Chris G

Yes definitely and awesome guitar!! I have limited tools also and knowledge. I have been teaching myself the whole way. ScottR and the other guys on this site has been a big help giving me advice and tips.

Cant wait to see it all put together. Love the name!!

I did what you said and got most of it out. I traced an out line on paper to see what the shape looked like. On paper it looks good. I took another picture of the body without the template and when I looked closely I could still see a it needs to be sanded some more. What do you think? I don't think pictures are doing it justice, because it feels correct with no bumps. I will bring it to work tomorrow and have one of the guys there that works with wood to look at it.

Looks Great! How long did it take you? I am working my first built and estimate to be done in Aug.

Looking Good!! I am enjoying your thread.

Thanks for the great tip!! I'm a big fan of the sanding table. I will try that tomorrow if time permits. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this site you guys are the best!

I cleaned up the sides sanding by hand. I started with the drum sander, but decided to take it slow and sand by hand. I penciled the sides for reference and marked the troubled spots. Once I got the hand sanding done I started on dip on where the neck pocket will be. I took ScottR method and put 60 grit sandpaper with double sided tape, so I could have a flat sanding surface. I was able to get it flat enough to were I do not think it would show once the neck is set in. I started to smooth out the back and clean up the tear out with some old fashioned elbow grease. It took me 10-20 minutes to get it smoothed out. I still have some tear out showing, but will be cleaned up when I round over the edges. Here is the body. I am happy the way it came out. The measurements are almost spot on even with all the sanding I had to do. I know its not perfect, but I am supper happy of the progress I got so far.

Looks Great!!! I am really enjoying your thread. You are vary informative on your build and have the every stage documented. I do have a question, because I am new at all this. You rounded over the edges by hand and not a round over bit. Do you prefer doing it by hand? Just asking, because I will need to round over my edges as well.

First off thanks for the reply. I have the same concerns on the on the dip too. Is there a way to fixed that? I was just gong to sand it out the best I could. I know the body is just right at 13 inches wide and that is spec on the 59 Les Pauls. I still have a bit more sanding to do and would expect to be right under that. I have been reading on the 59's and see no two guitars were alike they varied a slight bit. I am not shooting for an exact replica. If I stray a little bit on some of the specs that is fine with me. I want it to be my own and not a replica and will put my own name on it. Thanks for the tips on the router bits.

Freaking Sweet!! Looks like something from Gwar. Love to look of the timbers. Great work!!

I have been slacking on the Guitar and Forms. The past 3 weeks we have been short handed at work and I have been putting in some long hours. I had one day where I worked 19 hours straight and it was not fun. Between work and some renovations done on the house there not been much time for the guitar or talking with you guys, but I have been keeping up with my daily beer intake. With all that said I finally got some work done on the body last night. I got my flush trim router bit and took and all of your advice with the getting my cuts on the band saw as close to the template as I could. When doing another pass on the band saw I did get a few cuts that was a bit past my template. I flushed trimmed the body and ran it on the drum sander to smooth out. I still have a few places I need to smooth out a bit more, but looks pretty good now. When starting the guitar, I made a few small mistakes and I was beating myself up, because of that. Since then I have more mistakes, but hell its my first guitar build and I am going to make mistakes. Now when I do make a mistake, because I am new with woodworking, guitar building, and all the tools that go with it, I don't let it bother me. I move on, fix my mistake and learn from it. Now if i route too deep or really screw up I will be upset, let just hope that does not happen. Here are some pictures of my progress. Here you can see some tear out. I still need to sand down another 1/16 an inch. That should get rid of the tear out and also will round over the edges. Here is some of the saw marks I was talking about. I have sanded most of all the marks out, but still have some left. All in all I'm happy with the progress that I have made so far even with the mistakes. Once I get another free minute today I will look at everyone's progress on there builds. Cheers!!

I will see if she wants to help with the finishing stage. She does not like tools, so she would not be much help. I am going to get my daughter to help once I start doing hand sanding. I thought it would be fun for her. Great news I just was looking at my top and the bow is out. It lays flat now and I did not do anything. It could be the warmer days now that has flatten it out. Here is the a couple picks of the drum sander. I maybe able to build a pace that I could attach as a robo-sander. This one is the thinnest one. What do you think?

I think so too. This place I get my wood from is one of the best within 100 miles and its only 2 miles from my house. He has a massive amount of exotic woods. Thanks guys!! I am ordering a bit today. The one I have does not have the option to move the barring from top to bottom. My template is all most the 100% its just has a few small bumps from sanding. I will work on it some more. My grandfather is coming this weekend to help with new floors and a little remodeling. I will get him to help me get as close to the template with the band saw and get the rough cut of the neck too. Like I said before I learning all these tools as I go. I feel confident that I could do it, but he has 50 years exp. with woodworking and tools. I figured I would use that to my advantage. I just bought a new pack of drum sander attachments. Is there a way to build/or add the flush guide to them? I would hate to have to take them back and get different ones. The wife is already on me for the amount of tools I am having to buy. I tell her this is going to be the start of a great thing, but still gives me that look when I come home with something new. Thanks Guys!! I may be able to do some more work on the templates if I have the energy.

Big Fan of the Vs!! Keep the great work coming!!

Looking Good!! I'm about at the same pace as you are. Slow and steady. This guitar is going to be awesome when its done. Keep up the Great Work!!

Great looking Guitar!! Cant wait to see it finished.

