What's on your bench?

[simso]

Its rather depressing isnt it.

I have been turning people away in droves over the last month and a half.

Either way, it is what it is

Steve

[56nortondomy]

I've got 2 tenor ukes on the go at the moment. A Huon and Gidgee and a Sitka and Padauk.
Wayne

[demonx]

Not a whole lot going on here with the workshop going through the packup stage to be ready to move, but here are a couple paint pics of a guitar this is being painted at the moment:

[Mark McLean]

My latest project is not currently on the bench, but is hanging above it waiting for the finish to firm up. My first attempt at a falcate braced nylon - I guess a type of "neo-classical" if we are to adopt the Gore/Gilet nomenclature.

nylon falcate 1.jpg (136.09 KiB) Viewed 22359 times

I tried a new method for the bolt-on, bolt-down neck joint. It uses a kit that I bought online from Luthiers Cool tools http://www.luthierscooltools.com/Tools.htm#Bolt-on. I think it might be a good system, but the proof will be in the completed guitar I guess. Here is how it works:

The neck-to body is a simple butt joint - no mortice. I drilled two bolt holes through the neck block during the building stage. The neck block also has an extension that runs under the fingerboard, as per the G&G method. Once you have the neck aligned and the joint fairly flush you drill two corresponding bolt holes into the heel and install your preferred form of threaded nut. The kit comes with threaded inserts, but I don't like using those things in the end grain of the heel, so I drilled it out for some barrel bolts (one day I will get kitted up for the square bar that Trevor and Gerard recommend). Then you bolt on the neck and set it up to rout out channels for the second part of the joint - the bolt-down part.

There is a routing template, which allows you to cut two channels that span the neck-body joint. There are some lugs on the bottom that register off the truss rod slot and keep the jig square, and you screw it down onto the neck so that nothing moves around.

Then you want to cover the sound hole because you are about to make some mess

I used a plunge router with a quarter inch straight bit. You need a guide bushel to read off the template, and it is a fairly easy cutting job.

The kit provides two hardwood inserts (looks like walnut) with threaded inserts that will accept the bolts to hold down the fingerboard extension. These are nicely made to be an exact fit for the channels that you just routed. You then glue them in - ONLY ON THE NECK SIDE OF THE JOINT.

After it dries you can dis-assemble the joint, insert the truss rod, and glue on the fingerboard. You end up with an arrangement that looks like this.
This is a photo from the Cool Luthier Tools website, not my neck. It shows it more clearly than my own photos.

neck bolt website.jpg (28.92 KiB) Viewed 22359 times

And here is mine. It needs a bit of sanding to clean it up, but you get the idea. I have the truss rod adjusting from the other end, so you don't see it continuing into the body. Now, you may be wondering why there are fret slots cut in the bottom of the fretboard? Well - I decided to change the scale length on this board at some stage and I just turned it over and started again on the other side. Because it has bindings, nobody will ever know - except you folks. But anyone who unbolts this neck in the future may be puzzled.

neck rout 8.jpg (129.31 KiB) Viewed 22359 times

And here is how the neck is looking at this stage.

I will post some pictures of the finished guitar when I get it completed. But don't hold your breath. I work slow.
cheers
Mark

[Kev3]

A load of rock slabs sitting in cat litter

rocks.jpg (163.27 KiB) Viewed 22344 times

[Mark McLean]

Are you going to make us guess?

Nice bench, by the way..........

[ozziebluesman]

Rock on Kev. I'm sure there is a good purpose or experiment going on!
Need a bit more woodwork happening mate!
Cheers
Alan

[Kev3]

Are you going to make us guess?

Nice bench, by the way..........

A sideline job for a mining company - they wanted a display set of rocks from one of their gold deposits. I've lapped them flat to 600 grit, but they won't take a good polish due to the alteration minerals in them. They want them bright and shiny all the same so I hit them with a 2 pack glass finish epoxy. The stufff is self levelling, so I need them to sit nice and flat - the cat litter helps me pack them out to sit nice

Been way too hot and humid for any guitar work of late .....

[Kev3]

Rock on Kev. I'm sure there is a good purpose or experiment going on!
Need a bit more woodwork happening mate!
Cheers
Alan

Defintely looking for ways to incorporate the geology stuff into the woodworking Al - but these slabs are a bit too large for any inlay work

[GregL]

Hi Mark,

Could you possibly show more pics of the butt joint neck join? Especially the headblock. I like the idea of a simple neck joint, and a neck joint that doesn't use glue (I expect that would make for easier neck resets down the track).

Thanks,
GregL.

[Mark McLean]

Greg
I always kick myself for not taking more photographs as I go along through a build. I can't find any of the inside of this guitar. But if you have a look at this old thread our genial host, Bob Connor, shows his butt, which I found to be inspirational. I seem to remember that I basically copied what I did from this post by Bob.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2983&p=36298&hilit= ... int#p36298

If you want to bolt-down the fingerboard the main thing internally is the L-shaped neck block with a solid piece that extends under the soundboard where the fingerboard extension will run. It goes as far as the upper transverse brace. You don't need to cut this as a single block - you can glue together two rectangular blocks to make the L. In my build I have departed from these pictures a bit with the parallel bars, instead of Bob's square pocket.

