ScottR

Bamboo pins are in. Also I paint a thin strips of petroleum jelly down the center of the truss rod bar and then cover it with scotch tape that has been trimmed near to the channel.

Glued up using a thick counter top section as a caul.

I'm taking an offcut from the top and bookmatching it to make a headstock plate.

Squaring up the edge that will be glued together for the bookmatch.

SR

I routed a truss rod channel. This time I routed it just a hair deeper than the rod.

I normally try to be exact, and then end up sanding down the top of the bar to make it flush.

This time I sanded the neck blank down flush to the bar. I used my flat sanding leveling sanding block, This is a base of 3/8" polycarbonite (perspex to the Europeans) glued to an old jack plane with enough weights bound to it to weigh about 5 pounds, You just push it around over the part you are making flat. The weight is enough to make it abrade and the fact that you are not adding pressure keeps everything even and flat.

It works and next I line up the fretboard and drill some pin locators. I've tried toothpicks but they don't hold up. Tiny brads work and they don't damage saw blades much......but they don't do them any good either. This time I've got some bamboo grilling skewers that should be stout enough to hold, and easy on saw blades as well.

SR

19 hours ago, killemall8 said:

Thank you scotty!
Yes, the v at the top is from the same billet as the traditional v

Gotta love it!

SR

4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Looking good!  And impressive that you are tackling three at once!!

Agreed! I remember when you were building with a jigsaw and a pair of screw drivers. Your work has come soooo far in the last few years.

SR

On 7/7/2023 at 8:50 PM, killemall8 said:

Here is a mango v I just sent out 

Cheers Luis!  Is that mango also what you used on the pointier v in that pic of three in the first post of this latest string? That one caught my as unusual as does this.

Of course they all are crazy good, and that is not unusual at all.

SR

I'm really impressed with the quality of this build, nicely done.

SR

This just keeps getting better Matt!

SR

This is looking very classy Stu.

SR

Do what you gotta do to be happy with it. You're likely to learn something new while you're at it.

SR

On 6/18/2023 at 7:50 PM, RVA said:

I learn something every time, usually the hard way.

The longest lasting lessons are the ones you learn that way.

On 6/18/2023 at 7:52 PM, RVA said:

Overkill?

Nope, not at all. In fact I don't think there is such a thing when it comes to clamping. The big commercial companies use a big press that covers every square inch of the top and body.

This is looking quite nice so far, I like your timbers.

SR

Oh damn!

SR

I hear this all the time about mine---

I think I like the back even better than the front.

SR

On 6/18/2023 at 3:08 PM, JGTay said:

And it has gone. Dan is heading home with it, a big smile on his face.

He is very happy and will send me some recordings next week, once he has finished his thesis and has time to have a good play around with it.

Sorry this is so late.......but damn that came out nice! Love the color. And even more that Dan went home with a smile!

SR

2 hours ago, avengers63 said:

 

I'm back to being in that boat. I start a new job today - overnight driver for a FedEx contractor. I don't want to drive overnights, but it's better than going back on the road for 5 days at a time.

Good to hear John, congrats!

SR

2 hours ago, henrim said:

I use paraffin on machine tables and have used it on hand saw blades too. But I would hesitate using it to fret slotting  as I’m afraid that any residue on the slots prevents glue from sticking to the them. For the same reasons I don’t use any lubricant in fret slotting. And that again is the reason I got fed up with sawing slots by hand and made a table saw jig.

But then I’m not sure how big of a problem it is if the glue doesn’t stick to the wood. As after all it’s not there to glue the fret wire to the wood. It is there just to fill any gaps and thus locking the barbs in place.

I chose soap over wax because the soap is water soluble and looked to be easier to remove should the need arise, not that I expect it to. I rarely use glue on frets and then mostly to plug the end of a too deep slot with sanding dust.

SR

On 7/9/2023 at 7:49 AM, Akula said:

Yeah, I love the aesthetics, but I'll be doing things differently on mine. I never liked doing straight copies of guitars either. Mine's going to be 26" scale length, reverse headstock, all the things I like. That's why I build. It's definitely not to save money!

Exactly.

I made a tele shaped guitar using the proper outline measurements, but all my normal carves and headstock and so on. I was shocked at how big it was, how similar in size and weight to an LP it turned out.

SR

3 hours ago, Akula said:

That's a genius idea!

Well, it wasn't mine, rather it was actually something I'd heard of here. I will admit that I felt like a genius for recalling it and getting up off my butt and trying it!

SR

9 hours ago, MiKro said:

I would have traded places with you Scott many years ago if it meant I did not have the disabilities that I have had then or now.   

MK

Cheers Mike!

Thank you no--I think I'll keep rolling the dice on my own infirmity lotto. I already know you've had poor rolls.

Have a scotch and put your feet up unless you're not supposed to... anyway relax and enjoy.

SR

38 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

that top is a lovely place to start.  looking fwd to it!  

Thanks Mike. I gotta say this is making my hands happy!

SR

2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Excellent!  Can't wait 

Thanks Andy, but you're going to have to. I'm still about two and a half years from retirement, so unlike you and @MiKro I still only have weekends to work on this.

I am sooo looking forward to being in you guy's shoes....timewise.

SR

On 6/24/2023 at 12:31 PM, Andyjr1515 said:

AHAA!!!!  Experience!!  Add an ebony stripe to the hatch and every one will think it was supposed to be like that

Brilliant save Andy!

On 6/25/2023 at 8:56 AM, Andyjr1515 said:

For the ebony, I started with 120 grit and progressed down the grades to 2500 grit and then swapped over to microweb, starting at 2600 and progressing up to 12000.  I used around 15 grades of grit altogether.  The result was remarkable:

I'll say!

Beautiful Andy.

SR

On 6/23/2023 at 11:03 PM, Mr Natural said:

It came out great Scott- how's the wife like it? 

Hey Scotty, long time no see!

The wife claims to like it, and she put it very near her favorite chair, in her line of sight - she says so she can look at it every time she sits in that chair.

So, she's looking at it A LOT.  I guess she really does like it.

SR