Handtool build #2 - ESP/LTD-ish

[poro78]

Thanks!
And good catch, the brackets are most likely from some Ikea abomination, we have couple of them in my daughter's room.

 

['59_Standard]

Looking at those shavings, Poro, you truly are Finland's finest Mascochist.

 

[emoney]

I've been there with the hand re-sawing and I learned one important lesson from my trip; find a cabinet maker next time and pay him to resaw the blank, lol.

It's very hard to resist pulling that "last little bit" apart, which is what results in that dip you've got to plane out now. The end is near, however, so keep up the good work.

 

[tommyd73069]

emoney, you make a great point. My first scratch build is coming up latter this summer. I'm building a few CBGs and setting up the shop this spring. But, I've already been asking around to find a cabinet or panel & door shop that can resaw and bandsaw big stuff quickly. I expect I'll have less waste as a result. I'll let them do the crappy part and I'll take all the glory.

 

[poro78]

Work harder, not smarter.

 

[tommyd73069]

Work harder, not smarter.

It's always great to have a mission statement

 

[VictOr358]

Work harder, not smarter.

You are speaking non-Finnish blasphemy!
Although I share your point
Also, personally I like the bike-based belt saw idea, should be great for hyperactive children

 

[poro78]

It's always great to have a mission statement

Well, that feels like a perfect mission statement as I feel I'm doing more work than ever and it shows nowhere.

Looking at those shavings, Poro, you truly are Finland's finest Mascochist.

I'd be much finer if I would resaw that other maple blank too.
But yeah, there must be something because I'm just waiting for more punishment at the "workshop" all the time.

I've been there with the hand re-sawing and I learned one important lesson from my trip; find a cabinet maker next time and pay him to resaw the blank, lol.

It's very hard to resist pulling that "last little bit" apart, which is what results in that dip you've got to plane out now. The end is near, however, so keep up the good work.

The hardest part of resawing is that my workbench is too light and my tools are not exactly perfect for the task.
I thought giving up and calling my friend if he still had keys to one workshop, but managed to resist the temptation.

Next time I'll be making a decent frame saw and cutting the blank apart without turning it around now and then.
Yeah, I'm stupid enough to talk about the next time.

You are speaking non-Finnish blasphemy!
Although I share your point
Also, personally I like the bike-based belt saw idea, should be great for hyperactive children

I'm just saving money by doing the physical workout at my hobby room... Gym memberships cost way too much here.
I'll work smarter, not harder after I'm fit enough for the summer season.

Hmm... I have a bike and a hyperactive 3-year-old...
Problem is that her attention span is about 15 seconds.

 

[poro78]

Planing, planing, planing...

At the times I'm not doing anything at the workshop I'm researching for different finishing options.
The kind of finishes I can do indoors without spraying equipment and also without poisoning myself.
My first build was finished with brushed nitrocellulose at the balcony and I got a nice headache after couple of sessions. There was also quite nice odor coming from the workshop...
And also wifey didn't really appreciate the sweet smell of nitro and thinner.

I'm really considering Tru-Oil, but I need to research more...

 

[poro78]

Yeah!
Top is planed and as ready as it can be in this situation.
And I love khaya - the planes cut through it so easily.

So the next update might include something else than planing.

 

[acloudofhaze]

This is great stuff man I'm keeping an eye on this one

 

[poro78]

I think I promised something else than planing for this update.
My "workshop" was occupied for a week as my mom was visiting us, so I've made really little progress in last two weeks, but I'm glad to say that the preparation of the blanks is now done.

From this...

...to this.

(Ok, it wasn't perfect when I took the pictures, but it is now. )

And because I had space in my scrap box, I cut the excess material off.

And same with the top. The piece I cut off will get another life as headstock veneer.
Since this is my first build with a top I'm spending most of my evenings digging for all kinds of info regarding how it should be done.
I put the top and the body together with some screws, just for a test, and don't know if I should leave the spots there temporarily when I cut the shape to both of the blanks.
I guess they would prevent creeping when gluing and they should be easy to saw off after the pieces are joined together, but I don't know.
Overkill? Useless?

And as I had only cardboard template of the guitar, I decided to make something more reliable.
Here's some plastic. Styrene acrylonitrile, I guess.

