Woodcraft

[William Lewis]

I have a couple of electric guitars that I enjoy and I've been looking for a decent acoustic that's cheap enough for my nonexistent budget. Going through this thread reminds me of why I'm looking

 

[KillRamsey]

I used to have that Thinkpad for work, years ago. Wow.

 

[tonyturley]

I used to have that Thinkpad for work, years ago. Wow.

I don't remember when I bought it, but Windows XP was still the hot OS for PCs. Considering SP 3 was released 12 years ago, it's been a while.

 

[tonyturley]

Some CNC progress this afternoon. A Rosewood peghead overlay and a Black Walnut binding ring for the side soundport on the guitar project.

 

[tonyturley]

Cleaning up the binding channels and gluing the first set of bindings. I might need more twill tape.

 

[KillRamsey]

I can't remember, Tony, have you made any guitars yet? As in parlor sized or bigger, 6 stringers?

 

[tonyturley]

I can't remember, Tony, have you made any guitars yet? As in parlor sized or bigger, 6 stringers?

I have, Kyle, an archtop I finished a couple of years ago. It was sort of my training wheels build and took me 14 years to complete. Really. I followed that up with a small body tenor guitar last year, and the one in the pic above will be a 6-stringer, using the same body plans as the tenor guitar.

 

[tonyturley]

Wrapping the second set of bindings. I used even more wraps this time. Some wise guy on another forum asked me if I was mummifying my guitar. One wonders if it was @drd1135 in disguise?

 

[drd1135]

Wrapping the second set of bindings. I used even more wraps this time. Some wise guy on another forum asked me if I was mummifying my guitar. One wonders if it was @drd1135 in disguise?

View attachment 243327

I would never avoid taking credit.

 

[kyteflyer]

Seeing your work,Tony, reminds me of all the reasons I keep looking for a decent small guitar. Love it all. The photos are nice too

 

[tonyturley]

In conjunction with today's Day 305 image, I made a template from thick poster board to aid in precise location of the bridge, as well as protect the delicate top from fingernails and errant tools that might slip from aged fingers.

 

[tonyturley]

Also completed this afternoon: scraping the area inside the bridge location to remove the finish and return the wood to bare wood, and using a set of deep-throated clamps to glue the bridge in place. Although the glue instructions say the clamps can be removed after 2 hours, I'll leave them overnight for peace of mind. All that's left is installing the electronic pick-up (due to arrive early next week) and then it will be ready for strings.

 

[KillRamsey]

That's a beautiful rosette!

 

[KillRamsey]

Man, this is a ton of work, done very very well.

 

[tonyturley]

My electronic pickup arrived today, so I can proceed to final assembly. Stay tuned . . .

 

[tonyturley]

We have a guitar. This morning, I installed the electronic pickup and completed the setup work, shaving the saddle and nut to achieve the low action I wanted. After installing the John Pearse Silk and Phosphor Bronze strings at my workbench, I immediately took the guitar upstairs and plugged it into my acoustic amp.

To say I am ecstatic with how the guitar turned out would be an understatement. I made some rookie mistakes that would have me pulling my hair out if I had any, but I was able to correct those mistakes without ruining the project. The tone of the guitar exceeds my expectations. It sounds great both acoustically and on the amp. I’m pretty rusty on the 6-string guitar, having spent the last year playing ukulele and tenor guitar almost exclusively. I’m looking forward to getting back up to speed with this new guitar.

It’s built from the same basic plans I used for the tenor guitar I completed in December 2019, just with some modifications to suit this particular project. The last image shows the new guitar and my older tenor guitar. The first image shows the guitar as it started 14 months ago. For those guitarists in the crowd, it has a 23” scale length, with a body longer than a Martin LX, but shorter than a Taylor GS Mini.

 

[KillRamsey]

Oh wow. That came out great! Now we need video / audio...

 

[tonyturley]

This is a bit of a GAS purchase. I've been using a 3" diameter steel pipe with a charcoal lighting element for my wood bending needs. It heats up fast and gets very hot, but it's full on or off - no thermal control. The 3" pipe also makes it difficult to do smaller diameter bends. So I sprung for a commercial grade unit from Luthiers Mercantile International, or just LMI as those in the trade know it. The machined aluminum iron and variable heat control are nice. I'll have to build about 800 more instruments to justify the cost, but what won't we do for our hobbies?

 

[tonyturley]

A new project comes to life. About a year ago I completed a 19 5/8” scale steel string baritone ukulele. I took the plans for a 1940 Gibson L00 and shrunk them to 75%, and used that to create a body mold. I was very pleased with how that project came out, and was playing that instrument yesterday evening. I will be using those same drawings and body mold to construct a baritone scale kiku (essentially a 6-string ukulele).

I spent this morning thickness sanding the Black Walnut and Redwood for the body. Neck will be Honduran Mahogany. Bindings and trim will likely be Indian Rosewood, as I have a fair supply of scrap left from other projects. I’ll likely also be working on a long scale tenor uke from Black Cherry and Redwood at the same time.

 

[KillRamsey]

That's pretty walnut.