Finished Pics! Dreadnought acoustic (guitar) for me?

[Jimothey]

3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

Be sure to have a draft from the firkin whilst making the kerfings else you'll dehydrate in this heat.

I hope you mean firkin in the tradional sense not the urban dictionary definition but I suppose you could dehydrate doing that in this heat too!!😁 

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Ah...but I can turn nice wood and a budding instrument into BBQ fuel just as easily - and just as quickly! 

Yeah but you don’t post the blow by blow f ups!   

 

[Andyjr1515]

15 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Yeah but you don’t post the blow by blow f ups!   

 

I'll find at least one where I did 

[SpondonBassed]

10 hours ago, Jimothey said:

I hope you mean firkin in the tradional sense not the urban dictionary definition but I suppose you could dehydrate doing that in this heat too!!😁 

The Urban Dictionary definition of "firkins"

I was surprised that the correct definition IS at the top of the list.  Definition 2 is interesting.  Definitions 3 and 4 are your own business and are indeed more appropriate to the Urban Dictionary.  You'd need protein supplements as well as lots of fluid intake if that's your "thing".

/Ooer.

[Christine]

14 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Ah...but I can turn nice wood and a budding instrument into BBQ fuel just as easily - and just as quickly! 

Which is why I bought an acoustic bass

[W1_Pro]

Just saw this. Looking really good Andy. Following with interest. ✌️

[Andyjr1515]

On ‎07‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 11:05, Christine said:

Which is why I bought an acoustic bass

Actually, I should point out - holding my head in shame, of course - that this is going to be a 6-string guitar and not a bass.  Acoustic basses are too big both for my workshop and my abilities!

[Andyjr1515]

My home made radiusing rig isn't brilliant, but it does the job.  I've clearly got something horribly wrong with my geometry because I have to offset the blank by 10mm off centre to get it to rout evenly on both sides of the radius

 

Still - with that tweak it works well enough to be able to just finish it off with 15mins of a radius block after 20 mins or so routing down to final size.  Based on that it used to take me a couple of days to radius a fretboard - and the radius was often highly suspect even after that - it's still progress and was well worth the time to draw it out and make it  

 

Then onto the G&W mitre box.  Theoretically the scale should be 25 3/8" but I have a 25 1/2" template already - should be close enough as the guitar is going to be for my own use.

Folks may have seen one of my previous threads where I scrapped a fretboard using this rig the very first time (please note @LukeFRC  ) but, now that I've found a decent method of setting it up and securing everything from moving, it works well.

So, I have a radiused and slotted fretboard:

 

Next job is the neck, using the maple/walnut/maple offcut I found.  But first, I must amend the title of the thread to avoid being lynched when everyone realises this isn't a bass and think I've been hoping no one would notice! 

[Andyjr1515]

On ‎06‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 21:51, LukeFRC said:

Yeah but you don’t post the blow by blow f ups!   

 

I had a look around, Luke, and here's at least four Andyjr1515 bloopers              All covered in gory detail in their respective threads 

My first acoustic guitar build. 

Lovely neck blank.  Was really pleased with it:

Slight problem.  Wrong size.  Had to make another neck blank 

 

Mick's Psilos Bass.

I knew what I meant.  Unfortunately, I comprehensively failed to explain to Mick what I meant.  Had to make another neck 

 

Tom's African Bass.

"Hmmm...did you hear something like a cracking sound???"

 

Tim's Alembic-esque electric.

Fretted, through neck. Almost finished.

Problem was that, once I'd strung it up, I realised that the fretboard was too narrow and the strings slipped over the edge.  Result - I had to de-fret, add binding to either side of the fretboard, refret, re-shape the neck to fillet in the new binding...and every erroneous step followed avidly by the thread followers

 

 

And there are many, many more examples.

To be honest, there aren't actually many builds where there isn't at least one 'oops' moment.  And usually it's a really obvious and avoidable error. 

The only difference to my earlier builds is that I now:

• triple check stuff that would render a bass or guitar complete scrap before I let sharp metal anywhere near the wood.  I reckon I make as many errors, but they tend to be smaller ones.
• have got better at working round issues once I've c****d them up! 

