Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Very nice. Is that satin on front and gloss everywhere else? Lovely

This is another of my recently completed builds. Less bells and whistles than others lately but was an enjoyable straight forward build. It is a falcate braced, 14 fret OM. Stunning blackwood back and sides from Mr Curly, bell-like ARC soundboard and silver quandong neck from Mr Linton. Obviously tr...

Beautiful Martin! How does the neck adjust? I like your depth of field with the tools in the background.

Maple fretboard on a classical…. ridiculous! I love it! Actually everything about this guitar works beautifully, esp like the rosette and matching inlay. Great to see such creativity and a very modern classical Thanks Peter, i've shied away from calling it a classical, I'm sure it would run a shive...

Man that jarrah is beautiful! Your drednaugh looks quite deep at the heel Nigel, how deep is it? Or maybe its the nice slim heel. Beautiful work.

Hey Joel, we've used Westsystem and Botecote. I'd say the lower the ratio the easier it is to deal with in small batches so Botecote's 2:1 is a bit easier to measure out than the westsystem's 5:1. Botecote also has a longer open time about 30mins and if you need more you can add some TPRD. We use ch...

Nice!

kiwigeo wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 28, 2022 9:13 am

A copy of a Gibson...made by Martin

Nice Wayne. That rosette inlay looks tricky but very crisp.

But Martin is known to sometimes tend towards overkill............. You're one of those guys who puts up photos of a freshly clamped up top...with gaps between the clamps big enough to drive a car through!!! If you can see what's being clamped up then you don't have enough clamps!!! I only worry it...

If you have an air compressor, a vacuum clamp is not too hard too make and venturi value is pretty affordable at about $30.

Dave M wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 21, 2022 2:15 am

What type of neck body joint did you use?

I used basically a butt join, however I installed a cross grain support block a bit like an inverted tenon to support the single threaded insert. I didn't like the idea of the threaded insert and all that end grain.

I bought a bunch of spruce tops from Martin Turner a couple of years ago and he threw in a small bear claw soundboard. It has been kicking around my stash until a couple of things happened. A student approached the Brissy school armed with Graham's booking and asked to make a mandolin. The student m...

That is interesting. Seems like a decent way to get things ball park if you trying out a new bracing system. Looks like you would need a mold for each body shape.

I would be tempted to add marriage strips along each side of the sapwood if you are taking that back off. Clearly a weak point in that piece of wood.

Lovely looking instrument Sebastiaan. Well done

I also always wipe down rosewood or other oily wood with acetone. I will keep wiping them down until no more colour leaches out. The glue may be your issue but other issues to check will be a good mating service between the bridge a soundboard (especially if you build with a radius to your plates) a...

Hey Joel, half way between Florence and Venice is Bologna, so I reckon it should be called a Bolognian cutaway. I am sure I'm not the first person to think adding a scoop to a venetian, so steal away. TBH, I didn't do any calculations just tapped and measured along the way. As far as carbon fibre go...

Thanks. Wayne the rosette is fish scale pattern made from amboyna off cuts from the back. The amboyna does not show separation like the maple does so it has more of a textured look in photos:

Very elegant atheistic

Nice, I like your pick guard. I have recently made a mando, I think I will need to think about putting a wood pickguard on it now.

I've been a bit slack at sharing my finished builds of late. So here is a nylon build I finished a few months ago. It is a falcate braced with a king billy soundboard and amboyna back, sides and neck, flame maple fretboard and bridge. It is hard french polished. 99EFFAFE-0468-4651-B158-0FBB12CF2749_...

My instinct is that a sparse lattice or double x are going to be over braced for a small body. Also the more frets to the body, the more neckward the bridge location is going and less efficient the sound board. If you want a 15 fret, you might also be consider moving the soundhole north and also pos...

Lovely! Really like the pickguard & tail piece.

Hi Mak, It will depend a little on your type of cutaway and your heel shape. But assuming you you are doing a Venetian cutaway with a tapered heel, But basically you are attaching the side to a pre-shaped internal block and then a third piece for next to the heel. I would be first determining the wi...

We clean the belt for that kind of gummed up mess with a spray bottle of borax and water solution. We just lower the feed tray and put a bunch of paper towel to catch the excess and then spray it on the affected area. Leave it for about 10mins and then you can clean 98% it off with a stiff bristled ...