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Hey, Im so close to getting this started i cant wait. I just have some solid bodies to finish and on to make for someone. But i found a good source of cheap wood locally. Martin guitar factory sells their wood for cheap and i live about an hour from them. But yea i havea side bending jig go bar deck radius dishes molds blankets etc.(Ive made ever jig before i started.) Also rich, i was reading kinkades book again and i noticed he usd gobars that appear to be oak, would this be a suitable replacement for fiberglass. Also, i have a vacuum press coming so i might try that for bracing. And i just glued up a back and it went good.

This should be in inlay and finish chat. What I did was stain sealer clear coat.

Wow, that thing looks great, i cant wait to see that thing finished.

well, today was kind of a bad day, although i did get the entire side bending machine done. basically, now all that i have to do is wire up my heating blanket (which i have no clue of how to do.) Now to the bad when i glued up the top, I did almost everything perfect, it was a seamless glue up. what i did wrong, was not put wax paper where the area being glued came in contact with the top bar that kept it down. when i took my top off, i gave the piece that was stuck to it a little yank (I didnt think it was hard enough to do what it did.) And the wood broke on an area of the top that made it impossible to use. since that happened, i learned a lesson, alway use wax paper. oh well, i guess ill order some ebay spruce that i can make a practice top out of. then when I'm ready for the real thing, ill buy some off of the auction. So now this project is officially underway. My study time is pretty much over for this build (at least until i get to a part that I'm unsure of what to do.)

i got the top and the sides to thickness, the top looks pretty neat.

yea, it says the sides and the bending surface are flush. thats what i think im going to go for. first i made the two sides (they were double stick taped together) when i get my pipe ill figure out the radius of it and drill 12 holes for my side support pipe the distance of the radius of the pipe from the edge of the sides then, on the insides of the sides ill drill a hole that the pipe can fit in with a forstner bit thats 1/2 of an inch deep using the previously drilled pilot holes as a guide of where to drill them. After that, ill attach the sides together with some wood, then drill the holes for the I bolts (i think thats what their called) and ill be finished.

it says aluminum, is that okay??? It would be much easier to get the aluminum to size than getting steel to size Also, is their specific way to wire up the heating blanket to get the right heat or do you just wire it right up to a plug.

I was on the internet looking for a way to build this thing, just about to order the press when i found this http://gicl.cs.drexel.edu/people/sevy/luth...de_bending.html The guy in this seems to use a much better side bending system. it seems like it would be tons easier to do it his way than to get the press attached and to use springs for the ends of it. Is this really something that would be better and easier to do or am i just trying to be cheap and lazy.

Thanks guys, I don't think i have a kite supply store close to me, but ordering them online still may be cheaper than the stewmac ones. Do you get as much clamping pressure with those as you do with stewmacs? Thanks again rich, I think I'm definitely going to be ordering oe of the presses from rockler. To put the bars in place, i was thinking of drillinga hole with a forstner bit about 1/4 inch into the wood to keep the pipe in place, then use threaded rod bolted onto the outside of the jig running through the pipe to keep it together. EDIT: actually, i might just make my own press, I don't care about the money, its going to be 15$ at least regardless of where i buy it. but after looking at these things, it looks like i could make something just as good and then i wouldn't have to wait for shipping, and i could get everything i need right at lowes or home depot. 1/2 inch threaded rod. bolts. and i could weld a little a handle on it.

okay, so now I'm at the point where i am really ready to start this thing (only jig i have to make is my side bender). I made my go bar deck, and the bracing taper jig. i pretty much have all of the jigs that I'll need to make this thing (of course their are probably a ton that ill find i need during the build). I have no go bars, and I'm wondering what the best material to make them out of is, stewmacs are very expensive.. Anyway here are some pics of my jigs. go bar deck(this thing is real sturdy, its pretty much a gobar deck and a workbench type area for when their is too much junk on my real one) http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/st...17/DSCN0088.jpg (one of the taper jigs.) http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/st...17/DSCN0086.jpg (heating blanket and mold.) Also, what type of pipe is the best for side benders, and how should i go about making it (I have a pretty good idea of what to do but I'm still a little confused when it comes to the press for the waste, where do you get one of those??, and are their any good substitutes)

i like the stewmac fretsaw, miterbox, and template that i got, its fast and easy to cut fretboards with it.

it said mine are gonna ship one the 29th

I agree with rhoads56. Ive never had any problems with the spokeshave ever. I do use rasps for shaping my necks though it just seems easier for me. But i can and do use the spokeshave sometimes. Maybe you should practice with the spokeshave some more or sharpen it.

today i got my redwood top resawed. the piece was JUST big enough to get one top out of and i think there is enough wood left for bracewood. heres a pic its been drying for 40 years or something close to that

I ordered them. if they change the price ill just cancel the order. But I'm almost positive they wont change it after I ordered.

thanks guys, I'm gonna be making a few electrics i think... but I'm slowly getting my stuff ready for acoustics i have the go bar deck and I have a heating blanket coming in the mail from omega i should get that build going later in the month. well, i think im gonna go make a few fretboards now, yesterday i made 3 birdseye maple boards now I'm gonna make 3 jatobas. Oh yea and by "good" i mean will it yield a fretboard of decent quality that someone would want to play.

Hey guys, I just picked up a 4/4 jatoba board that looks like it'd be perfect for fretboards and necks. I've noticed that most of the threads that I found in search that dealt with jatoba only said it would be good for neck laminants, but none say anything about using it for an entire neck or or fretboards. I have a large bandsaw, and a great resawing blade so that will be no problem, I just want to know if jatoba would be good for 1 piece necks and fretboards Thanks carousel

I've had no time at all to work on this recently but i will have a lot of time to get things done now probably. today i glued up the 2'x2' 3/4 plywood sheets i will be using for the go bar deck. i am using 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. also, i added a 3/4 piece of plywood under each of my dishes they are very sturdy now.

When i did it for my most recent build i put a rope through the tuner hole that was running from one place in the shop to another. but my first didn't go so hot. It fell onto the ground from about 4 feet up and completely ruined the finish on the bottom of the guitar. I considered myself lucky though, the guitar was in fine condition other then the bottom so it wasn't that big of a repair job.

Yea if that happened to me(I was using poplar and it was a strat, so instead of fixing it up, i stored it, and next time i make a strat, its going to be a neckthrough and ill use the body as the wings.) I'd make a new body. But, I would never scrap that body, you could always make that into a neck-through V if you ever wanted to make another.

Hey guys I just finished my first practice side, it went better than I expected it to go. Their were a few problems with my mold(all having to do with clamping.) But other than that I'd say it went pretty good. BTW the burns are no problem really, I was just really sloppy at the beginning but then i got the hang of it. Also, when you start out with the sides, how wide should they be. i have a feeling the width had something to do with them being hard to bend, they're around 5 and 3/4.

i tried to bend them but i was not able to position the tube in a good enough position with the base i made so i wasn't able to get it bent right, but i was able to get a feel for everything. i cant wait to actually do this tomorrow, its to late today.

hey thanks, i might be makinga vacuum press for veneering and such soon. im just about to go down to bend my practice sides. ill post pics

WOW nice redwood.. you got that on ebay right? i think i saw that when i was looking for acoustic top wood

wow, i just cut the pipe by hand with a hack saw, two inch diameter, and thick. might have been one of the hardest things I've ever had to cut. especially in the small area i had to do it in because i didn't want to move it out of storage