Mr Natural

very cool of you scott.

andy-  that had to be gut wrenching to realize you had a boo boo and fixing it must have eaten away any profit+. props to you for sharing the story- i cant even imagine the shipping costs you just went thru-my heart goes out to you

its amazing how much you can get done when you dont have to pull everything out- rather just go to the tool plug it in move the vac over and boo yah. 

So- a little over 2 hours and I got these done- I ended up having to hit a couple of these like the one below with the belt sander prior to routing as I was a bit way outside of the line when I rough cut them the other day. I drilled and countersunk holes in the master template- then used that to drill holes in the other 8 pieces, then screwed each one to the master- and hit it up on the router table. two of them I had to hit up on the belt sander prior to routing due to poor cutting 

I will glue this all together tomorrow

I will start on the mold tomorrow. 

and here is a poorly taken pic of the mrs natch side project. Never tell your wife you can build something - as she will put you to the test. We had this big empty cubby space in our bedroom- said I wish we had......and I stupidly said- "I can build that" and that was about 7 weeks ago.

I plan on installing book/nic nac shelves on both side- mrs natch doesnt know that yet. I think I need to put some sort of tile down in front of it as well.

you can see the gap that has developed up by the ceiling- this was actually almost flush with the ceiling 6 weeks ago

anywho- Still trimming it out-almost done with the decorative trim- still need to put the crown molding on it, and cutting/figuring all those angles is going to be a blast I am sure. I  put the tv in there even before it was even drywalled as it was on that wall previously.  Now Mrs Natch and I can view the tv and enjoy the glow from an off season fireplace I got for next to nothing. 

like everything I get involved in- it takes time. I have finally gotten the garage/workshop into decent shape. I built three dedicated tool stands- for the drill press, sander and router table. The router table stand will double as a mini-workbench should the need arise. The jointer and 2nd sander are in front of where my wife parks her car- since those are used so infrequently. I still have a bit of hoeing out to do-and I need to put wheels on these tool stands so I can move them in and out of the way-  but this is a start in the right direction. Amazing how much crap one can gather in the matter of a few months. 

and as usual the wifey had a project for me- I have actually been working on this for the last 7 weeks or so. I built out a fireplace/tv "thingy" in the master bedroom. I will post pics once the drywall/trim is finished. I am actually amazed it came out as good as it did. though I havent figured out yet how to trim out the top (crown) as I have noticed the gap I left between it and the ceiling actually increased when we had a spot of cold weather and heaters going 24x7. I may have to attach to the top of the fireplace and not to the ceiling and just live with the fact it will "breath" during the winter when its dry and hot air is blowing. 

I also started cutting out the bender sides (9 cut outs)  and mold sides (6) I cut everything a bit proud- I will attached them to the master template with screws and finish up on the router table with a flush trim bit. One 4 x 8 sheet of the partical board was enough for both

congrats on co-GOTM great job on the guitar. 

congrats on co-GOTM- well deserved. 

fantastic repair job man- bravo

40 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

wet paper towels is interesting... would you just apply that to the top?  I had it in my head that I would just use a spray bottle of water and a heat gun - gradually increase clamp pressure over a few days/sessions.  Any/all advice there is welcome.

i have never done it- and cant remember where online I saw it- but essentially it was done for a forearm bevel- with no glue on the top- the top was clamped to the body-except the area around the forearm bevel- either a washcloth or several dripping wet sheets of paper towel were laid onto the bevel area of the maple top- and some serious weight-like a 10 lb disc was added-left overnight. the maple top bent over night- still left some gap- but bent enough to where clamping the next day only pulled it tight-vs the full bend if you follow. a method of pre-bending if you will. 

looking good-and digging the jig

48 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

I will get the neck pockets done, necks dry mounted and tested, and then radius the body, then dry clamp the top on and see if I need to do any steam/bending.  according to some sources I read (re airplanes?) 1/4" maple material should bend over a 12" radius with no need for steam... so 30" should be fine but who knows about figured wood. 

you may already be aware of this but you could (as an alternative to water/steam } put very shallow kerfs on the underside of the maple) either way dont trust any figured wood to play nice. i have seen steam, wet paper towels with weights and kerfing done with 1/4 maple- all seem to work well. I would not trust dry bending it- but that is just me. It would be heartbreaking to lose a piece of nice maple that way. I personally might shed a tear. that being said- I have seen 1/4 maple bend with no issues- and the roarrocket bag would be ideal for this- 

https://www.roarockit.com/skateboard-building/thin-air-press/tap-kits/thin-air-press-kit-26x28/#.XFmNiVxKjcs

nice score at the antique mall. 

loving this build- curious though as to choice of scale length. any particular reason you didnt go with..,,,,,,,,say,,,,,,,,,,,something shorter? 

