Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 1, 2007 Members Posted February 1, 2007 Hey - I should point out a great step by step account of building a kit is on the LMI website...www.lmii.com....go to the bottom right section of the main page, click on the guitar kit and then click photo journal. It is extremely helpful. First had to build a mold for the body - three sheets of 3/4" plywood cut with a jigsaw...taken from a tracing of the guitar shape Hand planing the back and checking the pattern (its the only picture I had of all that work! It tooks days to plane from 5 mm to 2.5 mm. I also used sanding blocks and a Mouse sander.) Same for the sides, but thinner to 0.085" for bending The non-cutaway black walnut side ready to be bent in the homemade side bender You put the side between thin sheet metal and heat it using 3 - 200 watt light bulbs. Just clamp the wood in place as it softens. Here is the side..... test fit it in the mold and then trim to length...... The cutaway proved to be more of a challenge. The side bender couldn't produce enough force to bend the cutaway with the metal there. I decided to buy a bending iron to bend the side by hand. Just plug it in and use the curve to bend the side to any shape you want... Here is the result - the dark patches are scorched and need to be sanded. This is because it took several tries with both benders to get it right..... Gluing a mahogany block - repeated for the other one trimming the top of the sides to get the taper (5" at tail, 4" at neck) More to follow....
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 1, 2007 Author Members Posted February 1, 2007 I used a 15' radius sanding dish for the back....next was to add the kerfing. I used mahog on the back and spruce for the top Similar for the top - used a 30' radius sanding dish and joined the kerfing Sand both sides on dishes and prepare the back or top. First I had to joint the plates to glue them....using the method described in Cumpiano with a hand plane Glue them together with a simple clamping jig also in the book Here is the back sanded after joining. It needs to be between 0.110-0.125" Hand split the back braces from spruce billets Cut them on a table saw square to the grain and radius them to match the back - 3 of 4 are completed here Carve by hand with a small plane and trim Glue to the sides..... Trim with flush cut router bit More to follow...... Add the spruce back reinforcing strip and remove the sections fo rthe back braces.
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 1, 2007 Author Members Posted February 1, 2007 Cutting the channel for the end graft and chisel to remove wood Maple end graft with black/white /black purfling installed and waiting to dry.... side braces and end graft attached - ready for the top...... Same procedure to join the top, but the rosette is installed while still flat..... carving the channel after cutting it with an LMI circle cutter Complete with bl/wh/bl purfling to match the binding later and with the soundhole cut as well Braces split like the back ones and laid out as in the book with given dimensions. Some mods for the cutaway were needed...I used my guitars as a guide Large ones clamped using the go bars Small ones used hand clamps Final shape To be continued....
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 1, 2007 Author Members Posted February 1, 2007 Join to the body Trim with flush cutting router Bend the binding for the sides I broke a couple, but I need a short one for the cutaway.... Use a router to cut the channel for the binding and mitre the binding for the purling to line up at 45 degrees Glue in place and tape to dry CAREFULLY remove tape at 45 degree angle to avoid tearing wood grains To be continued.....
Members learn'r Posted February 1, 2007 Members Posted February 1, 2007 I cringed when I saw all that tape.
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 1, 2007 Members Posted February 1, 2007 Thanks, EastCoastPlayah, I am enjoying this. Knock, are you taking notes? I'm getting inspired for my next one (oops, Sherrill, you didn't hear that)
Members Dave W. Posted February 1, 2007 Members Posted February 1, 2007 I love the homemade fixtures and bending jig. Rube Goldberg would be proud. How thick is the material for the sides, and do you wet or soak it at all before bending. When bending balsa strips around a form for model airplane wing tip shapes I have soaked it in ammonia and water. I have spent thousands of hours since I was a kid building model airplanes. They all are eventually reduced to toothpicks and thrown out, so today I have none still remaining. Me thinks I should have been building guitars all these years. My hat is off to you and Freeman, a pair of true craftsman.
Members TXTooMuch Posted February 1, 2007 Members Posted February 1, 2007 Very interesting, Thanks for the post and pics!
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 2, 2007 Author Members Posted February 2, 2007 Here are the starting pieces for the neck....you have to cut the headstock at 15 degrees and plane to just under 1/2" thickness Gluing the headstock - 11 clamps are needed for 2 pieces of wood - this is the first attempt...it took two Gluing the heel block The channel for the trussrod complete and tenon joint is started Carving the heel More carving.... Adding a maple veneer to the headstock - for decoration when shaped Shaping using a spokeshave..... The nearly finished neck - ready for the veneer and fingerboard More to come.....
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 2, 2007 Members Posted February 2, 2007 Keep 'em comming. That, for whoever asked in a previous thread, is a scarf headstock joint. Stronger than a one piece neck. And I would think carving a neck with a spokeshave would be a real PITA - but 'cha did it nicely. Looks like you were using another neck as a pattern.
