View Poll Results: 1st Build Floater Suggestions
- Voters
- 25. You may not vote on this poll
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KA Handwound 12-pole PAF humbucker
15 60.00% -
Zoller AZ-48
5 20.00% -
Biltoft Dual Blade Humbucker
5 20.00%
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Any updates? I'm super curious
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08-14-2019 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by asedas
My wife is pregnant with our first, so I've been demoing and just repainted a bedroom. Will need to install some hardwoods within the next month or so, so expect another delay!
Thanks for the support man!
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sbeishline, congratulations on becoming a dad! You're a lucky man!
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Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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After my last post, I decided to start some progress on the neck.
I used a sheet of 3/4” plywood and made the neck template using the dimensions in Benedetto by band sawing and getting to final line with a block plane:
I then made a decision to make the entire neck out of mahogany and not use maple, as my front is so light, I want to avoid ending up neck heavy. I milled up a nice piece of mahogany and traced the 3 patterns onto it:
Good thing I didn’t band saw it, because it dawned on me that he used a 25” scale and mine will be 24 3/4”. Despite crunching all kinds of numbers using a fret calculator with 15th fret neck/body joint, I couldn’t get an agreeable number that correlated with Benedetto’s (25” scale and 14th fret neck/body joint). Not sure if entire nut thickness in included as Benedetto puts his on the headstock angle before the flat neck, so maybe that’s it? AFAIK, scale begins where nut ends as it leaves it?
So, I stopped and haven’t done anything else with the neck until I figure that out.
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I then decided to drill the locator holes/dowels as described in Matt Cushman’s post on closing the box.
Drilled the holes using 1/4” bit and went to about 1/16” into the neck and tail blocks on both front and back sides. Then using 1/4” dowel centers in those holes, I attempted to line up the sides with the appropriate traced line on the top and back plates, and gently tapped to make the mark on the top. I then drilled the same 1/16” holes:
Here’s one of the locator holes on the top plate:
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I still had the top plate at 1/4” thick, and at this point went back to the STP on the drill press to thickness the plate to 3/16” all-around the edges:
Then went back to hand planes:
Using tangential lighting, you can see it needed additional finesse:
Eventually went back back to the orbital sander to smooth out those contour transitions:
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While I had no shop access, I did borrow the spindle sander and sanded the top and back plates to the appropriate lines. Because of the extended-edges, I have about 1/4”-3/16” beyond where the side will be:
Last edited by sbeishline; 08-15-2019 at 09:36 AM.
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Next up, I milled the spruce braces to 5/16” thick on the planer:
I then used a pencil-through-washer method and rolled it along the inside of the top to trace the contour. I then cut them out on the band saw as close to the line as possible:
Because the braces are 2” in height, I repeated the washer tracing and band saw’d it again as I’ll only need height in the middle of the braces to be 5/8” and tapered to approx. 1/8”-3/16” and the ends:
The bottom end of the braces measures 2” in from the edge and the top measures 1/2” from midline, per Benedetto. I then measured from neck joint mark in order to identify bridge location, and ensured both braces were 3” apart at that point:
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Yes - if you find yourself thinking, that’s gotta be tedious.. CORRECT. This part sucks. You don’t have much room to wiggle when sanding the bottom of the brace, but now isn’t the time to become impatient. I used thin, double stick tape and tape a strip of sandpaper to the brace location and had at it:
I marked the bottom of the brace with pencil to indicate the high spots. Tom Bills uses a small hand plane to speed the process to knock down some of the high spots, which I did a little, but mostly just kept at the sanding:
Continued.. and changed paper once to ensure adequate sanding.
Finally, I used a Japanese pull saw to cut the top end to size just below where the edge transitioned:
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I picked an image of a standard cello-style f-hole and had a friend with a printing machine print it onto a piece of thick paper. It came semi-cut and I just punched it out and used the existing outside shape to trace where the center part was. I extended the bridge line to use as a center guide, and slowly adjusted the points of the f-hole to 3 1/4” from centerline at top and 5 1/4” from centerline at bottom:
Doubtful anyone would notice, but the treble-side f-hole bottom point is about ~1/16” off.
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I began drilling a hole in each f-hole end:
I started a coping and fret saws, but because my top is so thin and has so much flex, it makes the sawing too uncertain:
So, I decided to drill more holes along the f-hole and experiment different methods on the safest cutting. I didn’t have my Dremel with me because I headed to shop right from work (obviously), but think that may be more helpful and not too dangerous. So, I alternated between a scalpel and bench chisel:
This spruce is ridiculously soft, so any wrong move and it’s toast. Honestly, because wood is unforgiving and not-self repairable it’s more difficult than operating with human tissue.
