Mid-summer update

So far this summer has been a whirlwind of activity.
Marilyn and I went to Las Vegas for our 20th Anniversary.  We saw Penn and Teller and took naps by the pool.  Fun stuff.

The tomatoes and cucumbers are finally coming in.  They're late because it's been so cool this summer.  The other day Marilyn made a salad of Tomatoes, cucumber, onion, dill (all from the garden) and yogurt.  Yummy!


My elbow is healing and I am finally able to get projects around the house done.  I finished up the 12 string!  Well, got it put together and put the strings on.  I haven't done a proper set-up yet as I'm both busy and lazy.

Soundhole and logo with diamond brace

It sounds cool.  I had a Yamaha 12 Dreadnought back in the '80' and loved the sound.  But, I had forgotten how different they are to play.  My wimpy hands are out of shape for a 12 string--especially with giant action.  After about 20 minutes of playing my elbow was starting to throb.  Hopefully both will get fixed soon.  Still, it sounds cool.  Mark, my guitar teacher gave his approval too!


Next time (oh yeah?) I'll put 2 truss rods rather than one and 1 c/f rod in the neck.

Finish stripped for bridge gluing

I learned a lot on this project.  Mostly where I make mistakes due to rushing through a step or not planning ahead.  But that is part of the journey.

Ta-Da!

Marilyn's guitar is coming along.  I didn't like the way the neck was shaping up so I re-did it.
Much happier this time.  Yesterday I was able to get the frets on and will hopefully be done by the end of the week.  I'll get some pictures of it posted....


I've been doing a lot of work on Ev's Mandocello.  It's starting to look like something.  It seems like most of the time goes into making the molds and forms for bending.  Once that's done it goes pretty quick.  Yesterday, I got the sides bent and glued together.  I'm still playing with the top and back.  I need to remove more material from the insides.  I also need to prep the headblock and heel.  Maybe tomorrow....

Maple sides being clamped into submission

Sides bent and glued to headblock

 

Getting back to it.

Things have been wacky-busy of late.  Since last post, my job changed dramatically (for the better), I had elbow surgery to fix (?) a detached tendon, and bunches of odds and ends to do around the house.  So, not much writing.
The guitars have been making some progress.

I re-did the top on Marilyn's Sel-Mac Concert.  I got a great cedar sound board from Fraiser Valley woods.  Super ringy tone.  I wish I bought a dozen of them.  Marilyn cut out a rosette of Lacewood and the top got stuck on.
I got the ebony bindings installed.  I need more practice/patience....


I pore-filled the back with Z-poxy and it's now baby-butt smooth. 



I've started the french polish of the top.  It's a lot of work, but It's easy to fix mistakes and it's very zen-like.  There is a learning curve to it, but it's not bad. 



 
I decided to focus on getting Marilyn's guitar done, then Ev's mandocello, and fit the 12 string in along the way rather than try to do all at the same time.  I'm working on that ADHD thing.














The other big distraction (other than family and work) has been the garden.  Here in SoCal, we can grow veggies pretty much year round.  I've ripped out all the old winter stuff and re-planted both the front and back yard gardens!

We had tons of artichokes already and I cut them back to make way for tomatoes, celery, peppers--bell, sweet, hot, courgettes, squash, carrots, radishes and onions.  There's even pineapple and peaches towards the back.
OBTW:  The string you see is to keep the herons from eating the koi in the pond just to the left.

 

This is the back of the house.  Tomatoes, Basil Peppers, Squash and a dwarf apple tree.

Bananas!


Now, back to building!

Guitar building

12 string update

I haven't updated for a while.  Because, well, I don't know.  Just haven't felt like writing. 
Maybe it's the thinking that comes with writing...


Anyhow, the 12 string is coming along.  I cut a sound port in the upper bout and got the back and top glued on.  You can see the precision measurements used to do this. 

For the back graft I used spruce squares.  I saw this used online, and thought it looked cool.  We'll see how well it holds up...

I bound the finger board with koa to match the bindings and rosette.  It looks great.  





Ev's Mandocello is coming along too.  We settled on a shape and I started ordering the wood.  I got a stunning piece of flamed maple for the back.  and have gotten it cut an profiled--I need to get a current shot of that.  It's sexy.  The shot is the graduations for the rough gouging before sanding it smooth inside and out.  When you tap on it I swear it rings!  I've also profiled the outside to be more "form-fitting"  Luckily, Ev and I are about the same shape (out of shape?).  He's very excited.

Marilyn's guitar is on hold.  I didn't like the rosette, so I ordered a new top and routed the old one off.
rrrrrgh

I'm getting another Cortisone injection in my elbow next week.  I'll be able to get some work done and maybe even actually play a bit too.

Getting closer

The neck is done.  Well, sort of.  I need to adjust the heel a bit, but it's close.  It gets frets this week end and i need to tidy up the rosette.

I'm waiting on a router part.  Once that gets here I can do the binding then move on to the finishing!

Mounting the bridge is worrying me.  I need to read up on placement and all that before I do anything.
I started on the forms for the 12 string body this weekend.  I hope to get them done next week so I can start bending.
Oh boy!

End of vacation update

Having been off for the last 2 weeks has been good for both my psyche and the guitar.
I was able to get lot's of stuff done.
I have the neck for the 12 string ready to carve. I'll cut the tennon tomorrow on the new table saw!