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 2, 2007 Author Members Posted February 2, 2007 sanding the veneer to 1/16" of an inch using double sided tape once glued, it was flush cut then cut at a 45 degree angle to show the thin maple veneer I didn't take many pictures of the fingerboard....it was sanded using a block with a 16" radius, marked for a 25.5" scale length and cut using the fret saw the board was tapered using a hand plane frets and truss rod installed, ready to be glued gluing the board once sanded to final width, 2 mm mother of pearl fret markers added 10 mm holes drilled for tuners, ebony heel cap added and ready to be installed drawing the bridge blank from the guide in the book the finished one - a few hours later with a 2 1/8" srting spacing and the 3/32" channel cut
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 2, 2007 Author Members Posted February 2, 2007 Keep 'em comming. That, for whoever asked in a previous thread, is a scarf headstock joint. Stronger than a one piece neck. And I would think carving a neck with a spokeshave would be a real PITA - but 'cha did it nicely. Looks like you were using another neck as a pattern. The scarf joint also allows you to make a neck from a 7/8" thick board resulting in less waste too. I cheated and bought the heel block like that to join, but I could have bought a longer neck blank and glued pieces to build it up myself. I'm not sure if I mentioned that a friend and I both built guitars. His was based on a Taylor GS but added a venetian cutaway. His has EI rosewood back, sides and neck. Since the shop was in his basement, and he is more brave and experienced with powertools, he was always 1-2 weeks ahead of me. The rosewood neck in the picture was his with some finish on it already
Members babablowfish Posted February 2, 2007 Members Posted February 2, 2007 This was great. Thank you for sharing this. I admire your ability and willingness to tackle a job like this.
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 2, 2007 Author Members Posted February 2, 2007 cut the channel for the neck joint mark the bridge location and cover the area and under the fingerboard. The rest of the top is finished with oil - 3 coats I think i used. somewhere in there I was supposed to say attach the neck, level the frets and shape them pore filler is used on the neck and back and sides for the walnut. That is sanded, oil sealer is used then oil finish. once dry, glue the bridge glue the fretboard down to the top, drill the holes for the bridge pins and set up the nut and saddle. Break out the Elixir's and presto - you're done! Don't be shy with the pictures of your builds.....
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 2, 2007 Author Members Posted February 2, 2007 I love the homemade fixtures and bending jig. Rube Goldberg would be proud. How thick is the material for the sides, and do you wet or soak it at all before bending. When bending balsa strips around a form for model airplane wing tip shapes I have soaked it in ammonia and water. I have spent thousands of hours since I was a kid building model airplanes. They all are eventually reduced to toothpicks and thrown out, so today I have none still remaining. Me thinks I should have been building guitars all these years. My hat is off to you and Freeman, a pair of true craftsman. Dave - the sides are 0.085" thick, they were sprayed with water for the homemade bender, soaked briefly for the hot pipe. When can be expect the first guitar?
Members Dave W. Posted February 2, 2007 Members Posted February 2, 2007 Dave - the sides are 0.085" thick, they were sprayed with water for the homemade bender, soaked briefly for the hot pipe. When can be expect the first guitar? Well, I am living in a house that is wrapped in Ty-par. After I finish the upstairs bed & bath rooms, the weather should be good enough to move outside and start attaching several thousand cedar shingles. If this quiets the Mrs., maybe next winter. There is no interior molding up yet, so that may be a problem, and my 200 amp breaker panel looks like a octopus, so there are a few weekends in there yet too. Trying to figure out how to include a set of nut files in the siding project.
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 2, 2007 Members Posted February 2, 2007 Don't be shy with the pictures of your builds..... I've bored the nice folks on HC with these too many times - but my four have all been serviced kits from various sources. I keep trying to get some of the people here inspired to try it - maybe your thread will help. Here are links for what they are worth 000-28FK buildhttp://www.kitguitarsforum.com/forum/threads.php?id=125_0_6_120_C Classical buildhttp://www.kitguitarsforum.com/forum/threads.php?id=186_0_6_120_C OM12-41FK buildhttp://www.kitguitarsforum.com/forum/threads.php?id=961_0_6_0_C FK-5 Mandolin buildhttp://www.kitguitarsforum.com/forum/threads.php?id=763_0_9_0_C
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 3, 2007 Author Members Posted February 3, 2007 Thanks Freeman - love the 12...I was too scared to try the inlay in the first one, but we'll see.....4 kits in a year? You're as machine....they look great by the way. Let me know what you decide on the next one. The spokeshave worked awesome, the hardest part is holding/clamping the neck to use it. Laurie
Members KATMAN Posted February 3, 2007 Members Posted February 3, 2007 Out of curousity EastCoastPlayah,how much did you spend on tools and the wood? I think it would make a great project for me and my dad.
Members DonK Posted February 3, 2007 Members Posted February 3, 2007 Playah, tell me you've done this before. This can't be your first effort...can it? Awesome!
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted February 4, 2007 Author Members Posted February 4, 2007 Out of curousity EastCoastPlayah,how much did you spend on tools and the wood? I think it would make a great project for me and my dad. Ouch - I've been trying not to admit this one to myself. It's hard to say, because I tended to buy several items at once, since you have to pay for the shipping anyways, and some of the tools were bought after the fact as nice-to-haves. I should also point out that you can buy unserviced kits with all the raw materials you need at once to save shipping and such. I didn't do that because I wanted specific things such as a white spruce top because it is a native tree here, etc. I'd say $400 for the materials, but you can build them for less. Mahogany is one of the least expensive woods to buy for back and sides and will run you about $40. I've seen kits on ebay go for $250 for most of the required the materials. As for tools, I owned none, and tended to buy higher quality because I knew it wouldn't be my only guitar. For example, you can buy chisels at the hardware store for cheap, or from Lee Valley for $$. I'd guess the bare essentials ran me $400 and included 12 clamps, hand plane and mini plane, chisels, fret saw, zona saw, various files and drill bits, straight edges, fret hammer, router bits, side bender, calipers, etc. Again, depending on what you already have and how much you want to spend, you can do it for less. DonK - if you saw the neck joint up close among other things, you'd know for sure that this is my first! But I can't wait to start the next one.... Laurie
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