Tasmanian Blackwood Build thread

[demonx]

Hi, my name is Allan, I'm a hobby builder from Ballarat Victoria.

I build solid body electric guitars in my spare time! - just in case you missed my intro post, I thought I'd add a build thread for a guitar I have on the go at the moment. It's on another Aussie forum I visit occasionally so some of you may have seen it, for those that haven't, I'll get you up to speed:

First of all, some Mahogany for the back:



The Tasmanian Blackwood:
Here I am cutting enough off the edge of the plank so I can use it for the neck also!



Here you can see the back, top, neck and headstock in clamps:



Bit of work on the neck blank and scarf joint:



Also got the Blackwood clamped to the Mahogany:

[demonx]

Picked out my best Birdseye Maple board and ran it through the drum sander:

[demonx]

Binding:



Whilst I was waiting for the end strip of binding to get tacky enough to cut, I ran the headstock tang through the bnandsaw and then smoothed it somewhat with a handplane:



Followed by a couple passes over the planer to make sure its "as one" with the neck:



By the time I've done this the end binding is tacky enough that I can cut the ends off very carefully (as the glues still wet) with the bandsaw and file the ends smooth with a small bastard file:



Tape ready:

[demonx]

I marked the center line and body shape. Even though the timber top is 2 piece, it's really hard to see the join line, so it makes for much quicker lining up if I mark it in greylead



While I wss cutting the body I was thinking how I really need to buy a new blade and a smaller one. This one is so blunt it's burning through the timber rater than cutting through!

At the exact moment I was thinking this the damn blade jammed in the timber and jumped off the wheels - scared the crap out of me.

Luckily no injury (I was wearing safety glasses, but the blade stayed well confined behind the safety covers and I switched it off as fast as I could move.



Back from the shop - bandsaw blade on and setup

Check out the burnt cut from the old blade and the fresh cut from the new blade, makes so much difference it's not funny and for only $27.00 I wish I hadn't put it off for so long!

[demonx]

Now the truss rod channel:

I use a block of wood (squared) in between my neck and the guide so as the headstock can clear the guide. I do this in two passes with a upcut spiral bit.



I then take the fingerboard, after marking all the centerlines I dry clamp it to the neck, then drill two holes into the fret slots. These holes dont penetrate the neck very much and not enough that they will be anywhere near where I carve. These act as locating pins so the neck doesnt slide when glued and clamped:



A dab of silicone at either end of the truss rod. Ive never had one rattle, but if theres ever movement twenty years down the track, this will prevent a rattle:



Glue and locate the nail holes, hammer then in gently making sure not to split the fingerboard:



My clamping caul is an old neck I screewed up, so I know the fingerboard surface on it is flat as its been over planer, then I've got two holes drilled to line up with the nails:



After clamping, I remove the nails before the glue starts to cure:

[demonx]

Then I moved to the body:

First pass on the router table:



Remove the template and use the first pass as my new template:

You can see in this pic how short the router bit is that I'm using. It was a longer bit I had machines down to 5mm. I use this for all cavites, recessed floyds etc



After several small passes the body is rough cut by the router, then I ran a curved bit:



After marking out my scale line I locate the pickup positions and then drill holes large enough for the router bit to fit into - these also act as my depth guide. For this guitar I wanted 20mm deep cavities:



I then moved on to start the floyd cavity but my router bit bearing decided to destroy itself (happens every now and then) and took out my floyd template at the same time. The damage to the guitar was extremely minimal thankfully and easy to cover up, so now I just have to get a new bearing and template before I can move on too much with the body, as I need all routing to be done before I start the trop carve.

[demonx]

I mark out the profile depth in greylead and a 1m rule and then on the bandsaw cut close to the fretboard from top profile, then cut on the outside of the depth line I ruled:



Clamped at the heel or body end I then proceed to spoke shave the full length for about a minute, then the rest is all done by rasp, using calipers to check that my depth is as I want, until the stage where it looks profiled enough that I need to start getting it straight - I check the levels with a straight edge at every part of the neck:



In these pics, you can see that I haven't shaped near the binding yet. Close, but not touching. I do this last by running a large bastard file along the edge then round it back into the neck. Reduces screw ups.



Once content its all close to profile and straight I then detail it with a large Bastard file followed by 40 grit - where I spend more time at the heel and headstock areas.

[demonx]

Today I decided to route the neck pocket so I could carve more on the actual neck back to the heel area.

Should have stayed in bed. Router bit #1 came loose from the collet. Titan Collets are a piece of crap. I've been meaning to buy a new one for ages. Anyway - it made a mess of where the neck was to glue into the pocket.

This I decided was repairable, so I continued on and router bit #2 decided it was going to tear out right along side edge of the neck pocket. This is unacceptable.



After some deep thought, swear woprd mediation and a few ideas bouncing around I came up with this solution:

Get rid of the damaged bits:



Laminate some Sassafrass and Maple:



More maple onto the body pieces:



This is how it sleeps. More updates next week.

[demonx]

Baby steps on this one as I've had another guitar in paint stages, meaning I've had to not do woodwork on those days.



I cut the heel back on the neck to turn it onto a bolt on rather than a set neck.



I had to oversize the pickup cavities so they would line up correctly this time. They were about a mm and a half out, so they are now about the standard size where you would need a pickup ring. Before they were a tighter fit so no ring was needed.



After finishing shaping the heel of the neck (reshaping to bolt on heel) I noticed that I'd damaged the binding. Bugger.

Heat gun and paint scraper and about 30-60 seconds later it looks like this:



New binding on after cleaning up the two surfaces with a small chisel, using it as a scraper:



Comfort curve:
Template:



Band saw rough cut:



After some furious rasping and some 40 grit sanding:

At this stage I consider this comfort curve "roughed out" - I'll finish the lines (make them flow smoother) in my finish sanding stage when I get the guitar ready for paint.

[demonx]

I sand with 80 grit, then 120 and 320. You can see the aluminium radius block inthis pic:



I should also note that before I radius I mark the board, so I can see whan its completely flat. When the greylead is all gone, the board is radiused:





I crimp the ends of the fret with these special "fret tang expanders"
As its a maple board, its a bit softer than ebony and rosewood and this ensures in softer timbers the fret stays where it's put. Also very handy for refrets or over wide fret slots:





Up to date. When I do more work on this I'll come post pics!

[kiwigeo]

Nice save after the neck pocket router "accident".

[Nick]

Welcome to the forum "Demonx", mind if we call you Bruce just to keep it simple? It helps on this forum if you stick your real name in usually as a signature, we're a friendly bunch here .
You certainly like to learn from your mistakes! good recovery's though, that's the secret. It's ok to cock up but it's how you fix it that determines how good you are at the end of the day. I think I actually like the laminated body over the two piece.
The blade that you replaced looks like a 1/2" one, interesting you'd use a wide blade, I always found the 1/4" better for the tighter radius's of the cutaways, this would also cut down on the back of the blade rubbing & heating up the wood, but yeah it's amazing the difference between an old blade that you've put up with then you put a new blade in & it's like night and day.

[Nick]

Welcome to the forum "Demonx", mind if we call you Bruce just to keep it simple? It helps on this forum if you stick your real name in usually as a signature, we're a friendly bunch here .

It's Ok, just seen your post in the gallery where you name & shame.

[christian]

Hi Bruce,

Welcome to the forum, We all love a good build thread on here, and yours is a great one.
thanks for posting, had a nosy in the gallery you build some fantastic guitars !!

Cheers,
Christian.

[Kamusur]

Be careful Demon, now you have crossed over to the dark side.

Steve

[demonx]

The blade that you replaced looks like a 1/2" one, interesting you'd use a wide blade, I always found the 1/4" better for the tighter radius's of the cutaways

The blade I bought was the 1/4", the 1/2" one I replaced was the original one that came on the saw, I'd been using it year in year out just putting up with it.

I was so stupid now I reflect on that. I just didn't know they were so cheap! I guess I half expected it to be a partial payment on a new saw. Jokes on me!

[demonx]

I probably should have stated (like I did in my intro post) :

Hi, my name is Allan, I'm a hobby builder from Ballarat victoria. I build solid body electric guitars in my spare time!

If a moderator/admin can cut/paste that into my original post that would be great, seems I can't edit it for some reason.

[christian]

Welcome Allan!!!!

I probably should have stated (like I did in my intro post) :

Hi, my name is Allan, I'm a hobby builder from Ballarat victoria. I build solid body electric guitars in my spare time!

If a moderator/admin can cut/paste that into my original post that would be great, seems I can't edit it for some reason.

[Nick]

Hi Bruce,

See how much easier it Chris...er.....Bruce!

[kiwigeo]

Hi Bruce,

See how much easier it Chris...er.....Bruce!

WHICH one of the Bruces?? (thinking John Clarke/Fred Dagg)

[kiwigeo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO-LklOnc88

[Nick]

Martin I was thinking more:


youtu.be/

Sorry Allan getting off topic here (us Kiwi's do tend to wander a bit, it's in our genes )


we return you now to the normal programming.

[Kamusur]

Excellent archival link Nick, those guys were funny.

Steve

[demonx]

Todays mission was to fix up all the floyd route and carve the top.

Flap disk - freehand lines to guide me where to carve. I really need to make a template for that!



After sanding back with random orbital and 40 grit:

[demonx]

Knob recessing and cavity control steps.

Most people like to do all routing before they carve a guitar - but I like to do routing towards the end of the build as this way I can freehand carve whatever I feel like at the time, rather than carving around my routes. Then I simply route according to my carves.

From the top I have a template of the rear cavity. I mark and holepunch the holes positions:



10mm brad point I drill the two pot holes. 10mm is the right size for the bearing on my router bit and luckily it's also the right size for the CTS pots I'll be using:



I adjust the drill press so that I can pull it till it stops at the right height, this way both my holes are the same depth - even though the top is different depth.

This wont suit most people as most times you'll want the hole recesses to look the same, and then adjust the mounting depth of the pot from the rear cavity, however I'm using copper plate as a earth inside my cavities so I want the cavity to be flat from the rear:



I now flip the guitar over, using the two holes as position markers I perform all my rear cavity routing - taking the cavity back to the recessed holes on the top this way I know I won't go through and I never have to measure as I have holes to judge from:

Before routing I also open up one of te holes with a saw tooth bit so I can drop the router flush.



I can then recess the switch holes with a forstner bit that is just wide enough to fit the washer from the switches:



I drill my 7mm switch holes - I drilled these AFTER the forstner recess as it's easier to find center with the forstner bit if I'm using the hole punched dent rather than a drilled hole:



Now that my rear route has been performed I realised my forstner bit wasnt quite deep enough so I do it again:



Test fit: