Mr Natural

Thanks for the comment Scott. Appreciate that. here is (maybe) a better picture of the walnut. Its been raining here so no outside pics. The bridge is cocobolo- this is my second time hard carving a bridge like that and lets just say I am still learning. Not perfectly symmetrical where the steel bar will be (the wood covering the bar on each side- a bit thinner on one side than the other)- but it was fun carving this. I had just purchased a black and decker 1/2" belt sander- great little tool- paid $34 at an outlet store for it- but I left a courser belt on it when I should have switched to a finer belt- and lets say I spent some time trying to "clean up its aggressiveness". 60 grit scratches in cocobolo run deep!!

so- here is the body with both side radiused and a coat of teak oil- which is basically danish oil with a uv inhibitor added. The pic is darker than what it looks like - I cant seem to get a good pic unless I go outside starting the rotating pickup housing- used a cut off from a strat body (alder)- so this will be pretty lightweight- but strong enough to hold/screw pickup into

as I mentioned on another post I have going- been a way a while- "life got in the way". anyway- I shot lacquer on a scrap of the walnut and didnt like the way it looked -so I ended up putting danish oil on this- let it dry out for probably 2 months- and then shot about 11 coats of lacquer total- probably sanded 3-4 of those out completely. I think the oil helped the figure pop vs what the scrap with just the lacquer looked like. I couldnt get a good pic on this- without the flash blinding the shot. Now it gets to sit for a couple more weeks and I will buff it out.

so after a long time away (bad back, work, kids travelball baseball (spring and fall))- I started up on this again. here is the body radius jig and the end result. This was a lot of fun- took a while to cut- as I was taking very shallow passes- but my scrap mdf jig worked a charm. looking from the butt end of the guitar top almost complete

well- as I stated in my other build thread a bad back has slowed me down some- sucks cause I have had vacation that I had to use and I was really looking forward to building. Got a little bit done though- The "whitened" bondo fret lines look a ton better than the yellowish maple did. I think the veneer I used the first time had finish on it- oil- or maybe sealer- anyway- I think this looks better (in the pic-I havent cleaned up the bondo from the sides nor cleaned up the masking tape residue from the fretboard- but you get an idea of the color). I used this method once before on a fretless (with fretlines) that I built (poly over the fretboard)- and it came out nice. Should have done this the first time. double checking the fit on the body- marking (in white pencil) areas that need more sanding (note for next lap steel build- use a non-tapered fretboard ) drilled the holes for the strings thru the template and bridge blank. not sure if you can see it or not- but I have a black screw in the control panel - and that s.o.b has stripped. So- I will be supergluing a drill bit to it in hopes of being able to back it out- if not- my crappy drill bits will be drilling it out- and i will end up needing a much larger screws. Like an idiot- I went thru my supplies- found a couple of (thin) black screws. I think to myself-cool one less thing to have to order. Drill a pilot hole- but obviously not wide enough- started turning the screw in- and should have backed off as soon as I heard the screw squeel- but no - I kept cranking. dumbass I am. if they sold black screws at home depot- no biggy- but it seems like a hassle to find black screws for whatever reason. I need to just order a boat load of them so I have them around.

So I started taking some of the vacation I have built up, only to have my back go out on me. UGH- I have been hobbling around the last few weeks- it hurts too bad to stand for too long- so I have been slow making any progress lately. Please excuse the mess in the shop- I cant bend over to pick up anything even if I wanted to!! I ended up getting the neck tenon on this finished up- shaping the fingerboard taper and getting it ready to have frets put on. I usually fret when the board is attached to the neck, but since the neck is not supported fully by the neck black (tenon area)- I would feel better fretting off the neck so I can fully support the fretboard while pressing in the frets. In this picture- I have the fingerboard temp attached to the neck blank- only to get the taper on the button - and check fit with body/double check angle to bridge, etc . I will remove the board from the neck, fret it and then attach. I am dying to put the radius on the body but that will definetely have to wait until my back is better.

