Norris

A gentle sand back (and not dusted down too much) followed by a Tru-Oil slurry & buff

Hopefully I'll get the first shiny coat on tomorrow and see if it looks smooth enough. If not then the slurry & buff will be repeated 

That's fabulous work. It must have taken an age to program. Kudos for such meticulous detail and the well organised logistics to pull it off!

3 hours ago, Prostheta said:

I've probably forgotten by this stage, but this is Sapele isn't it?

Khaya - African "mahogany"

Boy have I cashed in some brownie points this weekend! I really must get a random orbital sander 

Sanding by hand. 120 grit all over to remove the first oil coat, with special attention around the edge to get rid of ALL the scratches. Then 240 grit all over, followed by 400 grit all over. 

Not really much to see photo wise, but one of the most satisfying to me. When it's all properly smooth

Then I managed to get a coat of oil on, including the neck this time. This time you will get a photo. The neck, while wet with oil, was like staring into a tiger's eye gem stone 

I did the body too, but the light was going by that time 

Lovely job on the repair. What a gorgeous colour it is already 

Congratulations! Absolutely top work on all of your builds, but this one is outstanding 

2 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Nice feature! I've always wondered why guitars should have sharp edges despite wood by nature being soft and round.

It certainly lends itself to the Gibson "open book" style headstock. I'm quite pleased with it, and would do it again with or without the chip 

Simply fabulous!

I managed to spend some time on the guitar today. However as the fretboard is masked up because I'm in the middle of polishing the frets (and the tools I need are at the class) I'm a little limited as to what I could do. One thing that I could tackle though was this chip out the back of the headstock. It's only a small chip but rather than try to fix it, here's a subtle "feature"

With a couple of guidelines drawn in

Then approx 30° chamfer

Followed by a bit of careful filing and sanding...

I followed that with some more sanding on the end grain, round the rest of the headstock sides and blending. Nicely down to 400 grit

Hopefully the frets will be finished tomorrow night and I can get on with the final sanding and finishing 

I managed to cash in a brownie point yesterday and steamed out a few small dents on the horns that I managed to make with the fret crowning file. I'm happy to report it works just swell (geddit?!) through a single coat of Tru oil

Water drops didn't penetrate, but a well damped cotton cloth and a steam iron made a nice job of it 

I hadn't twigged how small it was. Double kudos for such a neat job!

Sod off the lot of you!

If I had more time to spend on it...

Anyway I might try to cash in a few brownie points now that it's so close to the finish line. I might get to do some homework

That's some serious carving!

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Against modern western lifetime age expectations of a non-smoking male, I reckon I have about 14 years left.  Knock off the last couple because I probably won't be able to understand what a bass guitar is, that leaves 12. 

So if maybe you could get a move on on that one, please.  I'd love to see it

 

Bad news. I'm (currently) a smoker

Oh, and you may well see your filler repair under the finish. A wooden repair is usually better e.g. from an offcut. Mixing materials can cause movement over time, witnessing the join. It wouldn't take long to chisel it out, glue in a piece of wood and then knock it back to shape with a rasp or file

I would suggest a smaller router like my Makita would be sufficient for most guitar building duties if you take it steady and invest in a decent range of bits. Being lighter it's a bit easier to control and less fatiguing to use. Making yourself a larger base from perspex would make it even more useful. It lacks a plunge function, but is easy enough to set the depth. Mine also came with a side bearing which is useful for cutting binding rebates 

12 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

Another SB? Haha

I'm thinking of something inspired by a 4005/330, but more curvaceously carved. Now that would be a long project!

I do also have an SB- inspired idea in my mind too

3 hours ago, ScottR said:

Dan is a patient man

Very much so. I'm glad he's a good mate 

3 hours ago, ScottR said:

All that time between work sessions does give new ideas plenty of incubation time. I bet you have several buzzing around in your head by now.

Yes, although I have the 12-string acoustic rebuild in the queue already. However I'm thinking it's about time I made a proper instrument - a bass guitar, being a bass player and all that! I've learnt a bit of technique on lesser instruments now 

2 hours ago, ScottR said:

I just noticed this is approaching 3 years now.

You are going to give @mattharris75 a run for his money for the title of longest build.

SR

Ha ha. Yes, for such a "simple" build it does take a while at only 2 hours per week, 30 weeks per year. 

It makes me wonder how long the current idea buzzing round my head would take...

Lovely work. Thanks for sharing 

Wow!

7 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Me too.  It's the fact that whatever it is, you have to do it 21 to 24 times!

22 this time. What really gets me is that putting a few dents in the body while fretting is almost inevitable. It's steam time again!

3 hours ago, Mr Natural said:

sanding is mine 

Oh no, that's the best bit

4 hours (2x classes) to level and crown the frets. Nothing worth a photo. Frets are my absolute least favourite thing about building guitars 

That is all 

With a jigsaw you really have to let the blade do the work rather than pushing it, as pushing is virtually guaranteed to deflect the blade. The same is true with a bandsaw. A good sharp blade will help stop it deflecting, as will backing it off occasionally to let the blade straighten up. Cutting the occasional wider relief slot area will also help.

A jigsaw blade will always deflect, so don't try to cut too close to the line. Going back over it slowly and carefully with the blade perpendicular to the cut can nibble away the excess like a powered file. Just be very careful if you try it though, and stop if you are feeling fatigued 

Impressive attention to detail. This is going to look spectacular