16 hours ago, ScottR said:

Wow, If my garage looked like that I'd leave--sure that I'd walked into someone else's house by mistake.

SR

its still not as neat and clean as I want it but its getting there. 

last night I started building dedicated tool stands to free up more space on my remaining workbenches. all of the wood is from my torn down benches. These will have wheels (with brakes). using a kreg pocket hole jig- makes it super simple.

On 1/26/2019 at 10:26 AM, ScottR said:

And you can look forward to call outs and verbal abuse if you let it go the way of your other unfinished threads/projects.

let the ball busting begin-though (in my defense)the ritter roya and mahogany 6 string are completed I just havent posted as i wanted to get the pics posted in sequence- and there is that whole canon utilies sw/camera/windows 10 thing i still havent worked thru all the pictures that are screwy. Plus the finish on the roya isnt something you see everyday and I really want to find and post the progress pics in sequence on that one. 

may not look like much- but major clean up progress on my workspace-those workbenches were both screwed and GLUED together -that made disassembly all the more fun. 

I laid out the cut out for the body mold as well- and took a compass to rough draw a perimeter about 4" thick -now to cut this out 6 times- and the side bending template 8 or 9 times

almost all my jigs are for router cuts of some sort. i think I am a borderline horder when it comes to jigs- you know- spend hours making a jig just perfect for a 5 second cut. ......and then never need it again. 

great work so far Norris.

On 1/22/2019 at 2:39 AM, Norris said:

I just wish I had more time to spend on it. Half the time I feel like I'm re-learning stuff I should know because I don't do it often enough to become familiar. 

slow and steady wins the race(at least that is what I tell myself)seriously- even after a couple dozen instruments over a couple dozen years or more-I am constantly having to take a min and rethink stuff all the time. Here is the real kicker -in cleaning my workshop this weekend-I came across 3 jigs I had saved- and I have no freaking idea what the hell they are for. i sorta think I know what one of them is for- but- honestly-not sure and cant even remember what instrument I used it on. So there you go. 

sweet axe @komodo. that checking came out sweet- and thanks for the info on how to go about it.

would be interested in your op on that neck pick up after another 30 days. I am trying to find high r pickup for a guitar that has extended fingerboard and pu sits under the fingerboard. I tried one of the dimarz evolutions- but that thing was like a razor though and so bright and sizzley and just not pleasant on the ear. I sort of shelved my hunt for that one a bit ago. 

so how did the porter come out post bean infusion?? 14%? wow- that'll grow hair on yer teeth. 

@ScottR- I literally had Physical Graffiti doing rotations on the tape deck in the shop this weekend. prob my fav zep album.

I have been meaning to build an acoustic for years now- but need to tool up. This thread will involve probably more jig/fixture/tool building as it will guitar build. I also need something to motivate me to finish up some projects that have been laying around-and even more so I need something to motivate me to clean up my garage/workshop/crap hole that has built up a ton of junk over the last few months of painting the inside of my house, fixing things and doing honey-do build requests from Mrs Natch. 

the nick drake reference is an ode to Nick Drake- whose music turned me on to alternate tunings like no other guitarist had- even Page who started me down that path. I went thru a Nick Drake phase in college. His 3 albums he released while he was alive couldn't be 3 more different recordings if he tried. his first one with orchestral arrangements, his last basically solo guitar with occasional additional instruments. anywho-he played a guild m-20- which is an all mahogany OM size-which guild actually cashed in and re-released sometime after Nick had a resurgence in popularity after a couple of documentaries were released thru various outlets- and I would imagine especially after the Volkswagen commercial that was released some years ago. I will be building two of these- one with sitka top and EI Rosewood sides and back, the other all mahogany. 