The gist of it is that the heel to body joint is a simple butt joint, with no mortice & tenon needed. The original Taylor neck was like this also. Mario Proulx in Canada is another well known luthier who uses a bolted butt joint. But the Taylor and Proulx designs still glued the fingerboard down to the top of the guitar, so not a truly "removable neck". It is interesting to chart the development of the bolt on neck to a true bolt-on & bolt-down design. The Gore & Gilet books give a very elegant version of this also.

That ANZLF thread was a follow-up from this other one you might also want to check out, which kicks around a number of ideas for bolt-on designs.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2604&hilit=neck+bolt

BTW, I also found that I could adapt that routing template to do the slots in the headstock too - which was quite handy, and gives good value for money from one jig.
Mark

[GregL]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the info and the links! I found an old "ANZLF Adjustable Neck Joint" discussion (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=474) but hadn't found the others.

Thanks,
GregL.

[Nick]

Are you going to make us guess?

Nice bench, by the way..........

I was going to say Kev's house training pet rocks........until he spoilt it with the real reason!

Here was the last thing I had "on the bench", made from rescued old Rimu bookcases our department were going to throw in a waste taker. Made it for my new-ish (4 months old now) first grandson it's a copy of a commercially available model but I made a few 'enhancements'.

Joe's chair.jpg (113.01 KiB) Viewed 22274 times

The bent bits were all laminated and depending on the radius, some were bent dry and others (the tighter radius's) I soaked in hot water.

[J.F. Custom]

Here was the last thing I had "on the bench", made from rescued old Rimu bookcases our department were going to throw in a waste taker. Made it for my new-ish (4 months old now) first grandson it's a copy of a commercially available model but I made a few 'enhancements'.

The bent bits were all laminated and depending on the radius, some were bent dry and others (the tighter radius's) I soaked in hot water.

So, presumably the strings are under the tray? The discrete piezo discs have clearly been invisibly inlayed, while the wiring runs through hidden internal channels to the EQ/Amp on the back of the seat, then down to the speaker/sub under the footrest so he "feels" the music. Clever, but I''ve got your measure. Still, sets a new benchmark for player comfort and ergonomics.

Seriously Nick, you just don't do things by halves Much like that vibraphone I drooled over a while back, only, while I appreciate this, I won't drool over it - I'll leave that to the four month old!

@Wayne - well done for teasing that Gidgee into shape. It's going to look flash with the Huon top - lovely colour combo and I look forward to seeing it finished. Sorry to see/hear of your health troubles. I sincerely hope that gets sorted soon for you. Best of luck.

As to my workshop, it seriously looks like a cyclone visited the interior alone! A cyclone dust extractor in reverse perhaps? Currently packing it all for a move, which is not something I recommend having to do often. It's not much fun. In fact, it's a bit of an extreme sport entering it at present and I'm still boggling over the how to of it all... There is more to move there than in the house

Jeremy.

[56nortondomy]

The gidgee bent beautiful Jeremy, had no trouble with it ( did the fabric softener thing and with African b/wood bindings also ), it'll look great when it's done it's beautiful timber, I just hope my finish will do it the justice it deserves.
Wayne

[kiwigeo]

Are you going to make us guess?

Nice bench, by the way..........

A sideline job for a mining company - they wanted a display set of rocks from one of their gold deposits. I've lapped them flat to 600 grit, but they won't take a good polish due to the alteration minerals in them. They want them bright and shiny all the same so I hit them with a 2 pack glass finish epoxy. The stufff is self levelling, so I need them to sit nice and flat - the cat litter helps me pack them out to sit nice

Been way too hot and humid for any guitar work of late .....

Mining companies so short of cash theyre turning to this sort of stint to save a few bucks.....

[routout]

Just fooling with some scrap on the cnc Black-wood ,Snake wood and Ebony no logo's yet,at the local shop the other day and some one said have you seen Timber Tone picks and my reply was I have seen many novelties over the years wish them luck...

[simso]

Have you bellied them, or are they just a flat picked with radiused edges

Steve

[routout]

Yep bellied after I made a sanding jig I was just fooling around they work kind of ok feel better with just one side scalloped out may be just me need to incorporate that into the code for next time .cheers John 35c here today yikes.

[Nick]

As well as making the high chair I've also been helping this guy to get set up and producing basses. He's 'launching' at the London Bass show on the 12th of this month and considering he only had his own 2 completed basses when we first set the factory up, he's done well to get a dozen basses together for the show (a 2 month time frame), I helped out by making more bridge assemblies than I care to remember and some fret work but apart from that the poor guy was doing 16 hour days for the past 6 weeks so I wish him every success at the London show.

