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Fretboard is bound and finished. Just needs a little finish sanding and tidying. I'm happy with it....

Looking good !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Hi Jaybird!

I spent several days in your city for the first time this spring.....cool place! I can not believe this is only your second guitar build. You must have some prior woodworking experience (please say "yes"...). My second effort doesn't come anywhere near yours, and I didn't start with nothing but a billet of heavy wood

Anyway, nice work on all accounts. Love the shape and binding of the FB. I'll be watching. I love me a parlor guitar. BTW, I used a Shop Smith belonging to a friend to cut an angle into a big hunk of Mesquite for a mantle, and we almost killed the motor because of how hard the wood was (and maybe his blade was dull). The other thing I think of when I see a Shop Smith, is a luthier I know who lost his balance doing something on one end of his SS, and his hand went back to catch himself landing on the moving blade of the table saw section. Apparently, all the devices run at once! His injury almost stopped him building AND playing, so please have your footing and body placement right, and NO distractions when running that thing.

Thanks for the kind words, Beth. I've been a hobbyist wood worker off and on for most of my life. I'll get interested, then move on to other projects. My first guitar took 15 years to finish, so I'm hoping that #2 and #3 don't take that long As for the Shopsmith, I always take the time to unmount any attachments other than the one I'm using for just the reason you mention... Come back to Austin again, it's a wonderful town. --jay

That fretboard came out beautifully. Don't punch it in the face.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Got a little bit of work done at 4am yesterday before I got called back in to work.... Got started on soundboard bracing. Looks like most folks have closed boxes already, so I better get to it! Still think the deadline is very realistic, tho.... I hope to finish bracing by late Sunday night. Humidity has been a little high in Austin, so I re-engineered my go bar press using my office desk. Humidity in the house is around 40%--that's about as low as it will get for a while.

Quick update.... Just need a couple of soundhole braces, and some cleanup and I'm ready to get the box closed....

It's looking good Jay! You do meticulous work - very nice!!
Do you think you'll finish in time? Hope so!

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Thanks Dave! I don't think I'll have trouble finishing as I'm a Tru-Oil guy, and can get a decent finish in a few days. I found some early morning time in the last few days and got some work done. The box is closed, and I'm getting ready for binding. On an interesting note, believe those people who say that a go-bar press can generate enormous amounts of force. I was using my solid mahogany office desk which weighs about 300lbs empty--it is currently chock full of papers and files, so maybe 400#. As I was adding the last of the 22 go bars, I noticed that the legs of the desk were off the ground!



and the closed box...



And a really interesting art shot I stumbled across as I was chiseling the excess off the top...

I forgot how much I hate binding!!! No fancy-schmantzy binding cutter here... Dremel with router guide and a spiral down-cut bit (and LOTS of patience). This may be the last time I laminate my own bindings. $4 a stick from one of our suppliers seems to be a pretty fair investment in time. However, the only store bought or pre-fabbed items on the "Mesquite-o" so far are the inlay dots at $.59 ea. Here's the top binding channel cut...


and the bindings glued up and bent....



and gluing the end flash in at 5am....



Glad my alarm clock works!!!!!

Looks good. I've also been getting up early so I can get in an hour or two before going to work. It's a nice time to be in the shop.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I think you should win the prize for the best nickname! Mesquite-O, awesome.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

That is a great name! Also, nice looking box.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Thanks guys! The name hit me the other day.... Hey Tony, U survive Sandy OK? My parents live at 95th and CPW--they escaped the majority of it, and kept power the whole time. Not sure where in the City you are....

EDIT: DUH!!!! I see Brooklyn in your sig now....

That's a pretty good name, but Mesquite-2 might be more appropriate...

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

I fared OK. I lost power AFTER the storm was over. It went out Tuesday night until last night. But I also lost my cable and internet on Monday night. That wasn't so bad, but then Verizon's 3G service went out as well so I was without any form of internet. You don't realize how much you depend on the internet until you lose it. I got off easy though compared to many other people I know. There was extensive flooding in parts of Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was flooded. All of the trains to Manhattan were flooded. And I ran out of beer. It was truly a low moment.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Well, I'm "bound" to finish the Mesquite-O now.... Mahogany binding with one thin maple stripe for purfling on the back and sides. The top got the same Wenge/Maple/Wenge purfle that the soundhole got.





Now to move on to getting the neck set......

Just keep that sucker away from me , I hate mesquite'os , I'll kill it !
does that mean that when its played it will have a soft "buzz" in your ear ?

Great looking work !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Might have to suggest the chisel stork pay a visit your shop. This is looking great!

Randy,
Thanks for the kind words. If the chisel fairy were to come visit--I would be shocked (but deeply grateful!). There is so much talent on this board! But, yes....precioooousssss, we must have the chisel..... must have it, my PREEEEECCCCCIOOUUUUUUSSSSSS.....Gollum! (Please forgive the Lord of the Rings reference... )

Decided to forego the adjustable truss rod in this one, and go with a .25"x.50" solid carbon bar as a non-adjustable truss rod. Hopefully the 24.5" scale and 12 fret neck will not need much in the way of relief adjustment! The carbon and accompanying Mesquite strip are expoxied in... The neck work begins in earnest!

Spent a couple hours early this morning scraping and doing general binding cleanup. And also got the bridge blank planed down and sanded to size. Wanna guess what it's made out of???? It will be a pyramid....

Not much time for posting lately, but I've been getting some work done. I'm a Tru-Oil finisher, so I jumped right in. The finish is starting to come up nicely. This is about 5 or 6 coats of Tru-Oil so far. I'd post better pics, but 5am lighting isn't so good in my office. I love the way the bearclaw is coming out in the top. There is a really nice flecking that looks like silking or beeswing in the mesquite. It is very random, and works well overall with the design of the guitar. I polished the fretboard through 12K micromesh, and it's ready for fretting. Now if I can just get the dang neck flossed properly--It's giving me fits!!

Very classy and mellow-looking. Do you wipe the Tru-Oil on and then right off again? What kind of pattern do you use in applying (with grain, against, circular?)?
Can't wait to see it finished.

Beth,
What I've found to work best for me is to apply the Tru-Oil with the grain, using a big cotton ball. I like to put it on kind of medium-thin, and do not wipe it afterwards. I will usually scuff it with micromesh between coats, and level a little with 600 grit every three coats or so. It seems to work for me. I've tried the coffee filter method, the paper towel method, the finger method, and this works the best for me.