so- I ended up yanking out the maple fret lines on this as I didnt like the yellowish lines with the pearl. Removing wood filler strips from an ebony board is loads of fun. Chipped out a couple places so had to do the old super glue and ebony dust routine- sanded the board and dyed it again. I am going to fill in the slots with bondo with a color added- waiting for the board to dry out for a few days first before doing that though. in the meantime- I wanted to put some sound holes in this vs leaving the top solid. I had wanted to do cresent moons, but figured I might play it safe and go with circles for now. Maybe on the next one. Since I didnt plan this out- I was worried about making it symetrical- so- here is how I solved that- I took my template and drew in where the hollowed out sections are on the top- I then took a piece of paper- drew a center line in the middle of it- folded it on that center line- lined it up with the center line on the lap steel and taped it in place put the template back in place- traced the hollowed out sections on the paper using forstner bits and drill bits, worked out the design on the paper- used a straight line for the largest 2 circles, then slightly turned in the smallest circle- I used the drill bit to punch the holes- marking the wood. I then removed the tape to the center line so I could fold the paper- then punched the other side with a center punch marking the hole centers on the other side. removed the paper- took some mearsurements to make sure I was centered, equal distance, etc- drilled the holes I also started the headstock. I used a saft-t-planer to hog the majority of this out- but seeing that its end grain I wanted to finish up by hand as going across the grain I run this risk of blowing out the one side of the headstock. The headstock is roughly 3/4 inch here- will take down to about 1/2"

Started on the neck tenon with this one- I will be starting up on this again as the lap steel I am building is in its final stages- I am using the les paul templates I have for the tenon. I put painters tape on the underside of the template- and then a super light smear of glue to hold it tight. cleans ups in a couple passes of sand paper. The les paul template doesnt extend all the way to the pickup cavity- (you can see where the end of the tenon hasnt been cut out cleanly yet- but I still need to introduce the neck angle on this, which will clean up that end. I only took out 1/4 inch depth of this tenon. I need to re-assemble my (david myka style) neck jig to finish the tenon on it. I am finishing up the lap steel I am building before moving on with this one. as far as electronics- not sure yet. I was thinking active electronics and pu- I dont know yet- the guy I am building it for said "surprise me". Ok- the turner's have a high output pickup- I may just slap a high output passive in there- not sure.

made a control cavity cover out of some of the left over walnut rounded over the top- 3/8" roundover bit and the back glued in maple filler strips for the fretlines

It was done with a template- its a tad over 3 1/2 degrees. I used my version of David Myka's neck jig. I didnt introduce the "middle plain" as I have since found out about les Pauls- from what I have read there is the neck angle plain- then the plain from approx back of neck pickup to front of bridge, then the flat plain that the bridge sits on- well- mine is flat till the back of the neck pick up and then drops.

Lefty done-getting a good pic of a "ultra white" high gloss guitar is a bit difficult. Note new truss rod cover- done correctly THis guitar photographs kind of creamish indoors-but trust me- its blistering white. Most of the photos I took didnt come out -they are overexposed or something

lots of work done today- I created a "see thru" template using 4 sheets of overhead transparency sheets that I super glued together. I roughly outlined the body shape and using my template drew in witness lines to where the fingerboard ends, pickup and bridge are. I then taped in those areas so I could see exactly where to place the wood, get the most out of the figure, and avoid the crack. 2 changes to the plan here- I will now use a humbucker, and the scale will be 24 3/4. I had an ebony fretboard that I have had for a while, collecting dust (so- I will use it here). I wasnt liking how the rosewood board I had originally planned on using was looking with the walnut. the obligatory "too many clamps" pic

that is sweet. I love the shape- what size rod do you use for the bridge?

Drak- I was originally thinking of doing Danish or True Oil, but I may end up spraying laquer. With the holidays/family over- the wife may not be too cool with the smell of laquer though- we will see.

