Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Fresh off the gun today. Here is the neck. https://i.imgur.com/3kK9AkC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/1DTvfcu.jpg I need to do a little touchup on the burst on the front of the guitar body where I wet sanded through the clear and then I'll get another couple coats of clear on the body. Then onto wet sandin...

Got some colour on the body finally. There are a couple small bubbles in the finish but hopefully I can wet sand and polish them out once it's dry. Obviously it was my first time spraying a burst. It came out ok but next time I'd probably use a template to minimise the overspray as I did end up with...

Frets are in.



Mock build and everything checks out. On to sanding and finishing.

Well today was neck carving day. Because it was my first time carving a neck I set out with a plan. I carved the thickness taper between the 1st and 12th frets. https://i.imgur.com/XCRP0aF.jpg Then I drew facets on the back of the neck and carved using those facets. https://i.imgur.com/rfnVQsW.jpg O...

I just glued in the mop fret dots and couldn't resist a cheeky mockup with some of the hardware. I know from wiping spirit on the yaka in the past that it'll be quite a bit darker once clear coated so the gold hardware should look good.

Time for an update. Got the headstock cap glued up. https://i.imgur.com/8JbRMwT.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WHSAbyF.jpg Cap trimmed down and truss rod access hole opened up. https://i.imgur.com/nnpdsGx.jpg Fretboard has been flush routed. Drilled holes for tuners. https://i.imgur.com/HXwjz09.jpg And hol...

Fret slots cut. https://i.imgur.com/5ZQ1aoM.jpg Bookmatched headstock cap cut and glued up. https://i.imgur.com/GGZM54f.jpg Cleaned up https://i.imgur.com/Wn77TY4.jpg Holes for pots and switch drilled. https://i.imgur.com/YhzfrgY.jpg Fretboard glued on. https://i.imgur.com/Lw4wQVq.jpg

Had a f#@* moment yesterday when I accidently dented the top. I've had a few goes with the damp cloth and iron to try and reverse it and it appears to be working. Hopefully with another couple goes I'll be left with something I can easily sand out. I got the neck cut out last night. Had a small tear...

It's the weekend so it must be time for another update on the progress. Drilled bridge screw holes and string through holes. The string through holes I went about 3/4 of the way through the body. https://i.imgur.com/OWh7J9G.jpg Then a set up a piece of mdf on my drill press with a reference pin. htt...

Routed neck for truss rod today.







And routed the f holes in the body.

Lillian wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:48 am

Nice job with the scarf joint. What's the wood? I like the grain pattern.

Hi Lillian,

It's Tasmanian Oak, the same as the main part of the body. Tasmanian Oak is just a general name used the describe a number of varieties of Eucalyptus. I'm not sure which exact variety this is.

Cleaned up the faces on the scarf this morning with a hand plane.



And all glued and clamped up.



Fingers crossed it's all straight and square.

So last night I only got a couple things done. I rounded over the edges.

And I cut the scarf joint. It came up ok. I'll make up a little jig to thickness down the headstock piece.

Got the pickup cavities and the neck pocket routed today. Test fitting the neck template. https://i.imgur.com/2ugnucP.jpg Body weight is now at 1.938kg. F holes still to be routed which will reduce the weight a fraction more. https://i.imgur.com/S2Fm3og.jpg Mock up with some of the gold hardware and...

Clamps are off. And I've trimmed the edge. I couldn't resist wiping the top with some spirits to see the colour.

So earlier this week I got the tear out repairs all cleaned up. And today was a good day. Picked up a decent second hand drill press and got the top on the body finally. Here it is after getting it all lined up and some locating screws to help me align the top where I want it once I've spread the gl...

jeffhigh wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 28, 2019 7:03 am

I have found it to move quite a lot with humidity changes (used in making small boxes)
It would not be my choice for neck timber.

Ah good to know. Cheers. If I do experiment with it in a neck in the future I might do it as part of a laminate or use carbon fibre rods.

Well I haven't got a lot done lately. But here is a small update. I got some longer bolts for the jig and cut out a small section to accommodate angled headstocks. https://i.imgur.com/Q3L8r8v.jpg I routed my working neck template off my thin template that I made. https://i.imgur.com/g6Z1ZUu.jpg Tear...

matthew wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 25, 2019 11:09 am

I can do a lot with 9 inches and above

Only one piece is 9 inches or above and it's the bottom slab on the left in the photo with the stacked pieces. It's not a quarter sawn piece, it's a flat sawn piece.

I’m sure it would work as a neck wood. The only thing that would stop me using it is the look. Too much of a good thing on a instrument that’s already has a lot of figure. I would use a more plain wood and finish with a veneer headstock or grafted scroll if I was doing it. I’ve made three basses wi...

I'm continuing to push ahead with the build. Routed the remainder of the outside of the body. Unfortunately I got another tear out on that same corner despite doing a climb cut. I'm now suspecting there must've been some defect that I couldn't see with the naked eye on that area because all of the r...

“To err is human - but to really fuck things up you need power tools!” Commiserations about the router mishap, but we have all been there at some stage. Regarding the dilemma of whether to use nice wood for your top, let me relate a tale. I built my first (acoustic) guitar from a kit, so it had pre...

Things like this can be so frustrating. I'm glad you aren't letting it stop you. In the picture you captioned "Started routing the body on the router table. First side went ok." Was that done with one pass or was that multiple passes? Yep multiple passes only taking a tiny bit off each time. Bloody...

Despite my frustration and disappointment, I am going to attempt to salvage it.

1st step. Glue the body back together.

Started routing the body on the router table. First side went ok. https://i.imgur.com/pYBfgWk.jpg Started second side and boom big tear out, damage the router bit... https://i.imgur.com/rKzzCKl.jpg ...and the body got thrown across the room with the end result being: https://i.imgur.com/7nYgJoF.jpg ...