Singlecut build

[ADFinlayson]

Started this for my friend Tom a while ago, it had a bit of a hiatus because changed his mind about 5 times then went quiet on me, then I packed up and moved, in fact he was my 3rd comission so it's been on the cards for about 2 years.

Specs to be

- European quilt maple top
- African mahogany neck and body
- African ebony fretboard and peghead
- 24.75 scale
- 24 frets

I'm missing a few pics but here is some of the progress. 

That was as far as I got on it last year, according to iCloud these were taken in November. I want to get some lacquer on these two before the weather turns cold again so cracking on now. I decided I'd have ago at headstock binding as I haven't done that before. routing was fairly scary and made more difficult having already glued the fretboard on. I got a small amount of tearout but not so much that I couldn't hide with ebony dust and glue later.

I used a 1.5mm bearing on the makita trimmer and had that in router table (workmate with a router insert). I made some binding strips from offcuts from a particularly curly maple neck blank I used on another build, ran them through the drum sander until they were a hair over 1.5mm. and had a go at bending them on the iron.

Bending the binding was nice and easy with the iron at 280ºC and plenty of water, then I taped them in place until they cool down to hopefully hold their shape, required a lot of patience! The awkward part though was cutting mitres. I spent a long time sharpening a couple of chisels and I think I've got them sharper than they've ever been. you can see the bottom corner of the headstock in the photo below, the aforementioned tearout - I wasn't going to do any climb cutting holding the headstock so it was just the router but turning the wrong way into end grain. I might try wiping some teak oil around the edges before trying this in future, I've heard some classical builders do that before routing their binding channels to protest the soundboard, apparently it works well because it penetrates into the grain deeper than a lot of oils. Worth a try!

Anyway, brushed on a modest amount of titebond then taped the strips down with binding tape.

Then I trimmed everything flush with the top of the ebony

Getting that angle right with the fretboard binding channel was an absolute bastard 

Then I filled the gaps with ebony dust and thin CA glue

After a tidy up on the top, every happy with it. The headstock still isn't thicknessed so I'll tidy up the sides once that is done.

On to inlays, used aluminium for the first time. I thought I'd try it for a few reasons, it's not brittle like wood and this design is a quite thin in places, it's much cheaper than shell and this inlay is quite bit, it's hard and shiny when sanded smooth online the plastic pearl like materials. 

I turned it over and clamped the inlay into a radius beam so it would take on the radius of the fretboard

Used the dremel and a couple of router bits to make the channel and glued it in with black superglue, then dropped a load of ebony dust over it.

Recut slots and gave it a sand, I'll give it another going over once the binding is on.

And the headstock logo

I really liked working with ali, I used some 1mm sheet for headstock logo and 2mm sheet for fretboard inlay to account for the radius. It was about £4/sheet on ebay which is enough for about 10 guitars. I also like how it would confirm to the shape of the cavity with a little bit of persuasion  I think it will be my goto inlay material for a while unless someone asks for something else.

Fretboard binding and fretting next. 

 

 

[JayT]

Such good work, you’ve inspired me to add binding on my next build. 

[JAK]

I see two sets of necks/bodies - making duplicates for this project or was another one just also being worked on back when this first started and has been [long] completed?

Inlays look very nice thus far. I know ebony fingerboards are often left raw but are you planing on buffing with some wax or something to help keep the aluminum shiny and not oxidizing? I had a piece I turned and buffed years ago; it’s stayed shiny with just the occasional wipe of the rag I wrap it in when storing, though not handling it all that often. (Still has a thin layer of buffing wax residue I’m guessing). The headstock won’t be much of a worry (can clear coat it) but the fretboard inlay under finger sweat might need more. Maybe fretboard oil would keep it from dulling?

[ADFinlayson]

8 hours ago, JayT said:

Such good work, you’ve inspired me to add binding on my next build. 

Thanks Jay, I liked having done binding a lot more than I liked doing binding.

4 hours ago, JAK said:

I see two sets of necks/bodies - making duplicates for this project or was another one just also being worked on back when this first started and has been [long] completed?

Inlays look very nice thus far. I know ebony fingerboards are often left raw but are you planing on buffing with some wax or something to help keep the aluminum shiny and not oxidizing? I had a piece I turned and buffed years ago; it’s stayed shiny with just the occasional wipe of the rag I wrap it in when storing, though not handling it all that often. (Still has a thin layer of buffing wax residue I’m guessing). The headstock won’t be much of a worry (can clear coat it) but the fretboard inlay under finger sweat might need more. Maybe fretboard oil would keep it from dulling?

Lately I've been wiping a bit of Danish oil on ebony fretboards which I think works well, I'll probably do that on this one. I don't know whether it will look dirty over time or even if the strings will mar the inlay as aluminium is a fairly soft metal, it's all experimental. The other build is another one I'm working on alongside, they're very similar builds apart from body shape. Build thread here:
 

 

[Akula]

Nice work! Love the binding on the headstock.

[Charlie H 72]

Yeah that headstock binding is classy. Love it. And very clean too.

