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Building more jigs for the luthery hobby


kwakatak

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I'm planning on starting my third build in earnest this spring but the temperature and humidity are too low right so I'm building jigs. This week I'm finishing up a side bending machine.

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These can cost up to $600+ but I don't think I spent nearly as much on that. The cauls are actually from a repurposed stair railing that I'd replaced with something more sturdy. I've gotten into the habit of picking up 2x4' boards of birch plywood as a matter of course. This project required three of them which go for $20 a pop. The silicon heating blanket cost $100 and was the most expensive component.

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On 1/13/2022 at 5:36 PM, kwakatak said:

I'm planning on starting my third build in earnest this spring but the temperature and humidity are too low right so I'm building jigs. This week I'm finishing up a side bending machine.

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These can cost up to $600+ but I don't think I spent nearly as much on that. The cauls are actually from a repurposed stair railing that I'd replaced with something more sturdy. I've gotten into the habit of picking up 2x4' boards of birch plywood as a matter of course. This project required three of them which go for $20 a pop. The silicon heating blanket cost $100 and was the most expensive component.

lookin' good!:thu:

 

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Thanks! Those side cauls are proving to be a slight challenge. In particular, I’m still working on where to mount the springs for he side cauls. They want to slip off the edge when mounted on the center ring picture here. I put another a little higher up and it works better. I also have to put some springs on the waist caul tower to add a little tension to smooth the operation.

I’ll figure it out. I have time; I don’t plan on putting it to use until sometime in April when humidity stabilizes in my semi-underground basement workshop/garage. 

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17 hours ago, DeepEnd said:

I'm impressed by your ingenuity. "Necessity is a mother" and all that. Best of luck on the build.

Thanks. I'm just hoping that I don't crack my first set of sides or set my house on fire LOL!

Seriously, I think every guitar player should give at least building a kit a go - even if you have to send it off to be finished. Just learning how tight the tolerances are for string tension and humidity are valuable lessons for any guitar player. It astounds me that many guitar players don't even know how to change their own strings.

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Hey Kwak! It's JT. I just happened to be clicking around on the net, ran across this thread. Looks like you're doing good! I'm alright, still playing, I've got several Martins, OMs and triple 0s. Can't find a dread that I like... Anyway, this old ghost felt like saying Helloooooo! Carry on.

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On 1/23/2022 at 9:36 AM, BeeLectro said:

Hey Kwak! It's JT. I just happened to be clicking around on the net, ran across this thread. Looks like you're doing good! I'm alright, still playing, I've got several Martins, OMs and triple 0s. Can't find a dread that I like... Anyway, this old ghost felt like saying Helloooooo! Carry on.

Good to see you. It's been awhile, though I've been away for a spell too. Did you forget your password though? LOL. I wonder, has anyone heard from Zuri? I'm still working on that guitar he donated the Carpathian for.

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31 minutes ago, kwakatak said:

Good to see you. It's been awhile, though I've been away for a spell too. Did you forget your password though? LOL. I wonder, has anyone heard from Zuri? I'm still working on that guitar he donated the Carpathian for.

I haven't heard anything from Zuri since last summer. I've been building partsocasters, I've got too many. I was going to send one to him as a gift, and he declined. That was the last I heard.

You want a partsocaster? I use Warmoth necks, Fralin and Lollar pups. I'm tripping over them.

20210822_230802_HDR~2.jpg

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13 minutes ago, BeeLectro said:

I haven't heard anything from Zuri since last summer. I've been building partsocasters, I've got too many. I was going to send one to him as a gift, and he declined. That was the last I heard.

You want a partsocaster? I use Warmoth necks, Fralin and Lollar pups. I'm tripping over them.

20210822_230802_HDR~2.jpg

Cool, but my space is at a premium. I’m planning on building more guitars this year. These tools will be used to build a walnut/sitka 000. After that I plan on doing a kit build (rosewood/ sitka dreadnought.) 

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6 minutes ago, kwakatak said:

Cool, but my space is at a premium. I’m planning on building more guitars this year. These tools will be used to build a walnut/sitka 000. After that I plan on doing a kit build (rosewood/ sitka dreadnought.) 

I have a limited edition walnut cfm 000, ambertone. It's currently my favorite. I can't say there's a "walnut" kind of tone.

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Here's a recent pic of the main workbench. One thing I don't have is enough floor space.

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Some the jigs pictured:

- shooting board for jointing the plates

- outside molds for two different body sizes

- pipe/torches for bending binding

- bending machine for sides

- drum sander in progress for thickness sanding.

 

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Back on to the floor space dilemma, I bought a portable workbench from Harbor Freight for about $160 and put caster wheels on it. I roll it to the left through the door to the garage where I can do the dusty work and get more natural light and ventilation. I also invested in 5500 lumen LED lights for the garage and basement for about $25 each to replace the old flickery flourscents .

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I really need to work on my wood storage though.

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6 minutes ago, kwakatak said:

Thanks. The drum sander is almost done. I bought a bastard rasp to level the drum; sandpaper just wasn't doing the job. Now I need to buy some radius dishes.

The only music instrument I ever built was a cigarbox guitar

It came out ok, definitely playable. I actually bought the neck, as my time was limited.

I spent quite a bit of time getting the neck angle right so it was playable.

No gigs needed here.

 

 

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