I know you're thinking, "Hey that wood looks just like the counter tops in the kitchen". Yes. I had some left over out in the back yard for the last decade or so. It's about 30" long and 1.5" square, laminated Rock Maple! Insanely hard. I ripped it down to 1" blanks then laminated it with 1/8" koa/maple/koa sandwich between them.

I bent the ebony binding with minimal scary noises. I just soaked it in the bathtub for a few hours then let it heat up for about 20 minutes before starting to crank it down.  
Marilyn made the label for her guitar!

Bridge is ready!

I was able to get Sel-Mac/nylon body glued up.  Rosewood back and sides, western cedar top and spanish cedar neck.  Fingerboard ready to fret (well after I finish setting the neck angle on the heel and glue it to the neck)

This time for sure...

Again, more false starts...
Just haven't felt like writing. It requires too much introspection. But now I'm off for 2 weeks and am starting to feel like thinking again.
Actually things are moving forward with reasonably few screw-ups. So far. I HAD to take a break for a while because I had surgery on my left hand to remove a "Dupytron Nodule" the size of a Lima Bean from my left hand. It had gotten to the point where I couldn't hold or carry things in my left hand.

It made playing very painful.








The doctor did a great job and things are good.




While I was in having it looked at, the same doctor gave me my 4th(!) shot of Cortisone in the left elbow. They're scheduling me or surgery... The "tennis elbow" keeps coming back.


Anyhow, the stitches are now out, and I'm back in the garage! Stuff is happening. Sawdust is being created!
I got the back and top of the 12 string braced. Now I have to do the sides. I hope to make the bending forms this week. Once the sides are in the form, I can glue the back and top on.

I made a new top for Marilyn's Sel-Mac. The rosette is solid ebony with back/white trim. It's all braced and ready to go.

The bracing is different from the Standard D-hole (which is different from normal guitars i guess) in that it has the ladder brace from the front of the guitar, but the lower bout is fan braced. It is a "classical" guitar.


Plus, the #3 brace is huge!
The top has great "tap tone" and is very ring-ie. I hope this translates to nice tone when it's glued up. I'm still worried that the back is too stiff... We'll see.


I measured the sides and trimmed them to height, then glued the head and tail blocks.


I got the top of the sides sanded yesterday and am hoping to get the back done today. The top is flat so it got sanded on a flat surface where as the back is being sanded in the 25' radius dish.



Also, the necks for both guitars are rough cut. I need to clean up the tennon on the 12 string.






I am using the very bitchen Ryobi table saw my wife and mother in law gave me for xmas!













I've also gotten the drilling template ready for the 12 string, now that the tuners have arrived.

Still much to do. But I feel like I am learning from previous mistakes and am getting better at my craft.

One step forward, two steps back....

One of the reasons I like building guitars is that I am "learning" patience. Sure.
This is something I have struggled with all of my life. For me the alphabet goes A..B..C..Z! Screw the stuff in between.
That nifty rosette in the last post got buggered up because I was sanding with the R/O sander and tore out the purfling. Trying to fix it made it worse. So, I have a new cedar sound board arriving soon....
Oh well.
Then again, work on the 12 string is progressing.



I used the LMI rosette cutter to make a nice ring out of Koa. Circles are so much easier than Ds. Not as cool, mind you. I need a better D-hole template for the NEXT sel-Mac...



After cutting a channel and routing it out, I flooded it with CA glue. The redwood really soaks it up. Then GENTLY
it down and there it is!



The back and top are now braced and ready to go. I still have to bend the sides, but I'm pleased with the progress so far.

I thought the cleats would look cooler than a big graft strip on the back. Hopefully they are wide enough to provide the support....


The reason for the gap between the 1st and 2nd back brace is because I'll make a plate the same shape as the logo sticker and glue that down. That will act as a large cleat as well.




For the last few weeks, our older cat Neemo has been trying to sit on my lap when I practice. Last week, he climbed up between my stomach and the guitar and took a nap.



I've been trying to be more diligent about practicing. Cat not withstanding. I'm polishing up Erik Satie's Gymnopedie #1, which one of my favorite pieces. We also started working on a Shadowy Man piece called "Egypt, Texas" (a cool surf piece) and "Sweet Child o' mine". Go figure. My teacher, Mark is a guitar-god.

Finally getting back to it...

Got yet another Cortisone injection Thursday. I can now bend my elbow and close my left fist without crying.
I was able to get some stuff done on Marilyn's sel-mac/nylon!
I took the top and back out of the gluing jigs and realized that I need to get better at shooting the edges...
The seams are tiny but I see them. Oh well.


Marilyn asked me to do a solid-wood rosette with b-b-w-b purfling around the in/outside.

I was rather nervous about doing the cutting/sanding. It turned out better than I thought it would. I just need to do the routing on the top--maybe tomorrow.












I rough cut the braces for the back and top and glued up the headstock plate.




I am off for until Thursday! Hopefully I can try out the new side bender and set up the go-bar deck!

The side bender is done-done!

I finished the cut away attachment for the side bender!


I also made it easier to us the adjustable plate on the main clamp.

The timer works and it throws out a ton of heat. the steel bending sheets should be in next week.

Now I just need to get the tops and backs joined--which is proving to be harder than I thought. I might just make a jig for the router...