I'm building a new guitar

Mr. C said:
I like that router sled. Does the router move freely? I see that the platform it is on rests on wood so I was wondering if you do anything to keep the friction of wood on wood from catching.
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Thanks, When it needs it I'll lube it with some parrafin. It moves quite freely.

I really like building things and working with wood. Just that no matter how hard I try not to I always have at least one measurement that is off somehow. Someday I would like to try to build a guitar body. Just finished building a toybox (larger than I envisioned!) for my granddaughter. Of course the measurement of one side was about 1/8th inch off from the other! Pissed me off, but it worked anyways.
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Cool! I bet she'll treasure the toy box for years to come. Just keep working with the tools, and the skills will improve. Don't be afraid to try what seems difficult. Most projects aren't so overwhelming once you get started.

I got a little done this evening. I did the neck pocket, and roughed-in the heel. It's starting to look like a guitar.



 
Mr. C said:
I like that router sled. Does the router move freely? I see that the platform it is on rests on wood so I was wondering if you do anything to keep the friction of wood on wood from catching.

I really like building things and working with wood. Just that no matter how hard I try not to I always have at least one measurement that is off somehow. Someday I would like to try to build a guitar body. Just finished building a toybox (larger than I envisioned!) for my granddaughter. Of course the measurement of one side was about 1/8th inch off from the other! Pissed me off, but it worked anyways.
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I always have a few candles kicking about the bench for lube on wood or metal friction surfaces. Also use a little on the thread every time I drive a screw home.
 
muttley600 said:
I always have a few candles kicking about the bench for lube on wood or metal friction surfaces. Also use a little on the thread every time I drive a screw home.
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I usually just run the threads across a bar of soap or drip some liquid soap on the screws.

You and JCH make it look easy. I know it's from experience, but if is encouraging. Eventually I'll give a body a shot.
 
Mr. C said:
I usually just run the threads across a bar of soap or drip some liquid soap on the screws.

You and JCH make it look easy. I know it's from experience, but if is encouraging. Eventually I'll give a body a shot.
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Switch to paraffin wax or beeswax both of which are in standard candles. Soap dry or otherwise acts as a wetter and any moisture in the timber or surrounding is going to act with it possibly making the screw harder to withdraw. It is also not permanent.
 
I've had to put my Carpenter's hat on for the last few days. I'm replacing damaged doors at some motels in town. The preparation for card-key locks is pretty involved. By the time I was set up it involved 10 power, and air tools. PITA, but good money. I've got a few left to do to finish the first batch today. After that I'll be back on the guitar.


Last night I scraped back the binding, and did the belly cut. Elvis looks hungry.

 
I haven't had much free time lately. After not working for nearly a month, It seems I'm in high demand now. Ten days in a row, and probably another 5 or 6 until I'll take a day off. I'm happy to be busy.

Meanwhile I've been schooling myself on finishing technique for the figured maple. I'm going to be getting some of this >Buy Wood Dyes - 5 Wood Dye Colors in 1 Ready To Buy Wood Dye Kit I'll have it within the next few days. I can't wait to try it out. I'm nearly ready for the finish.

I've made all of the router templates that I'll need for the pickups, and control cavities. I'll have a full set specific to this guitar. Originally this one was going to be for me, but it's going to someone else. It'll be easy to build another. I hope to get it to the grain filling stage this weekend. I'll be using the z-poxy that muttley recommended. It reminds me of surfboard resin, but it's a lot easier to mix because it's a 50/50 formula. It's much more accurate for small batches.

Once I get to the finish stage it's time to start on another one.:)
 
muttley600 said:
They look like what I use here but a different supplier. Are they water alanine or Spirit alanine?
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I haven't got all of the manufacturer's instructions yet, but I believe you can go either way. When denatured alcohol is used I believe that you are supposed to mix a concentrate with water, and then dilute it with the alcohol. I imagine you could mix it at different H2O/DA ratios.
 
JCH said:
I haven't got all of the manufacturer's instructions yet, but I believe you can go either way. When denatured alcohol is used I believe that you are supposed to mix a concentrate with water, and then dilute it with the alcohol. I imagine you could mix it at different H2O/DA ratios.
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Yeh, pretty much the same then. I mix with neat alcohol and then dilute with same to get the strength I want. I don't like having water with them as it tends to drag and blotch as the water bites. One thing I do is to add a bit of shellac to the mix to seal them as the coulr builds. It helps to blend subsequent colour tones together and gives you some start when sealing the final finish. Test away though, they all work different and we all have different approaches. I'd be interested in what you finish up with.
 
muttley600 said:
Yeh, pretty much the same then. I mix with neat alcohol and then dilute with same to get the strength I want. I don't like having water with them as it tends to drag and blotch as the water bites. One thing I do is to add a bit of shellac to the mix to seal them as the coulr builds. It helps to blend subsequent colour tones together and gives you some start when sealing the final finish. Test away though, they all work different and we all have different approaches. I'd be interested in what you finish up with.
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The dye kit arrived today. I'll be experimenting with it tomorrow night. I paid attention to your "sanding>wetting" technique that you described in your LP thread, and I've prepared my sample pieces accordingly. I'm excited to see how this works out.

The Z-Poxy works very well. I only did two coats on my sample piece, and it filled the grain totally. I sprayed some shellac on one sample, and followed up with tru-oil. On the other I sprayed lacquer. I'll have to make my mind up in a couple of days, but It'll probably be nitro on the body of this one.
 
Thats great. Glad you like the z-poxy too. I shall be switching to it for now as well. Don't forget on darker timbers that you will want to do a wet wash coat to even out the color so that would be three coats. I nearly fell over on that when I used it on the mahogany. Although it is marketed as clear it definitely has an amber tint which will show on some timbers.

I'll be interested on the stains and how you find them. Are you going for a burst?
 
muttley said:
Although it is marketed as clear it definitely has an amber tint which will show on some timbers.

I'll be interested on the stains and how you find them.
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I've just begun to scratch the surface of all of this, but I like my results so far. Do You use acetone to reduce the epoxy?
Are you going for a burst?
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I might do something with the colors that are in the sample on the left in the picture. It goes from a smoky amber to a cinnamon to a transparent brown. It's subtle, but I think it'll sit well with the fingerboard, and cream colored accents.
 
I don't cut the epoxy with anything. I think with the z-poxy it will spread easy if it is warm enough. When I used it temp was way down locally so it took a little longer than expected to cure and was a little thicker than I might have liked so I just warmed the bottles in some hot water which did the trick.

Its hard to pick out the graduation on your test as the light is a little low. I'm sure it will be fine. Did you mix with alcohol or water?

A little tip for the stains. Now you have mixed them as per spec you can cut them further when you prep them for application. A little goes a long way with those. I think I use them cut about another 1:1 from the recommended amount. I make up small pots of each colour I like. When mixing remember that blue will be your dominant colour and you only need tiny amounts of that to make your greens and purple shades. YMMV.
 
Its hard to pick out the graduation on your test as the light is a little low. I'm sure it will be fine. Did you mix with alcohol or water?
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I mixed these with water. I'll try the alcohol before I commit, and some other colors as well. I'm going to move forward on the guitar this weekend. I need to go shopping for wood as well.
Now you have mixed them as per spec you can cut them further when you prep them for application. A little goes a long way with those. I think I use them cut about another 1:1 from the recommended amount. I make up small pots of each colour I like.
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I realized real quick that I'd need to dilute the dye solution. I bought a few plastic containers with tight sealing lids to store the colors. I think it'll work out well. I felt like a mad scientist when mixing that stuff. New things are always interesting, and exciting.
 
JCH said:
I mixed these with water. I'll try the alcohol before I commit, and some other colors as well. I'm going to move forward on the guitar this weekend. I need to go shopping for wood as well.
I realized real quick that I'd need to dilute the dye solution. I bought a few plastic containers with tight sealing lids to store the colors. I think it'll work out well. I felt like a mad scientist when mixing that stuff. New things are always interesting, and exciting.
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Thats why I have always mentioned alchemy when discussing finishing....:D
 
I picked up another 25 hotel doors to process.:thumbs up: After I got a few of those out of the way, I put on the first coat of filler.
 
Nine of spades... Perfect.:thumbs up:

Little tip, try and get as little as possible on the plastic binding it's a pig to clean off and it will shade it. I ended up scraping it off but wish I'd removed the bulk before it went off..
 
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