And this is the same after I went all Barnaby on it.
Coping saw, shinto rasp, couple other rasps, files, some elbow grease and we have a crude template.

So that's all for now.
I think the blanks start to look like a guitar tomorrow. Most likely very distantly, but everything counts.

 

[poro78]

Ok, now things are rolling.
I put the template on and it was time to spend a moment with my coping saw. Yay!

And first side done. Band saw? Who needs a band saw?

Flip, rinse, repeat.

...and it's a... umm... mutant.

Tomorrow I'll butcher the top.
Still not sure of those blocks. Do I really need them?

Off to change shirt. This one smells quite foul.

 

[poro78]

And here's the top butchering.
The method was the same as with the body blank.

...and done.

Everything went too well and of course there had to be something bad coming up. Here's the result of last stroke of the saw.

Luckily it was nothing couple drops of Titebond couldn't fix.

 

[VictOr358]

Impressive progress, Poro! I'm slowly trying to handplane maple top too, and I must say, I've got quite an inspiration from you, my friend =)

Too bad, you didn't mention the amount of patience it takes... No-no-no, like this PATIENCE

Mebbe even like this...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErvgV4P6Fzc]Guns N' Roses - Patience - YouTube[/ame]

 

[poro78]

Thanks, Victor!
Sorry that I didn't mention that every single one of these steps take ages to complete.

 

[poro78]

Rasping and filing and filing and rasping.
Finally it starts to look like something.

(The frog appeared on my desk and is now on my repair list. Hopefully the 3-year-old customer has some patience. )

When I split the maple blank there was a "cliff" which naturally tore a chunk of wood from the other half, leaving a thinner area that I was trying to avoid when I positioned the template for shaping.
At first I thought that I made it, but then I noticed that the top and the body didn't meet properly at the tip of the upper horn.

So, I had to make a patch.

Not too bad, I guess.

I'm bit worried how this will look like when I'll shape the horns... But we'll see.
I always have the option to resaw the other maple blank. Not an option I'd like to use, but if everything fails...

 

[poro78]

Not a proper update, but...

Happy Birthday to ME!
My wife bought me a GIBSON!
The action is nice and low, neck is perfect for my hand and I'm having a blast with it!

I also got a Gibson beanie, so now I'm just waiting for the winter.

 

[tommyd73069]

Not a proper update, but...

Happy Birthday to ME!
My wife bought me a GIBSON!
The action is nice and low, neck is perfect for my hand and I'm having a blast with it!

I also got a Gibson beanie, so now I'm just waiting for the winter.

I saw the update on my phone and there wasn't a picture. Was so happy for you. I rushed to the computer to see your new Gibson...you got me good

 

[poro78]

I saw the update on my phone and there wasn't a picture. Was so happy for you. I rushed to the computer to see your new Gibson...you got me good

Well, then that update worked even better than I meant!


Allright, proper update this time. Here goes.


After some serious planning and measuring I decided to destroy the top.

Measured everything three times and measured them again. And again.
(Neurotic? Who? Me?

)

And then it was time to start ruining it.
Drilled a small hole and started sawing with a fretsaw (I guess that's the correct term for it. A bit confusing as I've always thought that fretsaw is a saw for cutting the fret slots...) armed with a blade from a jeweler's saw.

Two pickup holes almost done. Broke three blades during the task, delicate sawing just isn't my style.

And seems like I didn't ruin the top.

Pickup holes are done and I've also drilled marks for the control positions - a switch, two volumes and one tone for this one.

And time to replicate the pickup positions to the body.
After tracing the spots and checking couple times again, the things were going so well I just continued without thinking the steps through.
Started by removing most of the material with a Forstner bit.

And chiseled the rest of the main cavity clean.

And then I remembered how I did the cavities last time.

My first build had rounded corners and I started by drilling the corners and the legs with a 10mm bit - and after that removed material with a Frostner bit and chisels.
Making the holes for legs might be now bit more difficult and I think I have to settle for box shaped cavities now.
Bugger.

Oh well, time to sharpen my crappy chisels and figure out how to make a poor man's router to clean up the cavity bottoms.
The battle continues.