I have progress to report on. I got my body shape template done and started to work on the actual body. Here is a some pictures. I rough cut the body on the band saw. Now I need to flush trim the body so its even with the template. The only flush trim I have is a 1 1/2 inch so its not long enough. I will need to go and get a 2 inch bit. I have a few questions for you veterans 1. When using the flush trim, should I put a slightly larger bearing on the Bit? My thought is if there is any imperfections on the template I will be able to sand it down to the correct measurements. I am learning the tools and techniques as I go. 2. If I got the body a bit closer with the band saw would I need to flush trim or could get I use my drum sander for the drill press and get the correct final shape? I'm just asking because I seen people do that too. 3. I had another question but cannot think of it. If you all have anything tips on the subject that would be much appreciated. I think I will have to order the bit from the internet I was out yesterday a a few hardware stores and could not find the 2 inch bit. If I have to wait I think I will start on getting the neck cut out.

Cant wait to see how it turns out. I have looked into the kits and excited on your progress with it.

ScottR your need build sounds like it will be a real stunner! I can wait to see your progress. It might give me new ideas with my build and help me through the way. I see you have your garage open is it warm where you live? I cannot wait to be able to open my garage working on my build. Looks like we are going to get more snow and ice today. I am following this thread to get all new updates.

I think the same thing. If I do not prep the top it would just fight the body to stay flat. I have not thought of that. As get to that point I may look into that. I have made some progress on my templates, but none on the guitar it self. I have been working some jigs for the tools I have while working on the templates. There is a body routing jig that I found on this site that I'm going to build. I need a find a good neck profile jig. I seen a a few all the same concept, but each one is a little different. When I don't have time to work on the templates or guitar I have been making my build guide instructions. That way I have something to look at while building and so I don't rush and make a mistake. I have a question on the template making. I am using a drum sander attachment to the drill press. I am doing my best to get the templates nice and smooth and even. How do you fight to get templates to not have little sanding bumps and pits on the MDF? I am not applying to much presser and doing long even passes. I cant wait to for it to get nice out. My wife is going through school to get her Masters and I have to watch the kids while she is doing school work (which is almost everyday). Once it gets nice out I will be able to open the garage and have the kids play outside and get some work and progress done. Once I can get the templates done I will be able to start work on the guitar. I prefer that the templates are done and perfect before starting the guitar. If anyone one has tips on the template making I am all ears. Thanks again Guys!!

I went to the wood mill last Saturday to get the body sanded down to the correct thickness and to get the bow out of the maple top. The owner said putting the top through the planer or thickness sander would not help. He said that since the bow is not bad the planer would just push the top down flat when running it through and it would bow back up after it come out. He also said that once you glued and clamp down the top to the body it would be enough to get it flat again. What do you guys think? I will probably use the method that ScottR used for his top. I just need to get it little bit flatter before the glue process. I did get a new pies of Mahogany for the neck. I was able to get a block of Honduras Mahogany for 18.00. I should be able to get two necks out of it. Now my body is African Mahogany, but should not make a difference. The grain makings on the neck and body almost mach exactly. I have been working on getting my temples finished. I have not worked on anything in a few days because of the bad weather we are getting in TN. I think I will have my body cut out this weekend and maybe do some routing. We will see.

Sorry been a few days. I in the middle of some server upgrades and it's taking up most of my time. I also got a new toy the other day and took me most of the night after work to pick it up and get it unloaded at my house. I got a Craftsman 12 inch Band Saw. It has a 1hp motor and it cut up to 5 inch thick. I found it Craigslist for 150. Seems to be in great shape and going to set it up this weekend. I also have not made it to the mile yet, but going tomorrow morning. Here is a pic of the saw. I will check out that form for the beer. I got some great Craft brewery's in my area. On the top. You left it bowed up on the top side and just sanded it down on the bottom. I think I will do that also that way I don't have to take to much off. I think my body glue join is pretty seamless. I will follow your tips. Hopefully I have some progress to come on Sunday.

I looked hard on getting one of the starter kits from BYO Guitars. I thought it would be a great way to start. I also looked into the Chinese kits, but they were so inconsistent BYO seemed to be where to go. I know the BYO kits are Chinese, but they do better with quality control then the slandered Chinese kits. This guy did a review on the LP kit. http://notrightinthehead.net/2010/11/03/byo-les-paul-guitar-kit-product-review/ He has review a few kits ones from Ebay, other sites and BYO. He had some problems with the kit, but was able to fix and said most of the hardware was not the best. You can read for your self. After much consideration and I am very picky. I decided to take the plunge and build my first guitar from scratch. I know if I got one of the kits I would just ending up buying all new hardware and just use the body and neck. Those kits are not too bad in price, but since I was just going to get the kit for the body and neck I could save money and just get the wood. I have a wood shop a few miles from my house and got all the wood and milled for about 100.00. I know BYO has custom body's and necks, but think they are a bit over priced. If you get a kit let us know. I would love to know how it is and the progress on it.

Thanks!! The neck blank is 24inches long, 7 inches wide 2 1/2 inches thick. More I think about it, I am going to just get another piece of wood for the neck. I will use the other for another project. I think the piece neck with a volute on the back will work out good. I will got have my body and maple top milled on Thursday and while I'm there I will get another piece of Mahogany. Thanks for the tip and I will check out your links later this evening. I'm so glade I found this site. I am thankful that I can ask questions and get answers from experienced builders.

One more question on that build you did. How did you get you glued joints so fine? You can hardly see them in the finish guitar.