Sunday, January 23, 2005
Bandwidth
Sorry about most of the pictures being gone, they will be back up at the beginning of February... I exceeded my bandwidth this month.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
In Fine Form
Tonight I glued up my form which will be used for assembling the main body of the guitar. A lot of people use solid forms made from plywood, but this is the kind I used in Harry Fleishman's class. It works well and it seems like such an easy way to do it. Also, it's adjustable so that when I build my next guitar that's a different shape, I just knock these blocks off and reglue them in the right position.
I still haven't made the blocks that will support the waist, they have to be curved since they'll be supporting an inside curve. I'll have to get the oscillating spindle sander set up to make those blocks. I also need to make blocks for the inside of the form. There will be three spreaders that push the sides against the form from the inside. These will be located at the widest parts of the upper and lower bout, and at the waist. These will ensure that everything is stiff and square when I'm assembling the body.
That's what I did in the few spare minutes I had tonight. After I get the sides scraped smooth, I can bend them, trim the extra off each end, and glue in the head and tail blocks.
I still haven't made the blocks that will support the waist, they have to be curved since they'll be supporting an inside curve. I'll have to get the oscillating spindle sander set up to make those blocks. I also need to make blocks for the inside of the form. There will be three spreaders that push the sides against the form from the inside. These will be located at the widest parts of the upper and lower bout, and at the waist. These will ensure that everything is stiff and square when I'm assembling the body.
That's what I did in the few spare minutes I had tonight. After I get the sides scraped smooth, I can bend them, trim the extra off each end, and glue in the head and tail blocks.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Scraping By
I've been pretty busy lately, but still catch some time to work on this parlor guitar. Right now I'm perfecting my skills with a cabinet scraper. It's ending up being a lot of work scraping all the swirls from the Saf-t-planer. I finally started putting bandaids on my fingers before I start a scraping session to avoid blisters.
Anyway, I have the back almost scraped smooth, and then I get to scrape the sides smooth before I bend them.
So what I'm lusting over now is the Performax 10-20 drum sander, then I wouldn't have to mess with the Saf-t-planer. The 10-20 is a benchtop model, and the drum is 10" wide. But it's open on one end, so I could do up to 20" wide with two passes. So it's time to go through my house and see what I can auction off on eBay to raise some funds. These go for about $500.
P.S. About that crack in my last post. I asked about it on mimf.com, and the general consensus seemed to be that it was a windcheck, which is where the tree may have been damaged or stressed while it was growing. It should be stable, and it's more cosmetic than anything. I'll locate a brace under it just to make sure.
Anyway, I have the back almost scraped smooth, and then I get to scrape the sides smooth before I bend them.
So what I'm lusting over now is the Performax 10-20 drum sander, then I wouldn't have to mess with the Saf-t-planer. The 10-20 is a benchtop model, and the drum is 10" wide. But it's open on one end, so I could do up to 20" wide with two passes. So it's time to go through my house and see what I can auction off on eBay to raise some funds. These go for about $500.
P.S. About that crack in my last post. I asked about it on mimf.com, and the general consensus seemed to be that it was a windcheck, which is where the tree may have been damaged or stressed while it was growing. It should be stable, and it's more cosmetic than anything. I'll locate a brace under it just to make sure.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Trouble?
Tonight I started scraping the swirl marks out of the back, and I noticed a line going across the grain, I thought it was a scratch or gouge of some sort, but I couldn't scrape it away. I noticed it's on both sides. Here's pics of each side.
I posted to mimf.com seeing if one of the helpful people over there can offer me some expertise... I'm hoping it's not actually a break or crack, but my hopes may get dashed.
I posted to mimf.com seeing if one of the helpful people over there can offer me some expertise... I'm hoping it's not actually a break or crack, but my hopes may get dashed.
Thicknessing the back and sides
Tonight I finished getting the back and sides almost to the final thickness. The final thickness will be about 0.090", but I left it a few thousandths thicker than that, as I will need to scrape out the swirl marks with a scraper.
I used the Wagner Saf-T-Planer in my drill press. It has three little blades on it that mill off the wood as it passes underneath. Normally, if this is done by machine it's done with a drum sander which leaves a nice smooth flat surface on the wood. These are pretty pricy, so I don't have one. The Saf-T-planer works pretty well, and it will be easy to make the surface smooth by hand with a cabinet scraper. It's kind of nerve-wracking, though, because it wouldn't take much of a slip up to ruin the wood or worse.
I used the Wagner Saf-T-Planer in my drill press. It has three little blades on it that mill off the wood as it passes underneath. Normally, if this is done by machine it's done with a drum sander which leaves a nice smooth flat surface on the wood. These are pretty pricy, so I don't have one. The Saf-T-planer works pretty well, and it will be easy to make the surface smooth by hand with a cabinet scraper. It's kind of nerve-wracking, though, because it wouldn't take much of a slip up to ruin the wood or worse.
