Members kwakatak Posted December 28, 2022 Author Members Share Posted December 28, 2022 11 hours ago, daddymack said: Lol. Yup. I’m a lot of drama. I am way overdoing this build. I should’ve had it strung up before Thanksgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 28, 2022 Moderators Share Posted December 28, 2022 not a poke :poke: ...just waiting for your meticulous work ethic to produce the expected results....take your time, it is your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted December 29, 2022 Members Share Posted December 29, 2022 Looking forward to the next exciting episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted December 31, 2022 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2022 My furnace and room humidifier have been competing to suck all the moisture out of the air and it’s been the holidays so woodworking has been scaled back. I did get the purfling on using CA glue but the maple hasn’t been wanting to fit or stay in place. Miters are a real bitch because my eyes are getting bad. Future builds will not be as ornate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 1, 2023 Moderators Share Posted January 1, 2023 21 hours ago, kwakatak said: My furnace and room humidifier have been competing to suck all the moisture out of the air and it’s been the holidays so woodworking has been scaled back. I did get the purfling on using CA glue but the maple hasn’t been wanting to fit or stay in place. Miters are a real bitch because my eyes are getting bad. Future builds will not be as ornate. As beautiful as your instruments look, in the final analysis, it is the sound they produce that will be the true test of your skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 1, 2023 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2023 7 hours ago, daddymack said: As beautiful as your instruments look, in the final analysis, it is the sound they produce that will be the true test of your skill. Yeah. I need practice. My first has a good bottom end but lacks sustain, especially on the high E string. The first quality is because it’s as deep as a dread. The lack of sustain is likely due to the fact that it has a cedar top, which I made a little thicker and braced a little heavier as I’d read to do. The dead high E string is most likely a nut issue. On the bright side, when I play my other guitars near it or make any noise really I can hear it ringing sympathetically. Number two has a much thinner top, is a species of spruce and is braced more lightly. I will put lights on it because I don’t want to chance the bridge coming off. The body internal volume is closer to an OM. Both guitars in fact fit inside an OM case but are about 1” wider so it’s snug. Anyway, yesterday I bent more maple and am cleaning up the headstock for a do-over on the glue up. CA glue is not the best thing to use for binding because the clean up is a flaky, acrid powder. Next time I will be using Titebond. I can’t wait to kick off #3 once the RH climbs above 35% in my shop. I have two sitka tops waiting to be jointed and the walnut side slats are ready for the homemade side bending machine. I don’t need to get to hear ahead of myself though. I still have to set #2 up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 12, 2023 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2023 Well, I did my best. CA glue is not the right stuff; my first attempt came off easily. I also had to go back to the bending pipe for the top section. The miters aren’t close to what I find acceptable. I have to do a lot of filling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 13, 2023 Moderators Share Posted January 13, 2023 nice piece of bookmatch, though! About the only thing I use CA on is to position a nut. There are several 'luthier's adhesives' out there, but I like TiteBond too. You can 'thin' it, a little, which makes it easier to wipe clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 13, 2023 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2023 It’s ziricote. It’s also on the back strap. I learning to live with the volute and hope that the laminated neck is enough to prevent potential damage the headstock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 7, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2023 Next month is my annual trip to visit my luthier friends and his customers in rural Ohio. I don’t dare call him my master but instead he’s been sort of a muse who will correct my mistakes. In all honesty I’d love to spend a week in his workshop and get a feel for how the process should play out without any distractions. I guess I’m fishing for a “working vacation” I guess? Anyway, I finished the body months ago and apart from some small issues that I should just probably accept (given that this is an early build) I think the body is done. I also re-bound the headstock, cleaned up the slot for the nut and shimmed the neck joint so it feels more stable. Today I’ll be cutting more shellac (the old stuff is past the shelf life) and polishing the neck. After that it’s time to glue on the bridge, do the final setup, string it up and put on the Tone Rite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted June 7, 2023 Moderators Share Posted June 7, 2023 dude...git'er done...pop on the nut, spin up some strings and play that beauty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted June 14, 2023 Members Share Posted June 14, 2023 Looking good. BTW, I haven't glued in a nut in ages. Dunno if there's a sonic effect or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 15, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 15, 2023 All you need is one dot of white glue to hold it in place so that it doesn’t slide side to side. The idea is to have the bottom of the notch at the end of the fretboard to be completely flat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 15, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 15, 2023 Today I glued the bridge to the top. I’m still French polishing the neck and am about halfway done. The goal is to string it up this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted June 16, 2023 Moderators Share Posted June 16, 2023 Get them French polishers working faster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 16, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2023 1 hour ago, daddymack said: Get them French polishers working faster! LOL, it's not the same as "French Ticklers" ya perv! 😜 Seriously, 1 day per session. It only takes about 10-15 minutes then you gotta let it sit - and think about baseball! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 16, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2023 (edited) Crap. Despite my best efforts the bridge skated a little bit; Titebond is notorious for this so the bridge sort of canted off the axis of the centerline. I still have to add a hardwood patch beneath the spruce bridge plate (this was put on to compensate for sanding the top too thin) so I won’t get to string it up to check the intonation. I may have to remove the bridge (using heat) and do it over. Edited June 16, 2023 by kwakatak 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted June 16, 2023 Moderators Share Posted June 16, 2023 I hate when that happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted June 21, 2023 Members Share Posted June 21, 2023 On 6/15/2023 at 4:55 PM, kwakatak said: All you need is one dot of white glue to hold it in place so that it doesn’t slide side to side. . . . String tension does that nicely on my guitars and it's rare that you ever remove all the strings at once. (Of course, if it's never had strings in the first place...😉) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 21, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 21, 2023 OK, I have a Stewmac saddlematic and checked the scale length and it looks like it should actually be OK. The last step in its construction is to glue a rosewood patch inside the body to reinforce the oversized spruce bridge plate - which I did today and will likely unclamp tomorrow. I did this because I made the top too thin and was advised to reinforce it this way. FWIW when I tap on the top it sounds surprisingly deep. All that's really left to do is put the tuners, nut and saddle back on and string it up. The headstock could use another coat of polish though. I'm heading out of town this weekend to visit a luthier friend and it's coming with me for an informed critique. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted June 21, 2023 Moderators Share Posted June 21, 2023 13 hours ago, kwakatak said: OK, I have a Stewmac saddlematic and checked the scale length and it looks like it should actually be OK. The last step in its construction is to glue a rosewood patch inside the body to reinforce the oversized spruce bridge plate - which I did today and will likely unclamp tomorrow. I did this because I made the top too thin and was advised to reinforce it this way. FWIW when I tap on the top it sounds surprisingly deep. All that's really left to do is put the tuners, nut and saddle back on and string it up. The headstock could use another coat of polish though. I'm heading out of town this weekend to visit a luthier friend and it's coming with me for an informed critique. it is only Wednesday...plenty of time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 21, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 21, 2023 I guess I’m just nervous because these builds don’t hold a candle to what I’ll be playing this weekend. I wish I could talk him into walking me through a build but that would be imposing - and he already supplies materials for this one. Others charge about $3500 for that kind of thing. His guitars are higher end too; his commission builds start at $6500. Anyway, construction is done. I just need to buff out the scratches best I can and put the hardware back on. I’ll string it up tomorrow and do some recordings with a large diaphragm condenser microphone for the initial sound test. Then the plan is to put a Tone Rite on it for a few days to wake up it’s voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 22, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 22, 2023 This build shows that there is much room for improvement. While I was buffing it I cracked the side. I put in side braces to keep something like this from becoming catastrophic but still... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted June 23, 2023 Moderators Share Posted June 23, 2023 22 hours ago, kwakatak said: This build shows that there is much room for improvement. While I was buffing it I cracked the side. I put in side braces to keep something like this from becoming catastrophic but still... luthiery lesson #2: Be prepared..$#!+ happens....all the time. One of the reasons I avoid working on other people's acoustics... You are a far braver man than I, Kwak! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 26, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 26, 2023 OK, it's strung up and playable - but not quite. I need to adjust the set of the neck to reduce the angle and height of the action. Apparently, I was mistaken that the angle was correct when I glued on the fretboard an installed the frets. Also, I have several high frets that I need to level. I know this because I had a real luthier look at it and inspect my work. I just spent the weekend at McKnight Guitars in rural Ohio, about an hour north of Columbus. Long story short, I visit Tim and Mary McKnight every June where they have a annual gathering of customers - which I technically am not. He also does not take students and technically he's not my mentor. He does look over my work and gives me advice. He does tweak things but if things are really far off he tells me what's wrong and sends me home to get my hands dirty in my own shop. That being said, he told me that my neck angle was wrong and I needed to reset the neck. That's not a big deal because it's a bolt on neck. I also have some high frets that need to be leveled. I didn't mention the key crack, but I will cleat that when I take the strings off to reset the neck. I have been waiting to put on the pick guard too; it will hide a section of the rosette that the orbital sander tore out. Meanwhile, Tim did sand down the height of the nut and saddle and tweaked the truss rod so it plays, but as you go further up the middle strings buzz. The intonation is also correct, but that is because he lowered the saddle as low as it could go. I'll probably have to replace the saddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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