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ArieBombarie

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Everything posted by ArieBombarie

  1. So... hello there fellow guitar builders/lovers.....long time - no updates... What can I say? Winter came, I had other stuff to do... but I finally picked up where I left off.... which was the neck.. I put in the trussrod and put veneer on the front (3 mm) and on the back (1 mm) of the headstock.... here's the result: Then I routed the tenon cavity in the body and test fitted the neck.... Grz Arjan
  2. Hi There... For cutting the neckwood at an 15 degree angle so I could make a scarf-joint I build a special Jig. You clamp the neckwood on this Jig and use a table-saw for cutting the wood. It found it hard to cut exactly where I needed the cut, so I made the scarfjoint-cut first and worked from there (marking the nut, neck length etc.) I worked out fine! here are the plans I found... Here is the one I build and used... Good Luck, Grz Arjan
  3. There will be soon... I've been one vacation, had to paint the house... that kind of stuff... I hope I can start again in a week or so... Grz Arjan
  4. Mattia, you could be right there.... I could always change the middle piece for plywood or trespa if the MDF starts to flex.. I just used what I had lying around... and it's not like the router is hanging on the MDF board all the time... I just set is up when I need it and when I'm done I detach the router and store the MDF boards away.... so for now it works just fine for me... Grz Arjan
  5. I redid the headstock shape and I didn't use a router this time here's the result: Then it was time to shape the back of the neck... here's the result of that: It all turned out pretty good... Ive already made a 3 mm Zebrawood veneer for the front of the headstock and a 1 mm veneer for the back. First I have to pre-bend the veneer for the back so it will follow the curve in the headstock... So that's next along with installing the truss rod and the truss rod fillerstrip... Grz Arjan
  6. Just wanted to share with you all the routing table I made.... I have a router and noticed that routing smaller stuff was difficult because there is not enough wood for your router to rest on.. So I wanted a routing table, but I wanted to make one quickly and one that would be easy and quick top set up.. So I came up with a solution of using my work vise as the table. I used a 2,3 cm (approx 1 inch) thick MDF board as the routing tabletop. In this board (which is way to thick to put your router under..) I cut out a piece large enough to fit my router through. Then I routed a 8 mm deep rectangle around the hole and cut a piece of 8 mm MDF to the same dimensions.... To that piece I can Attach my router with 3 bolts... I'm pleased with the result and it works great... Grz Arjan
  7. Well it has been some time since I posted an update on my project... The main reason for this is that I redid the neck. I wasn't pleased with how the first one turned out. The neck had a dent in wood at the nut position, the tenon wasn't straight enough and I had to plane the top back so it would be level, which lowered the top to much... all in all, I was not a happy camper, so I put it down to experience and started over. This time I knew what to look out for (e.g. what not to do) and now I'm very pleased with the way it is... But then DISASTER STRUCK!!! I put on the templates for the neck and headstock and started routing of the excess wood on my routing table. One moment of not paying attention to the direction the wood has to move (against the rotating of the router) and I had a major tear out at my headstock... the picture is a little bit blurry as I was crying at the time.... Of course I didn't like it one bit, but as this is my first build I guess these things will happen no matter how careful you are. I really didn't want to patch it up (I already did that on another tear)... So I decided to see if I could change the headstock shape so it would fit in the wood I have left. I came up with the following design: I went for a more symmetrical look and a little less pointy and aggressive... I think the tear-out is a blessing in disguise because I really like the new head shape... As that is the one part most of you guys weren't too thrilled about, I'm very curious about what you think about the new design (the original one can be found in the first post of this thread...) Grz Arjan
  8. Caution is a good thing so I think I'll use all the methods suggested. I routed my headstock yesterday and the router ripped my headstock to pieces.... MAJOR blow out!... Fortunately I found all the pieces and was able to glue it back together (the front and back will be covered by veneer so the damage will be hidden)... but it goes to show, you can never be to carefull... Grz Arjan
  9. Thanx for all the suggestions, I'll be testing them out on a piece of scrap wood.... If search the forum again and came across some earlier posts on the same subject (funny thing is, I couldn't find them before as there is no agreed upon term for these dents/holes/thingies, I've search for "cove bit" and they poped up!?) They all seem to agree upon the methods used. Couldn't find the video though :-( thanx again, Grz Arjan
  10. Thanx for the reply... removing the tangs where the inlay is.... what a great idea! Simple but briliant, why didn't I think of that I'll edit my post to incorperate that!.. thanx again, grz Arjan
  11. Hi there, I've come to the point where I will have to start with my inlay so I did a lot of reading up on the subject to try to figure out how to do this... Not all the topics on inlay agree on the steps to take and not all of them apply to my situation. so I figured I would combine everything and check with you guys... It's a from-scratch build so nothing is pre-radiused or pre-slotted. The fretboard is ebony and I want to put in an custom mother-of-pearl inlay at the 12th fret position with two pieces at either side. ...here is a drawing: As this is my first inlay, I will be testing everything on a piece of scrap ebony first.... Working order: - cut the fretboard to the correct dimensions and plane it to the correct height - mark the fretpostitions with a mechanical pencil and cut them with a razor knife - Print out the design and stick the paper on the m-o-p - cut out the design out of the m-o-p - place the design on the fretboard and trace it with a razor knife - rub on some chalkpowder to bring out the razor knife cuts - use a dremel with a routerbase to route out the inlay cavity - mix a batch of epoxy and add some ebony dust for the right colour - add epoxy to the inlay cavity, stick in the inlay pieces and apply epoxy on to to fill in any gaps - sand away the excess epoxy on top - cut the fretslots - radius the fretboard using a radiusblock and sandpaper - recut the fretslots to the correct depth after radiusing - [Tip from Prostheta] Bevel the slots for better fret seating - cut and prebend the frets - [Tip from Prostheta] Where the frets touch the pearl, remove the tang from the frets (to prevent chipping of the inlay) - press and glue in the frets.... The things I'm still not sure about are: - is it better to put in the inlay and then cut the fretslots, or is it the other way around? - can i use ebony dust to the epoxy to get the colour right or should I use something else? - should I clamp the inlay in some way when the epoxy sets? - is there a potential problem in chipping the inlay when installing the frets if the slots are cut directly into the inlay? Any comments or ideas are welcome... Grz Arjan
  12. Hi there, I'm buidling my first guitar (LP-style, mahogany body and neck, Zebrawood carved top) I want to add 'dents' around the controls like on PRS and (some) ESP guitars. here are some pics to show you what I mean by 'dents' My question is simple: what's the best way to make these dents? any ideas? Grz Arjan
  13. I thought so... but couldn't find the answer. I'll have a look around the shop what's lying around... Thanx arjan
  14. well that's true for a fender type guitar where your truss rod filler is at the back of the neck... then I agree it's better to have a contrasting wood which would look better. But with gibson style guitars the filler is underneath the freatboard, so it's not visible... and still different kind of woods are used... what's the deal there?
  15. I posted this question at the end of another topic, but no reply so here it is again... What wood should you use / avoid for the filler strip that covers the truss rod. In a lot of build-threads and blogs I see that different wood is used (not the neckwood).. Is there a reason for this? Grz Arjan
  16. I think the damage is a bit too local and the shiny chrome is a kind of a give-away ... you should add some more wear and tear to it... for inspiration: check out this video tutorial about relicing.... Relicing An Electric Guitar Video Tutorial It also shows how to relic the hardware and the fretboard.... he started out with a brand new tele-clone and ended up with this: good luck, Grz Arjan
  17. Zeljac, I came accross this blueprint in the download section of www.guitarbuild.com... they have blueprints of other explorer like guitars... so check it out... You can check the accuracy of the blueprint (somewhat) by overlaying the blueprint on a picture of the orginal guitar (I use MS Visio for this, but I'm sure there are other programs for this), also check the fret-distance and the scale lenght with the original specifications... I scanned it quickly, I think the lower point in the blueprint is longer then the original and the headstock is about 3/4 of it's original length... so IMO it's not accurate (I checked it against the Ken Lawrance Explorer of James Hetfield) good luck with your build... Grz Arjan
  18. Now that we are on the subject.... I noticed in a lot of the building threads and blogs that a lot of times a different kind of wood is used for the filler wood. Is there a reason for this? Should you use a different kind, or is it just a case of using whatever is lying around the workshop? Grz Arjan
  19. You can use a trussrod that's treaded all the way... most home made trussrods are... For your other question about the casing... You can just put it in and secure it with the wood filler but often some kind of sleeve is put over the trussrod in order to stop it from rattling inside the neck... Besides that, an additional sleeve will prevent the trussrod itself from being glued in the neck by any access glue from the wood filler. I use an ethernet cable for this, I remove the inner wiring and just use the outer mantel (is that english?) ... It fits the trussrod I use perfectly... Grz Arjan
  20. Ok, that looks...interresting... can't really comment on the bodyshape, it looks kinda thin compared to it's lenght but that's probably due to you not being a Da Vinci... One suggestion though... in your headstock design, make sure your flametops don't block the other tuners... I would suggest that you find a bodyshape of an existing guitar that you like, trace the shape and work from there. You can make alterations to the horns and stuff, but atleast the overall dimensions are correct... If you'r going to build this guitar, one day you will have to have an accurate drawing anyway.... Gr Arjan
  21. Ricky, thanx for your input.. indeed it's similar.. but I cut my headstock yesterday... so... I got a couple of replies saying that they didn't like the headstock I'm using, but I like the a-symetrical shape it gives the guitar less of a classic LP look, which I'm aming for.. I have to start work on the fretboard and the shaping of the neck and adding veneer to the headstock... I'll be posting my progress soon... Gr Arjan
  22. well thanx... the tenon is the piece of the guitarneck that is glued into the body... With a set-neck the neckwood isn't as wide al the way to the end of the fretboard as is the case with a bolt-on neck but it's smaller... here's a pic... Grz Arjan
  23. Yep, it's a ebony fretboard... so oil the top (both ebony fretboard an the top of the bindings) and clearcoat the neck including the sides of the binding.... got it... Thanx for the info.... Grz Arjan
  24. Ok, I'll give the wood bindings a go... still got a question about the finishing though... Normally you tape of the fretboard and bindings when you paint or clearcoat the guitar (right?).. But if the binding are made out of wood, they should get a clearcoat aswell... The problem I see here is that there will be frets on the binding... what to do here? clearcoat it before fretting or mask the individual frets before clearcoating the neck... any ideas? Gr Arjan
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