Albake21's Build Thread

[Albake21]

Alright so small update. I believe I finally have the neck joint to a usable point. This was my 4th attempt at doing this damn joint and at this point I'm rolling with it no matter what. After some planing and sanding, it should be perfectly fine. I also ran into an issue because someone broke the bandsaw at the shop I go to. So instead I did this angle cut by hand. I cut it very poorly and rough with a hand saw and then used a rasp to get it to the right angle. Then sanded it to get it smooth. Weirdly enough this actually got the best result out of the 4 attempts. It's also another piece of birdseye that's colored differently but honestly since it's my first guitar/a prototype, I don't really that much. So now I have to figure out how to proceed with the neck without a bandsaw....

 

[KnightBrolaire]

jigsaw/ scroll saw works

 

[Albake21]

jigsaw/ scroll saw works

Shit I totally forgot about the scroll saw at the shop, although would that be strong enough for cutting this thick of wood? I thought those scroll saws were only good for very thin pieces or acrylic.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Shit I totally forgot about the scroll saw at the shop, although would that be strong enough for cutting this thick of wood? I thought those scroll saws were only good for very thin pieces or acrylic.

depends on the blade/how thick of wood we're talking. jigsaw would prob be better for a thicker piece

 

[Albake21]

depends on the blade/how thick of wood we're talking

Sadly I don't know what the blades size it, and my piece of wood just 13/16th of an inch if I remember correctly. Well I'll give it a shot tomorrow when I go back to the shop. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Sadly I don't know what the blades size it, and my piece of wood just 13/16th of an inch if I remember correctly. Well I'll give it a shot tomorrow when I go back to the shop. Thanks for the suggestion!

eh you should be able to cut that with a jigsaw or scrollsaw relatively easily. I used a scroll saw to cut part of my first guitar body and that piece was over 1" thick.

 

[Albake21]

Big update the past couple days. I routed the truss rod channel, finally got the scarf joint correct, cut the neck and headstock out, routed the neck pocket. Sadly I ran out of room for the left tip of the headstock so I need to glue a small piece on, so that's why the headstock looks a little weird right now. It's awesome to finally have the neck on the guitar and see what the guitar feels like in the lap. So far so good! Today I will be working on the fretboard.

 

[Albake21]

Fretboard has been slotted, radiused (although not radiused evenly, yet), and roughly cut. I also glued up a tiny piece of birds eye for the corner of the headstock that was missing. Looking good so far! Although I'm having a hell of a time getting this fretboard correctly radiused.

 

[KR250]

What are you using to radius it? I like the long beam sanders, easy to get a consistent radius flat across the board. I also found it's good to give it a pass after the fret board is glue on to make sure it's true, and then use the same again to level frets. Looking nice though.

 

[Albake21]

What are you using to radius it? I like the long beam sanders, easy to get a consistent radius flat across the board. I also found it's good to give it a pass after the fret board is glue on to make sure it's true, and then use the same again to level frets. Looking nice though.

I'm using a 6" Radius block from Stew Mac. I'm sure the longer ones are a lot better, but I couldn't afford that one. It's not too bad, I think I can fix it though.

 

[DistinguishedPapyrus]

Nice progress! I see that you have few dents here and there... This is a good method for removing them without sanding:

I can vouch for that, it does work really well and just as quickly as the guy showed in the video. However, there's a few points that I did differently. For one thing, you don't need to wet such a large area around the dent. Really just go a little outside it... like the dent that size, as the video showed, you'd only need to wet an area about the size of a quarter. Also, you can do this with a good soldering iron for smaller dents. I did this before with really good results using a paper towel instead of a rag.

 

[Albake21]

I can vouch for that, it does work really well and just as quickly as the guy showed in the video. However, there's a few points that I did differently. For one thing, you don't need to wet such a large area around the dent. Really just go a little outside it... like the dent that size, as the video showed, you'd only need to wet an area about the size of a quarter. Also, you can do this with a good soldering iron for smaller dents. I did this before with really good results using a paper towel instead of a rag.

I actually did this last week. I was able to get most of the dents out surprisingly well. I was definitely skeptical at first but damn did it prove me wrong. Sadly I have a couple of dents that I can't steam out... This ash body is so damn soft and fragile. Not sure if I will work with Ash again because of that.

 

[Bobo]

I actually did this last week. I was able to get most of the dents out surprisingly well. I was definitely skeptical at first but damn did it prove me wrong. Sadly I have a couple of dents that I can't steam out... This ash body is so damn soft and fragile. Not sure if I will work with Ash again because of that.

Try basswood!!

1000% kidding. Cool build, looking forward to the rest!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

ash is nowhere near as bad as pine or basswood in terms of denting/softness. if you use harder woods then you run into the problem of sanding/shaping becoming way more difficult, so it's basically "pick your poison".

 

[lewis]

hnnng this is looking SICK!!!! <3

 

[Albake21]

ash is nowhere near as bad as pine or basswood in terms of denting/softness. if you use harder woods then you run into the problem of sanding/shaping becoming way more difficult, so it's basically "pick your poison".

I think I'm going to try Mahogany for the next one just to compare and get more experience with different woods. The ash has been kind of a pain.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I think I'm going to try Mahogany for the next one just to compare and get more experience with different woods. The ash has been kind of a pain.

Most mahogany is relatively easy to shape, but it just depends on what species of "mahogany" you get. Khaya sucks because it's got a more fibrous/furry grain than say sapele or other mahogany esque species.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Mahogany planes so beautifully. "African mahogany" - whatever that is.

 

[Albake21]

Some good progress the past couple days. I trimmed the fretboard, radiused, added fretboard and side dots, and fixed the corner of the headstock. Next is the fun part, shaping the neck. I only nervous because I'm afraid of going to thin and hitting the truss rod.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Some good progress the past couple days. I trimmed the fretboard, radiused, added fretboard and side dots, and fixed the corner of the headstock. Next is the fun part, shaping the neck. I only nervous because I'm afraid of going to thin and hitting the truss rod.

calipers are your friend if you want to avoid hitting the truss rod. Also helps if you remember what depth you put the truss rod (I had to scrap a neck because I routed too deep for the channel )