demonsrated skills mean that, with just a few tools, I am sure you can still make progress, albeit slower. Decent time to practice and learn the more subtle arts of chisel sharpening, plane set up and so on? Most of my chisels and planes are old castaways...but steel is steel and they work just as well as they did when they were new 50 years ago! Renovating an old plane with a file, some emery cloth and a cheap glass chopping board is a very satisfying thinv to do 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Thanks for your encouraging words @Andyjr1515! Unfortunately it's not about tools, it's about space. Actually I have quite a good variety of power tools but no dust extraction. And it's cold outside! Unfortunately most of my hand tools are pure Poundshop quality, creating a burr to a freshly sharpened blade at first stroke on wood! But there's light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train! A fellow builder just sent an email, telling that the public pay-by-hour workshop is still open. The same mail was sent to some regulars and the tutor so maybe we'll see some progress during the winter! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Bizman62 said: Thanks for your encouraging words @Andyjr1515! Unfortunately it's not about tools, it's about space. Actually I have quite a good variety of power tools but no dust extraction. And it's cold outside! Unfortunately most of my hand tools are pure Poundshop quality, creating a burr to a freshly sharpened blade at first stroke on wood! But there's light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train! A fellow builder just sent an email, telling that the public pay-by-hour workshop is still open. The same mail was sent to some regulars and the tutor so maybe we'll see some progress during the winter! Excellent news! It's worth looking on ebay, junk shops, etc for old handtools - certainly for chisels and handplanes. They are usually dirt cheap (although I think folks have started cottoning on to how valuable they still can be) and can often be restored relatively easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted January 14, 2021 Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 I think it's time you succumbed like the rest of us and build yourself a workshop mate. No guitar builder should be stuck at home without the ability to build guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 5 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: I think it's time you succumbed like the rest of us and build yourself a workshop Easier said than done. Building a shed in the garden wouldn't require any licenses as long as it's below 6 m². Sheds like that aren't too expensive, about €1500. BUT: A shed with proper insulation and heating to be usable at this time a year would require much more. It's -22° at the moment and the forecast says -35° for the night. Getting it electrified for both heating and power tools couldnt be safely done with a 30 m long extension cord running across the yard! I also have a "garage" between the sauna and the firewood storage (in the same building) but there's no electricity in that space. There's electric light at both ends of the building but I doubt the fuse and underground cable would be sufficient for both heating and power tools. And the garage is uninsulated as well, the large doors serving only for hiding purposes. So in any case building a warm workshop would cost about €5000 which is something I can't afford for just building experimental guitars. I'd like to have that workshop, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted January 14, 2021 Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Bizman62 said: 'd like to have that workshop, though +1 same here, I have a room for doing setups etc in my garage which is heated, but not suited for using powertools. I'm thinking of asking my carpenter friend if I can use his workshop a couple of saturdays. Downside is I need to bring all my tools and can't combine it with keeping an eye on my kids Long term plan however is to build a new garage/shed/workshop but that'll be 5-10 yrs from now I'm afraid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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