My Current guitar project.

I just got through finishing the new air system for my woodworking area. I've already had a system in place for my knifemaking tools, but I finally got tired of having piles of wood chips sitting around, catching on fire whenever I do some forge welding. :eek: ;)

I got a Grizzly 1 HP unit this time. I also built a downdraft table for sanding wood. First, a few pics of the table being built:

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Now the air system itself. The exhaust from most of the tools goes straight outside. But the planer makes a lot of chips, so I have that going through a cyclone separator first.

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Not trying to hijack your thread or anything, just wanted to let you know what I got in the mail the other day:

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That is 5 sitka tops, 7 back/side sets of goncalo alves and 8 orphan sides and 8 orphan back-halves :D Added to the bubinga and black limba sets and I have enough to keep me going for a bit. I figure this way I can try to get consistent and have plenty of practice with the goncalo that was pretty cheap and then broaden my wood selection. My goal is to have 3 done by the end of the year but with med school really ramping up we'll see how far I actually get.

I cut enough wood for about 40 clamps:

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And I'm also about half-way through building a drum sander and a (read:8) circle cutting jig(s). I couldn't find a reasonably priced circle jig so I'm making some of the Wells-Karol style jigs for my Rigid trim router (know of anybody looking for one?).

Thanks for the inspiration brother!
 
Not trying to hijack your thread or anything, just wanted to let you know what I got in the mail the other day:

IMG_20110524_203550.jpg


That is 5 sitka tops, 7 back/side sets of goncalo alves and 8 orphan sides and 8 orphan back-halves :D Added to the bubinga and black limba sets and I have enough to keep me going for a bit. I figure this way I can try to get consistent and have plenty of practice with the goncalo that was pretty cheap and then broaden my wood selection. My goal is to have 3 done by the end of the year but with med school really ramping up we'll see how far I actually get.

I cut enough wood for about 40 clamps:

IMG_20110519_203535.jpg


And I'm also about half-way through building a drum sander and a (read:8) circle cutting jig(s). I couldn't find a reasonably priced circle jig so I'm making some of the Wells-Karol style jigs for my Rigid trim router (know of anybody looking for one?).

Thanks for the inspiration brother!

Wow, that's a lot of wood. Should keep you out of trouble for a while. :D
 
Well, today's the day! I'll be stringing it up this afternoon or evening.

But first, the finishing steps.

A few days ago I used the random orbital sander (ROS) with 220 grit to level the lacquer.

Then yesterday I used P600 grit paper by hand (the only finer grits I have for the ROS is 2000 and 4000) to remove those swirls. Then I used the ROS with 2000 grit to remove those scratches, then 4000 grit, then I buffed it.

Buffing revealed many of the 220 swirls that I missed with the 600 grit, mainly on the soundboard, where it's impossible to see them. So, today I started again with 600, then used 1000, then went through the 2000 and 4000 again.

I buffed again, and this time it's acceptable. Still can see some swirls in a few places if you hold it in the light just right. All in all, it's my best finishing job so far.

I didn't get to many pics of the sanding steps, but here's what it looked like after the leveling:

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After buffing, the next thing is gluing on the bridge. I was really excited about this part, because I have a new tool that makes it so much easier and stress free. I used to use deep C-clamps, with a caul under the top and on the bridge. Not only it there some risk of dinging or scratching the finish, but it's difficult to get even clamping pressure with the sculpted bridges I use.

So, enter the vacuum bridge clamp:

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It's an aluminum frame with a foam seal on the bottom, and a rubber membrane in the frame.

First, tape is applied around the edges of the bridge area to keep the bridge from moving:

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Glue is applied to the bridge:

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The bridge is put in place, and the clamp put over it:

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I'm using a Harbor Freight vacuum pump. It runs off of compressed air:

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After 10 minutes, the clamp is removed, the tape is taken off, and the glue squeeze out is cleaned up:

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Then the clamp is put back on for another 30 minutes. As of this posting, there's 2.5 minutes to go. :)

Here's the video where I first saw the bridge clamp in action and knew I had to have one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FTG5p2dsBA
 
Beautiful work! There's a lot of details that I never even thought of that go into this type of endeavor. You make it look easy.
 
Beautiful work! There's a lot of details that I never even thought of that go into this type of endeavor. You make it look easy.

I have to agree Phillip. You make it look like you have been doing this for many years. Beautiful job...Cannot wait to see it finished.
 
Thanks for the compliments, fellas. :)

The guitar is now finished, although there a few things that need a little more work.

But first, the steps leading up to the end.



While the bridge was curing, I worked on the neck/headstock. The flat areas needed to be sanded flat, and then buffed. The shaft of the neck I'll leave alone. It's smooth and shiny, although you can see the pores. Not everyone fills the pores on the neck though, so I'm not going to worry about.

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Now the neck is bolted on. In the past, I've always glued the fretboard extension to the top in addition to bolting the neck, but this time I'm not using glue, at least for now. I want to see if there's any downside to only using bolts. Can't think of any so far.

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Next, the pin holes are drilled through the top and bridge plate, and the holes are reamed with a tapered reamer.

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Also the saddle is made:

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The nut is pre-shaped in preparation for slotting:

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Then the strings are put on. I could go into detail of how this is done, but I didn't take any pictures, and the information is available out there if anyone really wants to know...

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Here's some photos showing the finish. I took some of the back, but the color was way off, so I'm going to have to find some good lighting and try to take some "glamour" shots.

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It sounds great! I'll try to record a sound clip, or (horrors!) post a video of me playing it. ;)
 
That looks fantastic! Really looking forward to hearing how she sounds! How do you like the DI fretboard? I like the floating fretboard, personally...
 
Phillip,

This is an amazing job mate. I have been following from the beginning and all I can say is WOW! The craftmanship that has gone into this is unbelievable.

Thanks for sharing and Well done!

Matt
 
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