ToddW

Don't see how the glue lines wouldn't line up. Do you mean the grain lines in the wood?

The headstock did move a bit as I was clamping, but I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal since it's going to get trimmed up. Not a big deal, but sanding is boring. I use a 2 x 18 sanding block of 1" thick walnut with 100grit on it to flatten small parts. I run it down a jointer every once in a while if it doesn't perfectly match my Leigh Valley straight edge. You could even out the thickness of the headstock if you wanted by sanding the back after you level the front, if you have enough depth. I'm guessing you'll need to take off less than a mm. Todd

I don't know a safe and fast way to fix this because you'd risk making the blank too short if you use a jointer. Your headstock is tilted to the side a little. I'd use a very flat, longish sanding block to sand the far side in the picture, the high side, until it almost lines up with the near one, then flatten the entire surface by sanding diagonally and across the headstock. But maybe someone else has a simpler method. Todd

Perry, When I said nobody commented on how, what I was referring to was nobody specified dye versus pigment stains. I would have thought a pigment type stain would obscure the figure. Todd

Interesting, you both said stain it. But nobody mentioned how. Staining to me means pigment stains. I would have thought that using a dark dye, sanding, and then using a lighter dye would accentuate the flame. It's the technique I plan on using. Todd

Howdy, It's normal for the figuring to be perpendicular to the grain. http://www.bassemporium.com/images_product...ulus060290f.jpg If you want to see the figuring better, ie, to get a sense of how it will look after you finish the guitar, rub some mineral spirits on it. It won't hurt the wood. There are ways to get the figure even more defined when you finish the guitar by using dye, but make sure you like the figure before you try that. This site has a tutorial on using dye to show off figure. Todd Wow, two replies between my read and response

Maybe I'll take up needlepoint, because clearly I will never match any of these. Of them, I voted for Zyonsdream, because while pointy/angular guitars aren't my cup of tea, that one is executed so well that even I find it beautiful. Getting me to like that shape is hard! The others are also amazing. If I ever finish the one I'm working on, I definately won't enter it in a September GOTM! Todd

I like the left side on the third picture, but not the right side. Seems like too much to make the entire control area spalted. Just my opinion. Looking forward to seeing pics of what you decide on. It's a neat idea. Todd

We're all familiar with getting frustrated or impatient and doing something stupid that we regret later. Hope you heal fast. Todd

Nope, a uke is even shorter. 22.5 would be a long scale octave mandolin, a short scale bouzouki, or possibly a baritone uke. All very fun instruments to play. I'm just finishing up a 17" scale for my son, which does use a Ukellele scale on a wider board. Figure I'll be using heavy strings! Can't say yet how it will sound but 21 or 22" scale is what I'm going to do for my third build. 2nd will be a 25" scale for an adult. Thanks for the link, I'll bookmark the store. I think LMI will also do short scale lengths, but can't recall where I got the 17" fret board, but I didn't slot it myself. Todd

Now that is a clever idea to keep glue squeeze out from glomming up the channel when you put the sides on! I just put in some yarn and taped over the channel. Then I pulled out the yarn post glue up, but I like the straw idea much better. Todd

Thanks Jon, This one will be for a friend. 60th Birthday present, so what I like isn't what matters. He likes lots of different guitars, but I know he finds strats comfortable. My first build is a 17" scale for my son, so no help on size there. I printed a template just now that is 17 1/2" max length by 13 1/8", and it seems reasonable. Since I'll trace the template it could be a touch bigger, but from what you are saying, I'm in the right ballpark. I had thought my strat was larger, I'll have to get it back an measure it. Todd

Hey Guys, I've started dimensioning the lumber for my second project since my son's guitar is 98% done. This is the sketch up: http://www.geocities.com/namorhem/Mguitar.jpg The neck for this is already laminated and jointed. It's Jatoba, Purple Heart, Maple, and a Bubinga center. I'm printing out templates for the body. In the drawing with the 25" scale, the body is 18" by 13.5" max length and width. I also scaled it to a 17x almost 13" template. It will be a semi-hollow bodied. My question is, what size / width should I be shooting for? Is there a standard width that is more comfortable to play? I have a strat, and it's comfortable, but it's also on loan right now so I only have an acoustic to measure. Thanks Todd

Thanks for the replies and the link. I also liked it for the minimalist approach.

I was looking at the gallery of former guitar of the month winners and couldn't find any threads about the guitar. November '04. It looks really pretty, anyone know how I can find the thread link for it? Thanks, Todd

That's beautiful Rich. It actually looks a lot like the bubinga I'm working with now, but Sapele is easier to work with and glue!

Bloodwood, Purple Heart, Wenge . . . stiff, strong, stable, easy to glue, easy to find, and pretty cool names. Bubinga is also stable, stiff and strong, but it is much harder to glue. It makes up for that with amazingly pretty figure. I'm using some on a jewelery box project for my wife right now. All of those are pretty dark though. I'd add some maple for contrast. I think you should pick up some wood over there and bring it back. Olivewood is beautiful. Maybe you can get some and use it for inlays? ? ? Todd PS) This site is ok for getting some info on wood properties: http://www.exotichardwoods-southamerica.com/bloodwood.htm

I buy most of my wood from the Hardwood Store of North Carolina. They have a web special of 10sq feet of 1/4" any species delivered UPS for about $35. That isn't cheap compared to buying it locally, but it's already resawn and planed! If you ask for 40" boards, it'd be enough to laminate a couple of neck throughs. I'd personally spend $70, and ask for two species. Actually, I did just order Maple and Bubinga that way. They usually only do domestics on the special, but I had driven down for Bubinga a week ago after they emailed me it was in stock, and when I showed up, a local merchant had just been in and bought their entire 150 or so BF. So they gave me the special on Bubinga. But you could get mahogany and Maple, or Walnut, or Cherry. It'd be a pretty laminate! Todd Oh, their website is Hardwoodstore.com.

