Lyn #16 - Bev's Pulpit Tele

[robin]

I thought that I would include a few photos of the “character” I am trying to preserve. It would be much easier to sand it all back to get a good finish and start again, but that’s not the point.

This shot shows the overall body. You can clearly see the corrugations in the lower horn and the badly glued join.



This shot again shows the join and a "lateral knot" (is that really a thing?), where the varnish hasn’t taken. It runs the whole length of the body and just pokes through near the control cavity.



How about that for a crusty old knot!



More corrugations, it almost gives it a quilted look.



It even comes with built in scratches! I am being very careful not to add any more. It’s not an excuse for bad workmanship.



As you can see it just oozes character. I hope Bev is not expecting a brand new pristine pretty guitar. LOL.

[JohnH]

I gotta say, I really love that kind of character in wood. I often think things like knots and scratches (and other markers of history) should be made more prominent rather than removed. We have a beautiful old oak table at work that people occasionally mention refinishing, but it's been used as a workbench for decades, and then as a tea-room lunch table for the last six years, and it has probably the most amazing surface of any table I've ever seen.

[robin]

I know what you mean John. That table has had a life and there is a story to be told in every mark and scratch. And I imagine a patina that goes way beyond just the surface.

An Oak table. It would be hard to buy one these days I imagine.

[JohnH]

Yeah, the patina has been 'enhanced' by constant contact with etching inks and oils - the surface is a beautiful, deep, dark brown, with a kind of black sheen. It's quite amazing.

I think it was part of a bigger batch of tables built a long time ago for a local ceramic studio, which our studio picked up somehow. We were going through an old asset register which claimed we had fourteen of them at one point. I find it hard to believe, because it's huge, but I suppose it's possible. We still have two (one is the directors desk), and we had a third which had been significantly altered to fit an unusual space, and we gave it away when the studio moved.

[JB RETRO]

That corrugated look is a very rare growth defect only seen in some Artic circle slow growth tone woods. Just so happens that this piece of prayered up pulpit has it.! Go figure. Looking great Rob

[Simon Barden]

An Oak table. It would be hard to buy one these days I imagine.

It probably depends on where you are in the world and current tastes. Oak furniture is common in the UK at the moment. We have an oak dining table and sideboard that we bought a couple of years ago. All solid stuff.

[dave.king1]

I had a leaf from my grandmothers oak table a few years ago, the table was over 100 years old so no idea how old the timber was but I gave it to my mate and asked him to turn up a clock ( today I would have turned it into a Tele body )

Anyway, long story short it was like concrete and put one of his turning chisels through the roof of his workshop.

Made a beautiful clock though

[robin]

Time for another quick update.

The original plan was to stain the back and sides a darker colour than the top and blend in the colours with a burst. But I had doubts that a stain would work over the existing varnish so I have changed plans.

Seeing as I no longer have to use a dark colour stain for the burst I will use a lighter one for the back and the sides which I hope will accentuate the character of the top. I could go the easy way and just bevel the edge and try and blend in the stain with the original varnish or go to all the trouble of putting on some binding.

So obviously binding it is.

Trying to preserve the top makes everything just that little bit more difficult, and the binding will be no different. When applying binding on my previous guitars there was always a little leeway that I could fix up with sanding or filler, but this time I have to try and get it right first time.

So here goes.

First job is to score the lines where I intend to chisel out the channel. Time to get out my trusty DIY line marker/scorer.



It was originally curved to get into those hard to get at parts of a guitar, the waste-line and horns etc, but it was perfect to score a nice deep line in the side of the guitar without marking the top surface. It is possible to score a nice deep line that makes chiselling a lot easier.



I then had to carefully mark a line about 1.5mm around the top for my vertical chisel line.



Then it was out with the chisel and mallet and nibble away the binding channel.



It’s pretty rough right now, but I will go over it with some sandpaper and smooth out the rough edges.



I hope to get the binding on tomorrow. I know I have cut the binding rebate too wide in places so I'll have to wait until the binding is in place before I know how much to sand off the sides of the guitar to bring it back to be level with the binding. Oh goodie, more sanding. lol.

rob

[JohnH]

I like your line marker/scorer. May have to dodgy one up myself this weekend

[robin]

They work a treat John. And the best part is they're almost fool proof. Very handy for people like me.

Tip: File the head of the screw to give it a surprising sharp cutting edge.