Andyjr1515

Having gone well beyond the call of duty in a shed-clearing and rearranging task yesterday, I've gained an 'all day pass' The reality is that, having spent all morning scraping and sanding, my hands have just about had it for the day Still, I'm pleased with how it's starting to look. Basically the top has now had the chatter marks removed and the chamfer is pretty close to being comnplete. I dampen everything because it is a lot easier to see the bits I may have missed. Here it is so far: Bit of tidying up to do but not too much I've also scraped the chatter off the back and rebated the control chamber, but haven't started the chamfer on that yet. The neck heel, by the way, will be taken right back to the body join: I'm going to call time for this one today otherwise the arthritis will give me substantial gyp by the morning!

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1472244655' post='3119847'] Gorgeous colour and very unfair. This is where my next build is going but in the bass guise, early EB0 but with two pickups. If you were going 'brown' which colour ink would you favour? [/quote] This will make you smile....for browns I would probably use one of the Chestnut Spirit Stains rather than ink

Yup - as good as I remember it

[quote name='paulnb57' timestamp='1472238938' post='3119780'] Based on Andy's use of ink, I have used Waterproof green Quink ink with good results on a quilted maple Strat, 3 years on its still the same colour and has never seen a case.... [/quote] I remember that! It is a beauty. Worth posting a shot?

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1472154019' post='3118995'] Which red stain are you using? Apologies if mentioned earlier. [/quote] Ignore the neck tenon, but this is probably the kind of shade I'll be aiming for, a WIP double cut electric I'm doing for myself. It will probably look a bit darker on the SG's wood but similar tones. Bear in mind of course that cameras and monitors struggle like hell to reproduce reds properly.

[quote name='Bass Culture' timestamp='1472204479' post='3119374'] As a fountain pen user myself i'd say Diamine definitely offer the largest range of inks and they're also a top quality, British product. As an alternative though you might also want to look at Pelikan Edelstein Ruby Red. Those are really good inks too. BC [/quote] Yes, BC - I've used Pelikan in the past too. Good range also for anyone who is interested in trying it out. One of the reasons, while we're back on the topic all, that I (and maybe BC too?) like using these inks is that the wood you are applying any stain to makes a HUGE difference to the finish stained colour. As such, the end result almost always is nothing like the colour sample you start with. If you take the 'traditional' stains, such as the excellent Chestnut Spirit stains, that means that you are going to end up with the colour you end up with and not necessarily the colour you had in your head. With the vast range of ink colours, with people like Diamine also doing sample quantities, you can try maybe 5 shades to get much closer to what you're aiming for. Not saying you should use ink, just saying that's why I do

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1472215497' post='3119530'] He"s probably talking about me I did some colour fastness tests on several lovely shades of blue, that faded quite badly. I had no issues with the red I tested. Wanting a blue guitar, I had to resort to the limited range of blue shades available as "proper" aniline wood dyes. I'd rather have used the ink if it hasn't faded so badly - ending up almost grey in some cases. [/quote] Just to clarify, Norris and have been working in unison on this. . Norris has done some accelerated fade tests on specific colours which produced some interesting results. Linked to Norris's practical experiments, it is on my ever increasing 'to do' list to contact Diamine to see if they actually have fade stats for each of their colours. I used to use only calligraphy inks (designed to stay legible for hundreds if not thousands of years....think Lindisfarne Gospels) but, of course, the colour choice is limited. The colour choice for standard inks is VAST, but there lies the unknown. I've used reds, greens, blues, turquoise, yellows and oranges and, to date, have never had any fade issues...but there may well be come colours in the range that are not so great. Hence Norris and I spending time on it because it's very cheap and an un-matchable range of colours if we can be sure which ones to avoid. This is the debate

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1472214045' post='3119504'] Why does this "kick off a debate". Surely as long as the wood takes the colour and it is reasonably light-fast it shouldn't matter what it was originally intended for? [/quote] It is simply that a few of the colours are actually not fully light-fast. Having said that, nor were Gibson's Personally, I've never had any problems with the fairly wide range of colours I've used and my own guitars and basses hang on the wall in full sunlight.

Great collection! Looking forward to seeing the continued progress on the 10 string build. I like the look of that bridge

The only reason that there's so much 'good advice' from us all is that we've ALL scored a few home goals with routers!

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1472162052' post='3119103'] +1 (Think weve all done this, i certainly have). I do 3mm at a time, you should hardly get any resistance,that way you can feel straight away when something goes wrong . It's good to get into the habit of checking the bit and depth stop are tight every time you pick the router up, works for me but then i'm getting doddery. [/quote] ..and Ian (Scojack) makes the same point!

