GCollier

Thanks, I just hope I don't screw it up when I put the finish on. G.

What an awful sticky hot humid day today! I did manage to get a fair bit of work done. The frets are now installed, leveled, and re-crowned, still need to polish them and also do some cleanup work on the fingerboard to restore the shine. This was my first time fretting a bound fingerboard, my first build had exposed fret ends, definately more challenging with a bound board. I don't have a lot of fancy fretting tools besides a Stew Mac fret hammer and one of the brass 12" radius fret press cauls. I made a bunch of my own tools/jigs including a fret bender with the 3 wheels, some flush fret cutters and I also ground the corners off of a triangular file on the belt sander to make a fret crowning file. I removed the tangsfrom the tips of the frets with a dremel and a grinding bit. No fancy jig, I just held the fret section with pliers and ground the tang off carefuly. I hammered the frets in then wicked some CA glue under the wires (especially the ends which wanted to lift with no tang at the tip) then I squeezed them until the glue dried with the 12" press caul mounted in an aluminum block. I drilled the tuner holes and tested the fit. The tuners required a 10mm bit the closest I had was 3/8" which was too snug. Fortunately I had a 3/8" concrete bit which was a hair larger than 3/8" that I used to widen the holes. In the end the fit was absolutely perfect. I also decided on how the controls will be arranged (got some guidance from the wife on this one) and dished out the control recesses. I drilled a 3/16" hole at the center of the control location. Then I chucked a cove bit in the drill press with the bearing removed. The 3/16 nib for the bearing mount on the tip of the bit fit perfectly in the holes I drilled and guided the cutter so it wouldn't chatter. Finally I did a "dry fit" just to see how things will look when finished. Rear control cavily and cover are up next. G.

Thanks for the positive comments. Yes it's pretty thick, about the same as a LP. I may carve out the body rest, but other than that it will stay fairly thick. As you mentioned there is not a lot I can remove due to the chamber. G.

Today I carved the top. I opted to draw some profile lines around the top, then free-handed the profile lines with the router. I used a curved scraper to smooth the profile. I wanted to see what the figure looked like after the carve was finished so I wiped on a little mineral spirits. I'm very happy with how the build is turning out so far. Next I need to make a fret bender so I can get to work on fretting. G.

I am finally getting back to this project after a being away for a few weeks in Brazil for work. Since I have returned I was able to make some progress getting the top glued on, the neck pocket routed and the pickup cavities routed. I have added a few pics below. I am still debating on exactly what kind of top carve to do. Suggestions on the top carve are welcome. G.

I spent the day working on carving the the neck and shaping the volute. I went a bit different with the volute and decided on a heart shape. I'm happy with how it turned out, but I may work on the heel a bit more.

Over the last few days I managed to add the veneer to the headstock. I found a piece of cherry with a reasonable grain to match the body. I used the bandsaw to resaw it then stuck it to the workbench with double stick tape and used a simple router sled to plane it to about 1/16" thick. I also got the fretboard radiused and glued in place. It's sanded to 600 grit. I'm happy with the way this is coming together so far but I still have a ways to go. My next step will be to shape the back of the neck. G.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm leaning strongly toward a natural finish now, but I will experiment on some of the leftover pieces of cherry to see what I can do with it. As for the headstock, I plan on covering it with some cherry, but I need to find a suitable section with a good grain pattern. The headstock is not large so finding a section with tight enough grain to mirror what I see in the body has been difficult. G.

The inlays were done with a simple template and a 1/8" spiral bit. The pictures below show both sides of the template. The top and bottom are made with 1/8" hardboard. I used a 3/4" bit on the router table to cut a straight slot about 1.5" long. I glued the works together then used the router with the 1/8" bit and a 3/4" guide collar to cut the slot in the bottom of the template. After that it was a matter of placing the template on the alignment markes I had drawn on the fretboard, clamping everything down and routing the slot. For the inlays I just cut some 1/8" thick strips chopped them in section and rounded the ends with some sandpaper. They are held in with epoxy. I had thought about numerous options for the fret markers and knew that I wanted something very simple and clean. what I liked about this idea is that the inlays also work as the side dots. Everything here is only sanded to 120grit and I haven't radiused the fretboard yet. G.

I love when people share jigs and techniques so here is my fretboard cutting/sanding jig I used. Basically it is a box made with 1/2" baltic birch ply with sides that extend 1/2" above the top. I added a few pieces of plywood to guide the fret saw. I printed a fret slot template on my inkjet...surprisingly accurate...checking with a set of digital calipers the measurements were spot on (go figure, it can print photos by placing picolitre drops with high accuracy...why should I be surprised). The template was adhered to a piece of 1/8" hardboard that is cut to fit snugly into the top of the jig. To use the jig, I simply square the end of my fingerboard at the nut end to one side of the fingerboard. Then I attach the board to the template with double-stick tape, line up the marks on the template with the cut slot on the jig and saw the slot. The template and fingerboard can then be slid forward to cut the next mark. The hollow box allows you to clamp the fingerboard and template for cutting. I was fortunate enough that when I built the jig it happened to fit the Stewmac radius sanding blocks nearly perfectly. I can attach the fretboard with double-stick tape and sand it in a perfectly straight line. I can also use the jig to store the fret saw and sanding block inside. G.

