Mender

That's an amazing finish You wouldn't need a mirror when you have a guitar like that! And I adore that tortoise shell effect. Note to self - do some experimenting!

Only too pleased to help, Brian. I like this place a lot, and I think it is well worth chipping in to help keep it going

I tried drilling a hole with my hand drill and a brand new bit from Axminster but found it very difficult. It took ages to get through the blank and it burned the wood, there was smoke!

What's going on with that? The bit should be fine, the drill maybe? It's a shitty thing I got from B&Q to put up some shelves years ago.

I found the smell of Walnut being cut very familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. My friend came round last night, he smokes Golden Virginia, it's the same smell!

I just posted a reply to this at Simo's place, but I'll copy it here as well

Question; were you dipping/pulling to allow the wood to clear from the flute?

With a twist drill, you should drill in about 3 or 4mm, then lift the drill out of the hole (still spinning) and the flutes should clear. Repeat as often as needed until the hole is completed. If you don't do that, the drill flutes jam up with the sawdust, binding in the hole creating friction, and you'd be like a boy scout trying start a camp fire, wood rubbing against wood will make it burn

You should have just cleared over that without any sanding. It would have been pretty cool

Seriously, you should consider putting some sort of inlay where those claw marks are

My plan is to route out a 1/2" strip of oak and inlay that down the middle. we shall see how that goes! I'll keep my eye out for some woods I can use, but Im tired of all my stupid mistakes

A slightly neater solution may be to get a strip of brown binding, or even better, tortoise shell binding, slighly wider than the thickness of the top, and 2.5 thick, and route a 2.5mm slot down the center of the top just wide enough to push the binding in on its edge. Glue it in and smooth it down level. That would give you a nice clean line without looking like a fixed mistake. I did that on a guitar with a two piece body. The glue line on the back wasn't visible, but it could be seen slightly on the top. The binding strip covered it nicely

That grain pattern is astonishing! I'm envious in the extreme

Here is a very famous quote for you: 'He who has never made a mistake has never done anything.'

Everything you do in life carries the risk of making a mistake, that is a fact of life. If you shy away from everything that carries a possibility of making a mistake, then you won't be doing anything at all, and that in itself would be a mistake. You see, you simply can't get away from it, can you?

Never beat yourself up over a mistake, it just isn't worth it. Either fix it, cover it, make it into a feature, or try again. That doesn't only apply to guitar building, but everything in life. So, build and be happy

After you've used the template to do about 500 boards, the slots on the template will probably be worn enough for the pin to fit all the way into the slot

If I wanted a Tele, this one would fit the bill nicely, but a black pup would be my prefered choice

I'm following this build with interest

/sigh

I wish I had something like that nearby

I wish we had something like that in the UK

I was hoping Wez or Mender might chime in here...

I've been away for a couple of weeks, so didn't see this thread

I bought this one. It is a great tool, powerful but not too noisy.

I considered that Axminster one because of the throat depth, but there are problems with it. A friend of mine bought one but has great difficulty getting the thing completely vertical after sliding the head backwards or forwards, or after drilling holes at an angle. it only has to be the thickness of a hair out when you line it up for the bit to be a couple of degrees off vertical, so I gave it a miss.

Good heavens! That is a real big boy's toy, isn't it?

I use rods similar to what Mender posted, but they have the blue pvc jacket on the outside. I find them incredibly easy to install (just did one night before last). I have used them in fender and gibson style necks, as well as in mini guitars. I quite like them. Just use a 1/4" route for the main portion and a 3/8" route for the nut end.

I have a couple of blue and a couple of black rods here. This is the blue one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190584088388?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Apart from a 2mm difference in length, there is no difference in quality. I tested them by placing them under a 56 pound steel block, then turned the adjuster. They all lift the block easily. I think that is more strain than they will ever be subjected to when adjusting a guitar neck

I used to make my own truss rods with 1/4" mild steel bars, but my last builds have been done with this type of double action rod http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400061678962?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649. Works exactly the same as the StewMac ones, but use a shallower route, and of course, far cheaper

It's a done deal.

Once I figure out how to plug it in, I'll be all set.

I do know the on/off switch is on the handle. Push for on

Yes, it is tall. I'll only have less than two inches of clearance between the tension adjuster on the top and the ceiling of the caravan

I love the look of that timber, but not so much the shape. Sharp points on headstocks tend to end up rounded before long when they get knocked

From the pictures, there is no neck angle. The bridge looks like a strat style fixed bridge, so wouldn't need a neck angle. I think you must be talking about the curve on the outer edge of the neck pocket. That is far better than a standard Fender style neck pocket as it makes playing the higher frets much more comfortable.

