ScottR

Thanks Paulie. I got away with one here. That slice of coco came right off the top of the piece used for the fretboard--you can see where. I had to add a piece to the left edge to cover that ear and the grain happened to match up nicely. SR

Yeah. I thought I had a quarter inch blade hanging on the wall, but no....it was another half inch blade and an eighth incher. I wanted the half inch for the long cuts on the neck, but I didn't want to go to one eighth...at all really. My next cuts are on the body, so I'll be picking up another quarter inch blade. Even though Drak does body cuts with his scroll saw, I don't think that's for me. SR

On more than one occasion you have noted an intense distaste for the wasting of wood. Perhaps you could show us some of the methods you use to avoid that. SR

My truss rod was an extremely tight fit so I decided not to add any latex caulking to stifle rod clatter. I couldn't make it vibrate before I glued up the fretboard....so naturally it is rattling now while I'm working on it. Putting some tension on it later after everything is done should take care of that....I hope. I carve out the rough sawed curves to get smoothness. Long tenon makes for a long neck blank. We were talking about headstock mass...... SR

This weekend I had a charity event on Saturday...that I bombed out of in time to get to work on this at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I routed the truss rod channel and set that and made some pin sets to locate the fretboard and hold it during glue up. I mixed up some T-88 epoxy and glued up the fretboard using a section of countertop that was about 2.5" thick and the the thickness of the neck blank to create the cones of force. I'm very happy with the epoxy and the jointer and the glue up. These are the off cuts from each side of the fretboard. No glue lines here. My band saw has a half inch blade in it. My curves are a little rough. There's some work left to do.... SR

Well I guessed wrong then. I was guessing this would get that glossy black paint job you've been wanting. SR

So, maple neck and fretboard...is this the one you're putting a face plate on? How are you going to finish the tineo? How is it to work...I don't think I've ever had my hands on any? SR

I vote for this one. As long as you're being me....I've got a few things I'd like you to try! SR

That's funny! I like the way it turns white really quick when you mix it and the long open time. I found it to be thicker than any other and very sticky. When I glued it up yesterday it was still tacky after an hour, but well on the way to turning back to clear. Today it's very clear and very hard. The light wasn't good enough to tell if it had much of an amber tint though. SR

Not much doubt of that is there. SR

Another option is to tke your measurements and route the channel before you start the carve. I've got faith in his work though. I'm betting everything will look great by the time he's done. SR

That's the stuff. Sometimes you can flood the crack till it pools and then look at it five minutes later and it's empty again...And sometimes you get bubbles that won't let anything get deeper. You've pretty much got to pop those with a needle. Once the glue stops disappearing you can tamp in some sawdust and it should stay. SR

I'll remember that when you want to use it on your lap steel build. Jarvey, yeah there really is some very nice original work around here. I'm glad you like this design. SR

That micromesh is some good stuff. It made all the difference in the world on this guitar. Nice Job! This was a fun build. SR

That jointer certainly has helped speed up the neck work so far, not to mention making excellent surfaces to glue the halves of the top and body together. I was doing all that by hand. I still will have to get creative to make perfectly flat glueing surfaces to join the top to the body... Are you guys happy with your Delta and Craftsman? I like this one a lot. The only thing I can say against it is the fence can move slightly if you push too hard against it on either end. I'm going to have to sharpen the blades before too long. The jatoba is living up to it's reputation for dulling tools. SR

What I do is I put finishing nails around the faceplate and fretboard in the part of the wood I am going to cut off..not through the piece I am clamping,just around it and into the piece I am gluing to...then I slip the plate out from between the nails,spread the glue,and press the plate back in and clamp it That is an excellent idea! SR

Well, between numerous interruptions, I was able to get a little work done this weekend. I got the top glued up and the body out of clamps. I got the fretboard trued up and got the fret slots cut. Next I traced out my headstock on .020" polycarbonate (another leftover from work. I drilled a small hole to mark the tuning peg post centers and cut it out. Next I marked out the headstock angle using the template I just made to make sure I had enough room. The angle worked out to be right at 11 degrees.Then I cut that angle on the bandsaw. I attached the off-cut with double-sided tape. I used that to form a planing surface and trued up the face of the headstock. Next I marked out all the dimensions on the neck: nut, center-line, end of fretboard, headstock, width and angle. This neck will have a long tenon that will reach past the bridge and will be set into the body and sandwiched under the top. I glued together some thin cocobolo to make a top plate. I got that glued to the headstock with T-88 epoxy. The last thing I got done today was to drill and set the fret marker dots. Head stock angle and off cut in place. In the upper left hand corner are the top and body glued up and waiting to be worked on. Planing the headstock face. Headstock face plate glue up. Fretboard and face plate laid on neck. Faceplate glue-up and fret markers in place. It was a challenge to keep the face plate in position during the clamping! SR

I've used Duplicolor clear lacquer before and while it was certainly dry enough and hard enough to buff in 6 hours, it kept shrinking for 3 or 4 weeks like any nitro. Since you are painting and probably have a perfectly smooth pore free surface, you might very well get away with buffing the next day. I'd wait longer to be safe though if it were me. If it is the acrylic lacquer, well the one time I used that clear, it was still shrinking after 6 MONTHS. SR

That was it! SR

What can I say? I like your dog...seriously, I meant to mention that earlier. Hey! I just noticed my other posted got edited. Those three dots used to have the word for an Irish club...you know the gnarly wooden stick with a knobby end used for bashing things rather than the pub type club. I wonder what it was about that word that cause the software to eat it? SR

Hey Mike, that thing is looking pretty good from the back. The carves and wood look good. The extra arm looks like a ...or a leg bone from a bowlegged leprechan. I would have a hard time not turning it into a smooth arc with a gentle taper from the body to the HS, but that's just me. This one is certainly fascinating, keep'em coming. SR

Nice straight edge...what is it? SR

Auerswald I had to look that up. Oh my. SR

Dammit Mender, that blows. Around here, we'd say hang tough...is keep a stiff upper lip roughly the same thing for a Brit? SR

Mike, Mike, Mike.... You always go out on a limb; it looks like you brought the limb back with you this time. I've got to ask, what's the inspiration for this shape? And why the angled end of the fretboard? It's going the opposite direction of the fret markers. You've got a lot of interesting stuff going on here. I'm fascinated to see how it will come out. SR