So- first things first-finish up Mrs Natch requests-she wanted me to build a bench out of an old Jenny Lind spindle bed frame. check that off the list

 my workshop/garage is not a place for productivity. I have six workbenches- all that means is I have six places to stack shit on. This is embarrassing to say the least- Time to clean up. i will re purpose the wood from these benches and turn them into mobile tool stands for my power tools. 2 of the six workbenches will stay in the end- 3 are gone immediately. 

i need to build:

1) a side bending jig,

2) a mold for the om body

3) go bar deck

4) mortise and tenon jig for attaching the neck

if I bought all that from LMII- it would cost $474+$116+ $172 +$209 so $971 plus shipping. um, no-lets see how I do when all is said and done. I will try my best to track costs and processes during this build. 

First step- get a plan of an OM body. $14.45 (free shipping) at LMII- $16.33 plus $9.99 shipping at Stew mac- however- there was a holiday special and I got the plan including shipping for $12 and change from stew mac. I made several copies at Staples- add $6 (~$19 running cost total)

For the side bending jig- I need to make a template of half the body- so- cut one of the copies in half with a straight edge ruler and razor. I had a choice of building materials for the jigs (all are 3/4" thick-4' x8') ) - baltic birch  $54, mdf $26 or particle board $16.50. I will build the side bending form from particle board- and the mold for the body-but will use re-purposed plywood for the frame of the side bending jig. Running total with particle board purchase approx $36 add $8 for can of spray adhesive- $44

i left a tiny bit of exposed board on the straight edge and will true that edge on my belt sander. same with sides- will be cleaning up on belt sander

more to come

very cool SR- 

2 hours ago, mistermikev said:

some pretty solid drawing skills there.  will be interested to see how this goes. 

what Mistermikev said- +1

7 hours ago, ScottR said:

I have a buddy, ... There might have been a few IPA's involved, SR

sounds like my kinda guy!

"Manny deLuna"  I see what you did there- clever. 

watching with interest.....

i know its not what you wanted but its still beautiful. well done!

all of them are beauts drak-but I really love the way you tied everything together on that Iommi Machine- the color on the body and headstock- the pickups and even the toggle switch plate. Well done man. Little details like that can really make a build. Love it!

congrats on GOTM

15 hours ago, RestorationAD said:

Let's talk pickups in guitars because bassists are usually ok with wonky and strange new things. Guitarists tend to be afraid of change 

 

i have never understood why this is but you are so right. 

i have noticed on carl thompson basses he "builds up" the depth of a control cavity by top mounting a control panel made of a thicker piece of wood- Ie- control panel made of 1/4" wood- controls are mounted on that- and that brings the back of them up enough so they dont hit the back of the control cavity on a thinner bass. 

diggin that combo of woods. nice

watching the voodoo as it happens....

Rad is back

47 minutes ago, ScottR said:

I haven't tried @Mr Natural's steel wool for the last coat's applicator, but assume the concept is the same, wipe it on and let it soak and wipe it off.

i read where this is what carl thompson does on his basses so that is where I got it from- with danish oil- the first coat is the most important- and you should flood the hell out of it- put more on that is needed- let it soak in- then as scottR says wipe it off after 15 min or so. if the wood soaks it up during that first 15 min- put more on- flood it- cause after the first coat- the second doesnt really matter-(it will be blotchy/leave spots on surface) if the first coat was done correctly- and basically the steel wool/wet sand with oil is to do nothing more that slick/shine that wood.

its a wet sand/wipe off immediately type thing (you dont want any steel wool fibers sticking to the wood- that would defeat the purpose). follow that up with some wax on the body and that puppy will shine. 

watco is what carl thompson uses and I followed suit as well and have never used another brand.

keep in mind-danish oil offers almost zero protection- but is better than bare wood as bare wood gets dirty quick and atleast you can semi-wash up/or worst case sand and apply more oil with danish oil aand have it look great again

On 12/17/2018 at 9:12 AM, ScottR said:

I like Danish oil on my necks because it soaks in instead of leaving a surface film. This leaves the neck feeling more like bare wood and allows my hands to slide up and down the neck easier than a film finish does. A lacquer or poly finish or even Tru-oil tends to be a bit grabby....at least in my experience.

SR

+1 on danish oil on necks- especially if you do the last coat with fine steel wool- it leaves the neck super slick and fast- even more so than if you say sand back lacquer to a 2000 grit dulled matte sheen-that smooths out the lacquer for sure and leaves it slicker than just polished lacquer- but not fast and smooth like danish oil. 

and is it me or does anyone else (actually) enjoy the scent of danish oil? i still wear a mask- but at least a garage full of danish oil gas off is a 1000x better than lacquer or poly gas off.