Andyjr1515

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) :

The headstock is designed to accommodate the 5 ultralights, keep the string runs straight and, most importantly fit in the electric guitar hardcase that's ready and waiting! A double check that the tuners will fit in the right places also gives me how much room there will be to pop a couple of swifts onto the headstock plate: For those who have seen this many times, feel free to skip the next few photos - the inlays They are marked out on the mother of pearl: Cut out with a jeweller's saw: Positioned and a pencil outline drawn round them: Then out comes the Dremel with a precision router base and 1mm bit: One done, one to go! And then glued in with epoxy mixed with walnut dust which will secure them and the squeeze-out will fill any gaps with walnut-coloured filler: And after lunch I can sand them down and we should have a couple of finished inlays

Sometimes opportunities arise. There were only a couple of small offcuts of the top walnut left, but I realised that it was enough to do a bookmatched headstock plate if Matt preferred that to the ebony - and yes, that's the way we are going to go. I thicknessed and joined it last night and cut it out this morning. Clearly the glue line in the middle will fully sand away but this is broadly how it will look Couple more swifts to cut out sometime during the day

Big step and tough job but you certainly have the skills

Good job

The key is getting a square edge in the first place. I'll take a few photos in the morning of a simple way of reburnishing rectangular ones and goosenecks. It's one of those things where you don't need a lot of equipment and it's pretty easy once you know how...but the knowing how is the critical bit

No problem. Is it specifically the goose neck or re-burnishing cabinet scrapers generally? And, based on it taking me about 6 years to re-burnish one that works well, I don't think there's much wisdom involved...but maybe there is impressive persistence

And it's got to the 'reveal coat' stage. I find that popping a quick coat of Tru-oil is a great way of finding all of the rough areas (visible as dark blotches), chisel marks and lumps and bumps. But, while all of this will be sanded off, this is also a decent approximation of what the colours will end up as. It's still at the post-carve and pre-sanding stage but I think it's broadly the shape it will be: The darkening at the volute and heel area will clean up with the sanding process. Here you see some glue overspill that will sand off and the bandsaw lumps and bumps that will be all removed with the final sanding: I think it's going to look quite nice when the sanding is done and the proper finish is on it This afternoon's job will be cutting the ebony headstock plate

With the neck profile just about there, it's now about adding a few more soft curves while also taking out weight. Note the essential cup of tea: Multiple checks of the thicknesses and references to the cavity reference essential at this stage! : While I do find the Crimson videos a bit...er...'long-winded', they nevertheless do do some decent and useful stuff that not many others do. This thickness gauge is a godsend for this kind of thing. Then a bit of smoothing out with the goose-neck scraper. I have FINALLY sussed how to re-burnish these wonderful bits of steel. Burnished properly, they should work like simple planes producing shavings, not dust : The back is getting close. Weight at the moment is around 7lbs 4oz with the major components included so around 7 1/2lbs still looks achievable.

My favourite tools for neck carving starts with a spokeshave to take some of the bulk away. Always satisfying when you get a shaving the length of the neck : I then move onto a micro-plane. I draw it along the neck with both hands (when I'm not holding the camera!) like a spokeshave. Because the cut is lighter, it is a safer option once you are getting closer to the shape: Then my favourite - and sometimes this is the only tool I use - the trusty cabinet scraper. Again, when I'm not holding a camera, I draw this down the length of the neck with both hands: For the trough, I will rough out with a mini plane and then use a gooseneck scraper: The whole process is one of do a bit, walk away, come back, measure, do a bit more. But it is at least starting to look like a neck now : There will be a bit of iteration - the neck carve affects what looks good with the body carve and vice versa - another reason why it's best to do it in stages