Mateyboy

Hi

Done a little bit of work on guitar. I routed the neck pocket and I am pretty pleased with that

I also started shaping the neck using a rasp, a fie and some sand paper. All I can say is this is a time consuming job, another first and very rewarding:

I've already made many mistakes on the neck but I believe how well I recover is how I will learn from my mistakes.

Off work today so I thought I would do a little bit of work on the neck:

Rout the neck pocket next then start on the fretboard.

Routed the truss rod channel, not perfect (hey it's my first attempt!) I made a has of the headstock part. I'm hoping I can tidy that up a bit. Worst case it is covered by the truss rod cover. 

So here it is... my first ever truss rod channel... 

I'll finish it with a chisel tomorrow.

12 hours ago, Prostheta said:

That's positive reinforcement right there. Feels good, right?

Yes, it's a very rewarding experience making a guitar! 

Made some progress on the neck this evening. Cut it roughly with the bandsaw, I was going to channel the truss rod first but I didn't because

1) I don't have the correct router bit (yet), and

2) The side of the maple wasn't square so it makes no odds.

I've marked the centre line and the next step is to make some jigs so I can shape it nicely. This is the first time I've attempted to make a neck so there may be an untold error in there yet! 

I just had to lay it out on the body to see what it might look like... 

That's it for now.

JT

19 hours ago, Prostheta said:

In some ways, being reined in from going all hell on a build is a good thing. For one, you're forced to consider your next steps and have plenty of time to refine your plan. I do that a lot. Oddly enough, whilst doing other woodwork.

Yeah, I make most of my mistakes when I have a crazy idea and dive on in! Talking of mistakes... mistake number three happened today! 

I decided to cut the neck scarf joint using a pull saw (I don't have a table saw and my band saw only cuts up to around 85mm and the wood is 100mm). It would have been better using a panel saw! It looks like I cut it with a knife and fork!

For my next build, if I get there, I will cut the maple wood down to a width that my band saw can handle.

I think I managed to save it with my router jig:

I still need to sand it before I cut the headstock to size and glue and clamp it properly but I'm fairly pleased with the result so far. Another first for me so I'm happy! 

I made my second mistake today (almost a disaster!) ; I was routing the cavity on the rear of the body for the pots and switch and I got a bit of tearout which ripped through and left little pin sized hole in the front of the body. I sanded some dust from an off cut of poplar and filled the tearout with it and some super glue. Don't think it's noticeable now:

The cavity is now complete and I have drilled all of the wiring channels, just the neck and bridge position left on the body.

I also bought an ebony fretboard on eBay which is pre-slotted. I haven't got the equipment at the moment to cut my own fret slots. Is this cheating?  I will radius it myself, fret it and cut it.

It's slow work at the moment as my wife likes to keep me busy with other jobs and I don't have permanent electric in the workshop just yet.

JT

Hi

just a small update, I haven't had much time to work on the guitar as I've been building a wooden workshop to do the work in!

I've carved a belly contour (a first for me) and I've started routing the electronics cavity on the back.

I'm hoping to get the rough body shape finished this weekend (excluding the neck pocket and bridge position) and probably get started on the maple wood neck. 

Im also starting work on some decking in the garden so time will tell how much time I can devote to the axe! ? ?

JT

Starting to look really nice. ?

6 hours ago, ScottR said:

Water based dyes get used under nitro all the time; stains should present no problems either. You can cross that one off your list of things to worry about.

SR

Excellent!

Small update, that's it for today; pickup cavities and rounder routing done. 

Never carved a belly contour before, quite excited. 

2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That looks a nice chunk of wood .  

You are right to leave the fixing of the bridge position until a lot later - a lot can change between the initial plan and multiple bits of wood, metal and plastic being in their various positions!

 Although I mark the intended position early on to make sure I have a datum for length, perpendicularity and straightness, it's one of the last things I actually drill holes for and fit.

Hi Andy

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it. The top side looks ok but because it is poplar theres quite a lot of green bits that I don't like. I am toying with the idea that I might use a water based stain for the top and burst it to a black nitro finish on the back and sides. I assume that the water based stain and the nitro will be ok together? 

I managed to rout the body this morning; although I've only made shallow guide cavities for the pickups.

I think I'll drill the pot holes later and I'll carve in a belly contour during the week, this is my 'plan'; on the back of the body of course:

OK, so I finally got chance to cut the body with the bandsaw.

Hopefully I will get to rout the body this afternoon, all is looking good with the template.

I also started making a neck template. The headstock was inspired by my owned guitars; Gibson (LP/SG) and BC Rich (Beast). It's a little plain but I've never made a neck before so I wanted something simple.

Might have a routed body later today. 

50 minutes ago, Pariahrob said:

Agree completely. That's way more accurate than using fixed templates. Another trick is to stick a layer of masking tape to the inner borders of the wood you use as your temporary template. That will ensure a slightly snugger fitting neck that you fettle to get perfect. 

I like that idea also! So simple yet never even crossed my mind. Thanks!!! 

15 hours ago, curtisa said:

You can actually dispense with creating a dedicated template for the neck pocket altogether if you want. This is how I usually do it. By making a temporary template to accommodate the neck, you're not limited to having just one template that can only do one thing. Also makes micro-adjustments of angles and positions on the body possible.

I like this method. I've done it on a previous body - makes sense really.

Poplar, ready to cut next week. 

First mistake!  I shouldn't have put the neck cavity in the main body template - it crumbled to bits as soon as I started to rout it.  

I finally have a body template I'm happy with. 12mm MDF. I deliberately left the bridge position off it, I'll measure that more accurately when the neck is in position, I think that's good logic! 

It's slow work at the moment as I am waiting for a workshop/shed delivery, I'm relying on decent weather to work outside, and there isn't much of that up here in Cumbria (UK).

Hi Max

So, I had a little experimentation this afternoon. I had an old fret board, so I cut it up and tried out two different inlays, the one on the left is some pine dust and the one on the right is flour - both mixed with super glue.

Didn't get much done today, other than almost completing the body templates.

Nice! You've inspired me to experiment with inlays. I'm thinking, crushed stone, wood dust, and maybe even see craft glitter!

Hi Curtisa

Yeah, I didn't like the idea of running a router down the angle. I've seen people sanding down the angle.

I'm thinking that if one of the rails is extended I can clamp the neck to it (as attached), not sure how sturdy it will be though. Like I say it's cheap to make and not too time consuming, if it doesn't work it's no biggie. I guess the only pain would be if it damaged a neck blank.

Hi

I've been thinking of some way to make a jig where I could use a router to 'plane' a neck/headstock scarf joint with a router after cutting it on a bandsaw/handsaw/jigsaw/any-saw. I came up with the attached jig. I'm going to make it up out of MDF and give it a try. I suppose it might also be useful for sanding the scarf joint.

It's fairly cheap to make so can't see any reason why I shouldn't give it a go and try it out on some cheap wood.

Thoughts?

I had a little play in photoshop to see what the body 'might' look like. I was thinking of using a Crimson Guitar Stain. I'm hoping that this weekend I can get the templates done. 

3 hours ago, Norris said:

That sounds like a good plan to me.

Looking good so far. Are you planning to leave the body flat or do a bit of carving?

Welcome and good luck!

Hi Norris

I still haven't decided on every element of the body yet. I think I'll do some carving (won't be a simple round-over bit on the edge), although it is likely that the majority of the body will be flat.

Thanks

JT

Hi Scott

Thanks for the neck advice, first thoughts are I might go for maple, it's easily available, fairly cheap and I like the light colour. I thnk im going to stain the body a deep cherry colour, provided the wood stays in one piece, any chunks lost and I'll revert to a solid colour! ?

I have a few 'commercial' guitars and I prefer the lighter ones (I have both Gibson SG and LP, for me the SG wins hands down, mainly because of the neck heel and the weight differences) so poplar might work out well.

First step... Plywood templates, I've almost done the body. I'll probably sand it down and then rout a master from this so the sides are nice and square... At least that's the theory! ?

JT