Maple archtop

[Dominic]

Hey, Craig has inspired me to make an archtop and here is the progress I made over the weekend.
I used flatsawn figured maple for this one as it was way cheaper than 1/4 sawn and it was a first go. I also had to glue on two small wings on the lower bout to make it wide enough. I used the templates in the Bob B book to get a rough shape then just refined everything on the outside first.
Maple is bloody hard work but once you start getting close and the shape is emerging it gets really fun.

This shows the outside of the back carved.
I just use clamps where I want them on the cradle rather than Bob's little end clamps. Easy to put anywhere I want them. Little bits of sand paper stuck around the edges of the cradle and a few underneath keep things from slipping around under aggressive planing.



These are the planes I used. I made a little knob out of ebony off-cuts for the Sloan plane so it is easier to use. It just slips over the end of the blade. The two little japanese plane are really nice and can cut in pretty much any direction. The D'Angelico plane is really aggressive and great for hogging off lots of wood. Also used my block plane.



Last, after depth drilling as Craig showed, I have cleaned out the back and am ready to start refining the thickness. I gotta say, carving is a really nice process. I loved it.
Cheers
Dom

[xray]

thats awesome work dom, im impressed and curious to see how the first one turns out. I imagine its something that you would have to walk away from after planing all of the timber away for so long. So far it looks promising good luck with the rest

[Allen]

Thanks for starting this post Dom. I just love the look of these instruments, and seeing someone build them makes it look well within reach.

[Nick]

Nice work Dominic, very clean work. It's looking quite sexy . Is that a dark wood strip between the two halves or the veneer fibre sheet that you can get?
I also use the D'Angelico plane also for pretty much 99% of my carving, by reseting depth of cut it does the lot.... roughing then pulling the blade in does the fine cuts.
Here's a pic of one of my attempts, here I've just finished the carving step.


If you intend making more than one I thoroughly recommend Bob B's carving set up, he uses the cradle the same as your's but it mounted on a spindle and a single clamp onto the spindle to stop it rotating. Carve one way,undo clamp and spin it round to carve the other way, it's really quick and a pleasure to use there's no messing around with multiple clamps. Here's a shot that sort of shows it, the single bolt underneath next to the spindle is the clamping method. I can put longer bolts in the two little Mahogany 'finger' clamps when I've got the full thickness body in for doing the recurve.


I can take a pic of just the carving rig if you are interested.

[Hesh1956]

Nice work Dom and Nick!!! Makes me wanna try my paws at being an archie-boy.

[Nick]

Nice work Dom and Nick!!! Makes me wanna try my paws at being an archie-boy.

Should give it a go Hesh! As Dominic has found out, they are lots of fun to make and seeing that graceful shape emerge from a solid chunk 'o' wood is very rewarding and just hearing that plane running over the timber makes it a nicely satisfying process.
My pics are from my first which was completed a couple of years ago, I didn't want to highjack Dominic's thread with too many of my build pics as this all about his build!

[Hesh1956]

Yeah I agree and personally find the most enjoyable part of guitar building to be carving braces with finger planes and chisels. I think that I would like this very much.

Bob B's book is actually IMHO one of the best books even for flat top builders. He does a great job of explaining lots of things that translate well to other areas of lutherie such as how to hold a piece of wood and find the nodes so you can tap it.

The is an eloquence to the look of archtops that I have always loved and the sound of a great one can be like nothing else.

[Pete Brown]

Stan Miller, a fine builder of mandolins, has devised a neat ten-sided cradle which allows him to carve tops and backs from many angles. A link to the relevant page appears below:
http://millermandolins.com/Construction/Con2.htm

Perhaps the idea could be adapted for guitars. If not, his construction pages are well worth a look anyway.

[Dominic]

Hey, thanks guys.

Xray, no quite the opposite, once I had started I only stopped to eat and eventually sleep.
Nick, it is black fibre. Because of the figure there was some very small tear-out or rough areas (probably because I glued the 1/4ed faces) while jointing so rather than have potential dark glue spots I figured the black fibre would hide them.
I've seen the DVD also and those bolts on the cradle look like a hassle. Bob undoes his with a spanner and still has to use clamps when carving the ends. With the clamps I can put them out the way very quickly and everything is very solid. And it is easy to rest it on the corner of the bench. I have to admit, at first I thought I was just being slack not making the cradle properly. I just thought I would do a bit of carving first. But it works very well for me like this so I haven't bothered.

Allen and Hesh, I am actually thinking that this is going to be easier than a flat top. The top and back are glued onto flat sides, no radius dishes or tapered sides or other strange geometry. The hardest part is carving a good curve and if you use the templates and go slow, what can go wrong. and it is just so much fun. I think the archtop guys have had one on us all this time.
If you have even an inkling to make one I encourage you all to do it.
I'll keep you posted as I go.
Cheers
Dom

[Dominic]

Nice work Dom and Nick!!! Makes me wanna try my paws at being an archie-boy.

Hesh, in this part of the world that would 'archie-bloke'
Dom

[Clancy]

Wow. Haven't gone on the net for a few days, & when I do here's some fabulous carving shots.
Nice work Dom, I think I told you I found carving meditative & addictive.
Sounds like it's that way for you too.
Ahh..the sound of a plane on wood. Music to my ears (& blisters to my thumbs).

[Nick]

Nick, it is black fibre. Because of the figure there was some very small tear-out or rough areas (probably because I glued the 1/4ed faces) while jointing so rather than have potential dark glue spots I figured the black fibre would hide them.

Nice idea, that flamed stuff does tear out something wicked so your plan is a good one!

I've seen the DVD also and those bolts on the cradle look like a hassle. Bob undoes his with a spanner and still has to use clamps when carving the ends. With the clamps I can put them out the way very quickly and everything is very solid. And it is easy to rest it on the corner of the bench. I have to admit, at first I thought I was just being slack not making the cradle properly. I just thought I would do a bit of carving first. But it works very well for me like this so I haven't bothered.

Well if your system works then I say go for it, I have always used the rotating cradle so I guess that just seems easier for me and at the end of the day, the end result is the same so I think I'm supposed to make some comment about the number of ways to remove the dermis from a feline about now

[Taffy Evans]

Nice work Dom, looking forward to more pics and info in the future. I'm not thinking of building one......still concentrating of flat top guitars at this time.

[vandenboom]

Stan Miller, a fine builder of mandolins, has devised a neat ten-sided cradle which allows him to carve tops and backs from many angles. A link to the relevant page appears below:
http://millermandolins.com/Construction/Con2.htm

Perhaps the idea could be adapted for guitars. If not, his construction pages are well worth a look anyway.

Gee I enjoyed looking through that site...certainly learned a couple of things...thanks. Frank.