ACRosengrant

Not much done this weekend. Just wasn't feeling in a worky mood. Got the neck blank sawed(sawn?) In half so now I've got a second neck for a future project or possibly this one if I mess it up lol. Got in my dye powders and pickups. So did some mixing and staining to see what color to go with. I'm kinda loving that purple I created, but may do the darker purple around the outside like a burst. Or possibly do a fade from bottom to top, or end to front. Not sure. This coming weekend, I'll tackle creating a radius block. Maybe start plotting things out if some more parts come in, but really I'm kinda at a standstill until I get the nut and bridge.

Thanks Scott. I'm very pleased with how well it worked out. I'll say it is the most ambitious part of this first guitar build at least I think.

Haven't cut the neck yet. Will do that once I have the nut(pre-slotted) and the bridge, so I can measure that accurately. The neck piece above was just the template. Thanks on the f-hole, I've given a ton of thought to tapering the underside(per the direction of someone else on here), but I've gotta measure where my carve will be first. Kinda wonder if I can just carve the top of the f-hole area by itself just so I know where I can taper the inside.

Guess I need to find me an extremely accurate ruler. That would be easier in metric than standard right?

Sled worked well enough. Few kinks to work out of that situation. Got fret/neck and rough headstock template glued and cut. Then measured it and somehow either I or UPS printing screwed it up, so instead of a 24.5" scale, it's now about 25.25". Should still work fine right, experienced guys? The wolf got cut out. Used various drill bits to get most of wood out, then used files, small rasps, a few wood gouges, and a slightly chipped/bent/bad hacksaw blade to cut it. Man, my hands HURT but I can't wait to do it again. Also used some child labor, that way my son can actually learn something useful during this homeschooling period.

Redesigned wolf. Didn't take picture. Looks good though. Built router planing jig/sled whatever Will need to stack boards under body to get it high enough because it's too deep, but it will do. Gotta find some kind of routing mat though. Also was tired of working on floor, so built a workbench. Tomorrow shall be a day of actual progress. Hopefully.

Thanks y'all. I'll see about redesigning it when I get home. And I'll plane the back side flat this weekend.

My plan was to use a drill to get rid of the bulk of the design, and do the rest with files. That veneer idea is genius though. Maybe I'll revise the design so it's not as fragile in that area, but I kinda wanted it howling.

Need advice below. Forgot to take pics of the smoothed out body and top. So here they are. The wolf head is gonna be the f-hole, hopefully, the part between the jaw and about isn't too fragile. Figure I can leave the wood thicker there. Two questions, does it look like it will be a problem? And should I cut it out now or after I carve the top? I figure I can't carve the top until after I glue it to the body, but then I can't cut the hole after I've glued the top down. Also, they are smooth, but they aren't matched yet, and the top doesn't sit flush on the body either. Got some kinda non-flatness messing it up. Close, but not close enough.

It's my buddy's garage lol. But thanks Scott.

PROGRESS! Got body and top cut out(roughly), chamber for f-hole routed, did some belt sanding to make everything smooth.

Not a whole lot of progress today. Went to UPS and printed a new template yesterday. Took my son with me to buddy's house to do work Unclamp body. Good deal. Joint is a bit wonky, but nothing the planer can't fix. Glue and clamp top join together. Take body outside to planer. Try to adjust planer. Only one side will move. Take apart planer. Bottom screw in one of the gears broke. Threw whole thing out of whack. Found a way to get it back together. Used WD-40 on all rusty areas and left to penetrate. Decided to get belt/disc sander running to see what all the fuss is about. Figured I could just sand the body to plane it. Nope. NOPE. At that rate, would have taken a year. But dug through the rusty old tool box and found what I at first called a flat rasp, but might be called a sureform. Even let my son take it for a spin. That made taking that uneven spot out WAY easier. Used sander to smooth out edges of body template. Traced template onto body blank, deciding that it would make more sense to flatten only the wood I'm using. Cranked up the old bandsaw, got about 6 inches into the wood, blade breaks. I'm just not having luck with tools today. End up repurposing some old bunk bed wood to make a shelf for my kids room. Also built tiny table for the front of the disc sander that I'll just call into place when I need it.

Been a hell of a day. Had a cat sick all week. He passed at 2am(Texas time, whatever that is for all you other cats), made bread, and did a little more guitar stuff. Planer was not adjusting properly, so took that apart and somehow unbinded it. Planed my mahogany a little too thin, but I'll make it work. Then jointed the edges and glued it up. Got 8 clamps holding it together. I feel it is enough, cause it's all I had. Also did some gluing/cutting of templates, unfortunately, my fretboard template paper got all wonky when it came into contact with glue, so not sure how to make that a thing that can happen.

That is a LONG tenon. Got me thinking maybe the one I'm planning is a tad inadequate.

Not much progress done, did some planing, gluing, and clamping of body lams