Official Luthiers Forum!

I decided to nix the idea of using sterling silver for the dreamcatcher strings that hold the feathers -and the ring... I'm using wood for the inlay - that is why I made the other post about using the drum sander for making laminate. I need to get the wood pretty thin for using it for inlay - Have my eyes on some birdseye maple

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Finally got all of my pieces cut today - tomorrow I will be cleaning them all up with my jewelers files.... these are the ingredients to inlay a dreamcatcher into a fingerboard!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Lots of pics from the past week of inlay, so let's get going!

Beads I glued up:



Here is the Birdseye maple "hoop" for the dreamcatcher and the following pics show how I inlaid it:



















Here I drew the "strings" freehand; I wanted to make it look a bit natural and wanted the strings to weave in and out of the guitar strings - the "strings were made from birdseye maple strips..


Testing the dental burr to see if it matches the width of the strips - it did.





I ended up tracing the pencil lines with a razor:


Still going:








It's best to "plunge rout" the lines first - it alleviates stress on the bits, so you are more like drilling holes straight down:







Filled up sides with medium CA glue:


Next I made some ebony dust with a runoff from the same fingerboard wood(Gabon Ebony)


I then make my "Inlay Tar" by mixing 2-part fast setting epoxy and the same amount of ebony dust:





This is actually one of the most fascinating things about inlay... you start out kinda nice and then progressively make it look like you have smeared baby alligator turd all over everything, but know deep down below the turd is a diamond in the rough.



After sanding everything down, time to clean out the shell & sandpaper dust:


The next day(think this was Thursday), I positioned the pieces to see where I wanted them to go, then glued them in place:


I am experimenting with a new technique and I am actually liking the results more - after everything is glued, I use a drafting pencil to trace all of the pieces (Normally I trace everything with a razor, which is very tedious) then I pop off the pieces and trace the pencil lines with the xacto.



This is where I ended up last night:


This morning I ended up fitting the rest of the pieces:


First of 3 rounds of CA glue and inlay tar today:
















For my final pass tonight, I soaked the maple "strings" with thin CA glue - I did this to "Stabilize the wood" as well as filled various pockets. Any questions? Hello is this mic on? should I keep on posting GOBS of pictures or am I wasting bandwidth?

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Virgil,
You are a patient man. I think you have made up for all the instruments I've built without finger board dots. It took me a while to notice, but all your beads are position markers. How cool is that.

Steve

Yeah man, I'm never short on ideas(luckily)!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Thanks Steve - I was wondering if anyone would catch that

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Didnt notice the bead thing until Steven pointed it out, but thats pretty dang cool! Very cool Virgil. Keep the pics coming! I really enjoy watching the process. Just keep the pics of you in your shorts to a minimum, ok?

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

You are crazy, Virgil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LMAO Tony - Thanks Alan!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

That's pretty sweet

Thanks Lex!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Just when I think I couldn't hate you and your abilities anymore, you go and pull this crap.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

This is wonderful I love dreamcatchers, and a fine rendition it is. Quite impressive to make all those skinny lines without breaking it. I guess that's the nice thing about using super fine sawblades... they snap before you can pull hard enough to hurt the shell

And I did indeed notice the beads as marker dots The maple strings are a nice touch... not distracting, and more similar in texture to leather.

And I'm sorry that you're sorry about anyone wanting you to go natural on this... cause if you want my arrogant, self-absorbed opinion, you should. That hunk of tree is gorgeous already, and bright colored dyes just don't seem to fit with the native vibe, you know? Amber burst would be cool, but keep it fully transparent in the center, not like that LP Roger posted that's all icky yellow. Amber shellac makes an excellent natural toned, translucent burst. I did one on an acoustic by French polishing, but I'm sure spraying would work too.

But you know I'll love it nomatter what you do

Hey Dennis!
Thanks man... yeah, cutting out the gold MOP was a bit scary, and WILL break when there is not enough "Meat" when you are making the cuts... for some strange reason, I have this tiny program installed in some spot of my little brain, that sees where the next cut needs to be... the second piece of inlay I ever made was REALLY intense in that it had the most narrow cuts to it... and my eyes for some reason saw the cuts needed to NOT break it... not sure where it came from, but I can do it... it doesn't mean this it doesn't scare the crap out of me though STILL... I actually enjoy the scary stuff!

And even though a blade can break, you still have the factor of the saw itself slapping into the piece WHEN the blade breaks... I break blades constantly.... all it takes is a bad turn (Not keeping momentum) or a piece of sand lodged into the shell, a bad blade, a weak blade, etc. I try to use thinner blades for the delicate cuts, but they move so slow.... it's all about pateince I guess.

As for the finish, I HAVE to have a black burst on the edges for what I am trying to accomplish, OR at least a solid color up on the edge, because I am wanting the binding to be a "Revealed" by the paint... especially with the redwood soundboard underneath - the combo of that AND the Myrtlewood should look spectacular. I'm sure my mind will decide by the time it's dropped off at the painter...

Thanks again man - love hearing your take on things and I agree that AT LEAST the center should be revealed to the natural wood tone!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Great stuff, dude . And as for the bead position markers, I'd thought before you even started them that it would be cool if you did that ... Ok, so not really. I didn't even notice until someone said something

Great work, V. I'm jealous that you're making so much progress while I'm busy treading water. Hopefully I'll be getting some things done this week on the jazzmaster though

Thanks Roger - I just started the etching into the feathers an hour ago - these are gonna take a few days.... uggggggg

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Per usual, your inlay work is good enough to make me mentally ill. Absolutely awesome. Keep it up, man.

_________________
-—-—-—-—-—-—-
Mike Hoenerhoff
Elderly Instruments

Thanks Mike for the EXTREMELY kind words!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

OK, so today I have a whopping 9 guitar students! SO I did as much as I could since I got up and FINALLY got to my favorite part.... After doing the final sanding of the little annoying gaps that show up around the inlay, I checked the 12" radius on the fingerboard and it wasn't too good, and enough to make me sand and fix up things - took about 1/2 hour - the worst spot was on the big-azz white MOP feather - I drew a couple of pencil lines across it and sanded for a while and they were not coming off, so I sanded unit they did! Here's some pics of that process:









Finally got it!:


Next I pulled out my gravers - I actually used gravers back in the mid 80's when I was a photoengraver.


The first cut (is the deepest ):



This was 1 hour into the deal:



Next I used "Grit's Crayon" for the filler:



Mucking everything up as usual



Initial clean-off with a paper towel:

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Freaking amazing.

_________________
It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

Thanks John!
I am in between students until later, but I managed to get another feather done, can't wait to get more pics for everyone... I'll see how many I can knock out tonight... my guess is 2 more before I finish up for the evening... will post this evening - thanks for your inspiring comment!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I was about two pieces into the beaver spine on the last guitar when I started doing that. Got much better results.

Very nice with the texturing there. Never seen that before.

_________________
http://www.tinyhouseandland.com

Very cool Mark - Incredible minds think alike! Thanks!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

OK everyone, my brain is about to fall out - I am literally fried and have a throbbing headache from staring at small things with my magnifiers... so all ya gets is pics.... this is where I got to today:

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar