A Productive Week

[Bob Connor]

Got a fair bit done in the shed this week.


Top Bracing for the next 14 guitars


Nearly finished the neck for the 12 string. (Blackwood)




Got another coat of Shellac on the 12 string. The guitar next to it is Padauk - a lefty 12 string.



Four of the O-18's are under way Goncalo, Sassafras, Blackwood and the one at the back in the mold is Maple.



Bound and fretted two fingerboards. One EIR the other in the picture is Brazilian. You can't see it in the pic but the frets are the gold ones from LMI.



Made a Braz bridge for the 12 string.



Thanks fer looking.

Bob

[kiwigeo]

Nice going Bob,

Youre alot more productive than me.

Martin

[Allen]

How do you like the gold fret wire? I was thinking of getting some.

[Bob Connor]

I really like the look of the gold frets Allen and it's a little harder than standard nickel/silver. It's quite elegant.

[Kim]

Just a bit more repair work for me, but I did manage to make a template for a natty pickguard shape.

Cheers

Kim

[ozziebluesman]

Sunday has been a great day for me. I have never made a bridge from a blank before. I am building a solid body lap slide so decided to give it an acoustic bridge. I wanted to get some practise in on making a batwing bridge for my weissenborn that is on the go.

I started with an Indian Rosewood blank, roughed out the shape with a wood rasp, hand sanded and finished with two thin coats of shellac and then a final beez wax.

Heres some pics







Happy with the outcome.

Cheers

Alan

[matthew]

My first paying customer needed a fingerboard setup.

de-string and remove nut
plane ebony fingerboard
repair splits and tearout with CA and ebony dust
sand, seal and finish
clean, recut bridge, fit pickup
reshape and fit nut
trim endpin, slot saddle
re-string, refit and adjust bridge
clean the ebony dust off everything!

... then, carefully trimmed the Mo ... and we all went to the pub for dinner and listened to him play in a big band!

[Ron Wisdom]

I put the last coat of shellac and the first coat of tru-oil on my first OM. Hope to be able to show finished photos in a week or two. Didn't think I would ever get this one finished. I started the year off slow and then tapered to a trickle.

Ron

[Hesh1956]

WOW Bob productive is right!!!!

You better watch out my friend or someone is going to think that you are a factory....

The blackwood neck looks killer and I love the way the figure is at 90 degrees to the neck direction.

Ozzie your bridge looks killer too!!!

If you have a random orbit sander I use one of those to carve my bridges and I put 60 or 80 grit on the ROS and go at it like making ice sculptures with a chain saw. It works quiet well and you don't have the risk of any tool marks that are to deep to sand out.

I am still carving braces for the back of my SJ......... One brace takes me 45 minutes to get the Karen Carpenter profile that I want so it's slow going.

But I learned something yesterday. When cleaning up the top in between the braces sand paper on a flexible foam block works great. It conforms to the dome of the top/back but still applies pressure rather evenly and gives you a nice level sanded surface.

Good show guys!

[BillyT]

That fretboard and bridge are outstanding!

[Allen]

Me, well I was up at 3:30 am and went fishing. I'm not sure if I'll ever get accustomed to seeing overcast skies and not expecting it to be cold. It was 25 C that time of morning and absolutely glorious out. Got a couple of Mangrove Jacks and 1 massive Barra that got away. Just as well 'cause the season is closed on them, and I would have had to through him back. Was back home by noon.

Managed to trim the back and top of the Petite Jumbo, and try to level out the sides some. The mahogany has developed a bit of a "dip" along a area of grain that runs the length of the sides. I think that I've "faked" it out to look acceptable. I'll always know that its there, but by the time I'm done I don't think it'll be very noticeable. Has this happened to anyone else?

[Allen]

Just a bit more repair work for me, but I did manage to make a template for a natty pickguard shape.

Cheers

Kim

I've not installed a pick guard on a guitar, mostly 'cause I haven't been able to find one I like. I do have some pick guard sheet material, so I'd be up for a bit of a tutorial on how you go about making a custom one.

[Graham W]

Jeez Bob - do you ever sleep? Graham W

[Paul B]

I spent the weekend plastering our new bedroom.

Though I did manage to sneak into the shed for a couple hours. Carving braces on a 12 fret 000, got the top braces finished and the back braces 80% done.

[Craig]

I got absolutley nothing done until yesterday . My brother in law died suddenly of a heart attack last week and so, was away from home all week.

Yesterday I changed bandsaw blades , and gave the machine a good overhaul and set up. What a difference ! I get my blades (Swedish ) from Henry Bros. Saws P/L and highly recommend them . They are in Hawkesbury N.S.W. and pops them in the mail. hbsaws@acay.com.au

Ph. (02) 9627 5486 . I've tryed a lot of others, but they don't compare. Give him a call , he loves a yarn and is incredibly knowledgeable.

Bob , what about slowing down a bit old mate , and give the rest of us a break ! . What dimensions are the Gold fretwire ? All your last week's work looks very cool Bob.

Nice bridge Alan ! Lets see a bit more of your project.

I've been thinking of going for some Cherry as neckwood . I just love it's silky feel . No pores , light and strong. Do any of you guys know where I can score some ?

Cheers, Craig

[Bob Connor]

Alan

An easy way to do the wings on your bridges is with a benchtop linisher
like this one.



We built an adjustable plywood jig so that you squeeze the bridge between the ply and the end of the belt sander and does the wings, curve and all in about 45 seconds. You can flatten headstocks this way as well.

I'll take a pic tomorrow and post it here.

Although I wouldn't recommend a GMC model they are only about a hundred bucks (we killed one of these in about 6 months) and it's one of the most used tools in our workshop.

Bob

[Bob Connor]

What dimensions are the Gold fretwire ?

It's standard size from LMII Craig.

Here's a link.

The only rub is that it's triple the cost of standard nickel/silver.

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproduc ... =+Fretwire

I'll give Henry brothers a rap too. Great service and blades.

Bob

[Serge]

Martin, my condolences bro, sorry for your loss...

Hey Bob, you rock dude, nice work, love that fretboard and the gold frets are nice to look at!

Got a bit of clean up done in the shop, removed my go bar deck from it's rolling table and put it on a bigger rolling bench next to the shop vac and dust bin, i'm gonna have some more room to walk around and should be back building this week, i was on duty at work all weekend long so not much progress but pics should come soon!

[Bob Connor]

I took a few pics of the sander with the jig on the end of it.



Slide your bridge into the sander and voila. Perfect curves every time.

We also do the same with the back of headstocks.




Flip the sanding bed up and use the the top if it to fair out the curves on the edges of the bridge.

We also use it for mitering purfling, shaping nuts and saddles, squaring up the ends of fret wire, profiling the curve into the ends of braces, squaring up kerfed lining, taking the tops off stubbies and removing the fur on your tongue after a big night out on the turps.

In other words it's indispensible.

I roughed out about 14 bridges with it this afternoon. Took about two hours from rough blanks to what you see below.

There's a whole lot of different Australian woods there that I want the test so I'll eventually chuck it all in another thread.



This one turned out quite nicely.




The sander in the pic is a Ryobi. We throw everthing at it and it keeps on going. Cost around $200.

Bob

[Allen]

Thanks for the photo's Bob. It's really amazing what sort of ideas one can get by just seeing a simple jig set up on an even simpler tool.....or is it me that is the simple tool?

[Kim]

Hey Bob,

Great set up, John Mayes does a similar kind of thing in his videos and as we can see from your line up it is very efficient. Tell me Bob, what wood is that on the jig in the second image, curly Tassi Oak?? Also, the 3rd bridge along from the left in the 3rd image, the one next to the Mulga, that looks like BRW or HRW, if it's Aussie wood, what is it??

Cheers

Kim

[Bob Connor]

Trust you to sniff out a Brazilian Kim.

There's a bit of other stuff in there EIR, Padauk and the Braz.

The one in the jig is Gimlet I think



From the bottom they are

Queensland Blackwood
Queensland Ironwood
Brazilian Rosewood
Tiger Myrtle
Indian Rosewood
Indian Rosewood
Brigalow
Mulga
Bendee
Cooktown Ironwood
Padauk
Ringed Myall and
Gidgee

My intention is to throw these into the Aussie wood section with finished weights and the note that they produce when scientifically tested. (my scientific testing is to drop em on to the concrete floor in the shed and see what they sound like.)

The Brazilian and Indian are in there because I reckon the Braz is about the best bridge material you can get and Indian is a known quantity to most people.

I know it's not up to Al Carruth's standards but it's about the best I can come up with.

Bob

[Craig]

You results will be interesting Bob , and I look forward to it . I note the lefty there too!

Further to your above tutorial on bridge shaping. I do the same thing ,but with a 3 " drum sander on my drill press . Thought this may help Alan in the future if he hasn't got a belt sander.

Cheers Craig

[Kim]

Geez the QLD Ironwood looks so much like Mulga with that streak of sap. Tis yet another beautiful Aussie Acacia though, QLD's own Acacia excelsa of which I have none, instead of Acacia aneura which is one of my favorites among the local WA hardwoods.

Ah, Acacia is such a truly wonderful thing, don't you think? Just a wipe of shellac and that desert hardened old tart is ready for the ball.




Cheers

Kim

[Dennis Leahy]

Bob,

Thanks for the glimpse into your shop. That was a productive week! That Taz Blackwood neck is stunning.

For the gold (slightly harder) fret wire:
I'm curious if you bought the ultra-heavy-duty fret wire nippers/end cutters (the ones designed for stainless steel) or if your regular nippers are up to the task.



Kim,

Is that your work, your headstock, your logo?!!! Is that the neck for your first guitar? Could you please start a thread documenting progress on the guitar? I think you've been flying under the radar! I'd love to see your work.



Me? I got NO lutherie task done this week, or last week... I'm looking more and more like a wanabee again, but I am hoping to finish 5 guitars in the next 6 to 9 months, including 3 new experimental designs.

Dennis