Interesting you say? I have some Desert Sheoak, Ironwood, purple heart and pau ferro sitting idle if it helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Interesting you say? I have some Desert Sheoak, Ironwood, purple heart and pau ferro sitting idle if it helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Interesting. Well so far so good for me. I just thicknessed up a fresh bit with no dramas. Need to go get my cutting guide printed.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Man, as soon as I'm at a point where I'm confident with all my templates and processes I'll be all over it :) I'm planning on going to Malaney for a timber festival next year as well. Hoping to pick up some nice bits and pieces there.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Soooo, you’re going to a WOOD festival eh.🤔🤨Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Might see you there next year Phil 😁
Weekend away so no real progress. I did go and have some fresh fret board templates printed. All the scaling is perfect so fingers crossed.
Decided I'm not very happy with the bit I thicknessed. Might try and take a couple more mms off it. I think the glue residue in my rails is making it slightly out of whack.
https://i.imgur.com/CjfeqA9.jpg
Tell you what. You guys jinxed me. I just went to route the new fretboard to shape and the gosh darn thing has grabbed and put a nice big split through it.
Sigh.
Ah bummer mate. Where did it grab? And what direction were you going in?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
Oh dear. That's a shame. Still, never mind, I can fix that easily and without any stress.*
*Sonic's exact words when it happened.
I was just creeping in toward the edge up near the nut and got a little ambitious I think.
Annoying.. but at least I'm getting a bunch of practice making these bloody things. My reaction was pretty much.. "Sure.. of course.. "
I think I'll try with a different wood next time. Bit of a hiatus on this project coming up as I'm busy with other things.
OK, finally got another fretboard on. Persevered with the Tassie oak, it's coming up ok.
https://i.imgur.com/CGYNbyz.jpg
Frets are in. Ended up making a fairly crude but very effective radius jig. Definitely made it easier to get them in. Basically you slightly bend it by hand to get it to sit in the blocks and then just pull it through. The line on the paper is a 12" radius, if you look the blocks extend slightly above and below, so as you pull the wire through it bends it slightly past 12". They flatten back out as you tap them in. Not my jig design, I found it online, but thought it was worth sharing.
I'm reasonably happy with the job, especially as it's my first go at it. Certainly on par with the PBG necks, with a level and dress I think it'll be fine. I have actually trimmed the edges overhang and made sure they are all tapped home properly now, currently wicking some CA glue in the slots. Will put a pic with the next update.
So really, I just have to refit this neck to the body and make sure my marking for the bridge is still OK. Then I can do some more routing and drilling on the body.
I think I will then do an assembly to the point that I can confirm the intonation works, before pulling it apart and getting stuck into finishing it properly. I can see light at the end of the tunnel now. Still not entirely sure I'll have it done before the year is out, but pretty close to what I had allowed.
https://i.imgur.com/9uyH4NW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/R9rZzuO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/wPK6usy.jpg
Good job.
No fretmarkers on this one?
The honest truth is I forgot 😬, I was wondering who would notice. I even bought some but got carried away. I’ll install side markers, I think I can do that without mucking it up.
You can do it now, but it is a lot harder to sand them down without altering the fretboard profile slightly.
Just say "It was my intention all the way along to just have side markers", and you'll be fine.
We'd totally believe you. :rolleyes:
Yeah I thought about doing that, I could scrap them flat with a blade, I've repaired big block inlays on an LP that way before, but I think I'll just leave it. This neck and therefore the guitar is so close, I just want to keep pushing on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Yeah I could totally say I meant it that way, but it goes against my philosophy of sharing the boo boos as well as the successes. In this day and age its so common for anything posted online to be carefully crafted to be shown in the best possible light. This entire forum should be about encouraging everyone to have a go at these kinds of projects, the stuff ups are sometimes more informative than the successes.Quote:
Originally Posted by blinddrew
I find often that the stuff ups of the original plan, and the recovery from said stuff up, work out better than the original plan. My build history is a litany of such instances.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Liking the feel of this one mate, will be good to see it over the line and punching hard at the speaker cone!
Love the fret jig, I wish I saw that earlier for my fret re-do, would have made things much easier
Fret ends trimmed, side dots are in. They are kinda straight except for the last one which I completely buggered. Hopefully it'll become less noticeable under clear, I filled the goof with sawdust and CA. Another valuable order of operations lesson. Need to do this before any neck carving next time. I'd also like to do something similar to what Frankie did on his public enemy build where the side and top markers are combined. I'll be less concerned with mucking up the board next time now that I've had so much practice making them. (EDIT - just went looking and that's not the build I'm thinking of. I'm sure someone routed in from the edge and had a block that served as both front an side marker....who's was that?)
Also a pic of how the dots come for those interested. I drilled about 5mm deep. Glued then trimmed with a blade. Bit slack on pics sorry.
Pretty much onto sanding and refining. I've decided to make an aluminium plate to go on the reverse of the headstock to add a little more thickness for the tuners to sit in. As it is they mount ok, but are at the limit of how much I can tighten the nut, so a couple of extra mm will be handy. I think it might look cool too which is a bonus :)
https://i.imgur.com/G5z6uv4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Sq2sHpX.jpg
Guilty as charged - It was the IB-Freebie build:Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=7500
That’s the one! Yeah I like that approach. You’ve left that diary on a bit of cliffhanger....
You may have noticed there is a FrankenLab tag now. I couldn't keep up with where i was with all of these!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
The IB Freebie is in the corner of shame, alongside the Cliche Black LP for now.
I have yet to strip it down and figure out what to do. It most likely will be that the Body needs to become wall art, and a new one gets fabricated. (won't that be a shame? :))
The lab has other more pressing build priorities, so sayeth the Bride.....
Quiet real work morning so some more tinkering. I've roughed up the plate for the back of the headstock. Primarily to give me a little more thickness for the tuners to mount into, but also to cover some imperfections in the wood. I coud sand them out, but I'd be reducing the thickness even further. Tiny bit of overhang here, I'm going to polish it up so I've left a little to knock back. I'll get some finish on the neck and then even it all out with some light sandpaper so it matches exactly.
At some point I'd like to get it engraved as well, but I might do that a bit down the track.
https://i.imgur.com/T4kbZeV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8auBgcX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/M61WAPJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rc66mu7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xgnkUTp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hIqcyco.jpg
Looking good thus far.
I'm waiting with bated breath for when the 'repeatable' bit kicks in.
cheers, Mark.
Hah, yeah me too. The concept is still there, but there has been a tonne of learning on this one. The next one will be basically the same concept but with a number of improvements and fixes to the templates.
The dream is to be able to build a number of them all at once, but I'm a ways off that being practical.
Nifty. You could even CNC etch your logo or model/serial number details into the back of that
Yeah that's what I'm thinking.
..and then (gasp-horror) out-source the work to China.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
cheers, Mark.
Or you could simply make the headstock thicker. :D
Yeah, if the blank had been a little thicker it wouldn't be an issue. I have another blank exactly the same for the next one so I'm tossing up possible solutions, including making it a heel adjust...
Anyway, having the neck sorted bar finishing means a lot of other work can go forward. String through holes are drilled. I did have a small whoopsie, but it was easy fixed and will be hidden. Even with a drill press it was a challenge to get them straight. I think due to the concrete nature of the wood the very thin pilot bit seems to wander around a bit.
Bridge plate holes drilled, cavity routed out further to accommodate bridge pickup. Getting a lot more comfortable with the router now. The next one I build should be a lot tidier. Also routed a recess for the cavity control. Not quite what I wanted, but like a lot of things, fine for this build. Pilot hole for the jack also done, not quite sure what I'll do for that. I was going to have it on top, but decided to put it in a tele-like position.
Finalised the pickguard and control cavity plate designs, so next job is cutting those. Bit nervous about getting a nice bevel on the pickguard.
Then we'll be in the home stretch of finishing, wiring, assembly, then setup....oh I need to thin out the control cavity a bit as well, the long shaft pots I have don't quite get the thread through.
https://i.imgur.com/K5ifxUf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PLh3iE8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FZ5VkQw.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/C2n38Gq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/t8sP7CO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/59ZVaUr.jpg
Thinned down the control cavity thickness, blacked it out and made a cover out of some thin wood I got from my wood guy here. Stringy bark I think. Sad news, both his properties have been burnt out and he's having to shut up shop :(. Has some great bargains going atm but I'm skint. Also drilled for the bridge earth and started sanding the finish back for what will hopefully be final coats.
https://i.imgur.com/AQMyPfg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nE0MHmh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bZYpKC8.jpg?1
Had an unsurpsing woopsie sanding back... so away we go again :rolleyes:
Had a couple of marks from kicking around the garage anyway, this is probably easier in the long run....
https://i.imgur.com/oSkbykF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KGBWSEc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ypCfYIs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/44J7IT0.jpg
That Camphor laurel looks really nice, love the stain colour with it. What did you fill those small surface cracks with?
Heya, its actually 'White Mahogany' AKA Stringybark. Basically firewood :P. I have a love hate relationship with it. It's a bastard to work with, and there are loads of borer holes and cracks.. but man the grain is something else under clear. It's been filled with a combination of polyurethane and CA glue, built up and sanded back over the last year or so.
Made up my pickguard today. It's about 90% of the way there, I'll wait till final fit up before I finish the neck pocket bit and drill any holes in the body. so I can make sure it all aligns properly. I printed out my template, glued it to the blank then used a fine jigsaw blade, drill and various files to get to this point. Fairly happy with the consistency of the bevel. Should get better as its finished off.
Looks pretty cool mocked up. I can actually see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel of this build.
https://i.imgur.com/XffwAqf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vtNuPpW.jpg?1
Great pickguard design!
Cheers man, it's not what I was originally planning, but the general gist is there.Quote:
Originally Posted by RocknRolf
I like that.