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Can't wait! Mine will be a 12-fret parlor based loosely on a Bruno/Martin size 2. My current thought is to build with all-Texas tone woods. We'll see what comes out of the mold!

--Jaybird

Well guys,

I'm green with envy. I'm still on vacation with my fam in Orlando, and won't be able to start until August 6th. Until then, i will console myself with the fact that I purchased the following items at a roadside flea market in Tampa:

1) four vintage hand saws in great condition ( 2x disston D8's, a D7, and an unusual saw I can't identify yet) $5 each.
2) a Jacobs 1/2 inch chuck for my drill press, $5.
3) an interesting bench clamp vise perfectly sized for nut/saddle work, $5.
4) a Stanley hand drill, $5.
5) a Porter Cable trim router used once in box, $35

That will have to suffice until I get to make sawdust on the 6th.....

--Jaybird

I can't wait to see how 4 hand saws, a chuck, a vise, a drill, and a trim router can be turned into a guitar.
I wish I'd be back in the Capital of the Republic on August 6th.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Finally home from the big road trip... Got started the day we got back. For the top, I chose a piece of bearclaw sitka I recently purchased. Here is the top joined and rough cut to shape. I skimmed a plane over it to highlight the 'claw. I'll try to head over to my friends who lets me use his thickness sander, and get it thinned down this week. On to resawing the back and sides from discarded mesquite.

Still struggling to find time to work on the challenge... This should give you guys some idea of why it is a "challenge build" for me. This mesquite 6/4 stock was cast off by a local boutique lumber mill--easy to see why. Lots of knots and checking, etc.... My challenge will be to find enough useable lumber in there for a back, sides, neck, and miscellaneous kerfing, etc. Free is good, though.



I got started on the neck by taking the middle piece from above and locating the best 28" of it. Started planing and trimming away. Got it relatively square, and marked it up for a neck blank. Pulled out the trusty Disston D8 and resawed the blank by hand...



That's all I got done yesterday.... Hopefully the weekend will allow a bit more time.

--Jaybird

Resawing by hand, brings back such fond memories. NOT!!

Nice score on the free Mesquite hope there is enough usable matreial there.

Steve

Love that resaw!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

That mesquite looks kinda rough, but nice for the price! I got a couple of mesquite boards a while back, I've got a jumbo underway that's mostly mesquite. I'm afraid the neck may be a little heavy...
I can't imagine resawing mesquite by hand.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Hey Roger,

Pushing a saw is a pretty good way to keep my waistline in check. I don't plan on hand resawing the back and sides . It looks like there is enough clear wood to get enough for a three piece back and a set of side from the big board. Ultimately, I want to try to build a "one board" guitar from mesquite (including the top) just to see if I can construct an instrument from a single billet of wood. Thought about it for this build, but i thought the bearclaw spruce would be a nice compliment for the mesquite. I have a friend with a good sized bandsaw who I hope will let me resaw the back and sides. The rest of the cuts will all be made by hand. Did you previously live in Austin?

Take care!

--Jaybird

Yeah, I was in Austin from '73 to '88 or so, I consider that area home. I graduated from UT in '81 after giving up on being a professional musician. There was a lot of talent in Austin in the late '70s, several guys a lot better than I was weren't making a living at it. One of them did eventually make a living playing music. There were many late nights blaying the blues at the One Knight on Red River Street.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Got a little bit more done today. Took my lunch break and made sawdust at a friends with a large bandsaw. I got enough good wood for a three piece back, two sides, and some spare for rosettes, headplates, etc. It was my first attempt at resawing with a bandsaw, and it wasn't so bad. The saw had a 3" tall rip fence that was adjustable for drift angle. I'm pretty pleased with the results, and the price is still free!!



Hopefully get the back joined over the weekend!

--Jaybird

Finally got some work done today!!! Up at 5am and took an hour for myself. Also excused myself after dinner to the garage for a couple hours. It's amazing what you can do with blocks of time!! Early this morning, I glued up the neck from the mesquite I resawed a couple of posts back. Sunday I was able to glue up the three piece back as pictured. It still looks shoddy as I haven't been back to my friends with the thickness sander--I'm trying to save up work in bulk so as not to burden him.