It's been a while since I last posted, but I check in all the time to see everyone's projects. In any case I started this build last summer but only got as far as cutting out the body before work and family obligations put a rapid halt to any progress. In the last few days I have been steadily working on the build again and have started to make some progress. The Plan: Below is a sketch of the guitar I whipped up in CorelDraw. I call it the Jazzmonster because it sort of reminds me of a Fender Jazzmaster. The body is semi-hollow sapele with a figured cherry top. The neck is a 5 piece cherry/maple/cherry/maple/cherry. The fretboard is ebony bound with makore with maple and makore inlays. The Body: The Neck: The Fingerboard: The Top: I found this figured cherry board at a local sawmill over a year ago, it just called out to be turned into a guitar. Ive wiped it here with some methyl hydrate so you can see the figure better. Hardware: For the hardware I have decided to go with chrome parts. I've been picking up bits and pieces I find on sale for the last year or so. The bridge is a Graphtech Resomax tune-o-matic style, with a Graphtech nut. The tuners are top locking Schallers. Pickups are a matched set of Bare Knuckle Black Dogs. I plan on using a PRS wiring kit so the pickup switching will be rotary rather than a 5 way switch. Did I mention it is a string through design so there are chrome ferrules front and back. Anyway I need to consider finishing options, I have been considering translucent black, but I am a bit hesitant to dye the cherry for fear of blotching. Any suggestions are welcome. G.

Bygde, it sounds pretty good, although I'm no Hendrix I'm quite satisfied for my first build, it seems to have good sustain, and definitely better tone than my knock off strat. It plays pretty well, I would have liked a bit lower action in the higher frets, but it is still pretty darn good. It is also a lot heavier than what I am used to, but I knew it would be when I started building it. The next one will be a hollow or semi hollow body. Cheers G.

Well it's finally finished! After numerous other projects that put this one on hold I finally had time to finish this beast and get to play it! The finish is Minwax clear gloss poly, I applied 12 coats using nothing more than spray cans. I filled the grain with 2 part epoxy before the clear coat, and sanded it all to 600 grit. It turned out pretty well for my first guitar. I am quite happy with the look, feel and sound. Cheers!

Well the snow has melted, so I managed to get some more work done. I have attached a few pics showing the subtle carve on the top, and also the carve on the back. I wiped on a bit of mineral spirits to get an idea of how the finished grain will look, I've definitely settled on a natural finish. I've got to decide on exactly how I want to wire this thing before I drill for the control knobs. I have a set of volume pots with a DPDT pull switch, so I will likely set up the humbuckers for coil taping. I also have a pair of concentric pots that are just begging to control some kind of internal electronics, perhaps an internal TS808 or a simple JFET boost...lots of possible options. Just a bit of drilling....and lots of sanding and spraying to go.

No worries...I bring it inside when I am done working on it. Things here should be warming up a bit in the next few days, so I may get a bit more done. I need to order a french curve scraper to finish up some of the carving...at least to make it easier. I am going to try and keep the lines clean and simple so I dont expect to be chewing away a ton of wood. G.

Well it was warm enough in the garage for me to do about another half hour of work. I routed the 2nd pickup cavity and also did a bit of carving in the cutaway around the neck. I'm still not sure whether I will duplicate the carve in the other cutaway...or leave it nice and beefy. Thanks again for all the positive comments! I;ve learned a lot here over the last while, now I am just trying to apply what I have learned. G.

Thanks!l I hope the black hardware looks ok when installed, should be anything but common looking. I went with the standard diamond inlays from Stewmac, this was my first time doing inlay work! I was surprised at just how easy it actually was (granted I have a lot of patience and have done my fair share of woodworking). Nothing against complicated inlays, but I wanted something simple. I used a homemade router base with a dremel using a 3/32" ball cutter bit. I crazy glued the inlays to the fret board then scribed around them. I removed them with acetone and routed away...not much to it really. I've attached a closeup of the inlay work.

Yes...I am leaning very strongly toward a clear finish. I think I'll go clear laquer, just so I can really get the grain to pop on the sapele. I expect that the makore will also take on a more reddish hue. I still have a long way to go before I get to the finishing stages though. Funny I am not even finished this first guitar and I'm already thinking about the next one. I am starting to regret my choice of black hardware, I think that gold would have been a better choice...oh well...the money is already spent...maybe next time. Hopefully it will be warm enough next week to make some more progress...I'll keep you updated.

Here are some photos of my first guitar build. It is a Les Paul double cutaway style with a through neck. The body is sapele and the neck is a 3 piece laminate of maple and makore. The fingerboard is an ebony 24 3/4 scale that I bought from Stewmac. I wish I had taken more in progress picks, but my anxiousness to make some woodworking progress got the better of me. As you can see from the photos I have routed only the bridge pickup so far...as soon as it gets warm enough to work in the garage again I'll rout the neck pickup. I still have lots of shaping left to do on the body, I intend on doing some carving if only to reduce the weight a little. The hardware is going to be all black. I have some Wilkinson locking tuners, and a Badass wraparound style bridge. Any comments, particularly on how I might finish this guy would be welcome!

Hey everyone I'm new here, but figured I'd drop in my 2 cents worth. I recently purchased the 14" Steel City Tool Works bandsaw, and am extremely happy with it. At first glance this saw looked fairly similar to several other offerings, but closer inspection revealed that it is a much superior build to most. For one it comes with a 1.5hp motor that can be switched from 120 to 220/240V operation. Secondl it has nice heavy cast iron wheels (can you say "momentum"). I have done some resawing with it, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it did not bog down at all. I was using a 3/4" 3tpi Viking blade, and tried several 6" wide pieces of oak, maple, honey locust, and african makore. Cut like a hot knife through butter for everything but the makore, which is so pitchy it tended to clog the blade with goop rather quickly...I can't fault the saw for this, This is a nice heavy cast iron beast, and a riser block is available to increase the resaw capacity. I outfitted it with a Kreg fence...only because I got a really good deal on it. I had done a lot of research before this purchase and for the money I think this is likely the best 14" saw you can buy. I am anxiously awaiting to hear what the tool reviews say on this one. G.