Members rickoshea Posted February 3, 2010 Members Share Posted February 3, 2010 ahh yes you may ask .... Donald "the hairstyle" Trump is appearing on HCAG? Indeed not I'm glad to say as his hairstyle frankly nauseates me. In this case my apprenticeship is being served under our ex HCAG luthier Gary Palmer. The time has come to build. This may be utterly embarrassing for me having absolutely no woodworking experience but if there's enough interest I'll take you through the build of a new dread with probable associated disasters, injuries and possible amputations on the way. Thankfully Gary has helped immensely with the knowledge needed (and the tool buying ... cue Tim Taylor grunts) to make an attempt at my own acoustic. feel free to : 1. take the piss out of my woodworking skills 2. ask daft questions 3. laugh at any balls ups 4. praise the beautiful creation that results from the build (possibly) here's the start .... an LMI kit (that the French customs kindly hammered me with import tax for) Zebrano back and sides (tonally similar to rosewood and pre bent for this one thankfully) and life made easier with everything already thicknessed and the neck pre carved. I am however going to bend/set fire to the cocobolo rosewood binding myself. The main build starts next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted February 3, 2010 Members Share Posted February 3, 2010 Great project, rickoshea. Best of luck with this. We will follow your progress with much interest.Have fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhancox Posted February 3, 2010 Members Share Posted February 3, 2010 Very cool. Keep us updated. We love a good comedy. Seriously, I would be interested to see how it goes for you. How much did you pay for the kit, minus the taxes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 3, 2010 Members Share Posted February 3, 2010 ^What they said. Keep us posted. Lotsa pics please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted February 3, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2010 Thanks Quee . The kit cost a bit more than average as I customised a lot of it probably in a misguided attempt to do something a bit "different" lol. As far as I remember it was in the region of $550, then the French got me for another $300 odd lol. I got it in December but have been working with Gary's guidance making various jigs, and buying a crapload of tools (I was the original "man with no tools" sorta guy ). I had no ... none ... nada woodworking experience so started out making a workshop and workbench from this : to this: Theres a hell of a lot to learn and do before even starting the build itself but the theory is fascinating and I relish the danger of using power tools lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 If I was you, matey, I'd make the guitar out of that workbench - nice grain! :poke: Good luck with the project and remember to wear face mask, thick gloves and body armour at all times. BTW, great to see Gary is helping. If you are in touch with him, give him my regards and tell him to get back here - he is missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted February 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 If I was you, matey, I'd make the guitar out of that workbench - nice grain! :poke: lol ... well if the guitar turns out like crap I'll have a nice bench to look at and drum on certainly some jiggy stuff : making a radius guide for checking bracework curvature (nice and easy job to start with that ) - home made go-bar deck on the right ..... and some of the making of the radius dishes. I need a 30' and a 15' (normally) to be used to impart the necessary curvature on the front and back bracework and sides. I decided not to buy these so made 2 jigs for the 2 different radii and had a great time routing the hell out of the circular forms and in the process creating something akin to the Sahara Desert in the workshop. The dog is still lost under the mountain of sawdust ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 I'm excited for you riskoshea! Please keep us apprised of your progress. Hmm...I seem to recall having a workbench like that in my basement. Wish I had the time though. I barely have enough time to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members revans513 Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 Rick, I'm envious. I wish I had the room to do a build. I'll be watching this with great interest. Tell GP I said hi......he's a good guy! Good luck, I know the end result will be worth it and with Gary guiding you, it will be perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C70man Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 A brave man indeed!I envy you.....had I a work bench or room to work in, I'd be right behind you.I can't wait to see this unfold...I have been threatening to make my own for years and want to see how a novice (like myself) goes through the pain. One quick early on question. What kind of finish? I hope you are considering a hand laid French polish....that's what I would want to do and I'd like to see how one would work out......Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 Can't wait to watch the progress! Tell GP howdy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted February 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 Thanks all .... I'll give Gary all your best as well. The amount of info and help he's given me has been invaluable - he's a bit of a knowledgeable fella it has to be said and very generous with his time I'm off to Ireland for a few days (the French will probably charge me import tax to get my body back into France on Sunday ) but I'll leave you with a few more pics. I had to wait a few weeks for a new router collet (never, but never, try to make a radius dish by routing agglomerate - and Garth - when I route now I'm in full Roman battledress lol) so I did a bit of work on headstock design and template making. I like the Cole Clark shape and am going to try to inlay some designs in there and into the end graft. Its great fun cutting the inlays ... intricate stuff. The Fleur-de-Lys is cause the guitar is being made in France and the Celtic Knot as I'm an Irish