This evening, I fired up the Fox-style bender for my first foray into bending sides with a blanket. I watched Todd Stock's video this morning, and decided to give it a rip. I went to the grocery store to purchase a candy thermometer, which they didn't have. I thought I remembered Todd saying that sometimes he doesn't use a thermometer at all. I went with that plan. After building a sandwich= slat/blanket/foil/paper/wood/paper/foil/slat, I went for broke and plugged it in. I waited 'til it started steaming, and then started bending. When it quit steaming (about 10 minutes), I unplugged it and let it cool for 45 minutes. Both sides came out perfect with no scorching (one tiny shade on one side--should sand out). Sure beats using a pipe!!



Onward through the fog!!

--Jaybird

No thermometer and no temperature control? You are a wild man!! The mesquite looks good!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I was really surprised at how easily mesquite bent. Yours looks like it's got reasonably straight grain and no internal defects, much better for guitars than the two boards I got. It should look great with that bearclaw top.
Is Oat Willie's still in business? (Onward through the fog was the Oat Willie motto)

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Rodger,

Yes, Oat Willies is still in business--3 locations now. It's still an Austin icon. Although I've never been inside, I've always loved their concert posters, and their motto. I've used it for years (their motto, that is )... And yes, the mesquite bent much easier than I anticipated it would. I got very lucky with my throw-away mesquite, as i was able to find enough clear wood in it for my purposes. No hidden surprises so far, and I've got a piece with some curl in it that I've been thinking about using for a fretboard. I wonder if the guitar will start getting too monochromatic with all that mesquite on it....I guess I could always dye the fretboard. I think I'm going to use mesquite for the linings as well. It may turn out heavier than a standard parlor guitar--we'll see!! Only non-mesquite bits will be the spruce top and spruce braces. Still undecided on the rosette, and whether to veneer the headstock. I'm kinda leaning toward leaving the headstock natural with no veneer--quite common on earlier parlors.

Take care,

Jay

Here's the one I have underway, it's a jumbo. All mesquite except the top and center laminate on the neck. The back and sides are really thin, about 0.06". I meant for the sides to be that thin, the back had a few marks that didn't come out at 0.08", which was what I'd originally intended. Not nearly as straight grained as what you have.

edit: my triple-beam balance came from Oat Willie's, my best friend bought it there in the early '70s
too bad the Armadillo World Headquarters is gone...

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Well,
They call it a challenge build for a reason, right? I'm trying to cut myself a little slack as this is only guitar #2 for me. I designed, cut and inlayed the rosette night before last, and took it to the thickness planer yesterday (30 minute drive). Sanded the rosette flush, and thicknessed the top down to 2.5mm (final). I was attempting a touchup on some of the b/w/b when a nice chunk fell out of my rosette. It appears when I thicknessed the top, I got pretty thin on the rosette. The patch is pretty obvious in the photo. Now I am stuck with the dilemma: 1) leave it, as trying to excavate the rosette with the soundhole already cut could make a worse mess. 2) remove the patch, and try again for a better grain match. 3) try and center the soundhole on the jig, and route it all out and start over (on a 2.5mm thick top). I'm gonna give myself a day to think on it....

That type of thing always sucks, good idea to think on it a bit. That's the way I felt when I scorched the first set of sides too badly to sand out.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Jay,

I had a similar thing happen to me. I ended up waiting to do anything until the box was closed and I was just about to start the finishing process. It bugged me the entire time I worked on the guitar and in the end, it got worse as I was doing final sanding. It actually happened in another spot during the final sanding.

This is a good time to do the fix if you are going to. For me I made a plug with my rosette cutter and re-cut the part I needed. Mine was just the center stripe in the rosette so I got off easy.

Good Luck. I like what you are doing here. This is going to be a nice one.

John

Didn't take too long to make up my mind. It would have always bothered me. So, I mounted the top back on the circle cutting jig, and installed the original cutout piece. I was able to center it to about .025mm. Clamped her down, and routed the old rosette out. I decided even if it wasn't perfectly concentric, the human eye wouldn't notice that nearly as much as the boogered rosette. One step forward, two steps back..... Onward!

Nice job!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I had a funny feeling that's what you'd do

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Don't have much hair left on my head, but I dang near tore what's left out by the roots trying to get the rosette right. Took almost a week, and several tries. The rosette is mesquite, and the purfling is wenge/maple/wenge. FWIW, wenge is off my list for awhile--brittle stuff. Finally got it all cleaned up today. Now, on to bracing and getting the box closed!!!

I was worth the effort, looks good

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

nice rossette.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.