[ScottR]

9 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

I liked having done binding a lot more than I liked doing binding.

Amen brother! I do not enjoy doing binding at all. Luckily my designs do not lend themselves to binding.

Having said all that the bound headstock looks killer! Your inlays look great too.

SR

[ADFinlayson]

3 months since I've touched Tom's singlecut. I can't remember if I mentioned above but some utter dick head installed the 12th fret inlay on the 13th fret, so he dug the inlay back out, playedned the fretboard off and did it all again.

Started working on the body by routing all the waste mahogany off the back so it's down to 31mm, the top is only 17mm on this one because I had so much movement to level out prior to glue up and I normally shoot for around 48mm on my carve top solid bodies.

Drilled pilot holes for the controls then spent an hour or so on the first part of the carve. Mostly with a 1/2" no6 gouge and sometimes a 3/4" no5

Did a bit more carving and thought ah crap I marked out those pot locations back when Tom said he wanted a Schaller Signum, he's since changed his mind and I got him a Tone Pros tom and tailpiece. So I lined everything up and saw if I had a problem. Consulted google images on pics of Les Pauls, Nik Hubers and Patrick Eggles and I think I can just about get away with it, I just wont have to go too crazy on the pot recesses. 

And after a bit more carving and the formation of a couple of blisters, I decided to call it a night I need to put the break angle in before finish the rest of the carving and will do that on the drum sander. I don't think I've ever carved a top that I haven't bled on. 

[Bizman62]

8 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

I don't think I've ever carved a top that I haven't bled on.

That's the most reliable proof that you have built it. Signatures can be faked, carving patterns and finishing methods can be copied but your DNA is unique.

[ADFinlayson]

A little while since I touched this one, today I got the routes done and the cave finished, and spent 3 hours getting the top and sides sanded to 80 grits. This maple is lovely but it's an absolute bastard to sand, it just turns to fluff with heavy grits. Still got a little of bit of work to do, especially round the edge where I was obviously pressing too hard with the sandpaper. Neck needs carving next.

[nakedzen]

Nice work! I've been wanting to get into making a singlecut. Love the way how they look, hate playing them.  I guess I can always sell it if it turns out ok.

I'll have to look into using metal sheets, interesting info for me, so thanks!

Edited December 22, 2021 by nakedzen

[Bizman62]

7 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

it's an absolute bastard to sand, it just turns to fluff with heavy grits

Sounds like the poplar of my current build. If memory serves me right you already know about Mirka Abranet products? The mesh allows the dust go through so the wood surface stays cleaner and the contact between the "paper" and the wood stays more even.

Another good paper is 3M Cubitron II https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/p/d/b40071644/  which I've found out to last forever and work both for wood and lacquer. I've only had 180 and 220 so far as they were in a demo package I was donated. They seem to remove material very effectively yet leaving a smooth surface.

A sanding block with a velcro pad combined with one of the above works well as there's some space for the wood dust between the hooks. Of course you'll still have to blow the dust off every once in a while but it's more forgiving than a solid block. A velcro block with a vacuum like a Mirka Roundy https://www.mirka.com/Roundy-Dust-Free-Hand-Block-9190143011/ might be even better. I have a similarly shaped block without the hose connector and one reason to love it is that it's much easier to find top quality 150mm round sandpapers than cuttable ones, at least in small quantities.

[Prostheta]

I only use Abranet, well almost only. I use paper for things like radius sanding blocks or other things that need sticking. Velcro blocks and similar seem better once you get beyond 240 grit otherwise the minute give in the velcro layers can lead to slightly rounded edges if you don't pay attention to downward pressure and dwelling over edges. In general though, yes, the more costly papers and meshes do work a LOT better and in most cases outperform cheaper products in cost vs. longevity. 

[ADFinlayson]

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

Sounds like the poplar of my current build. If memory serves me right you already know about Mirka Abranet products? The mesh allows the dust go through so the wood surface stays cleaner and the contact between the "paper" and the wood stays more even.

Another good paper is 3M Cubitron II https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/p/d/b40071644/  which I've found out to last forever and work both for wood and lacquer. I've only had 180 and 220 so far as they were in a demo package I was donated. They seem to remove material very effectively yet leaving a smooth surface.

A sanding block with a velcro pad combined with one of the above works well as there's some space for the wood dust between the hooks. Of course you'll still have to blow the dust off every once in a while but it's more forgiving than a solid block. A velcro block with a vacuum like a Mirka Roundy https://www.mirka.com/Roundy-Dust-Free-Hand-Block-9190143011/ might be even better. I have a similarly shaped block without the hose connector and one reason to love it is that it's much easier to find top quality 150mm round sandpapers than cuttable ones, at least in small quantities.

8 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I only use Abranet, well almost only. I use paper for things like radius sanding blocks or other things that need sticking. Velcro blocks and similar seem better once you get beyond 240 grit otherwise the minute give in the velcro layers can lead to slightly rounded edges if you don't pay attention to downward pressure and dwelling over edges. In general though, yes, the more costly papers and meshes do work a LOT better and in most cases outperform cheaper products in cost vs. longevity. 

