Nicco Posted January 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2022 Thanks for the kind words, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted January 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2022 I need a little advice here please, team. I popped out to the shed yesterday and noticed the main control cover of the bass not sitting right. I picked it up and it seems it's pretty badly cupped. The cap timber I've used for it is pretty keen to cup anyway, the off cuts I've got are all warped to buggery. I hoped by veneering it by vacuum pressing onto the laser cut, plywood substrate that it would hold flat, but seemingly not. I also thinned it from the original 5mm thick down to about 3mm as soon as I took it from the vac bag, but the final thickness of the veneer will need to be down around 1mm. To aid with wood stability () we've also had a week of 40+ degree days which probably puts the shed temps up over 50 deg c My thoughts from here were to possibly damp the timber and put it back in the vac bag until I'm ready to bring it down to final thickness? Maybe even chock the edges a smidge to give it a "back bend" of sorts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 24, 2022 Report Share Posted January 24, 2022 51 minutes ago, Nicco said: I hoped by veneering it by vacuum pressing onto the laser cut, plywood substrate that it would hold flat, but seemingly not A lot depends on the wood itself. A veneer will help to an extent but plywood isn't the best option: In a three-ply plywood there can be two layers having the same grain direction with the actual piece! That won't prevent cupping at all since thin (less than 6 mm/1/4") plywood flexes easily cross-grain. A better option is to laminate a thin single veneer so that the grains are crossed. As it seems by the pictures your plywood is almost as thick as the actual piece. Having used the same wood would most likely have counteracted the warping. I'm not 100% sure about your idea of damping and vacuuming. I'd rather try less radical methods first, like putting the piece upside down compared to how it was before on the very same surface. If that helps, the next step is to ensure proper airflow on both sides. That kind of cupping often happens because the open face breathes while the face on the table is air tight. A grille or even some coarse cloth should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted January 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2022 Hi Biz, thanks for the response, mate. True, that makes a bit of sense about the ply directions in the plywood - I'm 90% sure it's 3 ply, with the two face plys being the same grain direction as the qld maple piece I've stuck it to. The middle layer would be cross grain. I would have been better cutting the ply piece 90 degrees out from what I've done. The ply is 2.3mm thick, so not super thick. Ultimately I was hoping to get the thickness of the qld maple down such that the ratio of ply to maple thickness is about 2:1. My original thought (hope) being that the thin maple section would be able to apply less bending force than the relatively thicker ply could withstand. Potentially by thinning the qld maple now I could reduce some of the tension that's happening in the piece. Problem is that's harder to do now that the piece is cupped. Hrmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 25, 2022 Report Share Posted January 25, 2022 6 hours ago, Nicco said: The ply is 2.3mm thick Back at school at the age of 11 or so we built a small "Fortuna" (like pinball without flippers) game at the woodworking class. The board was a bit smaller than the body of a LP guitar. The curved end wall was made out of 3 mm 3 ply Baltic Birch plywood, the hard stuff. But it bent very easily in one direction, cross grain being on both sides. Laminating another similarly cut strip then stabilized the curve. So yes, if you can bend a foot-long strip to a ring it won't prevent anything from cupping that direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted January 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Hrmm, yep, very good point. Having said that, it doesn't look like it's cupped in the long axis (the off cuts have cupped that way as well) so seemingly you're on the money. The temps here have backed off a bit, and with cool changed the cupping has also settled a smidge. I'll keep thinning the face down and see where we end up. Worst comes to worst I'll try again. Thanks again for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted January 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 Today I got the fretboard sanded up to 1200 grit. Very lurvely! You can also see the new band saw which finally turned up in the background, just a week after the last cut on this guitar with the jigsaw. Oh well, I'll just have to make another one after this then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 You've really rubbed your wood shiny there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted January 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 2 hours ago, Bizman62 said: You've really rubbed your wood shiny there! Story of my life. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 I just knew that would be gorgeous polished up! I have that same bandsaw. Set up properly it does a fine job. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted January 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 Phew! Good to know, Scott. I read as much as I could find about it, but it's still a bit nervey buying something that big. Ha ha So, I spose the next question about the fretboard is what should I put on it to protect it? I oiled the last one, but I'm not sure if this one needs the same? I'm doubting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 29, 2022 Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 26 minutes ago, Nicco said: So, I spose the next question about the fretboard is what should I put on it to protect it? I oiled the last one, but I'm not sure if this one needs the same? I'm doubting it? Oiling doesn't do any damage and if nothing else it fills the tiniest pores. IMHO oil is a much nicer alternative than grime to fill the grain and pores - no matter how shiny you get your wood there'll always be gaps and grooves. Consider oiling as a proactive step for cleaning! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted February 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2022 Frets in! Excuse the mess! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted February 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Neck pocket now cut - that's seriously the most pucker factor in the whole build! I really need to learn how to do it in a better way! I've started shaping the neck now too. I got a spoke shave ages ago for the job, spent way too much time sharpening it and then still couldn't get it to stop chattering. Grr! It's a convex bottom one, which at the time I bought it was A) the only one available from the hardware, and I didn't know about flat bottom vs convex. I think it was mostly an operator error type issue with the angle of attack changing throughout the cut. Ended up resorting to a rasp and just faceted it in to shape. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 7 hours ago, Nicco said: Ended up resorting to a rasp and just faceted it in to shape. You can't go wrong with a good rasp! I've noticed the same with spoke shaves. It's obviously a tool that takes quite some practice to master. And some more practice to sharpen and set up correctly. There's both flat and concave ones in the workshop and after having carved an hourglass out of my neck blank I've always changed to less aggressive tools like scrapers and rasps. Faceting is most likely the easiest way to get consistent results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted February 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2022 And it's surprisingly quick to do that way too. It was only half to maybe an hour to get the thing almost done. I definitely spent a lot longer than that sharpening the spoke shave! Ha ha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted February 23, 2022 Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 Beautiful looking top! Is there a small crack forming or is it just a grain line? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted February 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 Thanks mate. Yeah, there is a little crack in it that's opened up. I'll have to work out what to do with it during finishing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted February 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2022 Pickup cavities routed. 2 steps forward and one backward, have a couple of little whoops to tidy up. Bridge location locked in and holes for the pins drilled. Need to drill holes for the volume and tone pots, drill the tuner holes in the headstock, then I can join the neck to the body. I want to glue, but reserve the right to bolt it on. Ha ha 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 27, 2022 Report Share Posted February 27, 2022 Wow, that top is stunning all dressed up. And I like how the headstock mirrors the horns. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted February 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 Thanks Scott. Funny you say about the headstock and the horns, I didn't actually pick up on that, but I tried a heap of designs before settlng on that one. Probably explains why it just looked right to me. Ha ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted March 6, 2022 Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 yes... that top is lovely and works well with that shape. nice wood whispering. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicco Posted March 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2022 Sanded the body up to 1200 grit today, the bunya pine burnished up really nicely, gave it quite a bit more character which was nice. First coats of oil are on. Looks so good, I'm pumped with it! Realistically, I need to join the neck to the body now, but the long of the short of it is I'm shitting bricks about a glued in neck, so I'm stalling. Genuinely considering just chickening out and using screws again... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie H 72 Posted March 20, 2022 Report Share Posted March 20, 2022 (edited) Nothing wrong with some good looking screws! also-looking so good. That top is gorgeous and the pine back is as well Edited March 20, 2022 by Charlie H 72 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 20, 2022 Report Share Posted March 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Nicco said: Realistically, I need to join the neck to the body now, but the long of the short of it is I'm shitting bricks about a glued in neck, so I'm stalling. Genuinely considering just chickening out and using screws again... Believe me, I fully understand! My current build is the first one with a glued in neck after a few neck-thru ones the advantage of which is that you simply can't miss the centerline. On second thought that isn't true, it's highly possible to glue the fretboard in an angle and with a preslotted or prefretted board that would put the bridge off center... But I'm digressing. What's the worst scenario that could happen? Supposing your wood is of high quality and the neck pocket snug enough the neck should almost automatically align with the centerline. Unlike screws you can even adjust the angle while clamping. Also, if you find out that the neck break angle isn't right there's quite some time to pull the neck off before the glue has fully dried. And should it against all odds happen that the neck is totally off, you can cut the neck and reroute the pocket for a new neck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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