First-timer Archtop Build

[sbeishline]

Got to the shop today and took the neck out of the clamps. Overall, I thought the glue-up look pretty good:

I wanted to ensure the fretboard radius was sanded completely straight. I thought about this a while, and came up with the idea to use the table saw fence; however, it wasn’t tall enough. It occurred to me that the jointer would be the ideal surface and better ergonomically.

I first started by marking the centerline of the radius block. I planned to sand a 12° radius:


Because the sanding block was wide, I had to find a piece of wood to use as a spacer between the fence, and it happened that a piece of melamine fit (just had to rip to width). As you can see, this lined the centerline of the radius block perfectly with the fingerboard centerline!!




To secure the melamine spacer, I double-stick taped it to the jointer fence. Then, I lined up marks where I wanted the neck blank and marked them at the nut angle:

And another random spot by fret 12:


Then, double-stick taped the neck blank to the spacer:

[sbeishline]

As you can see from the above photos, you can’t hold the radius block, because one side rides along the jointer fence. So, I came up with a “joystick“ idea. I drilled a 1/2” deep, 3/4” dowel hole and malleted in a 3/4” dowel. Hallelujah! The universe shined its ray of lights on this ‘jig’:


Chalk-marked and ready to sand:


Don’t let that setup fool you- that biz took all afternoon! You can imagine, this process is physically taxing on the arms. Here’s the progress after 1st change of 100grit sandpaper:


Here’s the status after 2nd change of 100grit paper:


This is just about fully radiused as the chalk marks are gone:


I kept an eye with this metric ruler intermittently to ensure it was coming to shape in a 4 corners equally. There were some points I was off a hair and changed pressure where needed:


Here you can see the radius:


And post-100grit:

[sbeishline]

After finishing the radius with 100grit, I remarked with chalk and did a minute or 2 of 150grit until lines were removed:


Next, did the same with 220grit:


And finally 400grit:


I also did a minute with 0000 steel wool.

Here’s the final board waiting for final fret slot clean-up and fret installation!


Phew!

PS- the final fretboard thickness was 0.18”, slightly thicker than my goal of 5/32”, but close enough.

[sbeishline]

I went back and checked my guitars, and it appears the strings came off the tuner post ~1/8” from the center point. I readjusted the template tuner center point and traced in the string paths (dotted lines):


I snagged the StewMac string spacing rule, which recommends high and low E-strings should be ~1/8” from the fretboard edge. Using the ruler, I found the marks that correlated with 1/8” from the ends of 1 11/16”:


I checked this with my template and it wasn’t half bad:


Being close to glueing on the veneer, I needed to determine how to best cut the opening for the truss rod cavity. I decided to use the router table with 3/8” straight bit. I marked a practice piece 5/8” up from nut and the opening 1 5/8” long. I set up stop blocks and ran a practice piece cutting halfway through the piece on one side and then flipping it and running it again. Unfortunately, my centerline was off and I didn’t cut well:


I tried again, this time cutting first pass with bit cutting halfway. Instead of flipping the piece, I just raised the bit to cut the rest of the way through in a second pass. This worked better:


Need to decide what order to do things next... glue/shape veneer and then shape neck, or vice versa? In shaping neck, bandsaw excess of the neck blank or just hand tools? And at what stage to install frets?

[teeps]

Thank you for sharing this process. This is a most enjoyable thread to follow and I admire your skill.

Have you tested the tuners in the head template? If the distance from the edge to the tuner post center differs, then also the distance between edge and tuner knob will differ.

[sbeishline]

Thank you for sharing this process. This is a most enjoyable thread to follow and I admire your skill.

Have you tested the tuners in the head template? If the distance from the edge to the tuner post center differs, then also the distance between edge and tuner knob will differ.

Thank you, teeps!

I haven't tested the tuners yet. I actually started with the neck shaping today and decided to wait on the headstock veneer (post coming soon). You make a very good point re: tuner spacing, which I quite possibly would have overlooked. I'll look more into that and may need to adjust the template.

I've been trying not to forget to employ "measure twice, cut once."

[teeps]

Oh, and just one more thing where other might have an opinion as well. Spacing between strings can be defined in two ways to consider. One is the distance between string centers (the obvious) one is the free space between two adjacent strings. For bass nuts the free space between strings is evenly distributed rather than center distances. The difference of course is less prominent on wide nut guitars and more prominent on on narrow nutted basses.

[teeps]

Headstock shape is a compromise between function and appearance. Some have strings passing straight through the nut (e.g. Fender and Ibanez 6-in-line) which is good for heavy tremolo use - unless using a locking nut, of course. Some have relatively even spread out of strings between nut and headstock (Flying V, Ovation). Some have an elegant headstock at the expense of less appealing route of strings between nut and tuner (Open book Gibson headstock). Some seem not to care (Martin, Ibanez 3+3) and finally some dont have this challenge (some Steinberger models). And then there are the slotted headstocks, Some have a nice string route from nut to tuner (Adamas U681T, some Collings, Emerald) and many seems to care little about this (most others). A slotted headstock, in a way, might be considered a good match to the cello style f-holes).

The headstock You have chosen (widest farthest from the nut) is a bit challenging in this compromise. Another aspect to consider is weight distribution. If you have the neck joint at 15th fret (I may recall badly though) and the front strap button in the back of the neck block, there is a risk that the final guitar will feel neck heavy, even more so with this headstock shape.

Please don't be offended my thoughts on headstock shape. I really appreciate being allowed to follow your process.

[sbeishline]

Headstock shape is a compromise between function and appearance. Some have strings passing straight through the nut (e.g. Fender and Ibanez 6-in-line) which is good for heavy tremolo use - unless using a locking nut, of course. Some have relatively even spread out of strings between nut and headstock (Flying V, Ovation). Some have an elegant headstock at the expense of less appealing route of strings between nut and tuner (Open book Gibson headstock). Some seem not to care (Martin, Ibanez 3+3) and finally some dont have this challenge (some Steinberger models). And then there are the slotted headstocks, Some have a nice string route from nut to tuner (Adamas U681T, some Collings, Emerald) and many seems to care little about this (most others). A slotted headstock, in a way, might be considered a good match to the cello style f-holes).

The headstock You have chosen (widest farthest from the nut) is a bit challenging in this compromise. Another aspect to consider is weight distribution. If you have the neck joint at 15th fret (I may recall badly though) and the front strap button in the back of the neck block, there is a risk that the final guitar will feel neck heavy, even more so with this headstock shape.

Please don't be offended my thoughts on headstock shape. I really appreciate being allowed to follow your process.

Thanks for the insight, teeps. No offense taken. You're right at neck joint at 15th fret. Front strap button will be on the body just to the side of the neck on the non cutaway rib.

If the guitar ends up being neck heavy, I wouldn't be too surprised. That's one of the reasons I decided against maple for the neck material (spruce top is ridiculously ultralight)- I figured mahogany would be a bit lighter.

In terms of headstock, I'm not going to lose sleep over the string path. As long as I can get even tuners (like you reminded) and a semi-decent string path without blocking myself, I'll be happy.

Overall, this is probably the least of my obstacles yet to come with having to fit the neck, carve the bridge, nut work, etc. If this thing can hold some strings and make string noise, it'll be a success!

PS - I think this is the physics to which you are referring.. good stuff: Guitar Pedal X - GPX Blog - The Shape of a Guitar's Headstock has a significant impact on Tuning Stability

[sbeishline]

Got to the shop this afternoon and decided to start getting the neck into shape. As I've mentioned, I've sort of been using the Godin Flat Five X and PRS Archtop neck and their measurements as my models. Benedetto book shows the method of removing excess wood on the sides of the fretboard with the bandsaw. I was a bit skeptical of this at first because of the neck blank's non-linear bottom, but I figured I had the practice neck to try out the feel. I took the measurements from my real neck blank and penciled in a fretboard lines to see if I could cut it and not cut into the "fingerboard":


I then made the passes on the band saw and it went smoothly without any glitches:


I didn't waste much time and took the passes with the real neck, taking my time not to make any sudden moves to the left or right and all came out well. Here's a shot right before starting the cut:


These remaining pics are the neck after band sawing the excess wood on the sides of the fretboard. I could've gotta a bit closer, but I wasn't competing for any saw awards and wanted to take a bunch down by hand allowing more control to plane/sand to the fingerboard:

[sbeishline]

After band sawing, I decided to start the carving process taking a few passes with the spokeshave to get a feel for the neck:


I then focused a bit on the volute area where I marked the area I thought it should be and used a Shinto rasp to start sculpting:


I basically kept the photo of the Moffa volute I had posted previously up and tried to visualized this as I sculpted with the rasp. Additionally, this required all other hand planes I had used with carving the top (LN 101, D'A, and Veritas palm plane). As I moved along, I eventually got to this:


I then decided to make some general guideline markings on the neck for when I was removing excess material with the spoke shave. I had measured the neck thicknesses of my other guitars and got some numbers towards which I would shoot and marked those spots. I then ran a line 1/4" more than that to give myself very safe buffer before I get to the target:


After marking, I started the wood removal with the spoke shave:


I was somewhat limited on time in the shop today and only worked for an hour or so. After removing some of neck material from the back, I also planed some of the remaining mahogany on the sides that I didn't get with the bandsaw. Here are a few of how she looked at quitting time:

[sbeishline]

Here are a couple of photos from the front at quitting time:


And one of the volute with interesting tangential lighting at quitting time. Ultimately, I think I may have created the volute a bit lower than I'd like. If it gets in the way of the nut area/first fret or doesn't feel right, I'll just abandon it and remove it:


I took these photos after band sawing the excess neck on the sides, but before starting the neck carving :


I'll plan to continue the neck shaping with the limited time I have in the shop tomorrow.

[sbeishline]

Got back into the shop late this afternoon for some continued neck carving. Yesterday, the spokeshave seemed to remove material fairly quickly, although it wasn't very smooth. I'd guess it was more likely because of poor technique, but I decided to sharpen the blade first thing. It really was ever used, but I ran in on the finest 2 water stones and leather strop. I reinstalled the blade, and started making passes, but it just seemed very chattery.

So, I resorted to the Shinto rasp - this thing is a beast!! It shreds like butter. I had my PRS out in the case for reference, but I just started shaping away towards the heel end and things moved along fairly quickly, I was very happy with the way it was progressing on the straighter areas, and would check the thickness intermittently. I realized I needed to carve a deeper transition curvature into the heel, and went over the the benchtop (belt/disc) sander and used the belt portion a la Benedetto to help with this area:


I then went back to the Shinto rasp (this has a coarse side and fine side):


And also included a medium flat/curved file:


After the belt sander on the heel it looked like this:


Some volute refinement with the curved file:

[sbeishline]

After I looked back in the Benedetto book and saw the photo of his shaping the heel area, there was also a pic of him doing general curvature sanding, too. That reminded me I could remove some meat what way too:


This works early on, but it's sort of a pain to keep checking with the calipers while using this. I think it's better to use this while you're in the early stages with more room for error, and then moving to hand tools to have better control. I used variations in positioning like you see here in the workbench vise to get the various parts of the neck.


At this point, it was back and forth between the Shinto and the file:


By the way, I was doing all this mostly by feel. Eventually, I got to a point where I remembered and started to use the contour gauge to check how close/far I was from the PRS. Overall, it wasn't too bad! This was the check at the 14th fret close to the heel transition:


This was my positioning for most of the time:

[sbeishline]

Here's the neck at the end of the 4hr session:


Here was the profile checking at this stage at the 10th fret:


Still a bit yet to carve away and shape as you can see.

Overall, it was a great day. Reading other people's build diaries, carving the neck is always a part they look forward to. And, it really gets you close to not only seeing a future guitar, but actually feeling a playable piece of wood.

Here's a couple of photos *edited for emo* of putting A + B. Starting to get jacked!


Just seeing these pix is kinda surreal.. did I do that?!?

PS - it's kinda crazy that 4hrs of my entire life amounts to this tiny pile.


Ashes to ashes...


Back to work this week... hope y'all enjoyed the week long blogging flood!

[Zina]

Back to work this week... hope y'all enjoyed the week long blogging flood!

I love seeing the guitar come together. Your photos are very good.

[sbeishline]

I love seeing the guitar come together. Your photos are very good.

Thanks, Zina!

Pix have all been taken with my iPhone X.

[sbeishline]

At my current point, I’ve decided to get my headstock inlay onto the ebony veneer (before gluing into headstock), as it will be easier to do separate and not on the angled neck.

I stopped into the shop one night this week to test a Dremel with the StewMac router base. This thing is fantastic for inlay work. I’ve never done anything like this, but it’s easy to tell it’d be painful without it:


For the record, I bought 2 down cutter inlay bits: 3/32” and 3/64”. FYI- down cutters are supposedly better to cut a crisp edge on top with possibly a fuzzier bottom. Up cutters can leave a fuzzy top edge, but cut the bottom cleaner.

I didn’t have my inlay design printed on paper, so I just signed the piece of wood in marker and gave it a go. Signature on right is 3/32” and on the left used a 3/64” bit:


While I was there, I realized the top of my neckblank headstock was just a bit wider than the veneer, and needed to get the sides down to the pencil lines. So, I did a little sanding with 100grit:


I also needed to deepen the heel a bit and did that on the spindle sander:


As you can see, it still needs some additional refinement.

[sbeishline]

I wanted to get a jump on Saturday's shop day, so I figured I would cut the abalone inlay on Friday night since I could do it at home. During work yesterday (don't tell my boss ) I wrote my signature a bunch of times and found one I liked best:


To make the inlay cutting board, I took a small scrap piece of cherry and drilled a 1" hole with a Forstner bit on the drill press. Then ran a blade channel on the band saw.

I bought green select abalone (abalam) from LMI - shiz ain't cheap.

I then used some CA glue to adhere it to the corner of the abalam sheet - only took a few mins to dry. Then, I clamped the inlay board to my kitchen counter (with a scrap piece of wood underneath to protect the counter) and got to work. Of note, I got the jewelers saw and extra fine blades from StewMac, which isn't expensive and it worked great:


PS- I work magnifier Loupes (very helpful because the cut is so fine) and work a dust mask for this - you don't want to be inhaling mollusk shell into your lungs.

I started the cut on the outside of the signature:


To do the tiny inside area, I drilled a hole to the get saw inside with a 1/16" drill bit:


Once I finished the outside cuts, I drilled a few holes to work towards on the inside of the S loop:


Almost there:


And the final result!


I was super happy with it. Here's a look at the shell coloring from the back (from still has the paper signature glued on):

[rlrhett]

Wow. You really aren’t afraid of jumping in at the deep end! That is one delicate and complicated inlay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[sbeishline]

Arrived to shop yesterday afternoon, and was ready to sand the ebony veneer closer to final thickness. I decided to do this on the drum sander as it does a good job and you can really sneak up on a particular thickness because it can sand so thin. I decided to take it to 3/32" before routing the inlay cavity:


I then used Steve's new Woodpeckers marking guide to run the centerline:


There are a few YouTube videos on how to do inlaying, but I decided to follow Tomy Hovington's method. He has great YouTube videos.

Set the piece on the veneer to test the area of inlay:


Then glued the piece to the veneer with a tiny bit of CA glue and marked the outside with a while chalk pencil and then with a pin to scratch a marking line:


Then I used a scalpel blade to remove the glued piece from the veneer, and broke a piece of the inlay. Wasn't worried because it goes together well. I then put chalk all around the marking and tried to wipe off most to highlight the scratched area:


Here's me after starting the veneer routing process:


Finished with the main routing. I chose to route about halfway deep (eyeballed) of the thickness of the abalam (0.020):


At this stage, the piece fit in some areas, but not others - like the tiny island left behind there. It needed to be refined, which was very delicate. I put the piece in place as much as possible, and put my chalk pencil in the opening to really try to mark this area to show what needed to be removed:

[sbeishline]

Because the inlay is so thin and delicate combined with the fact that my signature has a lot of twists and turns, the inlay ended up in multiple pieces by the time it all fit in place. You can see I refined that small island area:


Overall, it looks fairly decent despite the fractures when set in the routed cavity:


Radiusing the fretboard created a ton of ebony dust, and I saved as much as possible to use during this inlay process. I had bought a small container of black epoxy stain, but I figured I might as well use what color matches exactly from the same stash of ebony. The black did seem pretty dark compared to this veneer anyways. At any rate, I set the pieces in place and placed the ebony dust to fill the cavity voids:


It was at this point I was ready to glue this bad boy in place. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken a close enough look at the CA glue I had and none of it was the thin consistency, which I should probably use for this so the glue wicks way down in. SO, I decided to halt and ordered some thin CA on Amazon that arrives tomorrow and this was set aside. I'll try to ensure it's lined up as much as possible before squeezing in the glue. Nothing like a little suspense for the final result..

[sbeishline]

Wow. You really aren’t afraid of jumping in at the deep end! That is one delicate and complicated inlay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I knew my signature wouldn’t be the easiest, but I have no sense of what’s crazy or not. Seemed to go okay, but we’ll see after it’s glued? Haha

[Zina]

Sbeishline, will you make more archtops if you're satisfied with this one?

[sbeishline]

Sbeishline, will you make more archtops if you're satisfied with this one?

Sure, I’d certainly like to.