Wats

FWIW: I bought a combo kit from Ryobi at Home Depot. It had a 1.5hp router (1/4" collet) and a small router table for $100. If you had a 1/2" shaft router before, this obviously won't do you any good, but here it is anyway.

How is that router working out for you? I was looking at picking that up in a week or two because I like the idea of the router matched to the table and I will still be able to have my other one for freehand stuff.

I'm not sure I understand the question - sorry. I plane the surfaces to be joined until they fit together 'light tight'. Look at the joint with a bright light behind it - if any light is visible, the joint is open and more work is needed. Once they're spot on, I glue up; the freshly planed surface is the ideal surface for glueing.

Thanks! You answered my question perfectly!

I made this recently. It cost me $17 at Lowes because the handle was almost 5 bucks. I had to play with the washers, too, but over all it is very cool.

I joint bodies with a jack (no.5) plane, and clamp the wood in the vice so I'm planing as normal - no shooting board.

I found a good tip for squaring the planed surface. Instead of adjusting the plane iron or tipping the plane to correct the angle, just move the plane sideways, so that it overhangs the high side of the surface - the lack of support tends to automatically correct the angle, and you're less likely to go too far the otherway.

If you're planing something wider than the plane iron, you need a very fine cut, and I like to skew the plane slightly. Remember that at first you'll not be taking much away, as the iron will only cut the high spots. It's very tempting to adjust the plane to a deeper cut, which feels like it's doing more, but is likely to cause tearout. Keep the cut fine, and each pass of the plane will remove more material. When the surface is flat, you'll take a nice curly shaving across the whole face of the wood.

Setch, do you have to do any smooth planing before glueing up your boards? I want to give this a shot.

I voted for Marcovis. The carve and the blue stain just popped for me - I don't even like qiult! But it works. Hooglebug's is amazing and I hate that I only get one vote!

Welcome aboard. Lucky you, I lost my mind after only twenty years of playing. And you want to talk about slow going? I'm on my first build, see how long I've been registered here?

Second Prostheta's post. A good steel ruler made everything so much easier to plan out for me (I'm building my first finally) and Mr. Hiscock's book was like a candle in the dark. Then read as many of the posts here as you can, reread the book, then read the forum again - seems like it takes a while but things get easier to understand the more you read them.

Do you mean real Iron Maiden/Black Sabbath metal? or Poison hair metal? or the growling/screamo nu metal?

Either way it's gotta have a Floyd.

Anyway, since it is so much like the Ibanez RG I think you have to ask yourself why you want to build this guitar.

I remember that pine explorer, was for the 2x4 build-off right?

Yeah i was the only one that followed through with it

And that was one of the coolest projects I've seen come to life on this board. Kudos, dude.

Had to go with johnsilver on this one, but Godin SD was SOOOOO good it hurt to have to choose.

Very nice. Which bridge is that?

Heck, I still buy the occasional Lego and I'm 37...

I really want to try the 7300. I wonder how it stacks up to the original.

I voted for pukko. Great work. Hard to believe it's a first build.

Also hard to believe WezV has no votes.

Awesome gits all around.

The guitarist of my band has a Rhoads prototype - I can get the dimensions for it and trace it on to any of the woods I have for sale, Wats.

Interesting. Not the shape I was going for but I'd like to see if it fits.

The widest I can do would be the White Ash blanks which would measure to about 20" x 16.5". That would be rather wide. Anything more than 14" width would make most play styles very awkward and a solid-body would weigh a ton. If you are able to find anything that size, go for a light wood. Some ash would end up weighing 20+ pounds for just the body.

I know that's huge, but man is it tough to find blanks for flying Vs!

Got some Basswood and Mahogany 2 piece blanks strictly for PG members, they wont be listed on Ebay. Dimensions are suitable for just about all guitar sizes out there. Have enough for 3 body blanks of both woods.

$50 per 2 piece mahogany body blank + shipping

$35 per 2 piece basswood body blank + shipping

I can take more detailed pictures if you'd like. Boards will not contain planer sniping - the pictures were taken prior to the drum sanding process.

You wouldn't happen to have a blank about 21X18, would you?

Darn! I wanted to see how the vote was going so I hit null vote and now it won't let me vote. Oh well, looks like it would have hardly made a difference since I was going to vote for toddler. What a beauty!

Rashin and THIRSTYGUMS blew me away. Two very impressive instruments, indeed!

Everyone who entered should be proud. They all look to be built by master luthiers.

Hello and welcome!

So we can call you 'The Liquidator' now, huh?

I smell a new tat soon, representin'.

I think that will be the name of a future project.

If you want to keep costs down. Find a local supplier (that is the best way to cut costs). As far as the dimensions you are looking for enough wood for a body blank and a half. Basically two 6.5-7" x 20-22" make a regular body blank. You need 3-8"x21". Normally three piece bodies are cheaper because they can use more common widths less than 6". You are not going to get any typical three piece discount (because of width). Min. of about 7 bd. ft. (assuming min. waste). If you look at local hardwood dealers you will find common woods used for guitars ranging from $4-$11 bd. ft.(decent grades, 8/4 stock). Your min. price will be in the $30 to $80 range (depending on wood you choose Poplar to Genuine Mahogany). If you buy it locally you will save on shipping that would be between $15 and $25-assuming shipping from and to US dest.)

Peace,Rich

Thanks Rich! That really helps. Now I know what I'm looking for.

Really awesome work form everyone! Doug's blew me away!

Thanks ryanb, that's exactly what I am looking for. So, I guess I'm looking for Fender neck specs, then (or I can just buy one and measure it myself).

I was hoping to make my first build compatible with other aftermarket necks (specifically Warmoth and Mitghy Mite) just in case I don't like the way my neck comes out.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I'm not against working with three piece blanks.

I wanted to work with some radical shapes for my first projects but don't want to spend a lot of money (because of the fact they will be my first projects).

Anybody know where larger (yet cheap) blanks can be found?