I converted to Mirka sand paper a while ago, I think that comes from your neck of woods actually. I think it's the best balance of quality, durability and price - the proflex stuff comes in 50m rolls from Ironmongery Direct and I use 80, 120, 240 and 320 . Get's expensive if you need to buy several grits at once but I'm pretty sure the 320 roll is going to outlive me. Haven't really had issues with this paper gumming up when sanding bare wood, but I don't go any higher than 320. I do use a Mirka Mirlon pad as well though but only for skuffing up finish if I haven't sprayed for a couple of days and want to do another coat.   

[ADFinlayson]

Neck on this one is carved and sanded to 80 grit. I know it looks exactly like the back of the Special build, I promise it's not, although I did pinch the control covers off it because I couldn't be bothered to make any more today. It annoyingly sits a bit loose in the pocket now that I've shaped and sanded it so I'm going to have to stick a bit of mahogany veneer in the pocket to get a tight fit, that hasn't happened to me a in a while. 

I also routed for the covers today and installed some threaded brass inserts and hardened steel hex head machine screws. It's a real faff to do this because the holes for the cover need to match band on with the holes for the inserts, and they need to be drilled perfectly plumb for the screws to go in properly, drilling plumb on a drill press with a carve top is awkward too, I had to shim the underside in places to stop the body sinking at the thinner carved areas.

 

 

[ADFinlayson]

Got a veneer cut out and stuck in to the underside of the pocket with titebond, I picked the underside for 2 reasons. 1 - less visible to the player and 2- smaller area to to enlarge so also less visible. The neck pocket is at perfect tightness now, so I won't have to do too many dry fits and work it loose. 

 

 

 

[Prostheta]

I was thinking about how best to drill those inserts with the least gear. I'd say that drilling them whilst the body is still a slab has merit. They'll be perpendicular off the drill press for one. Then the templates for the recesses can be referenced around a fitted plate with the inserts sunk to depth. Just spitballing. Thoughts? 

[Stu.]

How about using a drill guide instead? That way you should reference against the flat rear of the guitar. Still easier to tackle pre-carve though.

I've just bought one of these, because I don't really have space for a pillar drill:

[ADFinlayson]

1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

I was thinking about how best to drill those inserts with the least gear. I'd say that drilling them whilst the body is still a slab has merit. They'll be perpendicular off the drill press for one. Then the templates for the recesses can be referenced around a fitted plate with the inserts sunk to depth. Just spitballing. Thoughts? 

I suppose that would work, trouble is I'm not that precise in how I work - I normally carve the top (and that carve can vary from one instrument to the next) then pilot hole for my pots then drill out the waste using a 30mm forstner (big enough to fit the pots in) leaving 5mm depth for the pots to poke through so that drilling depth is different for each pot because of the carve, so I normally just work my way down to correct depth for each one, checking often. 

I also like to sand the back of the body prior to doing my routes because my cheap sander has a habit of sinking the edges. But I like to do said sanding after carving the top because it all gets knocked about a bit when I'm going at it with a mallet and gouge. 

 

[Prostheta]

Well you know how obsessive I get over precision and reduction of tolerances!

[ScottR]

On 12/24/2021 at 6:09 AM, Prostheta said:

Well you know how obsessive I get over precision and reduction of tolerances!

SR

[ADFinlayson]

On 12/24/2021 at 12:09 PM, Prostheta said:

Well you know how obsessive I get over precision and reduction of tolerances!

I'm finding that my tolerances are naturally reducing with age. 

Got some stain on it. I'm trying to produce a sight silvery grey and I've found that my black stains tend to have a hue to them when rubbed back heavily - My Crimson waterbased black looks redish when sanded back, my black Liberon concentrate looks bluish, the black leather dye is ok but I've barely got any left after tinting my lacquer with it and I want to save it for the burst on this one. 

So for this I used some Carbon Black Powder which I got from amazon and diluted it in acetone. That gave me a very dark grey which I rubbed back with acetone so there was no sanding involved. I have got some light spots around the pots where I obviously overdid the rub back. I need to try and darken those bit's up a touch before I spray some sealer on it.

This is it dried over night, then I just rubbed it with some white spirit to make it look wet again.

[Bizman62]

10 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

I'm trying to produce a sight silvery grey

and you got something that looks to me like wrought iron! That looks seriously like something a blacksmith has forged quite some while ago, the original all-black having worn shiny on higher spots. I wouldn't bother with the light spots, they most likely blend in sufficiently with the sealer.

All in all very nice three-dimensionality. That's something I'd call a Heavy Metal axe...

[Prostheta]

Black is always hardest. It's either tonally biased, blotchy or requires a strong mix to execute. That's about as charcoal as I've seen in a while. Nicely done. 

[Andyjr1515]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:45 AM, Prostheta said:

Black is always hardest. It's either tonally biased, blotchy or requires a strong mix to execute. That's about as charcoal as I've seen in a while. Nicely done. 

Absolutely agree with Carl here...

Black staining is a nightmare.  This is a very good result.