andyt Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Time to try building a neckthru this week. Big ol pile of paduk planks that I used for the JS fretboard, nice an long might make it a 27" scale Had an ash RG blank sitting around so chopped the middle out. Gave the bandsaw a tune up the other day, new blade & replaced the bearings & blimey it cut straighish on some resawing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Never worked with spalt before so tips would be good..If i'm going to use a splat top and do some carving do I do any stabilizing before, or wait till its shaped and getting near finish sanding? ie if I stabilize with the CA or epoxy does it only sink in a bit, so as soon as you remove some wood it back to being fresh? Had a Ibanez ZR 7 string trem sitting around waiting to be used, the routes are completely different from the normal so made a rough test piece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 That's some really nice bookmatching, Andy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Unfortunately the CA will soak in at different rates depending on how punky the wood is. The softest areas will soak in the most and the more stable areas not so much. If you have really soft areas it will soak in so much that you will likely never sand through it. The parts of the wood that are more normal can be sanded back to fresh wood. You need to stabilize the punky areas before you carve it, or they'll just crumble on you. Then you can shape the top and stabilize the whole thing after rough sanding. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Unfortunately the CA will soak in at different rates depending on how punky the wood is. The softest areas will soak in the most and the more stable areas not so much. If you have really soft areas it will soak in so much that you will likely never sand through it. The parts of the wood that are more normal can be sanded back to fresh wood. You need to stabilize the punky areas before you carve it, or they'll just crumble on you. Then you can shape the top and stabilize the whole thing after rough sanding. SR Cheers Scott, just what I was looking for, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 (edited) Beautiful timbers there! I've never worked with spalt myself but have heard it's a pain to route, which will support the claim above that it'll crumble when you carve in some spots. Good luck! Let's see some nice guitars come from that! Edited October 14, 2011 by demonx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightninMike Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 The first shot of the quilted wood is going to make a beautiful guitar.... i'd be completely forgetting about the spalted stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 Avoid the sawdust from spalted wood as much as possible. The spalt is a fungus. Introduce it to your lungs interior and it might just set up camp. Spalted lungs would not be cool. Good looking neck blank though!! that is some sweet looking curly too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 i am doing a spalted carved top at the moment and quite honestly its a real pain in the arse! it was all stabilised and thoroughly soaked in thin CA whilst flat - it seemed to soak up a massive amount. then i started carving and after a few mm i was back to punky crumbly wood. so i got the carve roughed in - quite uneven due to the different textures and re soaked with thin CA. that is where i am at now - edge tools are probably not going to be the way forward so its going to take a while I actually gave this piece of wood to my cousin when he said it should be a carved top. I said there was no way i would try carving it but he was welcome to it. That was about 3 years ago and he never got around to it until a few weeks ago when he asked me to carve it in return for a spray job on the double neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 Yeah, edged tools are a very hard go with wood that is soaked in CA. It's like trying to carve acrylic.... . Abrasives are easier to control. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 Cheers for the spalt advice quys, got a load of thin CA coming from ebay, also waiting for some ebony to turn up, found some cocobolo in the shed so cut it up for a 27" board & cut out the maple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 Glued the ash wings on Then thicknessed down the middle of the neck blank to make room for the top & cut the neck pocket to fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.meneghini Posted October 19, 2011 Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 good work.congrats dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 Though I do a test carve to see if I like it, something different from a RGA First time I've ever used a hand plane as it was too big for the planer. 10 mins with an angle grinder, then a rasp for the places it can't quite reach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 ready for glue all the clamps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Ha...that pic looks like a poltergeist is levitating your clamps.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Ha...that pic looks like a poltergeist is levitating your clamps.. put down the pipe Wes! Out of the clamps & trimed it down Thankfully remembered to drill a wiring channel before gluing - 1st neckthru and all. Postie turned up this morning with 2 big bits of ebony, will cut one up and see if I prefer black or brown.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Okay,now you are just screwing with me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 ZR route & posts in Jem jack socket control route and a quick test fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Ha...that pic looks like a poltergeist is levitating your clamps.. put down the pipe Wes! Out of the clamps & trimed it down Ectoplasm!! Byaaaaah!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Made up the ebony board pearl dots Check pickup wires fit before gluing the board on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Shinto action Not going for a massive no heal cutaway, as the maple top is so thick I'm leaving a bit more wood there. Roughed out neck shape, belly cut and cutaway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cfhmachado Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menapia Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 That looks great Andy I think I'll have to do a neck-thru on my next build never did one before so I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Fretted today, strung up to test & started roughing out a plate for the headstock not sure about the backplate, might just go plastic to match the ZR cover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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