peterhanson

the MIMF, once you become a member (once again free) has a BAGILLION in their library.

looks like i learned some valuable information from this. thanks!

update: cut the rest of the body out and began sanding. I'm think i'm gonna have to end up routing the outside of the body in order to get the straight edge i want because the palm sander rounds the edges over. i also bent the veneer for the headstock with a curling iron. Before my dad suggested using a curling iron i tried a desk lamp and a jig system with ruberbands and clamps and it was a pain setting it up and in the end it never even worked, so the moral is.... use a curling iron.

pics of progress

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/DSCN0025.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/DSCN0023.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/DSCN0018.jpg

No. The scale length is from NUT TO SADDLE.

oops... that's what i meant to say, i was just being a little too general, with saddles being in bridges and all. anyways, thanks for clearing that up.

So is the scale length determined by the length from the nut to the holes going through the body? I thought it was from the nut to the bridge.

Amazing. Looks great.

thanks a bunch. downloaded best practice, and It does what i need it to do.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=27363

pictures of my progress.

Here are the pictures that I promised in my other thread. I have been working on this build for quite a while in my school woods class.

the body has been almost all the way rough cut, but I didn't cut the horn out because I plan on sanding the whole back side with a surface sander so i don't want to have the horn break at all. I also began rough sanding the routed parts on the side, but haven't gained much progress. I'm on break this week so I can hopefully get a leg up on this build.

I'm mostly done with the shaping of the back of the neck, but i still need to work on the fretboard, what with sanding and fretting. On the headstock I patched up some of the sanding divots that i made with the sanding drum using some wood putty... now i know it looks like crap, but i'm going to put a mahogany veneer over it so it'll turn out better than it is right now... hopefully.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/PC220007.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/PC220005.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/PC220003.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/pete...on/PC220001.jpg

COMMENTS, CRITICISM WELCOME!!!

I hate to repeat the last five posts, but I had to say excellent job. Totally killer.

lost the strip. wasn't going to cut my nice one piece african mahogany body blank in half, and i think it looked too straight. BUT, thanks man.

Any suggestions on what software i could get... preferably freeware

I was wondering if anyone had one of these pieces of equipment and how they liked it. Would you recomend?

I'll keep that in mind for future builds, but for this one i have already routed out the body contours and rough cut the body as well. So now i have shaped the neck, and started on the body, which will be posted in the works in progress forum as soon as i bring my project home this weekend.

Excellent, this is why I come to this beloved forum. I'll check out the acoustic section for sure.

Rock on, so how long would i have to keep one piece of wood in the jig before i could laminate another on? would i just have to check once a day until the piece i have on the jig no longer moves? Is there a thread already documenting this? becuase i'm assuming that i would:

at first soak the wood

then put it in the jig using an iron to bend the sides to fit to the jig

then clamp it and wait till the piece stays that way

and is the foil in the jig pictures to keep the wood moist?

well if i soak the piece of wood before i bend it, won't that affect wood glue?

this is harder than thought.

Pics to the jig are awesome, that helped a bunch.

Awesome, our shop put a new blade on the band saw recently so the quicker I get done with this first solid body i'm working on, the quicker I can use a newer blade. Luckily Christmas break is coming up which should allow plenty of work time. Then again, if worse comes to worse, i'll just cut before i bend.

If they are identical then I would cut them, stack them and use a side bending machine(very easy to make).

so is this so called side bending machine, is it just a jig in the shape of the guitar sides, and to use it i would just bend the wood on to this jig using steam and heat? then after i bent each portion of the wood on to the jig, i would clamp it in place?

HOWEVER, I WOULD recommend cutting it in half and then bending it... I just forsee cracking when the bandsaw sawing down's pressure is put on the already bent pieces...

Thanks for the heads up, but the book that i have, building electric guitars by martin koch (from stew-mac i believe), shows him going as far as cutting the sides out on a table saw. He also suggested cutting the sides on the band saw. Is he insane, or would cutting the sides on either of these saws be pretty easily done without cracking the hard work put into bending sides? Thank you everyone for all of the suggestions!

so to find a supplier for the wood, would i go to the project guitar homepage and just use their supplier links, or does anyone know where i could find some good deals?

Here's a question, what wood is best for bending? Can I use mahogany, because I don't want that bright of tone.

gotcha. I like this method, I'll definetly keep it in mind while approaching this build. now i just have to learn how to bend the lumber... back to the ole forum.

I do understand the part about the thickness, but i'm a little confused about laminating for highth. how would that work?

Goat skin! These are all awesome ideas. Now I have to build three guitars.

Ok, That would make sense, seeing as how i would lose some stability by using cloth.

So for this project i'm gonna need wood for the sides of the body... does anyone know where I can buy really wide wood for the sides so i only have to bend one side and then cut it in half to attain both sides. This would make it easier to get a symmetrical body. Would acoustic guitar side wood be wide enough to cut in half?

YES! Just kidding. Looks like you have a great list and a bunch of work ahead, look forward to seeing all of it.

Well I have to finish the guitar I'm working on before I even think of starting another one. But I was thinking that I wouldn't necesarily have to make just one guitar . And go ahead and do what you want, It'd be cool to see the different approaches from two different builders.

I also thought of a way of putting f holes in the cloth top... I'm stoked about starting this.