Jump to content
Voting in Guitar of the Month April 2024 is now open! ×

charisjapan

Established Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    361

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    15

 Content Type 

Everything posted by charisjapan

  1. charisjapan
    I'm no expert, but undetected (or ignored) a micro-fracture flexes while healing, which often causes trouble later in life. A good friend said that they were having arthritis-like trouble 30 years after a similar situation. Honestly, I think the doctor is just playing it safe, and Mrs. Charisjapan is on his side ... I'm outvoted! Icing, elevation, and no strain ... is driving me nuts!!
  2. charisjapan
    Still waiting for MRI results, but ankle feels fine. Hoping to get the doctor's okay next Tuesday. Meantime, after giving the cane a recarve ( ), I've become very good at fast-hobbling. Was able to get down to the shop a bit today, as well as do some sit-down work. Started to make a headstock template for Mount Fuji. Last time with the Chinaberry bass, I just freehanded with the trimmer/router. This time I want to replicate it at least once, so need something a 10mm bearing bit would follow ... meaning a smoother "snowcap" line. I also cut out a couple blocks of the White Limba for "snow." Next was locating the fretboard dots, and made a little test piece to make sure the brass would fit in the hole made with a 6mm bit I finally found. (Forstner bits are uncommon in Japan) Tight fit, but it cut the Wenge nicely ... happy puppy.
  3. charisjapan
    Gonna have to take a little break from the build ... hoping only a short one. The other day I found myself having to choose between falling with a ladder, or jumping off it. Neither boded well, as I was about 10 feet (2.5 meters) off the ground at the time, but experience tells me that the complications of a runaway ladder (a 32-foot ladder extended to about 25 feet) outweigh the jump. I landed pretty good, and the ladder didn't fall on me (or anyone else! I was beside a busy public sidewalk and road), but my right foot has a bit of pain under the heel. The doctor took X-rays and a CT-scan, both negative, but he put me in a wrap-on half-cast and told me to come in next Tuesday. If it's "just" a bad sprain, it'll just take some time and care ... but if it's still bad, next is an MRI to look for a micro-fracture. Apparently, you don't want one of those. So posting my dumb circus act on Facebook, and posting a pic of a cheapo aluminum and plastic cane I bought (live on third floor, no elevator, crutches were scary!), @Barnaby wrote that I was probably thinking about carving a wood handle ... so I took it as a challenge! I was also inspired by @Freddy G 's latest build video to use rasps and scrapers for something other than a neck build. I also used a drum sander and drill press. It was a snap to bore an 18mm hole on a block of wood, but a lot more complicated to make a corresponding peg! Learned a lot about joints today. Btw, this is the same Mountain Cherry as the neck in the Chinaberry bass.
  4. charisjapan
    Thought I had done enough domestic stuff to keep Mrs.Charisjapan appeased for a while ... but alas, I apparently made a LOT of promises that I put in the "Later" box. Not trying to be sexist or anything, but doesn't it sometimes seem that wives have better memory for such things?! But in between chores, I was able to prep the neck for the fretboard. Carbon fiber rods are epoxied in, and also the "HotRod" truss rod. The two brass ends of the rod were about 1mm above the rod itself, and I just so happened to have some 1mm strips of Padauk, so used gel super glue to hold in place, then sanded everything down to flat. I know it wasn't a required step, but it looks nice, and will have just a bit more adhesion surface for the fretboard.
  5. charisjapan
    Side markers. Probably made 20 ... this is what is NOT somewhere behind something in my shop.
  6. charisjapan
    Was going to have the "dots" go through the fretboard, but the potential for disaster seemed great, so remade 12 3.5mm deep top dots, and started testing on side markers. Also tested a 30-degree hole for the markers ... to make an oval "dot" ... looked cool, but the logistics were beyond me. (sorry, no pic just now)
  7. charisjapan
    Gorgeous, Chris!
  8. charisjapan
