SpondonBassed Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 5 minutes ago, honza992 said: Me too! Volute as well, mind you😁 Hearing that makes me feel like Muttley receiving a medal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 11 hours ago, honza992 said: Thanks everyone. This is definitely a step up in my building. It's much more complex than a straight neck Fender, but so far I've really enjoyed it. And putting lines everywhere has taken forever, but I just can't help myself😁 Very quick question for @Christine if you're around. I know in your glorious twins thread one of them had a Rocklite ebano fretboard. Did you finish it, or leave it unfinished? If finished, what with? I'm a bit unsure cos on this one the FB and headstock are ebano, so I'm not sure how weird it would look if one was finished and one wasn't. As usual, thanks for your invaluable input👏 I used lemon oil but in hindsight maybe boiled linseed or teal oil would have been better as a base then lemon on top 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 Bit more work on the neck today getting ready for fretting, which is a bit more complicated because of the binding. The ends of the tangs need to get trimmed, using some specialist clippers (which I forgot to photo), and you're left with this: The tang clipper works well, but leaves a little bit of tang down the middle middle which needs to be filed, or in my case dremmeled....a grinding wheel like this one does the job in a couple of seconds, and leaves a very smooth finish. Unlike most builders, I put finish on the fretboard before fretting. Once the frets are in it's difficult to stop the finish pooling around the frets themselves, which is the sort of thing that drives me bananas. I saw Jon Shuker do it this way, and if it's good enough for him, it's way way way way good enough for me. So I wiped on a coat of Liberon Finishing Oil (much the same as Boiled Linseed Oil, as @Christine suggested), and I'll do another coat tomorrow, then fret later in the week. I then starting looking at the body. Stupidly, I asked myself what @Pea Turgh would want. More lines! So I'm going to try and put binding around the F-holes. Not made easy by the fact that the top is already glued on. This may end in disaster😮 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 4 minutes ago, honza992 said: binding around the F-holes Castor oil might help. But yes, That'll add a touch of class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 4 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said: Castor oil might help. But yes, That'll add a touch of class. Ouch! 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 37 minutes ago, honza992 said: Bit more work on the neck today getting ready for fretting, which is a bit more complicated because of the binding. The ends of the tangs need to get trimmed, using some specialist clippers (which I forgot to photo), and you're left with this: The tang clipper works well, but leaves a little bit of tang down the middle middle which needs to be filed, or in my case dremmeled....a grinding wheel like this one does the job in a couple of seconds, and leaves a very smooth finish. Unlike most builders, I put finish on the fretboard before fretting. Once the frets are in it's difficult to stop the finish pooling around the frets themselves, which is the sort of thing that drives me bananas. I saw Jon Shuker do it this way, and if it's good enough for him, it's way way way way good enough for me. So I wiped on a coat of Liberon Finishing Oil (much the same as Boiled Linseed Oil, as @Christine suggested), and I'll do another coat tomorrow, then fret later in the week. I then starting looking at the body. Stupidly, I asked myself what @Pea Turgh would want. More lines! So I'm going to try and put binding around the F-holes. Not made easy by the fact that the top is already glued on. This may end in disaster😮 Hang on there matey! Don’t mention my name, then disaster, in the same paragraph!!! If it goes t!ts up all the entire build community will be hunting me down to exact their (probably stripy) revenge for influencing the stripe that broke the camel’s back, thus denying them the ultimate satisfaction of seeing mighty walnut semi-hollow les Paul-type thingy completed!!!! I bet it’d look awesome though... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 I still think that you should stripe the inside of the headstock slots. Just sayin' 😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 Just now, Si600 said: I still think that you should stripe the inside of the headstock slots. Just sayin' 😜 Oh for god's sake, will this never end?!? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 1 minute ago, honza992 said: Oh for god's sake, will this never end?!? Never mind... have a humbug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) Bit of progress today. First of all, I got the frets in. This is a always a bit nerve wracking. I press them in and the little buggers occasionally decide to jump around, gouging the top and leaving me in paroxysms of anger. Not this time though, oh no. Lovely well behaved frets. I'm using Evo gold, which look nice against the black ebony background that MOP dots... Unlike most builders, I fly in the face of convention and sometimes don't glue in the frets. I've never had one come loose, maybe because I use a radial arm saw (and a stewmac blade) to cut the slots so they are a very consistent size. These ones went in very smoothly, tight but no issues, so they're going to be glueless. As I go I check each one is seated properly (meaning I can't get the thinnest fealer guage underneath; 0.038mm), and when sighting down there's a consistent look to them... I then cut the frets back as close to the side of the neck as possible before starting filing them flush. This. takes. forever. Even with a diamond file. And gives me tennis elbow, so I've only done half of it. Photo to follow tomorrow once I've done the other half. Looks lush though😁 Also today I finished the binding the f holes. I didn't find it easy at all. I always think guitar building is all about process, getting an order of jobs down that causes the least amount of aggravation. I can plainly state now that I will NEVER do f hole binding again on a guitar that has already had the top glued on. Having said that, it has turned out rather nice, even if not perfect - there are some gaps at the sharp pointy ends that need to be filled, but that's what epoxy is for, right? I'm now