Stu.

I've got 99 problems, but cavity covers ain't one.

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

19 hours ago, ScottR said:

Man, you make good looking work aids.....tools.....templates......and great looking guitars.

SR

But I also accidentally vacuum up my inlays, so there's the balance!

It looks like the body is in motion underneath the clear, like swirling clouds on a gas giant.

The weather has been pretty gross this weekend, so no chance of confusing it for Texas!

Highlights include a new improv router table and a body which looks more like a body:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

The little padauk plate is for cavity covers.

Hector agrees that it's far too hot, and he said that cutting guitar bodies without a bandsaw or 2kW router is a bit of a faff:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Lots of routing and sanding to go, but I'm feeling more positive about it now! It should look very niced when carved through. The hope is that it ends up with a slightly antique/rustic aesthetic to work with the ovangkol fingerboard

1 hour ago, JGTay said:

No worries, always good to know what tools other people use and recommend. 

I have just ordered some Clarke 500mm f clamps, waiting for confirmation for collection. I have made do with the tools that I have to hand up until now, but the V is too wide for my current ones (and previous builds I have done some interesting clamping ) 

Also buying a shinto was because so many other forum members use them and they come highly recommended. 

I also took the step of buying a proper fret saw (which has just been used for the first time), have been making do with a fine tooth hacksaw previously, but the kerf was still too wide and left the frets slightly too slack for my liking. 

The Shinto is another great tool. If it's good enough for Paul Sellers, it's good enough for us mere mortals.

3 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

Nice to see someone else with the same tools, I've got that same metre rule, tenon saw and mini screwfix f clamps. Goes to show you don't need the worlds best tools to get good results  

I don't want to derail, but I really like the Magnusson tool line! I know they're still entry level tools from Kingfisher, but they're very solid for the money; just having a nicer handle makes it feel less like a disposable tool. The 200x80mm F-clamps are only £6 and so much better than Silverline for practically the same money.

13 hours ago, ScottR said:

What is crazy hot in the UK at the butt end of May?

Curious in Houston Texas USA....

SR

You might consider taking your jacket off, whilst we'll be sweating it out in shorts

It's 24ºC outside at the moment, which means the temperature in the woodworking conservatory is ~1000ºC with all windows/doors closed to stop animals escaping.

Thank you, chaps!

I've just had a nightmare with this body. Today was supposed to be glue-up day for the body, two tops, and accompanying veneer. Unfortunately, it's crazy hot in the UK right now and my current workspace (our conservatory) was roasting; the Titebond was going tacky VERY quickly, and then the veneer rippled with moisture before I could get the walnut on. I also managed to glue my helpful wiring channel string into the wood (thankfully now retrieved, although that means I don't have an aid to guide my wires now.

Fingers crossed for when the clamps come off.

I figured it would be better to start a new thread for the new Tele build. The first couple of posts were over at:

As the title suggests, I'm building a Tele with padauk and some other woods; I've been sitting on the padauk since the start of my limba flying V, but not being able to travel to finish that off has kicked me into starting this.

Drawing by S K, on Flickr

The plan is to end up with a 24 fret, 25.5" scale Tele. The humbucker and hot rails pickup cavities will be routed tight with an offset template, and then the pickups will be direct mounted. I'll carve a big, sweeping curve under the arm to show off the woods and shave weight off.

Padauk, walnut, spalted beech, and fumed eucalyptus for between the layers:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Template prep:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Pencil lines;

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Fewer pencil lines:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

No pencil lines on the back:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

In other news, this router bit is brand new. I loaded it into my router and then wondered why it wasn't running concentric inside the bushing - it's pretty wonky:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

And a quick shooting board:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

On 5/17/2020 at 2:16 PM, Bizman62 said:

Hiding either the walnut or the beech in between the layers would be a sin!

Also, have you tested how they act together with the finish?

This was a good shout! There isn't enough contrast at all between the spalted beech and walnut on their own.

I'm going to try fumed eucalyptus veneer between to tidy things up; it should be dark enough to give clear separation.

18 hours ago, Norris said:

It's back in my possession. The extra-chunky neck that was requested is a little too chunky.

I get to reshape the neck 

Such an unfortunately turn of events!

I have a bit of a dilemma!

My original plan was to use the padauk to make a Tele, with a light wood for a cap and a thin laminate of something dark between (to carve through). I've bought and joined two tops to stack: one is walnut, and the other is spalted beech. Although I wanted the spalted beech on top, it ends up looking like a ombre guitar; having padauk, spalted beech, and then walnut gives more contrast and impact. If I choose the latter, I can also add walnut veneer to the headstock.

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

The next step is to route wiring channels and some weight relief into the padauk, followed by sanding the tops and gluing it all up.

My neice is also about to turn two, and she's getting a kitchen for her birthday:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

It was actually a lot of fun for my first jointing by hand! The results are pretty good too:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

These are some little screw clamp knobs for making jigs:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

The plan is to mount a nut into the top or bottom and then use them with a long M8 bolt.

Thank you, chaps!

There was also some planing action:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Well, the saw absolutely destroyed the padauk:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

I now have some backs and tops to work with:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

The padauk body is going to be topped with spalted beech (I forgot to take a photo), and maybe something dark between.

Feast your eyes on the cheapest no.7 that Amazon has to offer:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Pretty great straight out of the box. I wanted a safer option with my bench planer stuck 90 miles away.

Also, my carving skills are really coming along:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Great work with the purpleheart. It seems like a difficult wood to pair with anything, especially on fingerboards; you have to keep it classy!

That padauk is seriously tough! I built a circular saw jig to start ~60mm on each side, and now I'm still cutting through the middle of the blocks by hand. 30 min shifts seem to keep the pain and boredom at bay! I even bought a lovely vintage 5tpi Spear & Jackson panel saw, which arrived yesterday and has been powering through after a quick sharpening (rip); my 10tpi cross-cut was taking way, way too long as you can imagine. The Dyson is now very orange indeed

I hope everyone is still good, especially considering our new normal. Just at the point where I'd started to settle into my new job to the point where I was going to start moving projects and tools up, the lockdown was initiated in the UK. I'm fortunate enough to have a cupboard of tools and workbench at home now, although my serious kit (2kW router, bench planer, thicknesser, radius jig, and most of my other guitar specific tools) is all 90 miles away. I have a padauk 2-piece blank and handful of fingerboard blanks with me too.

I've kept myself busy by building an enclosure for my little CNC, working on a router sled, and re-sawing padauk by hand. I also caught a drum sander on offer:

Fun new fingerboard:

Very well deserved, and good choice on the move over to PG! You'll find it much more collaborative than other forums.

Those curves and lines are so damn clean! Glorious work!

12 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

This time I abstain from commenting nicely since the changes to your previous post aren't too significant. Happy?

10 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Right, so what have I misse....oh fffff

My 'updates' are turning into spot-the-difference challenges...

You guys are far too kind, as always. There's still plenty of time for this to go wrong, especially at the pace I make progress.

I managed to get the clamps off at the weekend. The joint looked good, so I shaped the heel and roughed a new neck profile in; including blending the sides at the fingerboard edge. It still needs a LOT of work, but I'm really pleased with the fit and maple veneer so far.

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Congrats on the GOTM! This turned out beautifully!