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1472158451' post='3119049'] Ron Kirn describes using a top bearing trimmer bit with a template. Take the first cut with template. Lower the bit and then use the newly cut body as the template for second lower cut. Seems plausible to me. Could take quite small passes e.g. 1/2 inch at a time. Am I missing something obvious. [/quote] The principle is right, but with a 1" bit, already projecting far enough for the top bearing to reach the template, will you have enough plunge travel to plunge a further inch? Norris makes a very important point, by the way. With routers it's multiple passes taking off small increments that's the order of the day!

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1472153549' post='3118984'] Nothing going in the overcut area, the only 'control' will be the jack socket . I share your concern about edge routing the body, it would be b* to get a tearout at this stage. I have either 2" cut 1/2" shank template bit i.e. all in one go or 1" cut 1/4" shank i.e. two successive passes. Andy, what tactic do you use? Apart from the hardness of the oak (it just ignores 80 grit paper) hand tools are tempting. First guitar built aged 13, from elm coffin boards and coffin making scraps (aka free), all done with hand tools, seems a lifetime ago. [/quote] Assuming they are both bearing trimmer bits with the same cutting diameter, I would personally go with the shorter one until I'd done a few successful bodies. A 2" bit, if it digs in a bit too hard, can kick like a mule with no chance of holding it. Same can happen with a shorter bit but at least it gives you a fighting chance. However, presumably you would need a bottom bearing bit to do the second half? If you don't, I'm not sure how you will be able to do it, in which case, maybe hand tools are the safest, if not the quickest ....

I'm going to use what I usually use...and what often kicks off a debate . - red fountain pen ink. Specifically Diamine ink. I may try a few different reds to get one that looks right with this particular mahogany.

Ref the overcut of the router, as long as there's nothing going there, 6-7mm is plenty thick enough. Looking really good

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1472150414' post='3118946'] oh now were talking that top's a belter, can't help but notice the nice mahogany on the neck as well ....quality stuff Andy.Top notch carving too. Ian [/quote] Thanks, Ian The neck timber is the best I think I've used to date (all credit to David Dyke). The top is from Kirk at exotichardwoodsukltd

LOADS of scraping, filing and sanding to do, but couldn't resist a sneak preview

Very, very cool

Well, the top is on good or not I'm very pleased to say that, despite my fear of not really enough clamps, the cauls did their job and I have the best join I've ever achieved - I usually have SOME gaps, but it is pretty much like this all the way round: I'm pleased and relieved.... While I routered the bulk of the back, using the top as the template, it is too dodgy at the very ends of the horns so I will finish those off with files and sandpaper. Then it's carving the chamfer!

Well, as the mantra goes, 'you can't have too many clamps!' But actually, you can have too few and this is borderline too few: With the help of the cauls, I think it will be OK - but the schoolboy error was forgetting that I almost never glue a [u]whole top[/u] on with the unconventional way I build guitars and basses. That'll teach me to go conventional on this one! Ideally, I would have at least half as many again... I had a quick look at the sides and I don't think there are any gaps but I'll know for sure in the morning when it is ceremonially unclamped!

Still got to do the finish-rout of the control chamber, but the rest of the chambers and channels are functional only and won't be seen, so they will be left as below: I'm going to leave the top left pencilled chamber unrouted. I'm down to a projected finish weight of around 8 1/2 lb, which I think is OK. If there is no neck dive and the finish weight turns out to be heavier than expected, I can always rout a 'false' control chamber from the back after everything else is sorted. I don't think that will be necessary, though I don't think there is anything stopping me gluing the top on now!

I've checked the flatness of the joining surface of the back and, after a couple of minutes with a scraper, it's good to go. But before I glue on the top, I need to route or cut the various chambers. These include:[list] [*]Straight through control chamber - the sides will then act as a router bearing guide when I route the top to thickness for the pots. [*]Cable runs from the pickup chambers to the control chamber [*]Weight relief routs [/list] Although one is optional here, this is broadly where they will be. Each has to be clear of structural essentials, such as the bridge bushes, but I also like to keep clear of any chamfering areas, even though break-through is highly unlikely: The top left hand side weight relief chamber is optional and - depending on the overall weight when I've done the others - probably won't be routed. Reason for this is that it is useful tail-end weight to counteract any neck-heavy tendency, particularly when you think of all the wood that will be removed for the control chamber itself.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472021175' post='3117663'] It's all gone wrong. I might even keep it a while! [/quote] Clunk-click....you know it makes sense...

Excellent. I really, really like the carve on those Ibanez's. I reckon this is going to turn out to be a real good buy once you've finished with it

Gunstock oil on a fretboard that's been slurried and buffed...well, maybe. But applied as gloss????? Still - easily fixed