I disagree. There is no reason for a newbie to worry too much about wood movement. Its been discussed, and I believe that there have been some (unofficial) experimental results showing that an old Fender flatsawn neck is just as stable as a similar quartersawn neck and that the quartersawn voodoo is mostly just that, voodoo. Do you think Leo Fender examined each piece and tested the tangential and radial movement? Of course not. But I digress. Knowing the difference between rift sawn, flat sawn, and quarter sawn wood is a very good idea, however. Flatsawn and quartersawn are the way to go -- riftsawn should be avoided at all costs, especially for necks, since the orientation of the growth rings would tend to cause the board to warp. I think the most important thing is buying a nice, clean (free from defects like knots, etc) piece of maple or mahogany (arguably the two most popular neck woods in guitar making). That's just what I believe to be true, of course. I don't think you disagreed. Like you said, knowing the terms and understanding how wood moves is what is important. I don't think I said the wood had to be quartersawn, but learning what quartersawn is and why it has advantages will explain how to look at the growth ring orientation. And to be fair, at the extreme, some species fail in shear stress much later against quartersawn wood than against flat sawn. I don't believe it has as much effect on bending strength, which is more relevent to a guitar, but don't know that for a fact. I didn't see that in Hoadley's book when I went through it, and that 's the best reference I have. Anyway, I'd think even riftsawn is fine if he's laminating a neck blank since he can reverse the boards when he glues them up. Todd

Hey Hector, Glad I caught you in time. If you're two edges are really off when you start, you may wind up making a few passes, moving the boards a touch closer each time and tweaking where the straight edge is. The best set up I've seen for this clamped the boards between two saw horses and clamped a straight edge to one of them, but there are lots of ways to skin this one. Given how nicely you shaped that body, I'm sure you have plenty of woodworking skill to figure out how. Just take your time setting everything up so your strait edge and the boards don't move by accident. My straight edge moved once and I killed a nice edge and a pretty board. Be safe! Todd

There's a tutorial on neck building on this site. Read that. I'd also buy Melvin's Hiscock's book: http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Own-Electr...7625252-8120052 That'll get you started on the crafting. Wood is another story all together. Hiscock's book will give you a start, but you might want to read a bit on wood movement in the radial and tangential planes, and what quarter sawn means so you can orient the growth rings and planes nicely. You've got some searches to run, but there's lots of info online. Have fun! Todd

HECTOR: STOP WAIT DESIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO ROBOSANDER!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR BIT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LONG ENOUGH TO GO THROUGH TWO BOARDS AT ONCE, THAT IS NOT HOW YOU DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU PUT BOTH BOARDS LYING WITH THE EDGES THAT WILL GET GLUED TOGETHER FACING EACH OTHER, SEPARATED BY A TOUCH LESS THAN YOUR ROUTER BIT WIDTH. THEN CLAMP ON A STRAIGHT EDGE TO GUIDE THE ROUTER AND SLOWLY ROUTER BOTH FACES AT ONCE. THIS CREATES TWO MATCHING FACES AT THE SAME TIME. IF YOU STACKED THEM, THEN ANY POINT THAT ISN'T STRAIGHT WILL CREATE A GAP.

Do you use an angle guide to make the cut? Todd

OK, thought that might be what you were talking about, and we do call it a planer on this side of the pond. But I wouldn't consider it a good tool for jointing boards. If the bottom isn't flat and straight, the top won't come out of the planer flat and straight. It WILL, come out parallel to the bottom. You can put your board on another board which is already jointed/flat, but even that isn't perfect. I think of the jointer as a power version of a long hand plane (with a fence instead of a shooting board). It gives you a strait/flat edge to join to another board. If you get one edge perfect, you use the planer to make the opposite side parallel. Like Matt, I'm happy to have both, because it is too easy to make exotic boards into exotic wedges on the jointer. (Yeah, I've done that ) None of this, however, helps Hector. But a bolt on guitar neck is so thin, he can make perfect joints with a router if he has one, and that makes a laminated neck a breeze. In fact, on really long boards, a router does a better job of matching the joint line if used carefully, and, it's VERY EASY. Much easier than the plane and sandpaper. Sorry I didn't think of it before. Todd

Hi Hector, Figured I'd ask/post here about a laminate neck rather than derrail your other thread. I'm not sure what Tim meant by thinknesser. I think thicknesser sounds like a planer, but that isn't actually the best tool for this job. A jointer would be the easiest. I have both a planer and a jointer, and while I agree they make preparing a couple of boards a 15 minute job instead of a 4 hour job, I have also done it the hard way on a small sclare. It's not fun, but it isn't that hard if you have patience (LOTS AND LOTS OF PATIENCE). I have a question though, Hector, do you have a router available? A bolt on neck is thin enough that you can easily make a laminate joint with a router. It's a simple trick, you router both edges at the same time. Todd