 

Does that make everyone feel better?  

Edited August 8, 2018 by Andyjr1515

[SpondonBassed]

32 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Does that make everyone feel better?  

Much.  Honestly though, that's all "disc two" material for the AJR Guitars DVD.  Who bothers with that anyway?

[Norris]

14 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

Much.  Honestly though, that's all "disc two" material for the AJR Guitars DVD.  Who bothers with that anyway?

The blooper reel?

[Andyjr1515]

4 minutes ago, Norris said:

The blooper reel?

It wouldn't all fit onto a dvd.  It would have to be a streaming service 

[Andyjr1515]

I'm not certain yet that I will go for the maple neck but have started to work on it. 

First time in real terms using the router table.  Fantastic!  Neatest truss rod channel yet (small beginnings, but beginnings nevertheless  )

And then the side profile band-sawn:

 

The heel will have to have an extension added whatever, but the maple blank isn't deep enough to do that with just one - it will end up being a three piece heel.  I'll have a think whether I can add a contrasting wood in there or whether that would look naff.  If so, I'll revert to the mahogany / walnut blank I've also got and which is a touch deeper and would do achieve a two piece heel.

I tell you what, after neck through basses, these necks are TIDDLY!

 

[Andyjr1515]

Rock hopping a little on the sequence of the build, but the top wood has arrived so I've planed the joining edges using the 'offset fence' technique on the router table and now am gluing it prior to thicknessing it from 5mm to 2.5 - 3mm.

Now it's down in the cellar being glued:

 

 

The only clamps applying any pressure are the three sash clamps - two on the bottom and one on the top.  The rest of the clamps are just gently holding the cauls, top and bottom to prevent it bowing or twisting.

I will be doing the thicknessing using hand planes and cabinet scrapers (gulp) once the glue has fully dried overnight.  I think this afternoon will be taken up with me honing plane blades and burnishing scrapers! 

[Christine]

6 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Rock hopping a little on the sequence of the build, but the top wood has arrived so I've planed the joining edges using the 'offset fence' technique on the router table and now am gluing it prior to thicknessing it from 5mm to 2.5 - 3mm.

Now it's down in the cellar being glued:

 

 

The only clamps applying any pressure are the three sash clamps - two on the bottom and one on the top.  The rest of the clamps are just gently holding the cauls, top and bottom to prevent it bowing or twisting.

I will be doing the thicknessing using hand planes and cabinet scrapers (gulp) once the glue has fully dried overnight.  I think this afternoon will be taken up with me honing plane blades and burnishing scrapers! 

The offset fence technique? Like a vertical jointer? that's a new one on me

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, Christine said:

The offset fence technique? Like a vertical jointer? that's a new one on me

Yes - exactly that. You put a 1 or 2mm spacer behind the trailing side of the fence and line the router bit flush with that.  As long as the fence is spot on where it is supposed to be, it works a treat.

I'll try and find a diagram in the morning that illustrates it better than my dodgy description

[Christine]

2 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Yes - exactly that. You put a 1 or 2mm spacer behind the trailing side of the fence and line the router bit flush with that.  As long as the fence is spot on where it is supposed to be, it works a treat.

I'll try and find a diagram in the morning that illustrates it better than my dodgy description

Not for me, I understand, actually good idea, it's a handy tip

[Norris]

Have you got an Arno Carbur2 (?) burnishing tool? They are in a class of their own for sharpening cabinet scrapers

[Andyjr1515]

47 minutes ago, Norris said:

Have you got an Arno Carbur2 (?) burnishing tool? They are in a class of their own for sharpening cabinet scrapers

I remember now you bringing this to the Midlands Bass Bash!  Thanks for the reminder  - I'd clean forgotten about it!

[Andyjr1515]

17 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Yes - exactly that. You put a 1 or 2mm spacer behind the trailing side of the fence and line the router bit flush with that.  As long as the fence is spot on where it is supposed to be, it works a treat.

I'll try and find a diagram in the morning that illustrates it better than my dodgy description

For anyone interested but for whom the above made no sense, I've 'borrowed' this shot from someone's YouTube video:

 

Basically, the left hand fence is brought forward a mm or so (using a shim or similar)

Then the fence is positioned so that the router bit is EXACTLY in line with the left hand fence

So as the board is pulled across - flush with the right hand fence - the cutter takes that mm or so off and the board remains in contact with now both left hand and right hand fence sides.

Works a treat!

[Andyjr1515]

There are various ways of thicknessing an acoustic top.  In the end, I used a similar method to one or two classical guitar builders I've seen in various places.  Sounds surprising, but it uses a block plane!

First cross grain, then diagonal and then with the grain:

 

I did sharpen the blade before I started, and these are SUPER thin shavings, but this is the best surface I've ever managed with a block plane!  This is straight off the plane:

 

 

When I was about 3.6mm, I moved onto the scrapers.  This is now down to 3.3mm and I will move to a large sanding block to drop it down to about 2.9mm.  I say about, because I am using the tap tone approach (great video on one of Robert O'Brian's 'Luthier Tips du Jour' videos, although he uses a thicknesser sander) rather than aiming for a specific thickness.  I will not, however, drop below 2.7mm tap tone or not!

Edited August 12, 2018 by Andyjr1515

[Andyjr1515]

And in the meantime, the first length of kerfing strip goes on.  This is the strip that the top and back will glue onto. 

 

It is set a mm or so higher than the sides because the top and back will be dished - the kerfing will be sanded down in the radius dish so that is ends as a close fit to the dished top and back before gluing - I'll explain that better when I have some photos to illustrate it!

 

 

[Christine]

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

And in the meantime, the first length of kerfing strip goes on.  This is the strip that the top and back will glue onto. 

 

It is set a mm or so higher than the sides because the top and back will be dished - the kerfing will be sanded down in the radius dish so that is ends as a close fit to the dished top and back before gluing - I'll explain that better when I have some photos to illustrate it!

 

 

I take it the join doesn't have to be ultra tidy and binding will take that up when it's applied, fill and hide any tiny messy bits on the very edge?

[Andyjr1515]

16 minutes ago, Christine said:

I take it the join doesn't have to be ultra tidy and binding will take that up when it's applied, fill and hide any tiny messy bits on the very edge?

Yes you are right.  The main thing is that the gluing surface - which is actually the kerfing strip - is acting as a proper mating platform.

[Andyjr1515]

Bit more progress in between the distractions of normal life!

The second side of kerfing strips was completed:

 

...and then back to the top to get it down from just over 3mm to closer to its final thickness.  My hand arthritis is causing me gyp at the moment so I brought out the Stanley No80 scraper plane into action.  I'd forgotten what a useful plane this is!

 

It made short but controllable work of the final thinning.  After each pass, I picked up the top from an edge and rapped it with my knuckle.  It had passed from drum thump to drum thump with one harmonic to drum thump and multiple harmonics - probably just going from 3mm to 2.8/2.9mm ish.  Then one last pass and a change again - now even running my hand across the grain was making it ring out.  So I've stopped.  It's probably just under 2.8mm.  Now I must stress I don't fully know what I'm doing on this sort of thing - I reckon to do that you have to sacrifice at least one top (or guitar) by taking it up to the 'oops - too far' - but I know from my last build that this is going to be strong enough and will be capable - if I get everything else right - of producing a nice sounding guitar.

Here it is laying on top of the 25' radius dish:

I was worried that the top might still be a little too stiff (and therefore too thick) but it presses into the dish no problem - the go-bar deck certainly won't have difficulties.

What is nice is that for the last dreadnought I built, I marked the brace positions on the radius dish so that I could sand them to the correct radius for each position.  One less job this time around

 

 

Next task is the sound hole - but before you can cut the sound hole out you have to sort the rosette!

A Tasmanian member of one of the other forums on a visit to UK a year or so back presented me with a few nice sample pieces of local Tasmanian wood and the challenge 'to incorporate this onto one of your builds.'

Well - I reckon a book matched pair might do for the rosette!

First I thicknessed it on my bodge-home-made-job thicknesser jig:

 

That's gluing, then I can see if it will work OK as the rosette feature ring