Greg's #4 - Scratch SG

[GregLane]

I started this project before Christmas but was reticent in putting it on the forum in case it was an utter disaster. I was entering into the unknown. So here is the story

I purchased, at a very good price, this lump of Queensland Mahogany (Red Mahogany, Red Messmate – Thanks to Cliff Rogers for identifying it). It was originally to be a live edge tabletop but finally my wife agreed we didn’t have the room. It took two blokes to lift it.

The wood is documented as being a great construction wood especially for bridges. Guitars???.

Earlier discussion to identify the woods is here:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...eferrerid=4588

Having built three kits, I thought I was “well-qualified” to build a scratch guitar particularly from unrecognised guitar timber. hihi. As they say, “ignorance is bliss.”

So after lots of research on this forum and YouTube I took the plunge.

My first concern was how to level the wood. It was only about 38mm thick. I could take it to the local Men’s shed or do it all at home as an excuse to by a belt sander, smaller router, jig saw.

I decided to build a Gibson SG off a plan because it is only 35mm thick and the smaller body would help keep the weight down. Buy a neck – some builds are beyond comprehension.

Step 1 – Cut piece out of the plank


Step 2
Sand with new belt sander with 80 grit.
There was bit of twist in the timber, so I made some winding sticks on advice from the forum. With careful sanding, measuring thickness and the winding stick I finished with a flat plank about 34mm thick.

(with a bit of turps to see the colour and grain, it's a little pinker in the flesh)

Step 3 Cut out the shape.
This step caused the most concern. The internet seemed to say only a band saw would do. A few said jigsaws. My concern was the density of the timber.
On the basis of wanting to build it all at home and an excuse to buy a new jigsaw, I decided on jigsaw. Then I had to research what blades would handle the timber. I could always fall back on the Men’s shed.

Purchased the plan

[GregLane]

Step 4 Cut the Template
First make a thin template as advised on YouTube.
New jig saw worked well on MDF.hihi
Then used the new belt sander on this jig I copied from YouTube, to finally shape the template. The belt sander on the jig has turned out to be very handy for many shaping jobs since.


The use the thin template to cut real template from 16mm MDF


Step 5 – How will the neck fit

I purchased a neck that was supposed to be Gibson style but it appears to be a hybrid with a Gibson neck and Fender foot. I decided to make it a bolt-on then if I eventually wanted a more Gibson type neck I can fit it. The neck pocket will not need to be very deep for this one.
The SG is supposed to have a 3 degree back angle but I will have to work that out when I get to cutting the neck cavity.

I have added a bit to the length to the tongue under the neck to give me a few options for fitting it.

[GregLane]

Step 5 Cut the guitar shape.


With much trepidation I picked up the jigsaw and cut a small corner off the wood with a slight bend. The new jigsaw handled it with ease with a blade meant for hard timber.


The router stage was the next worry. Lots of different advice on YouTube. Cut small depths at a time, cut in one big bank, don’t cut into exposed grain – climb cut etc etc.

Well that advise crystalised : to one big cut with a large router bit with a bearing bearing at each end and do climb cuts to the exposed grain. The cutting direction was drawn on the template.

First I cut the “into” section and all worked perfectly. (What was I worried about – again?)

Now the climb cuts – well suffice to say I never got the hang of it. The blade just grabbed and bounced along the timber. Luckily no real damage but then:


I gave up on the climb cuts and just slowly routed into the wood the normal direction. It worked fine and I believe it was because of the density of the timber after doing some more web research.
A bit of a rub with belt sander recovered the tear-out

[DarkMark]

Looking good Mr Lane. Never heard of winding sticks so thanks for bringing that the attention of the ignorant amongst us.

[GregLane]

Hi Mark
I hadn’t heard of them either till Woltz mentioned them in a response to me on his 3rd Scratch Build diary.
Greg

[dozymuppet]

That post was the motherload, Greg. So much progress!

[Cliff Rogers]

Well done.

[Trevor Davies]

Looking good. Each step along the way is quite stressful but you are making great progress. Next time will be even easier!

[Simon Barden]

Where does the end of the neck come in relation to the body? If it’s like a real SG, then it looks like you may only have 5cm or so of protruding wood to attach the neck to.

[GregLane]

Thanks for your concern Simon.
Because of the funny foot on the neck I extended the tongue on the body. I ve 70mm on which to screw the neck.
With that big long foot it is not going to be the prettiest. But the neck cavity will be pretty shallow so I think I will have plenty of room to put on a new one.
Might force me to take the plunge and try to build my own neck.