Rosette test fit, take one

Rosette trial dry fit

One more test in the redwood.  New blade for the cutter worked well.  Quick coat of shellac on the top helped with tear out.  Recorded all the measurements on my cutter, which I set with my caliper.  Need to go a hair deeper on the real thing.

Came out ok.  Segments matched up better with one purfling strip on the inside as opposed to two, so I’ll go with that.  Wasn’t happy with my walnut strip on the outside, so I cut and bent more.  These segments are delicate!  A few little pieces came off just with handling.  I’ll probably cut and add little bits as I install.

Now on to the real soundboards.

Thickness planing backs and tops

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Prior plans of planing proceeding presently! Two redwood tops close to final thickness at around .105”-.110”.  I’ll scrape more after the rosettes are installed. One walnut back getting close and one more that hasn’t been started yet. Some areas of these were … Continue reading →

Backs and sides ready for more work

Starting to look like something other than stacks of wood. Redwood soundboards and walnut backs all glued up and cut out. Started to plane to thickness, but progress derailed for a couple days by a stomach bug. Yuck! I haven’t been sick in years. Oh well.
Luckily I feel well enough to play bass on a gig tonight that my friends booked.
I’ll be back at the guitar soon.

Gluing up the plates

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More progress… Picked through my redwood tops and walnut backs, then traced a basic profile trying to avoid any undesirable spots. Used the shooting board and joined the soundboards.  They aren’t quite wide enough, so once the glue cured, I … Continue reading →

Black locust from a fence post and some fuming

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Guitar stuff last week… I decided to use black locust for my fingerboard and bridge.  Cut the rough blanks a month or two ago, yet again, from the old locust post and brought them to the shop to aclimate.  I’ve … Continue reading →

Little tools are so cute!

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My first home made plane… Isn’t it precious! Just finished it.  Rosewood sides, not sure what the middle is.  Solid brass drawer pull cut down for the pin.  Didn’t really go off of plans, just figured I’d try.  Test cuts … Continue reading →

Headstock surgery

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And todays progress… Used my aluminum fixture to drill holes for the tuners.  Added shims to center.  Then on to slotting the headstock. Classic guitar making book calls for drilling two holes and cutting between with a coping saw.  Have … Continue reading →

A workout… with chisels

My god!  Hours of sharpening.  Now I know why I was procrastinating.  These are all antique shop finds.  So I went from grinding wheel, to diamond plate, to 1000 & 3000 water stones.  Flattening the backs of these was a bitch!  But hopefully I won’t have to do that again for a long, long time.  Only did 5.  But I worked on the others before, so hopefully they won’t be as bad.  Not sure how old these are, but I would guess they’ve never been this sharp.

Damn my arms are sore!

Hemlock, bracing and ringshake

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Found a use for the hemlock I cut up and dried.  Made all the soundboard bracing for my guitar(s). I split and then cut a few pieces to dry.  They were about 7% moisture content.  So I cut them down … Continue reading →

Guitar neck, the sequel

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And more guitar stuff… Made another neck.  This time I cut and laminated a 5 ply neck together.  Using old mahogany porch boards, there are a lot of holes, so I should get a better yield doing it that way. … Continue reading →