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stenns

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  1. Long time no update Well the scarf joint turned out great and ive since joined the neck and routed the inlays (yet to be glued). Im now stumped by the stewmac abs half inch tall binding, which i cut to size last night. Today I tried to bend it and failed miserably. Its too stiff to make it out of the cuttaway, so i tried pouring boiling water on it, and it didnt work...then i tried heating it above my stove and it warped, so then i got the propane torch and further destoyed it. So im gonna order some more, but how the hell do i put it in without it getting mangled?
  2. Allrighty, so I fixed the angle and the mortise, everything looks decent. Before routing the pickup cavities I decided to start on the neck. Thinking ahead to the headstock, I have a question on joinery. The scarf joint seems to be a popular choice among users here, but I would like some feedback in regards to this: Making a face-to-face glue up in the headstock region, so as to increase thickness of the neck blank, and then cutting the headstock shape from there. From what I understand, it is weaker, as the grain does not run paralell to the face of the headstock. What I would like to know is how the procedure compares to that of the scarf joint. Is it easier or harder? Thanks!
  3. Aahha so http://img21.imagefiasco.com/images/gLL70851.jpg is simply my rough drawing in MS. paint to show what I mean about the nut being in line with the back of the body. I took no measurements, it really was just a sketch. The other one, http://img21.imagefiasco.com/images/j8P16525.jpg is the working drawing, matched to John Catto's '59 cad drawings. Body is 17.25 inches long and the bridge is about 9.8 inches from the neck joint along the centre line. Sorry for the confusion!
  4. Aah yahh I thought about getting it into a case too..which could be a problem. I think what I'm gonna do is go over the top where the neck connects with a block plane and try to at least get it to 5 degrees, then route a bit of the mortise again to match the angle. The hardest part is going to be the angle on the small sliver of top next to the cutaway and getting it to match the other side. Here are the drawings Fryovani gave me, I drew a line and found out mine is probably about an inch and a half out at the nut: http://img21.imagefiasco.com/images/j8P16525.jpg
  5. Thanks guys. The angle is functional; ie. the top of the bridge is just in line with the top of the fretboard when I position it along the neck angle and extend it over top of where the pickups should be. I took the method from a post in the library at www.mimf.com. I would re post it here but I don't think they would like that (copyright mumbo jumbo) If you go there and do a quick registration you can search the library for a post entitled "John Catto tells us how to rout LP pickup cavities at an angle, so the pickups will be parallel to the strings" . Just go to the forum, log in, click the library link near the bottom, and there should be a big link near the top to search the library, and if you type exactly that in it should be the only result. I think the angle would normally come out to 4/5 degrees except that my carve is deeper. My only concern with the angle is only that it might look very odd. When put the fingerboard along the angle and line it up where it will eventually meet the body, the bottom of the fingerboard ends up being right inline with the back of the body. I fixed up my doodle a bit: http://img21.imagefiasco.com/images/gLL70851.jpg Fyovani was kind enough to draw me some auto cad files a while back, and he figured it should be 4 degrees, with the pickup plane extended past the bridge so it could sit lower, and thence the net neck angle be lower. ahhaha I guess it slipped my mind when I saw catto's post and just decided to use his method (bad memory, took me a while to finally get around to neck angle). But anywho.... The morise has been routed! shoot.... I could plane the neck angle shallower, and measure it out to 4 degrees. But then I would need to either shallow out the bottom of the mortise or the tennon. If I did the mortise, I could just go over it again with a template bit and follow the sides of the mortise? To fix or not to fix? to mortise or to tennon? ahha Thanks for the feedback guys!
  6. So for the last couple months ive had this project on the go. It's my first guitar and my second major wood working project. I started working on it last semester in may and by the end of june I had the body roughed out. Didn't get much done on it over the summer, because I'm mostly using my school's tools. Had some downtime since september while waiting for the correct binding to arrive, but recently some progress was made and I figured I would start a thread. http://img21.imagefiasco.com/viewimage.php...es/3M053443.jpg http://img21.imagefiasco.com/viewimage.php...es/2ag53570.jpg http://img21.imagefiasco.com/viewimage.php...es/Ei753622.jpg I used Jon Catto's '58 or '59 plans from mimf.com and used this method of making a neck angle: route binding cavity all around body (on table). Route edge to final thickness using half round router bit all the way around except for cutaway and neck joint area. Use block plane accross grain to join the top of the binding at the neck joint to where the far edge of the neck pickup. Then connect point where fretboard ends to far edge of bridge pickup. It worked out ok except the angle is ridiculously steep due to my excessively thick top. The carve ends up being like 9/16ish deep and the neck angle is 6 degrees. It matches the bridge heigh well enough, but I placed my pre-slotted fretboard on the top and realized that the nut is going to be level with the back of the body. This is what I'm expecting: http://img21.imagefiasco.com/viewimage.php...es/vJJ54782.jpg Maybe it's just me but I think it's too steep. If so I might introduce an angle on the neck tennon and then plane the top of the body flush where they connect. If the bridge needs to be lower I can allways lower the carve there too. I started carving with a rasp and banged up the edges a bit before going into town and getting a set of spokeshaves (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...,50230&ap=1 ) They're tiny but heaven compared to what I was using before. I'm leaving the top of the guitar flat until I put the pickup cavities in. I am carving it by eye with several photos of les pauls in front of me. If you have any suggestions as to how I can make the carve more les paul-like please suggest them! As for binding, I have stew mac's cream abs .090" deep, 7/16" thick. Closest I could get for binding channel was .060" and I'll sand it flush. But, when I place the binding in the channel, I can tell that there will be visible gaps when viewing from the top. I read somehwere that If you dissolve some scrap binding in acetone, you can use the sludge to fill the gaps, but I tried and it didn't work on my abs so I'm gonna look into getting some nitro cellulose stuff. Does anyone know where I can find it at these dimentions? Be VERY careful when working: I banged up the mahogany back in a million places before finally starting to work and carry it around in a towel. Every time I picked it up there was a new dent in it. My plan is to steam them out with an iron and sand, although I find it stains pink/purple when the mahogany gets wet. For finish, I want to do poly or nitro over either solid black, solid or transparent blue, or a tabacco sunburst. I really like a transparent back on les pauls though. If I can't get the dents out and cover up the gaps in the binding I'll go with a solid colour. I haven't started the neck yet but will as soon as im done most of the body. I am open to advice, criticism and questions! Thanks!