bugger Rosewood for the Fleur de Lys and Burr Maple for the Celtic Knot ... they're not perfect so I'll probably redo them when the time comes : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted February 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 A brave man indeed! I envy you.....had I a work bench or room to work in, I'd be right behind you. I can't wait to see this unfold...I have been threatening to make my own for years and want to see how a novice (like myself) goes through the pain. One quick early on question. What kind of finish? I hope you are considering a hand laid French polish....that's what I would want to do and I'd like to see how one would work out......Best of luck! well ... I'm a bit reluctant to buy a full spray kit at the minute (never say never though ) so I'm thinking French Polish or Tru-Oil which is actually used for gun barrels but seems to give a nice finish on guitars. Maybe a combination ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dgimcmillan Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 Rick..why aren't you using your dentist drills for all that inlay stuff?:poke: You could make real short work of things with them.. Seriously, though... Good luck with the build. I'm about 6 months behind you on it, but will start one in July or so. Hopefully, your experience will help to guide all of us. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted February 4, 2010 Members Share Posted February 4, 2010 Wow, you're ramping up for full-on luthierhood. Nice work with the coping saw! I recently replaced 6 tuner buttons with some cocobolo buttons I got on eBay. I broke two of them. I think I'll stay away from routers and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members S Stonebridge Posted February 6, 2010 Members Share Posted February 6, 2010 Kudos for taking such a leap and that kit looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members S~R~O Posted February 6, 2010 Members Share Posted February 6, 2010 Rickoshea.................Kudos man. You are going to have so much fun, even with all the self-induced stress...........I still remember building mine back in 1999 for the millennium (2000). Once I get out out of school I plan on building more as it is so therapeutic for ones Soul. ps: it is the one in my avatar D-18 Martin Kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted February 8, 2010 Members Share Posted February 8, 2010 ...or Tru-Oil which is actually used for gun barrels but seems to give a nice finish on guitars. Maybe a combination ...... Actually Tru-Oil is used on gun stocks. I hope you're not trying Gun Bluing which actually is used on gun barrels. Seriously, I have used True Oil on many a gun stock by hand rubbung until it turns hot from the friction and then drying and cutting it back to the wood with 0000 steel wool. After 12 to 17 coats it is a very nice finish and always repairable to invisibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted February 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 8, 2010 Actually Tru-Oil is used on gun stocks. I hope you're not trying Gun Bluing which actually is used on gun barrels. Seriously, I have used True Oil on many a gun stock by hand rubbung until it turns hot from the friction and then drying and cutting it back to the wood with 0000 steel wool. After 12 to 17 coats it is a very nice finish and always repairable to invisibility. oops ... I meant gun stocks. I agree that its probably not a great idea to use Gun Blueing as a guitar finish Well ... I'm back from Ireland, have just taken delivery of a nice shiny new bandsaw (so I can amputate 4 fingers at once rather than one at a time - so much more efficient), and am just about ready to start the build proper. Pics to follow .... (that is if I have fingers left to push the shutter release on my camera) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 ... I meant gun stocks. . . . I've used Tru Oil for oiling fingerboards. If you use it for finishing, let us know how it turns out and please post pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted February 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 so here we go .... the first step is fitting the sides to the mould. Easy eh? ... nope, not when the sides have sprung back from their original bending shape due to the wonders of travel and humidity changes. The fit is luckily still good enough though : LMI leaves the sides long so they have to be trimmed at the centreline of the moulds so they fit together inside. Marking the centreline : and transferring the cutting line to the inside using a square : this was done for both sides then the cuts made (having remeasured ) with the bandsaw (accompanied by some testosterone fuelled grunting obviously) : I'm keeping the offcuts to use for possible inlays cuts made and re-fitting the sides to the mould - not bad but owing to the springback there are a couple of small gaps at each end. These shouldn't be critical as one end will be removed for the end graft and the other covered by the heel and binding : and finally both sides in together : next step - the heel block and neck block Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members S Stonebridge Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Sweet looking Zebrano. Don't forget you always tease the sides back into shape on a bending pipe if you want to improve the fit in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Greymuzzle Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Yeh, yeh, all very interesting... but what the really important stuff--- like what is happening Finn's training while you are burgering about with bits of stick? Has he had adequate opportunity to accustom you to what he needs you to do? Have you resolved the eternal issue of who is training who? At least if you make a total ars e of the git in your French workshop you can advertise it on e-bay as a Froggies Bottom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 Wow. I'm impressed all to hell just with the workbench. Seriously. But I'm confused: How does Rick Astley fit into all of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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