FB-1M Flames Burls - Mahogany

[neverwas]

That title will make some sense shortly.
Decided it was time to play with using veneers on a build. Ordered the FB-1M kit without electronics and hardware, but with the pickguard and knobs.

A small gap opened up at the end of the body, easily fixed with some titebond and clamping.

Fitted a couple of pots and noticed the two volume knobs were too close to the raised centre section and will need to be moved. Actually not a problem as I have a plan (cue sinister laugh). Also the pots can't reach through far enough, just barely get a half turn of the nut on them, so will need to do some routing in the cavity to make them fit better.

[neverwas]

Next thing is to try and do something about where the body and neck join. I have relatively small hands and the overall size of the join would mean I couldn't get to the higher frets.

I had some mahogany offcuts from my PBG-2 build and used them to make a pair of plugs for the two holes closest to the end of the body. Ordered a set of ferrules so I don't need to use the supplied plate and started shaping the body under the neck pocket to try to get more reach, still a work in progress.

Warning - wood porn next.

[neverwas]

The body is mahogany, so where are the flames and burls? Right here

Got these beauties from Australian Premier Veneers. It's Myrtle burl.
They will be going on the flanks, with the middle section to break them up. Cut out a stencil to work out how to get the most from the sheets. These are my first thoughts but maybe tweaked before cutting anything.

Not worried about bookmatching the pieces because the centre section breaks it up enough and will try to make it look like the veneers are one big piece with the mahogany added on top.
Also asked Pabs to make a P-90 template for me. He made and posted it really quickly, thanks! He did advise to use it as a master and use it to make another from MDF, which I did. Now I need to check my measurements and get the router out.


Grant

[gavinturner]

Wow Grant, that's some gorgeous veneer. Can't wait to see it on the body!

cheers,
Gav.

[Swanny]

That veneer looks incredible! I'll be patiently waiting to see the end result.

[wokkaboy]

Grant stunning veneer. Look forward to the results. You are such a natural builder!

[neverwas]

Thanks Gav, Swanny and Wokks. Only made a small amount of progress so far.
Have roughly trimmed the veneer to shape, this pic should give a better idea of what I'm going for.

The pickup cavities have been re-routed as well. The veneer sheets were pretty flat considering they are burled. Even so, still decided to flatten them with veneer softener and clamping. Found a recipe for diy softener on a woodworking forum somewhere on the interwebs, which was 6 parts water, 3 parts alcohol (I used metho) and 1 part glycerine. There are also mixes that use yellow glue as well, but that apparently makes the veneer sticky and can cause problems when applying stain. I don't plan on staining the veneer, but one less problem is one less problem to worry about fixing.
Sprayed the mixture onto the veneer pieces, waited about ten minutes, then when most of the mix is absorbed, or dripped off, it was time to make a sandwich. I had two pieces of melamine offcuts to use as the upper and lower layer. lay a few sheets of newspaper down, then craft paper ( or any other plain paper) and then the first veneer piece. You want a barrier between the veneer and the newsprint or the ink will end up on the veneer). Then craft paper, newspaper, craft paper, veneer, craft paper, news paper, then upper melamine piece. Then clamps, lots of clamps.
It's recommended to change the paper every 6 hours, I've changed it a couple times so far, just need to keep doing it until the veneers have dried enough. Still clamped at the moment.

[tonyw]

Looking very nice mate

[wokkaboy]

wow Grant that burl veneer is going to look fully sick !
Are you planning natural finish ? No need for stain there are very nice natural colours in the myrtle burl.

I got some red myrtle veneer at home from memory has a similar colour minus the burl

[neverwas]

Have shaped the HS. Started with the standard firebird HS shape, then came across a pic of a custom build (not sure who by) on the web which was more angular at the top edge. Played around and came up with something in between.

Plan is to use some veneer on the HS, not cover the whole thing, but as a 'feature', for want of a better word. Made a caul from MDF to help shape the edge of the veneer and also act as a clamping caul, well that's the theory anyway. Not entirely sure the best way to attach veneer to caul and be able to remove easily, small spots of pva glue maybe? Or double sided tape? Will work something out.