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I’m finishing up the first phase of a bathroom remodel and looking forward to my next guitar project. I really want to make a dreadnought, but being indecisive, I can’t decide which one. . I love the lines of a sloped D, but the plan would be to brace it like a Martin. So while I wait for paint to dry, I’m just drawing away.


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Love your plexi bread board!

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

Closing the box on the dred. Just like the previous templates, the one shown here is for cutting the notches in the lining to let in the upper transverse and upper X.













Brad


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Brad,

I'm always trying to find ways to avoid power tools, fixtures, jigs, forms, molds. You make them seem fascinating, and glamorous.

I still always try to find ways to avoid them.

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Why be normal?

Hello Brad,
how thick do you make the sides and linings? Are the linings laminated or one piece?
Juergen

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Hi Juergen,

The sides are .1” with a .06” outer and .04” inner layer. The lining is .21” laminated as three layers if .07” mahogany. The rims are very stiff as you can imagine.

I may make the lining thinner in the future. Are you doing laminated sides or lining?

Brad


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I am at this point now with my first guitar. I want to make it as light as possible, so I decide to make it with "normal" sides, laminated linings in the top side and kerfed linings in the back side.

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Ready to close this viola up. I remembered to put a label in, I usually forget, and it is more troublesome to glue them in through the f hole. The little guitar doesn't have a label, because you wouldn't see it. Some makers had a brass badge on them. Maybe I'll make one for it, to go on the end of the head.

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Why be normal?

Curly koa was tricky to scrape back, but it’s done!







Brad


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I love curly Koa bindings. Got some nice ones from Bob Gleason some years ago. Only have 1 set left

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Very nice!
Check your PM.

In preparation for slotting these boards for frets, i made a tablesaw sled. Pretty easy right! In my infinite wisdom i decided to use some oak i had laying around for the stiffeners. I figured id just screw them in place using some drywall screws.

Pre-drilled and waxed the screws, that should do it. Nope, i broke the headoff of one of the screws. So, I made larger holes. That worked ok.

I took the competed sled to the tablesaw for it's first cut. Don't you think i hit one of those screws with my expensive fret slotting blade? Yup, now i need to sharpen it. Im taking the rest of the day off.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I don’t really know how to bling so it’s nice when the wood does it for me.






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Sweet!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Jeez! Yeah, good enough.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Getting close to finishing stage. Hopefully porefill this weekend.







Brad


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Man, bringing a 5-month-old puppy into the home brought building to a crawl for the past month. But it's all good. Finnegan has taken to his role as the new shop dog. I finally got the sides glued to the top of the mandocello I'm building AND installed a K&K Twin Spot pickup. I went with that model after talking to the tech support guy at K&K who was very helpful in choosing a pickup for this application. Interestingly, this one is attached with "ultra thin" doublesided tape instead of CA. Same as with their mandolin pickup which I've installed before on an octave mandolin.





Finnegan hanging out in the shop while stuff gets done.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Nice, Jay! Good idea about the K&K pre-install!

Here is what I’m up to tonight - https://youtube.com/shorts/IswwlZoOwCc? ... Sv9UjBEWG7


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Finally got to use the Lumaii spray gun light! It actually really helped with seeing where the coats were landing.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ckSoWeOSXGo? ... u6QAeJy4Bb


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Got my fretboard slotting jig done. I slotted 3 boards. I left a little extra at the first fret to dial in later.

Left to right is ebony, Brazilian rosewood, and Macasser ebony.



.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I see a new jig in my future.
Are those "regulation" drill bit bushings? That's brilliant.

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

THats some nice-looking wood!

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

I use bushings from MSC but McMaster or any of the usual suspects would be fine.


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We went up to Petoskey for a few days last week. That was a nice getaway. We take the back roads. Our new car got 32 MPG when we filled up when we got there, and 35 MPG when I filled up a couple days ago, after driving up there, and the drive back, and stuff around the house. Same car as the old one, but the 2.5 and not the 2.0 l, and the mileage is about the same for trips in nice weather.

I've been trying to get the little guitar, and viola into varnish so I can start something new. 2 projects at a time is the new rule, with the exception being instruments in varnish.

The viola has purfling now. The birdesye back was really tough to cut. I suppose it is because it is a slab cut? It carved easy.The belly has the usual problems of being stringy where you are going with the grain. The purfling comes in 3 strips for violins and violas. I had this much left. Maybe give 4 strips for violas?

The last piece gave me trouble in the last corner the back. I may have to fix it. Luckily I still have some purfling left. I used a cool little syringe tool, with different size tips. It worked great. I put it in the water bath between uses, but it seem like the glue could leak out. Then I would leave it out between uses, and pop in in the hot water to get the glue flowing again. I see I forgot to put it back in the water the last time. Probably because I was trying to fix the corner.

I have no idea where I got that tool; or even where I heard about it. It was not expensive. I think I put it on an Amazon list when the kids asked what I wanted for Christmas.

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Why be normal?

Looks like the syringe I got years ago at a local BBQ supply.
All Things Barbeque, if you're interested.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince