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must... build... one... more.... ARCHTOP!


ajcoholic

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Well, wonder of wonders I'm back in business. Still feel weak but I managed to get a good hour and a bit on the back - a great start. Since the curly maple wedges are already "wedge shaped" there isnt near as much material to remove as the spruce. On the other hand, I had to reset the pull shave to take about 1/2 the thickness of cut because #1 the maple is a lot harder and my arms were gettoing tired fast, and #2 to get a decent cut without tear out you cannot take too heavy a shaving.

 

Here is what I have so far. It feels good to be back on the job!

 

AJC

 

archtopback2.jpg

archtopback1.jpg

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That is some nice looking maple there on the back! Could you wet that sucker down and show us some pics of the figure?

 

And what are your plans on the binding? Any at all, or wood or plastic binding?

 

This really is AMAZING work

 

So you're getting tired carving these plates? And you said Bob Bennedito makes it look easy on the DVDs? I think I'm beginning to realize how ripped he must be. It seems like a very labor intensive job.

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want to compliment you on what a killer shop you've got...been studying the photos

i'd kill to have more space for a couple things like the spindle sander

any chance of a virtual tour of the place...for example you mentioned using a shaper to mill the flats around the edge of the plates (we are reading the same book btw) rather than a safety planer in the drill press...would like to get a look at what your using

also, i think it was on my walnut thread you were discussing using threaded inserts in wood, you mentioned that you build free standing wood staircases?

any web pages up anywhere where i could check them out?

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Well, 3 hours tonight on the back - its still not completely rough carved but one more hour and Then I will be ready to finish carve the top and back. Then brace the top and I can think about working on the sides... Since my GF (by the way Telefromhelly - yes she did say yes and took the ring! :) ) is working a lot next week including some nights, I will have no excuse not to work a bit on the guitar.

 

The maple is HARD. My arms feel like spaghetti thats overcooked and I can only say the guys who do this for a living myust have triceps of steel. It feel like I've been doing the tug of war for days!

 

Here is what I got after tonight..

 

backroughsanded.jpg

backholesdrilled.jpg

backcarvesofar.jpg

backwet.jpg

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And for anyone interested in my shop, here are a few shots. Its not huge by any means, its a 4000 square foot building (40' by 100') with 11' ceilings. I have your basic woodworking machinery (by basic I mean what most commercial shops like mine have, not what the average handy man has).

 

Here is a shot of where I keep my lumber. Usually at least 40 species in stock. My lumber comes roughly once a month, tomorrow when the truck comes in the racks will be full up again. There is about $35,000 worth of lumber usually in stock, wholesale. Wood isnt cheap!

 

shoplumber.jpg

 

This is a shot of the back end of my shop. The 16" jointer/planer is hiding a 10" table saw, there is the bandsaw, stroke sander and wood lathe behind that and just a bit of the widebelt sander (thickness sander with two belts) on the left.

 

shoprear.jpg

 

Here is a shot looking towards the front. My 10' carriage slinding table saw (16" blade for up to 5" depth of cut) and the widebelt, radial arm off to the left. There are 3 of us working and with many cabinets and furniture etc on the go it gets pretty cramped. The room off to the left with the two big doors with filters is my spray room. There is a 10" dry booth in there.

 

shopfacingfront.jpg

 

And finally here is a shaper for whomever was asking. I have two, they are basically a 5 hp spindle that you put various cutters on, and run moldings, etc. You can use it like a giant router table. For doing the archtop edges I used a round cutter without the power feed (hand fed with hold downs)

 

shaper.jpg

 

To the front is the office and lunchroom & washroom, and we have a room for flamables storage (stains and lacquers, etc) and also a room for hardware storage, and our two 5 hp compressors that run all the tools.

 

AJC

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cool pics AJ, the shop looks spick & span
:cool:

 

Yeah, I am a bit of a neat and tidy freak. I am always worried about fire, and keeping clean keeps me & the insurance company happy. I have been in shops where the guys are walking ankle deep in shavings & there is a pile of sawdust around every machine.... thats bad.

 

Its a great place to work, and hang out for building the odd guitar :)

 

AJC

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