Andyjr1515

Nothing wrong with that For oddball sizes / multi-scale. etc, I also mark out and cut by hand. Looking good, @benh

Wow - that is luuuuuvvvverleeeee Beautiful job. Want that....

It's actually an ongoing challenge, @benh . I would say that my hit rate of joints not moving is now 4 out of 5, but at least 1 in 5 will still have shifted. For the important ones I have to put in specific mechanical steps. The pieces of wood are still floating until all squeeze out is squeezed out...and that only happens when the clamps are fully tight...but any variation of angle or force direction will try to move the timbers while it is in the process of squeezing out!

I've tried making knobs a few different ways, but this is probably the most successful method of the ones I've tried. I part-cut the bottom wood using a diamond pipe-drill: Then create the relief for the pot nut with a 15mm Forstner: Then the hole for the spindle insert: And now I have all the concentric holes done, I can re-fit the pipe-drill and finish the cut: Next is the hole for screwdriver access to the insert grub screw: And now I can (carefully) press-fit the spindle insert, lining up the grub screw with the drilled hole: Then I cut the purpleheart and ebony discs with the pipe-drill: Glued and clamped: Next is installing the luminlay dots: And finally, using a 6mm drill in the insert as a mandrel, a quick sanding and oiling:

And to the Luminlay. Pricey but very easy to fit. It comes in a stick. I drill a 3-4mm deep hole with an accurate bradpoint drill, then pop a drop of superglue gel on the end and push the Luminlay fully home: Then I cut it almost flush with the razor saw before paring it fully flush with a sharp chisel: And here they are all installed just ready for the final final sand: And that final final sand will happen this afternoon which means that the final final finish starts tomorrow And the other thing to try this afternoon is the knobs. We're going for: oak; very thin purpleheart demarcation; ebony top; luminlay dot - if I can manage that

First pass of the final sanding and another reveal coat. Bit of glue squeezout at the top and end of the fretboard/body join: Back looks OK : Edges look OK . You can see where the pickup chamber I cut after fixing the top meets the control cable channel I cut before fixing the top. Yes - the chamber and opening will be tidied up : Bit more sanding at the back to lose those grain chips: Final finish, once it's ready, will be like @Jus Lukin 's headless - a light Tru-oil gloss

Assuming you made like for like and use decent timber, yes - plenty strong enough at that width.

Volute nearly there: I'll finish it off as part of the final sanding...which, incidentally, has begun : I'll put in the Luminlays before starting the finishing and so by the middle of the week the finish stages will begin - and in between each drying coat, some wooden knobs, the magnetic trussrod cover and the frame for seating the hatch cover (hopefully with it being just one Superquad loom, magnets should be fine) will all be worked on. In the meantime, the bone nut has been ordered and I'm just about to order the strings I think the final furlong is definitely in play.

I do @jazzyvee (and many thanks for the mention @Daz39 ) but at the moment I'm afraid I'm completely committed to promises already made on other projects. As Daz39 says, there are other builders here that do both who I'm sure will come along soon... If you get no luck here (including the sister site Guitarchat), then the next best try is TheFretboard. It's another good UK forum with large membership and predominately folks interested in 6-string guitars. There are some great builders on that site too.

It's been a bit of a bitty day today so in between 'normal life' stuff, I was able to do some more bits with this - particularly some specific bits I needed to remember. One of those is that it was previously fretless...with rounded fretboard edges. And that's different to how you make a fretted board. With the latter, you fit the frets to a radiussed, square-edged, fretboard so the frets follow the radius to the very ends. You then round the wood edges in between the frets. But with a fretless, there are no frets and so you round the whole length of the edges. So when you fret a fretless, you have a rounded board at the ends of each fret. Blurred photo, but can you see the resulting gaps here where the fretboard radius tightens at the edges? : Well - even though the tang slots will be filled with rosewood-coloured epoxy and could fill the edges, you will still end up with sharp fret-ends, either from the start or after some playing. But I can't just whack the ends because that will loosen the frets! And so out comes the radius block again and, with that clamped to the frets to keep them fully secure - and inset the right amount so you don't affect the radius where the strings are going to be - then you can whack them with a hammer So you end up with this: And now you can happily clip the overhang: And, after sanding the ends flush, this is ready now for the tang-slot filling and the proper fret-end rounding. You can see here just how big that gap would have been if I hadn't taken that extra step: And here's the board ready for the next step...probably get back to it middle of the coming week:

And all in Here it is, waiting for the glue in the final 3 to 4 that I've put in to cure enough to allow me to clip all the ends flush with the sides of the board:

Yes - meant to raise this a few weeks ago. My next build is a 6-string electric (yes - I know) so I was going to put a build thread there too but, at the moment, Norton really, really, really doesn't like it...

You'll be welcome with or without And, based on your avatar, we can talk saxophones if we get bored of the basses (but don't tell any of the others I said that. Oh...wait a minute...).

I did it with a needle file - although, to be honest, I never use that curve so I didn't spend much time on that area. Not even sure what you could use it for!

There is when you're playing it I'll take some 3/4 shots when the proper finish is one - there's PLENTY of purpleheart showing

OK - short diversion for @spacecowboy or anyone else interested in one way (I'm sure there are many) of re-burnishing card/cabinet scrapers. By the way, when you buy a set (and they are not at all expensive) they come ready burnished so this is only if you use them more frequently and they go blunt. It's all about getting a completely square edge Once the cutting edges of the scraper are completely square and sharp (the solid blue in this magnified representation), we will be 'squashing' the top of the scraper which will create a tiny burr either side: And then we will be rolling that burr over a touch so it now acts like a mini plane: Starting with a rectangular one. This is what I do. To get that edge absolutely square, I polish the edges on both sides on a flat abrasive surface. You can use a flat file, or some fine emery glued to a piece of glass or similar but I find my diamond sharpening block (which I use to sharpen my chisel and plane blades on) easier. I use this wet: Then I use a piece of wood with a saw slot cut in it highly sophisticated tool to hold the scraper at exactly 90 degrees and run the edge along the diamond block: I now have the completely square and sharp edges. I then clamp the scraper in a vice. I pop a drop of light machine oil (bicycle oil or 3-in-one) on my finger and run it along the edge (careful because those edges are sharp) Then I take a screwdriver or similar (needs to be hard, chrome vanadium or similar) holding either end and at 90 degrees to the scraper, I press quite hard and run it down the length of the edge. I repeat this three or four times, ensuring it remains square: This will have deformed the edge and formed the teeny burr (you will be able to feel it but probably not see it) Now I tilt the screwdriver shaft around 30 degrees and repeat along one side of the scraper edge. Again, personally I press quite hard. This will bend the burr into a minute hook shape. I tilt the screwdriver shaft 30 degrees the other direction and peen over the burr on the other side: You won't be able to easily see the burr but you should be able to feel it with your finger (again, remember it's sharp) Goose neck is exactly the same except you have to fiddle around a bit moving it round the curve, especially the edge flattening and the burnishing: Hope this helps!

11 done, 10 to go = over halfway

And what is probably the final 'one slip could spell disaster' step is done...and, happily, without a disaster. Drilling the tuner holes There's lot's of stuff to get right - not leaving the backs of the tuners hanging in fresh air, keeping the string runs as straight as the neck blank size will allow, positioning the tuners so they don't clash, drilling the holes straight so the bushes don't bind. Well, with a lot of care and a huge dollop of good luck, I think it's OK. And why the angled tuners? See above So I have just a couple of preference questions to ask Matt and a tidy up of the volute carve and then I think we are rapidly moving towards the 'finish sand' stage

That would be far too organised for my scattershot way of doing things. And I wouldn't remember where I'd put them

At the moment it is cut a touch oversize and straight sided - but it's on Once the tuner holes have been drilled and I know exactly where the tuners are going to be I will carve the curves a bit deeper to tone in with the body shape : But, final shape or not, always worth a gratuitous mock-up

There are many ways of fitting frets but, for what it's worth, this is the way I do it. First I detang the ends using the nipper and cut to length: I then run a small bead of Titebond along the tangs and press the tang into the slot to position it. Then smack it with a hammer on the bass side, the treble side and the middle (and then liberally anywhere that takes my fancy ). The fretwire is curved at a tighter radius than the board and the tang barbs face down into the slot. The first two whacks either side get the barbs through and under the surface, leaving the middle humped. Then whacking it in the middle spreads the wire outwards with the barbs locking themselves into the wood under the surface. The glue squeeze-out tells me the fret is seated and is wiped off with a damp cloth: And then I clamp with the radius block, as posted above, before moving to the next one: 7 done, 14 to go

And even on the headstock plate you can't have too many clamps! :

'And here's one I've just done'

Each time I go down into the cellar today I am fitting an extra fret in. We are going for EVO Golds and the first 5 are already in. After detanging them at the sides, I pop a small amount of wood glue on the tangs, hammer them in and then clamp the radius block to keep them fully seated while the glue grabs. I'll take some extra shots of the earlier steps as I go along, but this is the final step of the above method (which was when I remembered to take the photo) :