Official Luthiers Forum!

Wow, thank you for sharing that. The tape tip is an awesome idea.

Nice job Ron. Good advice on the tape too.

_________________
Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

[QUOTE=blindreality] Wow, thank you for sharing that. The tape tip is an awesome idea.[/QUOTE]


The tape tip actually came from Andy himself.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Daniel M] Very Cool. And a little scary!
Good idea using the duck tape.
Just a little aside... If you mix your Epoxy with black Tempra paint powder, it flows out more smoothly & you may have less filling to do. It doesn't take a lot, & it sets up very black.
[/QUOTE]


Thanks, Daniel, I will give tempera a try.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Dave White] Ron,

That looks fabulous Another of those "take a deep breath and pray" guitar making rites of passage under your belt.

The bearclaw top looks fabulous too - I am a sucker for bearclaw.[/QUOTE]


Thanks, Dave, it is a fabulous top, I hope I don't screw it up. It is from Steve at colonial and is master grade with very pronounced figure.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Peter J] Looks great Ron !! I really like the second photo and the way it reflects the light from a different angle. It's bound to be a real eye-catcher.

I'm not clear on how you got the duct tape to release. Did you clamp it with the rosette as you epoxied it into the top? A few photos for some clarification would be great.


Regards,
Peter[/QUOTE]


Peter, I didn't take any other progress photos, sorry. I left the tape on until the glue dried and the clamps removed. The tape can then just be pulled off, or scraped off.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Anthony Z] Ron that rosette looks terrific up against that bearclaw top. I really like celtic art.

Question -- why did you use epoxy and ebony dust as opposed to CA and ebony dust?[/QUOTE]


Anthony, I use both methods, but this was such a large cavity doing the whole rosette as one piece that I needed plenty of working time. I used slow set epoxy and dust and filled the cavity about half way full so it could squish up between all the hundreds of openings. I did use CA and dust touching up the pinholes.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Stunning! What amazing work.

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

That is just downright beautiful. How did you keep the black epoxy from smearing and discoloring the lighter wood of the rings and the top? Did you try to set the inlay flush, or leave it a bit proud and then scrape and sand it level?

Do you plan use complementary celtic style inlays on the fingerboard and/or the head stock?

_________________
Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

Thanks for the explanation Ron.

Okay if I test your patience with another question?

After you made up the slurry of epoxy and ebony dust how did you apply it and tamp it down?

The other thing that occured to me is that the epoxy/ebony dust slurry probably has a nice sheen to it that you would not get using CA and ebony dust.

Ron,

Great Job!!! I really appreciate the information on how you accomplished this task. I have been dreading (in my case dreding) an attempt at humming bird headstock inlay. That may not be daunting to you who have experience but all those tiny pieces scare the you know what out of me. Using your method I will tape and remove the cardboard and glue. Then I will make a pattern for the outside of the two major components the bird and the flower. After filling with black epoxy I will inset the inlay still on the tape. Sand, scrape, and be done (hopefully). I kind of wish now that I had just chosen one of Andy’s new disks with an inlayed letter but my Father loves hummingbirds and Andy has them on his site.

What kind of epoxy should be used for the inlay?

Regards,

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Ron
What kept the glue from the duct tape from coming off when soaking in hot
water. Also where and what brand of clear duct tape did you use?
Thanks
Andy

_________________
Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

[QUOTE=azimmer1] Ron
What kept the glue from the duct tape from coming off when soaking in hot
water. Also where and what brand of clear duct tape did you use?
Thanks
Andy[/QUOTE]


Beats me, Andy. I was worried that the tape would release also, but it didn't. I have no idea what brand it is, there are no marks on it and I've had it for a while. It's two inches wide and just a little bit cloudy looking.
Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=kmason] That is just downright beautiful. How did you keep the black epoxy from smearing and discoloring the lighter wood of the rings and the top? Did you try to set the inlay flush, or leave it a bit proud and then scrape and sand it level?

Do you plan use complementary celtic style inlays on the fingerboard and/or the head stock?[/QUOTE]


Kevin, I sprayed around the area with shellac before starting. The inlay was a little proud. There was glue everywhere, but it scraped and sanded down without a problem.

Here's the FB that goes with it: Not a great picture, though.




Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Anthony Z] Thanks for the explanation Ron.

Okay if I test your patience with another question?

After you made up the slurry of epoxy and ebony dust how did you apply it and tamp it down?

The other thing that occured to me is that the epoxy/ebony dust slurry probably has a nice sheen to it that you would not get using CA and ebony dust.[/QUOTE]


Anthony, the way this inlay is made there is as much open space as there is MOP. I filled the cavity with slurry and when clamped down it squished up through the openings. When I later filled the pin holes that were left, I used 5 min. epoxy and dust and spread it on with an old credit card. I also did one fill where I covered it with ebony dust, put a few drops of CA on it and immediately sanded with 400 grit to rub it in.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Nice job, Ron! The rosette looks great and the top is cool, but looking through the soundhole, I think your label is a bit wordy....

Duct--the miracle tape!

[QUOTE=azimmer1] Ron
What kept the glue from the duct tape from coming off when soaking in hot
water. Also where and what brand of clear duct tape did you use?
Thanks
Andy[/QUOTE]


Andy, I checked again and there is a label. It is Scotch brand. It's called Scotch Transparent Duct Tape.

Transparent Duct Tape


Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Beautifull work Ron

It looks great in the bearclaw top. I'd love to see the completed instrument.

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Ron,

How did you make sure the MOP rosette set right in the middle of the purfling boundaries? I am assuming you had a little wiggle room to move the MOP in the channel? 

[QUOTE=CarltonM] Nice job, Ron! The rosette looks great and the top is cool, but looking through the soundhole, I think your label is a bit wordy....

[/QUOTE]



Ron, that really is a striking rosette. Nice job inlaying, too.
What will the body wood be?

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Ron thank you for indulging my questions so graciously.

Much appreciated!

[QUOTE=Steve Kinnaird] [QUOTE=CarltonM] Nice job, Ron! The rosette looks great and the top is cool, but looking through the soundhole, I think your label is a bit wordy....

[/QUOTE]



Ron, that really is a striking rosette. Nice job inlaying, too.
What will the body wood be?



Steve[/QUOTE]


Thanks, Steve.   The b/s are madagascar rosewood.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=microsmurf]

Ron,

How did you make sure the MOP rosette set right in the middle of the purfling boundaries? I am assuming you had a little wiggle room to move the MOP in the channel?

[/QUOTE]


I measured and calculated about 97 times. The cavity was less than 1/16" wider than the inlay, so I knew with only 1/32 on either side that it whould look centered. Any wider and it would have been nearly impossible to get it centered.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=ToddStock] Looks great, Ron, and thanks for the pics - I've been eying this rosette, but with green-tinted epoxy and green body purfling for a Saint P's Day parlor. No shamrocks, but might think about snakes for fret markers.[/QUOTE]


That's a good idea, Todd. I might have to do something like that for my personal guitar. I'm part Irish and me birthday is St. Patrick's Day.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......