This is where I halted for the night and current state:
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Brought the Dremel over to the shop today to help with wood removal, and that did the trick in removing some of the wood waste. I mostly used the chisel and Dremel until I got close to the line:
I then used 100 grit sandpaper double-stick taped to a ruler:
Because these f-holes are so intricate, I needed to use something thin and semi-robust, but flexible and came up with the 100grit double-stuck to a straw. This really did the trick around points and the top and bottom of f-hole. Because you could squeeze it in place, it helped itself add pressure when it tried to form back to its cylindrical shape.
When I needed more pressure, I inserted a rat tail file inside the straw:
This is where I switched to the other f-hole:
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Started with 2 pilot holes and widened them using the Dremel:
I then added a few holes along the f-hole to assist in wood removal:
Because the bass-side area didn’t have that previously mentioned scarily-thin area, which was too flexible to saw, I was about to use the coping saw to connect all the dots and create and opening all the way through:
Did the same method as the other one with chisel and Dremel for majority of wood removal until I used the sanding implements. Finally, I notched the f-holes using a chisel and scalpel:
Current state below. This was extremely delicate and needless to say, I’m happy with the result:
Learning lesson, leave the f-hole area thicker next time.
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You don’t seem to have left any room for binding. Are you not going to bind the F hole?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Originally Posted by rlrhett
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Originally Posted by sbeishline
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Originally Posted by asedas
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Was happy with the fit of the braces and fired up the HHG pot. I basically followed the Cushman method for this process.
To minimize glue squeeze-out, I masked alongside the glue markings:
I then brushed some glue on the bottom of the brace and on the top plate, and held the brace by hand for a min or so. I immediately repeated the process for the other brace and set some weights on top to keep some pressure for 24hr:
I was happy with the overall fit, and will take the weights/tape off this evening:
Hopefully it will look better than that Gibson ES-275 in the nearby thread!
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Took off the weights and masking tape tonight and although the fit isn’t flawless, seems fairly acceptable. Some of the dark along the brace is pencil mark, not necessarily space:
Also took a pic with the front plate and side ribs shell in place:
After I got home, I used my LN 101 plane and shaved one of the braces to 5/8 near bridge and will finalize the tapers to 1/8”-3/16”:
Will plane the other one and finish shaping both tomorrow night.
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I cut the 5/16” cylinder locator dowels and adjusted the locator holes to ensure the top and back plates seated fully, and while I had it all out I took some pics of the box:
Really starting to look like a jazz box!! Must admit, I'm really proud of what I’ve done from a woodworking standpoint, even if it’d sound like a dud. It makes for great appreciation of luthier’s skill. If nothing else, it would make for some cool wall art. Onwards and upwards.
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Nothing short of amazing for a first build.
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Wow you are doing what many of us dream about. I really hope after I retire in about 8 more years to build guitars, just for fun and maybe to bestow on family members or friends. I'm hoping to learn along the way and gradually acquire the tools and materials. You've been a huge inspiration.
My biggest worry actually is finishing. I think I can do the woodworking, but worry that I could ruin it all with a horrible finish.
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Originally Posted by zcostilla
Originally Posted by lawson-stone
I'm realizing and appreciating what it's like when you watch someone on an interview that's done something impressive and they're asked about people who want to be like them and they say something like, "Follow your dreams! You can do it!" Everyone dreams.. but taking the step to actually JUMP IN- I think that's the limiting step for most people. Seeing that guitar body makes it stand true for me - you CAN do it. Don't let the thoughts of difficulty of the finish hold your reins- have at it when it's right for you. Granted, I'd probably not have this thread if I wouldn't have access to the shop and tools- very fortunately in that respect.
In the Benedetto book, there are inspirational quotes at the beginning of each section and the one that speaks to my hesitant personality: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
I think the hardest parts are still ahead for me, but in the end good or not so great, its still only a wood project.
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Yes, I agree. I a actually have tried a couple kits and just lost interest in them. Along the way I've picked up some nice laminate back/sides/top pieces and some old Epiphone rough-carves, and I'm accumulating the tools. I have a shop, but it was mainly a gunsmithing shop that I'm transitioning to woodworking. I haven't got the time to be actually building, but I'm reading, watching others online who do it, and collecting tools and information. I will likely do like you and just pick an archtop design I like and go for it.
You've been a big inspiration to me!
KA PAF info please
Today, 11:52 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos