Cutting out a solid body-filling gaps

[GREGMW]

Hi,

Firstly I have stumbled across this site after a LOT of searching for info on building guitars and I just wish I had found it before.!!!It is terrific.

Now for a really dumb question - I suppose.

I have joined together 2 pieces of Ash to start making my first guitar.I dont own a bandsaw and I have not had a lot of luck finding anybody who does.

Have any of you guys ever used a jigsaw to cut out a solid body (1 1/2 inch thick) or am I asking for trouble?

Also when I glued the pieces together,their is a slight gap in a section of the join.

and also a slight flaw in the board.

What would I use to fill these with ?I was going to mix up a little glue and sawdust together as a filler -any thoughts.

Thanks all in advance.

Regards

Greg

[opranks612]

Make sure it's wood glue, and very fine sawdust.

[Devon Headen]

If you've already glued them together the gap should be filled with glue. Albeit, it'd probably one ugly fill line. My advice would be to dissolve the glue, plane or join the edges like you should've done in the first place, and then glur them up again. Better to have to use a little time now than to have problems later, or to be unhappy with the guitar.

Devon

[GREGMW]

Yes I did plane it & square it all up .All ap you cant really see the join.

I might be getting a bit picky with the joint.

Its about 1/2 inch 0r 12 mm long and about 1/4 mm wide and deep. It is pretty hard to see but its there and it would probably be more noticeable when I finish it with a tung oil.

My main concern is with the slight flaw on the grain. Its about 2 inches (50mm) and about 3/16 (3-4mm) deep.

I never noticed this till I started sanding it .

Thanks again for the replies.

Regards

Greg

[westhemann]

sounds like a large gap....1/4" in the guitar world is huge...i would either redo it as stated or clean up the gap and fill it with a sliver of wood cut to fit

[renablistic]

This body was.

I'm surprised with the good quality results possible with just a jigsaw and some time.

Original post

That should answer your jigsaw question...

Just be careful and give yourself a little itty bit of working room. I love my jigsaw sooooo much....

-John

[Drak]

Any way you can post a pic of it?

A few thoughts...

1) If you're lucky, you will be able to line that spot up where a pkp hole will go.., or the bridge will go, or the neck pocket...problem solved!

2) If no luck with that, go ahead and jump into a little pearl inlaying. A very simple yet effective design might just cover it up, and we've got folks here who will help you fix her up with a little inlay.

Inlaying a small design is a great way of covering up mistakes.

We ALL make mistakes, it's how you react to it that counts, like a cat landing on it's feet from a 10 foot fall...I have probably learned more about artistic 'tricks' from having to cover up stupid mistakes than any other way I can think of...

[krazyderek]

every mistake you make was just a new design idea you didn't think of earlier

drak's idea sounds best, covering with some kind inlay or decoration, plus then you'll be using super glue instead of good glue (wood glue is not what you want to use to fill gaps, it'll crack like a toothpick, i'm not sure how adding very fine saw dust may affect it though, might make crack resistant enough)

[GREGMW]

Thanks all.

It sounds like I may be a bit too concerned over nothing .Unfortunatly I cant post a picture at the moment but I like your replies .... I will try to fit it under the switch plate but if not I could end up making that section some kind of feature like you suggested.

I will try to post a picture in the next week or so.

Thanks again.

Regards

Greg