pauliemc Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 This thing should look realy good when its done. You gonna mirror the headstock aswell ? your wood combination with some overwound singles will scream like a fookin banshee, so this should sound realy good aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Goddamnit John, stop it with those roundovers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Goddamnit John, stop it with those roundovers! What's wrong with the roundovers? I'm not doing anything with the back, except maybe a belly cut, so what's the big deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Roundovers make instruments look fat....oh, it's the back....I see....doing it the wrong way around then, or is it a lefty....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 ...looks at the pics again... huh It looks like I took more pics of the back than the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 I made the rough-cut of the mirror top yesterday. The manufacturer suggests a 12+ TPI blade, so I elected to do it on the scroll saw. With some scrap of both the mirrored acrylic and the top wood I tested gluing it on with epoxy. The mfgr only recommends ONE product to glue it on, and it ain't available locally. (At least not where I know to get it). Well, there's always more than one way to skin a cat, so I gave it a test. I'm not concerned about adhesion. I'm concerned about the solvent dissolving the mirrored backing. So.... I forgot to rotate the pic. Oh well. Like I said, I glued it on last night. It's dry and stuck on there good, but I'm gonna leave this to sit for a while until I give it the official thumbs-up. The dude I bought the inlays from said that epoxy is what HE used for the inlays, so I went for it. If these get a little mit swirly on the bottom, it won't be nearly as noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 I made the rough-cut of the mirror top yesterday. The manufacturer suggests a 12+ TPI blade, so I elected to do it on the scroll saw. With some scrap of both the mirrored acrylic and the top wood I tested gluing it on with epoxy. The mfgr only recommends ONE product to glue it on, and it ain't available locally. (At least not where I know to get it). Well, there's always more than one way to skin a cat, so I gave it a test. I'm not concerned about adhesion. I'm concerned about the solvent dissolving the mirrored backing. So.... I forgot to rotate the pic. Oh well. Like I said, I glued it on last night. It's dry and stuck on there good, but I'm gonna leave this to sit for a while until I give it the official thumbs-up. The dude I bought the inlays from said that epoxy is what HE used for the inlays, so I went for it. If these get a little mit swirly on the bottom, it won't be nearly as noticeable. Nice stuff ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Fluorescent lighting in the shop just blows for pics. It dorks up the color every time. Then if the flash is used, it gets washed out. Here's the fretboard radiused and sanded up to 100 grit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Here it is in my front yard, on a beautiful 62-degree Spring day, polished up to 12,000 grit. Micromesh pads are my friend. And now I'm at a standstill until the fretting doo-hickie comes in. Which I haven't ordered yet. I fret the neck before ANY shaping of the back is done. Since I hammer them in, it's best to have a flat back. I did the pup & c/c routes yesterday, so there's really nothing left for me on this one for a little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Checks your camera's flash and white balance settings, they can work wonders inside. Try to use the fluorescent WB with a rear flash setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Nice to see you building your own necks John, looks like some clean inlay work there mate. Im the same as you, i don't shape the neck until all the frets are hammered in. This is looking good but im not to sure if i like the HS shape, maybe with tuners it will be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 I'm not 100% sold on the headstock either. There's plenty there to re-shape it into a banana/explorer if I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moth Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 the headstock has just enough end to it to not make it look phallic. I think it'll look better with tuners, but we'll just have to wait and see. I really like this build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 And now I'm at a standstill until the fretting doo-hickie comes in. Which I haven't ordered yet. I fret the neck before ANY shaping of the back is done. Since I hammer them in, it's best to have a flat back. I did the pup & c/c routes yesterday, so there's really nothing left for me on this one for a little bit. Just use the rolling pin holder to support the neck and a nice polyurethane head hammer from the Auto shop and you can hammer your frets in after shaping without a worry in the world. Your neck looks fantastic (your neck for the guitar that is, although I am sure your neck does look very nice) beaut colour on the fretboard and the inlays look wicked. Great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johns Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 i need mirrored FB inlays... where did you get them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supplebanana Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 i need mirrored FB inlays... where did you get them! ebay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 That's the dude I bought them from. Good call. What I'm going to do is buy just the press insert, then put that into a block of wood. I don't have a press or clamp, so I hammer the frets in. I figure this will give me a better application of force across the width of the fret instead of concentrating it into one place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 I fret the neck before ANY shaping of the back is done. Since I hammer them in, it's best to have a flat back. The trouble with this is that sometimes carving can unlock some hidden tension in the wood and it will backbow. If the fingerboard isn't attached yet, no big deal, just let it sit for a month and then sand or plane it flat again. If the board is already attached AND fretted, you got trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 So what you're saying is that no system is perfect, and that every one will have it's own drawbacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 My fret press insert came in yesterday, so I could get back to work on this monster. I made a really high-tech tool to use the insert with. I even came up with a super cool name for it: Block Of Wood. I routed a groove the same width as the insert into a piece of oak, then cut it square and rounded the corners. The insert sits nicely in the grooce. I then hammered the frets in, but with essentially equal pressure across the width of the fret. I gotta say that it's the best fret job I've done yet. With the edged beveled and dressed, it's on to the back of the neck. Bandsawn to thickness... VERY basic shaping with a rasp at the 1st, 12th, and halfway in between... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 ...take away the majority of the corners with a sure-form... ...and connect the dots with a spokeshave. It still needed some finessing into the final shape, but this was pretty darn close. Then I bolted the neck into place, took it outside (YAY!!!! It's Spring!!!!), and went to town with the angle grinder. We now have a belly cut and some killer upper-fret access. This obviously needed some finessing as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 So after some love with the hand sander, files, and rasps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 I'm currently putting some sanding sealer on the body. That'll take a couple of coats because the basswood is so spongy. Then it gets primed. This'll show me the uneven parts that will need to be addressed before the white paint goes on. From there, it's putting the top on, then doing the binding. In the meantime, I have some ebonizing to do on the neck... First, dissolve a steel wool pad in a quart of white vinegar. When it's all gone, strain it thoroughly. This vinegar/iron mixture then gets applied directly to the wood. A chemical reaction takes place with the tanic acids in the wood, turning it black. The amount of tanic acids directly correlates to how dark it'll get. Oak and walnut turn virtually solid black. For this, I carefully painted the mixture onto the walnut with a relatively small brush. The line along the fretboard was where the actual care was most important. Everywhere else was actually pretty sloppy. I put enough on to puddle on the surface and scrubbed it into the grain. A brushfull cover about the area of a half-dollar. I'll let it dry overnight and do it again tomorrow. The grain gets raised, so I'll need to buff it with steel wool. I'll be sealing it in with a wiping varnish - just enough to seal the wood but not so much to cover the feel of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 I had not heard of that ebonizing process before. I'm gonna have to try it. Not You mentioned painting with rust on one of his builds a while back. Is this the same or a similar process? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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