I take it the guitar is a left hander? If not, the drawings are mirrored

If it is 1/16" off center from the neck blank, just change where you will cut so it becomes the centre. If it is off centre to the finished contour, it would work fine, but the adjuster will be off centre. If the adjuster is at the heel end, it doesn't matter as it wouldn't really be in view, but at the nut end, it would be noticeable. Then you would have to fit a truss rod cover to disguise it. Other than that, I don't see any problems.

I've seen a few 14 inch bandsaws around, all fairly tall, but not massive. This SIP is enormous. As I can't lift anything with my left hand at the moment, I couldn't even attempt to lift the main unit off the floor, although I did stand it up off the pallet. Double hernia anyone? I carried all the bits round to my old caravan, and struggled with the table, cast iron and weighty. Then I had to wait for my next door neighbour to get home from work to get the main unit round there. He couldn't lift it off the floor, and he's a builder and lifts really heavy stuff all the time. We managed to borrow a sack truck to wheel it round on, but lifting it into the caravan was very difficult, but we finally managed it. I can't assemble it yet until I've had (and recovered from) the operation on my wrist, and then there will be a permanent cloud of wood dust over the area

Hmmmm. Fresh blood *goes to get knife and fork

Welcome to the forum

Yeah, I just looked at he pix and didn't check the specs. Mine is bigger than that: 12"- 305mm throat and 175mm re-saw height. I had one the size of what you're looking at once, but a guitar I was building ate it. You're going to want a bigger one.

SR

I looked at several 14 inch bandsaws with 175 - 180mm re-saw height, which would have been big enough, but they were more money that the SIP. There were a few on Ebay second hand, but they seemed to be going for around £380 - £400, hardly any less than I paid for the SIP, and I get a two year standard SIP warranty on mine

All I have to do now is re-arrange what I laughingly call my workshop (an old 12 foot caravan) to make room for it along side my 13 inch thicknesser, 6 inch jointer, pedestal drill, router table, belt sander, cupboards, shelves, and drawers. I just hope I end up with enough space to actually get in to do some work in there

If you can stretch your budget, I would suggest you go for a bigger bandsaw than 250mm. I've had small and bandsaws, and haven't been happy with them. I ended up with a second hand 14 inch 3 wheel bandsaw

http://www.drapertools.com/products/manuals/36761ins.pdf

It isn't bad, but the table is cast aluminium and has dipped slightly in the middle, also it is limited to 139mm depth of cut, and I'd rather have more.

In anticipation of having my operation at the end of March so I can start building again, I decided to upgrade to a 14 inch two wheel SIP 01548. This one allows up to 230mm (9 inches), which will be ideal for resawing tops for bookmatching. I got it at a very good price, £418.80, far cheaper than anywhere else http://www.twwholesale.co.uk/product.php/site/froogle/sn/SIP01548 . It should be here on Thursday

Full specs:

This machine is suitable for most workshop environments. The extra powerful 2hp induction motor on this machine enables it to maintain accuracy and to cut effectively up to its maximum depth. Dual speeds for efficient cutting of all types of wood, plastic and non-ferrous metal plus a large capacity cutting height of 230mm.

Motor - 1.5kW (2hp)

Supply - 230v (13amp)

Throat Width - 340mm

Table Size - 550 x 400mm

Table Tilt - 0º - 45º

Max. Cutting Height - 230mm

Blade Length - 2560mm

Blade Width - 6 - 25mm

2 Speed - 400 metres/min / 840 metres/min

Net Weight - 85kg

Packaged Dimensions (HxWxL) - 1260 x 420 x 560mm

Quick lock rip fence and Cross-Cut cast heavy duty mitre guide supplied as standard

Fully adjustable blade tensioning and tracking - with guide

Quick release cam tensioning system

Powerful dust extraction facility

Rack and pinion rise and fall brass-bearing guide

Large cast iron tilting table

Supplied with adjustable LED light, stand and heavy duty wheels

0º - 45º table tilt - rack and pinion adjustment

I'm really looking forward to making some sawdust at last

I am getting older. I reach my official retiring age of 65 at the end of August this year

I think it was around 1968 when I came up with the idea. I bought a Fender Strat that someone had cut the nut slots too deep on, and as I've always preferred to have a zero fret, I had to work out how to fit one without making permanent modifications to the otherwise original spec guitar. That idea popped into my mind pretty much straight away