officially looking foward to introducing the body to the neck😎 Edit: forgot to mention, that my technique for bending the binding (which in reality is just thin strips of constructional veneer) was just to soak them in water for a minute or two, then bend them by hand around a drill bit that was approximately the right size. No heat, just water. I found the key was not to soak it for too long. The ones I left overnight immediately split. Edited October 23, 2019 by honza992 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Phew, it went ok. I can relax now! And I was right - looks flippin’ awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 1 hour ago, honza992 said: Also today I finished the binding the f holes. I didn't find it easy at all. I always think guitar building is all about process, getting an order of jobs down that causes the least amount of aggravation. I can plainly state now that I will NEVER do f hole binding again on a guitar that has already had the top glued on. Having said that, it has turned out rather nice It has indeed. Worth the extra effort just going from your photos. Neat fret job too. It looks like you will only need the lightest of dressings if that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 That binding is beyond superlatives... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 (edited) Ok, frets filed. The second part of the process is to file them at an angle. One option which I like is to file 'into' the neck, so the angle takes off the sharp edge of the fretboard. Later I'll sand it so that it's a comfortable rolled edge. I also like the way with trimmed frets they look as though floating. And love Evo gold! Now, at this point I can never resist putting two halves together to see what we have. Remember the body hasn't been sanded at all so ignore the blotchiness, that will disappear, honest. This is what I have in mind, more or less. Gold humbuckers, maybe black or cream surrounds....oh and maybe one of those floating type pickguard things that Gretsch always do.... Edited October 24, 2019 by honza992 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Nice! Subscribed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown_User Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Cor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Honza has it going on. As usual. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 As Sean Connery would say, "Shekshee!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Glorious! Best yet...and that's saying something.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 Started a new build. Gold top. Wands.......🙄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 In between bl_ody Halloween preparations (I know, I know, and I agree with you, but how do you say that to a 3 year old?) I've made a bit of progress. First up I glued the neck heel in place, and of course added in another pin stripe. Yippee! You may wonder why it's laughably oversized, poking way out of the neck pocket? The reason is that I knew I was going to want to rout it flush with the side of the neck so I needed it large enough to provide at least some stability on the router table. Thus: So, putting the neck in and checking on height at the bridge? Really at this point there shouldn't be any surprises, cos I've measured several thousand times, but it's to within 0.5mm, so happy with that. I then start to shape the neck itself. First of all I do the taper, going from 21mm depth at the 1st fret to 24mm at the 12th. As usual, I use a router to do this. It leaves a lovely flat (but tapered) surface for me to be able to draw on the facets that I use to shape the neck itself. Here's my taper jig. Like most the jigs I have they were prototypes that were supposed to replaced with better ones made out of baltic birch and beautiful machined clamps and stops and such like. The trouble is they work as they are, and I really really hate making jigs. If you are easily offended by crude MDF with router stops that are just taped on rulers, look away now.... Next up, neck carve. I started by doing the curved profile for the volute and the heel on the spindle sander, then started my usual technique of carving flat facets that give the neck it's rough shape, before filing/sanding off the sharp edges to leave what is hopefully a fairly standard C shape. More on the neck carve tomorrow😁 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 Neck carve progressing. Everyone has their own way of doing it, I start by ignoring the difficult bits (ie the transitions) and getting the straight bit of the neck close to its final shape. I know lots of people start with the transitions, but I find it easier to have the main part of the neck done first, so I can sort of visualise what the transition needs to look like to join up with main. So here, after the pink tape the neck is more or less carved: It's now just a question of hand carving till there is a gentle curve from the pink tape at one end, to the pencil line of the volute at the other. Here I've done the rough carve on right hand side: The left had side is always more difficult (if you're right handed) because I've got to hold the file in my left hand. I don't know if there's also a left/right brain thing going on, but I also find it more difficult to visualise. Anyway, so far so good... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 More annoyingly in between sessions on the neck I did a grain fill on the back of the body using West Systems epoxy. I did a couple of layers of (3 month old, hand mixed) shellac then grain filled. Leaving it a couple of days and it was tacky. I use a lot of WS epoxy and used the exactly the same for a couple of glue joints on the same day, both of which were fine. I sanded it off and tried again yesterday, same thing. The ratio and stirring were definitely right, so it's something else. Annoying. Anyway, I've put it out for discussion on TB, and there's a suggestion it may be amine blush, but if anyone here has any ideas, please shout up! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honza992 Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) Progress.....but still a bit of tweaking needed..... Edited November 5, 2019 by honza992 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Oh lordy! That’s some bloody lovely work right there! What bass bash will this be attending in 2020?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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