I wont be using a walnut back on this one- I am saving what I was going to use as the back wood for another lap steel build. This thing has been a blast to build so far and I am already itching to get going on another. Have to finish up a couple other projects first though. top wood joined and glued. started working on the bridge- a nice hunk of cocobolo and the paper template glued to mdf the cocobolo was 2 inches thick. Cut that in half, flatened out that cut side on the beltsander, then glued the mdf template to the cocobolo and started cutting away. My poor old 9" ryobi band saw was about to die. I really need to get some proper tools. Ended up having to clean the bandsaw blade with a file brush. I tried to pay attention to the grain pattern on the bridge blank-and get the grain dip right on the tip of that bat tail on the bridge shape. not sure how this will look once the cocobolo is finished- it may darken up too much to tell- but this kind of looks cool. (I think anyway) I am planning final placement of top wood /control layout tonight and will either glue up tonight or first thing in the morning.

cut out the body- decided to add some free-hand routes connecting the 2 chambers. This wood has a seriously loud ring to it- and I want to see what this will be like "acoustically" . I will add F-holes or similar to the top. well-2 little friends popped up. The knot on the left I didnt see coming- that one didnt show itself on the surface- and surprised me. The knot on the right is my own fault. I thought I could cut the body and keep that one on the INSIDE of the body- and then covered by the top wood. Unfortunately as I was cleaning up my templates I didnt notice that in doing so I was now cutting into that knot. and look- it runs thru the entire width of the body- way to go dumbass. My record is intact- on all my builds I have screwed up something on each one. Oh well- this is my first lap steel- and a good learning experience. (and lots of fun) I might be able to sand it out -then touch up the other side as well to keep it symetrical- we'll see. I dont want to mess with the profile too much. I imagine though i will need to take care- that knot on the right could shrink and eventually fall out (that would be unsightly- perhaps I can seal that puppy up.

I am not sure I can tell from this pic- can you post something a bit closer? Today must be cursed for wood issues- I am in process of posting my own.

No,you would.You would use it for everything you use that robo thing for now.The oscilating spindle sander works much,much faster and is really just a better tool...it works as fast or as fine as you want it to.You can hog out 1/4" of material in seconds and you can completely shape a neck to rough dimensions in about 5 minutes. I cut my neck out with the bandsaw and then sand to within a hair of the lines with the oscilating sander,then I get to within about 1/8" of final profile dimensions with it.I clean it up to final dimensions with a rasp,and then hand sand to remove the scratches. wes- what I meant (to say) was that if i had an osc sander- I might never use the robosander. I realize as others have pointed out that you can get one for about $100, but I find the table with those a little on the small side- and to me that table size would mean the difference between a really good tool and a tool I would have to struggle with. I get to use the drill press table I made (36" wide by 16" deep) and that table makes all the difference in the world- I also get to use that table with my safe-t-planer

made a little sawdust tonight. Routed out both chambers, started routing the outside profile.