  7. I looked ALL over but couldnt find how deep a les paul mortise is routed. Anyone know???
  8. Sorry but i accidently posted this a couple hours ago in the tutorial section and am reposting it here. So I am makin a trip into town to pick up a set of spokeshaves to carve the top of my les paul, and I figured I would pick up some finishing supplies. The problem is, I dont know anything about finishing. I was planning on a tabbaco sunburst with a transpartent colour on the back. Here's what I thought I was going to do...buy some nitrocellulouse lacquer (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...at=1,190,42942) or polyeurothane (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...at=1,190,42942) and some pigments (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...42996&ap=1). Add the pigments to the lacquer/polyeurothane, and apply using spray gun the colour, then continue to apply clear coats. BUt after reading some tutorials I realized that some people were applying dyes alone to colour the guitar, and then lacquer. Could I buy analine watersoluble dyes (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...42996&ap=1) add them to alcohol/water, apply them using a brush/gun, then apply lacquer or poly, or use my original plan? Thankyou
  9. So I am makin a trip into town to pick up a set of spokeshaves to carve the top of my les paul, and I figured I would pick up some finishing supplies. The problem is, I dont know anything about finishing. I was planning on a tabbaco sunburst with a transpartent colour on the back. Here's what I thought I was going to do...buy some nitrocellulouse lacquer (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...at=1,190,42942) or polyeurothane (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...at=1,190,42942) and some pigments (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...42996&ap=1). Add the pigments to the lacquer/polyeurothane, and apply using spray gun the colour, then continue to apply clear coats. BUt after reading some tutorials I realized that some people were applying dyes alone to colour the guitar, and then lacquer. Could I buy analine watersoluble dyes (here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...42996&ap=1) add them to alcohol/water, apply them using a brush/gun, then apply lacquer or poly, or use my original plan? Thankyou
  10. in making a les paul without the fancy binding stuff in the cuttaway, how tall does the binding need to be? I plan on having it parallel to the bottom etc. the whole way around, so can i get away with using 1/4 inch tall binding? Thanks!
  11. thanks for the replies guys! Im afraid i dont quite understand...Are you reffering to the surface on which the guitar is resting, when you say "until it might cut into the surface beneath"? Wouldn't the chuck of the router descend into the guitar as you lower the bit? Also, do I use the same bit for the router table section? Thanks much!
  12. So I need to flush my 2.5" thick les paul body with my template. I went to Rona and they dont have flush trimming router bits long enough or spindle sander drums (ie robo sander) with bearings. SO my options are: 1. order the robo sander drums from stewmac 2. Find/buy 2 bits: 1 with top and 1 bottom mounted bearing. Start the trimming with the template on the top, using the shank mounted bit, turn over the guitar and use the tip mounted bit to trim the remaining material flush with the first cut. (as shown here: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...hl=robo+sander) Which is best? Any other suggestions?
  13. Ah yes fryovanni and I have cleared that all up. He drew me a fancy autocad file. Now all I need to know is how to go about actually carving the angle
  14. K I have another question, this time in regards to a pickup plane/neck plane carving method. Ive heard of some people using a router and a jig to create the neck angle http://home.asparagine.net/ant/blog/?page_id=10 a table saw (possibly impossible for me as the body has already been roughed out): http://www.geocities.com/ccbryan/BuildLesPaul.html and a hand plane: http://www.mimf.com/ Because I probably cannot use a table saw and my router is on the junky side, Im thinking of using a hand plane, but am having trouble understanding John Catto's procedure: Edited: Stenns, the text you posted is taken from the mimf library, and cannot be reproduced without permission - each library page is marked "No portion of this document may be reproduced by any print, electronic, or broadcast media without the express written permission of every author quoted." As such I have deleted the text. Likewise, the link you posted will not work, since the library is only available to mimf members who are logged on. -Setch. He doesnt mention it, but Im assuming he would use the plane to create the pickup plane before carving the top, no? The part that is bold/italic is the part which i do not understand. Which method does everyone reccomend? Thanks!
  15. So a les paul body is 2" thick at the edge with 1/4" binding and a 1/2" carve; maple top is 3/4" correct? Does the fingerboard usually line up flush with the pickup plane? ie. the neck angle cut ends exacly where the fingerboard ends? because if it does it means theres a really steep neck angle: hypotenuse = 3.125 inces (approx)(length of fingerboard extending over body) rise = 1/2" (assuming that the bottom of the fretboard will be flat on the body from the edge binding on) sin=rise/hypotenuse sin=0.5/3.125 sin=.16 angle= 9.2 degrees bridge height would be wild (not going to calculate) min height on my tunomatic is 1/2inch Solution: a) extend neck angle cut beyond the fingerboard, deeper into the body - pickup plane would begin between bridge pickup and neck pickup b ) reduce the carve depth Help please!
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