    Made a jig to cut the brass tubing to 7mm, then cleaned them up using a little dowel chucked into a cordless drill. Made 12 of these ... need 10, but who knows. Next used the "plug-cutter bit" I made ... it works, after a fashion. Found if I didn't clean it out ever millimeter, it would start burning, then found that if I drilled right next to a previous hole, it would work a lot better. Will make about 20 of these tomorrow, and choose which ones look best. Next up is the side markers ... 3mm brass tubing with Padauk center. IF I can make a plug 2mm in diameter!
  9. charisjapan
    Epoxied the carbon fiber rods into the neck. (I love Summer Vacation!)
  10. charisjapan
    Kudos to @ScottR for the 3M on a plane. Used my old Stanley #5-1/2, and worked like a dream. I was getting close to my goal of 6.15mm nut to 6.65mm heel, and being very careful, but this was the difference between very close and exactly on target. Yay!
  11. charisjapan
    Nice Tip!! Used 3M on my #5-1/2 today, and was perfect for finishing the pinstriped Wenge fretboard. I was pretty close just eyeball/sand/measure/eyeball/etc. but the flatness of the plane plus the weight plus the handles made it exact! Thank you!!
  12. charisjapan
    Finally~! Started work on the body. I was bidding on a 10" bandsaw, so was holding off ... the $600 saw went for $550 the last 20 minutes. WAY outta my budget, so will have to save some more sheckels or, like today, make do with my trusty 20 year old Ryobi jigsaw. Tried a super sharp fine blade that was completely defeated by the Limba. Found this Bosch "Speed for Wood" blade, and it worked, but still took 45 minutes. After that, another 45 minutes on the spindle sander ... along with my fretboard thicknessing saga this morning, I am going to feel this later. (sigh) Anyway, as I was sanding the body edges in preparation for routing from the template, I got carried away and just sanded precisely to the line, and then spent another hour using a sanding block. The Limba was so nice to sand! (I know a lot of folks don't like sanding, but ... I do!) Feeling good for some progress that looks like progress! And having dithered over finish, I bought some Odie's Oil today. It will have to go to Hawaii (won't ship to Japan), so I won't have it until I go there to see my kids and grandkids (#3 due in September). Thank you @KnightroExpressfor the idea.
  13. charisjapan
    If you have ever wondered what 2.5mm of Wenge (and a little Padauk) looks like in powdered form, with a few card scraper shavings ... this. Minus what went on the floor, in the air, and embedded in my mask. I was thinking of alternative ways to do this (router sled, handplanes, focused neutron energy ...) but all promised disaster/splinters/tearout/WWIII, so instead of thinking, just slapped on some #60 and went to it. Yeah, it took an hour, but "just do it" was probably the shorter option ... and gained incredible muscle tone in my forearms! (bonus) The card scraper was last, just to see what the wood looks like planed. The board is now a bit less than 7mm, and pretty flat. Will probably take it down to 6.5mm, then radius.
  14. charisjapan
    Was looking around and found this! Seymour Duncan Custom Shop P90 for Mandolin I am barely able to play a 4-string bass, but after building the short-scale, wondered if I could make an even shorter scale ... and something different! My Sunday band plays pretty mild stuff, so don't really need a huge amount of thud or volume.
  15. charisjapan
    Dots!! At another forum buddy's suggestion, I re-thought my idea that dots are boring. (that, and special-design, custom-made fret markers for a multiscale would be a real chore) He uses a wood dowel inside an aluminum tube! First, I went on a tangent and tried a clear acrylic dot, so you can see the wood below. It works, but I have carbon fiber rods below, so that won't look nice on this guitar. Maybe next one? ... (btw, I can get the clear a lot more clear, but was too lazy) So back to the wood-in-a-metal-tube, I tried brass, to compliment the brass but I plan on using. I gotta say, I kinda like this one! The first picture is the plug-boring tool I made to cut the center wood ... it's just the same brass tube with "cutters" I ground into it with a file. It's brass, so is soft and clogs easily, but I just take the file and dress it a bit every mm or so. Good thing I only have to make 10 of these!
  16. charisjapan