I just went in my garage and got my robo-sander out, took a pic- this sleeve is a 120 grit sleeve- and I have done 2 necks with it. The first neck was mahogany with pau ferro (bolivian rosewood)and the template was on TOP of the fingerboard- and the streak of dark oily wood closest to the bottom (template roller) is that pau ferro. The other neck was mahogany with indian rosewood board- the template for that neck was placed on the back of the neck wood- you can see the indian rosewood streak towards the middle of the sleeve. This (used side) of sleeve is toast. I will need to flip it on the robosander so the "top" is at the bottom and I can get full use out of it. 1)- I used this sleeve cause I ran out of my 50 or 60 grit sleeves. All I had was 120 left. Pain in the arse. Use low grit with robosander. 3 digits is too high if you are using templates- you will be finish sanding later anyway. 2)- clean your sleeve with a belt sander cleaning stick if you have it. I dont. I used some plastic to try and get the bolivian rosewood to not stick- as you can see by the uneven build up it was mostly unsuccessful. 3)- watch over tightening the washers at the bottom of the template roller guide- they will cause pressure on the rubber underneath the sleeve and you wont get a clean even sanding action- the bottom can "bulb" out and you will have issues. 4)- dont use this to "cut" with- but rather to clean up. If you cut your material really close to final dimension- the robosander is great, but dont expect it to hog thru material like a router or band saw will- I use this on all the "tips" of my guitar horns having blown out my fair share of tips and fingerboards. Trick is to cut close, then clean it up. If you cut within 1/8" on a neck for instance, this is a great tool with a low grit sanding sleeve. But if you cut within 1/8" on a maple top, mahogany body les paul for instance- you are going to be a while and you most likely will slow your drill press down to almost stopping. The closer you cut the less heat/buildup that will happen. sugary/oily woods like Maples and rosewood- they are going to build up- alder, mahogany, etc- less so. I think its a great tool. If I had an Osc sander- I might never use it. I dont have an Osc sdr- so- this is next best thing. Peace- Scott

a couple of boring updates- made the hollowed out sections in the templates, started hogging out that wood. Will route that out later tonight.

ok- tool plug here- all of my tools for the most part are benchtop tools. While this isnt the best jointer compared to larger models - I will say its probably the best benchtop jointer out there. Sears craftsman 4" benchtop. Weighs a freaking ton, doesnt have the plastic fence like other benchtop models- does the job. Obviously it would be better with a longer bed- but it works and I think its a good value for the buck.. ok- found a piece of mahogany in my pile o'wood with some knots that wouldnt be the best for a guitar body- but will fit the bill here and I can avoid the blemishes marked the body halves on the board with the template, outlined, and cut between them with a jigsaw-I started to glue them up, and then clean up the glue when the trick or treaters started showing up at the door. So I bailed on cleaning up the squeeze out- took a pic and called it a night. My job has told me to start taking vacation time (3 weeks worth)- so I will be building like a mo fo here pretty soon. Cant wait.

these photos show the white a bit better- its blistering artic white- I went a bit heavy on the pigment- but its the color the kid wants. Also had one part of the headstock front veneer edge that wasnt taped just exactly right- had to scrape a little overspray off. took these photos before re-taping the fingerboard to start spraying clear. Wes- if this goes like a previous guitar I sprayed- I expect to either use 3 or maybe 4 preval sprayers- I have used up one with the vinyl sealer/2 coats, straight laquer (2 coats to fill), one heavy color coat to also fill (sanded back) then 2 final color coats. There is just a little bit left in this first can but I am afraid of it spitting on me- so I will use a new one to start clear. I should easily get done with just 2 more. 4 preval refills is roughly $14. For onesy twosey its ok- but I really do need proper spray equipment.

I am using the gibson les paul templates I have for the neck on this one- I didnt take a very good picture-but I routed the neck and will need to clean up the tenon with chisel. I also got rid of the excess veneer on the back of the headstock- showing the layers for the veneers. If you have ever seen the back of an Alembic bass or guitar's headstock- you get what will be going on there, it will round up once I carve the neck. I am a bit nervous about that ebony chipping out when I carve. Its extremely brittle.

I glued the crack from the back of the piece- I tried clamping it- but it didnt really close up. On the back side I really soaked in some CA ahead of where the crack was going- as to reinforce that wood. I will try to "fill" in the crack on the face side when I finish this. I found some plans online- well- actually - a picture of some plans, there was no name, no measurements, nothing- so- I looked around and it appears to be a copy of an Asher laptop. Asher states their scale is 25"- so that is what I am going with. Using my "ghetto method" of template making- I blew this up in MS paint, glued up to some mdf, and I am in process of cleaning up the edges. You can see where the plan's lines pixelated once I enlarged the picture to scale. Since the sides are symmetrical, I am only using a half template, that way I can flip it along the center line and get an exact match vs trying to make both sides exactly the same using the belt sander (which is no fun)