[routout]

He has Invested some time in those bases good on him hope the hard work pays off.John

[simso]

he only had his own 2 completed basses when we first set the factory up, he's done well to get a dozen basses together for the show (a 2 month time frame), I helped out by making more bridge assemblies than I care to remember and some fret work but apart from that the poor guy was doing 16 hour days for the past 6 weeks so I wish him every success at the London show.

Thats a big call, making an assembly line after only manufacturing two basses to start with

Steve

[Nick]

Thats a big call, making an assembly line after only manufacturing two basses to start with

Steve

He's been spending years dabbling away in his garage building many prototypes, getting an 'assembly line' approach to building them all setup (He's a consultant who travels much of the globe helping other big companies do just that, so that's proved invaluable) and perfecting his tuning system, but he finally got it to a stage where he thought he'd got a marketable product which could be repeated and had the last two basses at 'that stage'. His earlier models he doesn't consider as complete hence why I'd said only two basses, he's got quite a few earlier generations sitting in his shed.
Yeah it was a big call and one he's been putting off for some time but apparently meeting me gave him the impetus to jump into the pool . I believe he's got enough points of difference on his bass to make it not just 'another' generic bass and his build quality is as good as anything else out there. It's an even bigger call setting up shop here in Christchurch I reckon and one of the reasons I'd like to see him do well. I'll still have an involvement with the company, doing custom work e.t.c so another reason I'd like to see him succeed

He has Invested some time in those bases good on him hope the hard work pays off.John

Thanks John, I'm hoping it pays off for him too, he's invested a lot of time and his own cash to get it to this stage

[56nortondomy]

Not exactly on the bench. I've been trying to het a decent compressor for a while and never seen to have the money. Last night I came across this ABAC compressor on ebay for $450 2.5HP 50lt. looked too good to pass up so I bought it, picked it up this afternoon, it's like new and I'm really happy with it.
Wayne

[mooshalah]

OK; I'll bite!

My (small) bench is so full of stuff (like the baritone ukulele side-bender and control box for the silicone blanket, that I've just made - see "Ukulele side bender"), that there's presently no space for doing anything much on it. Thus, I've taken all the stuff I'm working on, and am storing it in my rarely used "TV room" (intensely used when my sons were younger and still at home, playing computer games, but who are long-since gone. See "Pile-o'-stuff")

Ukulele side bender

Lots-o'-stuff

I'm an amateur, and don't make instruments for anyone else. I'm fascinated with the construction processes, theory behind the creation of guitar sound, and the skills that I've developed over the years. My problem is keeping focused.

Since I was a kid, I've always wanted to own and play various sorts of guitars (and other instruments, for that matter), and so it was only once I'd made my first instrument once I'd retired, that the bug bit, and I realised that if I made them myself, I could have just about any instrument that I wanted! So there followed flamenco and classical guitars, then steel-stringed instruments of various sizes - just because I could! - and then a dulcimer, some ukuleles, a hurdy-gurdy and other bits and pieces.

I've tried making only one instrument at a time, but found that my interest seemed to wax and wane, so I've told myself that tooling up to make instruments in batches is going to hold my interest better, and keep me motivated - well, that's the theory, anyway.

Accordingly, I'm presently working on five ukuleles and six guitars, and trying to finish off three "nearly finished" instruments - two dreadnoughts and a Ditson Parlor guitar.

So far, the fear and guilt factors are pushing me forward; it seems to be working, and I'm spending time every day, doing something! The fear of ending up with nothing, after all this effort, and feeling like an idiot are, I hope, my motivators. What I'll do with any of these, if and when I finally finish them, is something I've not contemplated. Fill up more cupboard space in my home, I guess!

I wonder how many other members have these - or other motivations for doing (or not doing) what they do.

The ukuleles (all baritone) are:

1/. Satin Box with Blackwood top;
2/. Blackwood with Satin Box top;
3/. Mountain Ash with unknown top (from a tree cut down in a suburban street);
4/. Bird's-eye Maple with Sitka Spruce top;
5/. Black-heart Sassafras with Adirondack Spruce top.

Necks will be Honduran Mahogany, Queensland Rosewood and Blackwood. (see "Stak-o'-ukes")

Stak-o'-ukes

The guitars are:

1/. Dreadnought - Highly figured Blackwood and figured Monterey Cypress top;
2/. Classical (with active back) - Cocobolo and Engelmann Spruce.
3/. Parlor - Plain Padouk and Dunno Yet top;
4/. Flamenco (with passive back) - Plain Satin Box and Sitka Spruce top;
5/. Jumbo 12-string - Highly figured Blackwood and Sitka Spruce;
6/. Flamenco (with passive back) - Plain Monterey Cypress and Adirondack Spruce top;

Necks will be Honduran Mahogany and Monterey Cypress. (See "Pile-o'-geets")

Pile-o'-geets

When I get bored with one thing, I go and do something else - including making linings, purfling, and tools and jigs that I don't really need; what behavioral scientists call Displacement Activity. I do lots of this - including like posting stuff on this forum!

I'm outa here.