Some progress this week

[Bob Connor]

Got 4 x 0-18 tops voiced this week which was great being able to do them in such quick succession and compare them. Still got one to go.

Sitka, Engelmann, Italian and a King Billy. The one remaining is Red Spruce.

The King Billy is interesting. In hardness it sits between Cedar and Engelmann and is not that stiff along the grain. It should work OK on an O-18 seeing as though it's quite a short body. It's standard Martin bracing with two tone bars and one side brace but I chucked in a Mario brace butting up to the bottom side of the bridge plate.

The top actually sounded pretty good before I started carving so the lower legs of the X brace have only the tiniest of scallop in them - maybe 1mm.

It has incredible sustain when tapped. More so than the one of BobC's Italian spruce tops I did the day before, which surprised me. But it's certainly not as stiff long grain as the Italian top.

Heres some pics of it plus a few more things I was working on today.







This ones Maple with a Sitka top and curly Jarrah bindings.







This next one is a bargey we've named Triple Choc. Claro Walnut and Cedar with Cheesewood bindings. It's a bit of an experiment with Lowden style finger braces and a bound soundhole.









Bob

[Craig]

Hi Bob,
They are all fabulous guitars . If I had to pick the one I like most ,it would be "triple choc " . The bindings, bound soundhole, the shape and the Claro ! . all adds up to be a real stunner.
I found Cheesewood can be a little splintery, but maybe it was the piece I had . Worth the effort in any case . Your cheesewood bindings look spectacular. I'm fairly sure Tim Spittle Australian Tonewoods, has the Cheesewood if anyone is interested
Great work Guys !


Cheers , Craig

[Bob Connor]

Thanks Craig.

I'm hoping that the Nano-jumbo's are going to sound OK.

This ones got finger braces that look like this.




But I'm heartened by Allens success with his. The're slightly different in shape but the bracing is essentially similar (apart from the finger braces which should affect the cross-dipole response) so I'll know in about a month.

The cheesewood has lots of interlinked grain so I think it's always going to be a problem trying to plane or scrape it. I just sanded these. I really like the colour of it. It's a little more subtle than Maple I think.

That Blackwood 0-18 is getting Cheeswood as well with Black/Blue/Black side purf's.

Bob

[Hesh1956]

Looking great Bob buddy and the King Billy top descriptions sounds very interesting too.

Your output is extraordinary and they all look super too!!!

[Sam Price]

Neat work, lovely choice of wood for bindings!

[sebastiaan56]

Wow bob, some gems for Port Fairy. I am also interested with your comments on the King Billy. I find it rather soft but not as soft as Western Red Cedar so I keep my fingernail short!

I did a weather station out of Cheesewood for my FIL. Very highly figured which came up nicely with some water based dyes. Does anyone have the botanical information on Cheesewood. Sounds like a very generic name.

[Allen]

That triple Choc looks fantastic. I'm most impressed with the rosette and bound sound whole. Was it very difficult to bend it and get it just the right size?

[Bob Connor]

Thanks everyone.

Sebaastian there's a write up on Cheesewood in the Australian Tonewoods section. Be aware that there are several woods in that have been given the common moniker of Cheesewood.

Allen the soundhole binding was quite easy.

Got a length of Maple binding, held it at each end and slowly pulled it back and forward around the 100mm dust extractor outlet on the sander.

It heats up due to the friction and becomes pliable enough to bend around the soundhole.

Bob

[Dave Anderson]

They all do look very nice Bob! great work !!!!

[BillyT]

Man! Those are all going to be great looking!

[Dave White]

Bob,

Interesting stuff going on there and nice wood combinations!! Were you tempted to do a "full Lowden" and do the Dolphin braces rather than the scalloped?

[Serge]

Thanks Bob for sharing the very nice pics, awesome !

[BillyT]

Nice figure on that back wood! Very good looking guitar already!

[Allen]

Well, this pretty well typifies the Aussie persona and gives you a idea of what cane toads look like and their habits. Plus it's hilarious.

And hanging out in the pets water dish is just a given.


youtu.be/