Popular Post ADFinlayson Posted February 27, 2023 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 One of my suppliers told me about a lump of ebony he had lying around for 10 years, and I haven't made myself one for a while and apparently I am a masochist so I made an impulse purchase. Took ages to get a decent joint After getting down to 18.5mm and roughing out the shape, it still weighed over 5lb so this needs to be a semi hollow body to get the weight down, I need to carve the top off the body so that I can carve away the underside. I have to say I was expecting a horror show but it really wasn't too bad - it is as hard as hell and I had to use a gouge to take small chips because the gouge just skids along the top of the wood otherwise but it was quite predictable. I weighed it again after carving this perimeter and that had removed 100z, so I'm confident I can remove a lot of the heft. The smaller sized thumb planes seem to work pretty nicely on it too. And then on to the task I was sure was going to end in misery and be a total waste of £300. But to my amazement the recesses came out beautifully, I couldn't sand them smoother. So this is where it's at. I know I'm calling it a black beauty and it's not really going to be - it's not going to have body binding and actually the back is going to be swamp ash (to keep the weight down). But it's going to have gold hardware and block inlays so it's going to be my black beauty. Next up, I'll do the break angle on the top and get the top carve all finalised before I start removing material from the underside. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 Brave stuff indeed working on that with hand tools. Looking great as always! incidentally I’ve always fancied making an ebony neck, something rarely seen. Ebony just looks killer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 26 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said: Brave stuff indeed working on that with hand tools. Looking great as always! incidentally I’ve always fancied making an ebony neck, something rarely seen. Ebony just looks killer! I did consider the angle grinder but didn't want to spend the next few days looking like a chimney sweep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGTay Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 Look forward to seeing this progressing through the stages. Should be a stunner going off your usual builds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrim Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 Nice one! 2 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: I did consider the angle grinder As much as I love my angle grinders (yes, plural) I couldn’t ever make myself carve a guitar with one. Or any piece of wood for that matter. I know people do that but for me that combination just seems so unholy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 You really are a glutton for punishment Ash, but that promises to be an absolute stunner of a guitar - looking forward to watching this one progress! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 4 hours ago, henrim said: Nice one! As much as I love my angle grinders (yes, plural) I couldn’t ever make myself carve a guitar with one. Or any piece of wood for that matter. I know people do that but for me that combination just seems so unholy. The dust sure is unholy, I've done it a couple of times, but much prefer doing it with hand tools. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ADFinlayson Posted February 27, 2023 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 The top is rouged in now, next to carve the underside. It's currently at 3lb 10oz and I'm hoping I can get another 1/2lb off it before it's ready to glue a back on. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 2, 2023 Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 I've been sorely tempted to make a neck from ebony. I'm drawn to the absolute decadence of it. But there's no way I can justify $200-$300 USD for the lumber. for ONE lousy neck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted March 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 1 hour ago, avengers63 said: I've been sorely tempted to make a neck from ebony. I'm drawn to the absolute decadence of it. But there's no way I can justify $200-$300 USD for the lumber. for ONE lousy neck. Yes this whole endeavour looks like it is going to be one of opulence. I just worked out what I paid for everything: Ebony top: £325 Swampash back: £135 Curly maple neck: £100 Fretboard: £25 I bought the neck blank 3 years ago and the swampash last year so fortunately I'm not feeling all that cost in one go. Don't know what hardware I'm going to put in it yet, but it would be silly to use cheap parts after spending that much on wood, plus the additional premium of gold hardware. I think I'll be waiting for one of my commission builds to get paid before I order any parts for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted March 2, 2023 Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 you and scottr must have jacked forearms with your builds. Holy crap. and as others have said- brave using hands tools- I would have angle grinded the crap out of that. looking good ! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 ^ Same as what he said, man thats a lot of chiselling! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 On 3/2/2023 at 7:58 AM, ADFinlayson said: Yes this whole endeavour looks like it is going to be one of opulence. I just worked out what I paid for everything: Why buy when you can DIY for 5x more? I try not to go back and add up because it's always way more than I thought it was. Having a wood stash that you feed from time to time certainly helps with the illusion of economy, but it's also is the cause of many unintended builds. The build looks like it's going to be another great one Ash! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 21, 2023 Report Share Posted March 21, 2023 I'm running behind, but I just love the way this is going. Don't scrimp on it, it's gonna be decadent! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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