    Thanks for reading and commenting, guys! I haven't been participating much in everyone else's threads much ... a bit focused on working in the shop as time allows, and posting my progress ... but I have been lurking. So ... glued bottom and other side of Wenge this morning, then pulled the clamps off and cleaned up the top a bit. The whole thing must be thicknessed from the present 9mm to about 6mm, and the top has to be radiused. About 1/2" (12mm) will be cut off each end and both sides thinned about 2mm after gluing this to the neck. Which means a lot more to go, but I'm really happy the "fanned" frets are done, and my pinstriped wood binding seems to have worked out nicely.
  17. charisjapan
    Again, pardon my complete ignorance, but, I am wondering what any kind of pickups work for a mandolin? And ... would a short-scale mando-bass be possible? (as in 28 or 30" scale)
  18. charisjapan
    That's an interesting idea ... it doesn't get stuck in the slot?
  19. charisjapan
    Gaaaaahhhhh! Glued one side of the Padauk pinstripe, and though I thought I was being careful with the glue, it wicked up the fret slots something fierce!! Nearly reached for a blowtorch. Knowing that if I left it to dry, it would be a bear to remove later, I grabbed a piece of sheet paper, folded it in half, and ran it up the slot to kind of push/scoop it out ... 26 times. On the other side, same thing happened, but I was ready and had 30 little pieces cut and folded ... worked a lot better second time. After trimming the bottom, glued one side of the Wenge, so that I can get final measurement and the heel piece. You can see it in the last picture, it's 1mm too wide, but wanted to measure off the actual finished line before trying to remove precisely 1mm. Tomorrow
  20. charisjapan
    I know nothing about mandolins, but looking forward to this! What kind of scale length?
  21. charisjapan
    So decided to go for the pinstripe Padauk/Wenge binding. All was fine in the theory stage, but when it came time to flip the router switch to cut off 3mm on each side of the fretboard (point of no return ... up to now I could always bail out and just show the fret tangs or nip them and fill with sawdust) ... got a bit anxious. After all the work cutting those frets!!! Manned up, and trimmed the board. Never imagined luthiery would require such heroism! That 25mm deep flush trim bit is one of the best investments ... at $30 (compared to a cheapo $10 piece of junk), this consistently makes nice smooth edges, and handled the Wenge with no chipout or burns. Was surprised, honestly, and those fret slots really looked like potential trouble. Got my first pinstripe in ... Yay!
  22. charisjapan
    Looks so nice, Chris! Hope I get to see it someday ... if they make a big-budget movie in PA.
  23. charisjapan
    Thank you @Prostheta! Well, until now all I had was hearsay, but I can now say from experience that Wenge is REALLY splintery! (ouch!) A fellow on another forum posted a link to some incredible wood-bound fretboards, which got me to thinking how smooth the Padauk cut. So I did a little experiment, trying to cut a 1mm piece off another neck blank, and but cutting one side at a time, went really well. What do you think about pinstripes? I mostly worried about sanding down the radius ... wont that red dust get into the Wenge grain?
  24. charisjapan
    Finished the fret slots, then trimmed off the excess to about 1mm where I want to be. The board is presently 2mm narrower than the neck, and the neck is .5mm wider than I want it to be ... a 43mm nut width. I decided I want 2mm or less "wood binding" on each side, which seems like a reasonable number (unless someone has a better idea ... I'm just winging it ). After making the fret slots 2.4mm deep (a little deeper than the tang to allow for finishing the top of the fretboard while radiusing), I very scientifically radiused the slots. I set my saw depth gauge (a piece of wood taped to one edge of the saw) to 3.2mm and cut each edge at approximately 30 degrees, then gave a few light swipes rocking the saw. Frets slots are (almost) perfectly radiused! My two "same-wood binding" strips remained perfectly stable, even in Japanese Crazy Summer Humidity, so I think the plan is proceeding quite nicely.
  25. charisjapan
    ... and started cutting the multiscale fret slots. This is the part I have been dreading (but also kind of excited) ... not to mention my first time to use Wenge. I taped the FretFind2D PDF printout onto the blank, and measured each fret. The printout is about as perfect as any measuring device I have, so will just follow it. I used a block of Padauk for my "jig." Appropriate, as I used a block of Yama-zakura Cherry for the Chinaberry fretboard. I got up to 12th fret today ... halfway done!
×
×
  • Create New...