Day 9

I returned to the shop a week later to resume what I had started in my previous session- the neck.  My guitar's mahogany neck was successfully glued together, with its ebony accent strip running through the length of the middle- a nice contrast! 

Last week, Ned and I had marked some lines on the side of the neck, to indicate where the cut would be made, which would separate the headstock from the neck, to separate the pieces to make a scarf joint.  If you were to view the neck from the side, you would see two lines, about 3 or 4 inches apart, with a diagonal line  running from the top of one line, to the bottom of the other.  This was the indication mark for where to cut.  Before I began the cutting process, I ran both the top and bottom of the neck over the belt sander, to reduce the height of the ebony, making it flush with the mahogany- this also got rid of the now-dried glue squeeze-out.  

Using the pull-cut saw to remove the headstock from
the neck, in preparation for the formation of a scarf joint.

The headstock and neck, respectively- the pieces are now ready to be joined,
by way of a scarf joint.  That accent strip looks awfully sharp...

A scarf joint in the making- the headstock, glued and
clamped to the neck!  Why do they call it a scarf joint?
The answer evades me.

Next, I clamped my neck into a wooden benchside clamp, and Ned gave me a few pointers for the cutting process which I was to begin.  To make the cut, I would be using a Japanese-style pull cut paddle saw- I was fond of this tool, and Ned was, too, as he had a few different types of these.  As I begin the cut, there was much resistance, but upon getting the feel for the tool and its path through the wood, it became easier.  The initial cut was made, creating a trough for the blade to slide in and out of.  It goes without saying that I had to keep the blade completely straight, the whole time, so the cut would be as clean as possible.  The more the blade strayed from its intended course, the more sanding you'd have to do to correct the margin of error.  We had plenty of room to work with, margin-wise, but it's still best to aim high.  As I continued cutting at a steady pace, my arm began to tire- namely, my triceps.  I kept sawing, steadily, and felt the burn.  I stopped once or twice to move my arm around as Ned jokingly said things like, "Come on!  A strong guy like you shouldn't be having trouble with a light saw like that!"  I got a few good laughs, and continued sawing.  After much perseverance and concentration, the one piece became two.

Once the pieces were apart, I examined my work- the cut was impressively smooth, save for a tiny bit of roughness where I began the cut, and was becoming accustomed to the feel of the work the saw and I were doing.  To correct this
little bit of roughness, and to finish the surfaces of the cut, I brought the neck and headstock to the belt sander, and made them smooth.  I had to make sure even pressure was distributed on the sander, and compensate for any discrepancies which the belt or sanding machine may've possessed, which included keeping the surface being sanded moving on the belt, at all times, to avoid the formation of troughs or ridges.  After a few times each, of sanding and checking, I was left with two smooth surfaces, with a straight line across the neck, where each angle formed by the cut began.  The pieces were now ready to be joined.

As per Ned's instruction, I put the pieces together, dry, and made markings on each side of the headstock and neck, for alignment purposes.  Margins of error would be included in the placement, to account for any sliding/skating that would occur during the clamping (pressure + glue = slippery surfaces that want to move around), and also for the flushing of the convergent surfaces.  After the lines were made, I applied glue to the appropriate surface of the headstock, and placed it onto the neck, moving it around a bit, to spread the glue.  I lifted it back up, to make sure the glue was covering all points, and found that there was one spot that wasn't getting glue.  The reason for this was a height discrepancy, which meant that there was a spot that was an inch or two wide that was lower than the rest of the wood.  Ned quickly grabbed the piece, wiped the glue off, and did a very quick run on the belt sander- time was of the essence, as we had wet glue on our hands (not literally, haha).  I applied more glue to the surface, to make sure that the existing coat didn't start to dry, and Ned promptly returned with the second piece of wood.  We put them together again, and checked, once more- the glue was now evenly distributed.  I aligned the lines that I had made, and we began applying the clamps.  I believe we used something like six clamps to get the job done.

After the clamping was done, Ned presented me with a chunk of mahogany, which would be used for my heel block.  I ran one side of it over the belt sander, to make it flush and smooth, to glue onto the neck.  This didn't take long, at all.  A few measurements were made, to determine its location on the neck, and then I moved on to the next step.  Before gluing, Ned showed me a little trick of his- he pulled out some 2F Japanese pumice powder that he had, and showed me what to do to optimize the next step of gluing.  He put some powder on the
neck, spread it out a bit, and demonstrated.  By rubbing the heel block and neck together, where they'd be glued, with pumice as an abrasive force, the surfaces would become closer to each other, and be optimal for gluing.  Superior to sanding, as each surface received the same treatment.  Perfect!  I did as he showed me, for  a few minutes, then we cleared the pumice powder and I applied the glue, and the rest was history.  Clamps and the whole 9 yards.  Five clamps, I think?  A picture's worth a thousand words.

Now, it was time to let everything dry- this meant not working on the head or neck for a while.  If you have been following my progress, you'll now know that I have my soundboard and back completed, my sides dressed and ready to be bent, and now my neck, headstock, and heel block are in the works.  This being known, there was only one option left in the deck of "what to work on next" cards... the bridge!  I was a bit excited to do this, as I'd be carving the bridge, and forming a nice, aesthetically appealing shape out of a little chunk of wood.  It's a rewarding experience.  Ned presented me with a small rectangular piece of Indian rosewood, which I gauged to be about 7 inches long (I used my memory of 7" records as a reference).  It was maybe 2 inches wide, and maybe 1.5cm tall.  I realize the units I'm using here aren't consistent, but oh well.  I didn't measure the block, as it wasn't necessary- haha.  

The router, and one of the channels in the bridge that I made with it.

Ned pulled out his book of notes to retrieve the appropriate measurements for the bridge, and provided me with the proper dimensions.  I marked two lines on the surface of the bridge, which separated the central bulk of the bridge from its two wings.  Next, the router was to be used.  Ned readied the router, calibrating it to the right height, with the appropriate bit attached.  I hadn't used a router before, so he also gave me a few safety pointers, and general user information.  Once the setup was ready, it was time to make the first channel.  The Indian rosewood was wedged between two pieces of wood, which served as tracks for the router to move across.  Ned did a few test runs on a scrap piece of wood to make sure the tool was calibrated properly, and then it was my turn.  I did a test run, then started the real thing.  I made one continuous trough, across the length of the bridge- slow and steady wins the race, in the router world.  I examined my work- it was a proper thing.  Ned re-calibrated the router for the next channel to be made, and I went ahead and did my thing.  There were now two channels going through the length of the bridge.


Since these channels were only needed in the centre of the bridge, part of the top of each side of the bridge's wings was to be chopped off.  I did this on the bandsaw.  Essentially, two cuts were made on each side of the bridge, stopping where the tie block would begin.  The cut began at the bottom of each trough, and in effect, the result was having three prongs of wood protruding from the center of the bridge, on each side.  Hard to visualize, perhaps, but hopefully pictures will help to illustrate.  Once the cuts in the side were made by Ned, I took the bridge, and cut the unneeded prongs off, with the bandsaw.  The bridge was starting to look more like a bridge!  Still very angular, but getting there, nonetheless.

Filing the wings of the bridge

 Now that the crude shape of the bridge had been defined, it was time for me to carry out the shaping of it, by hand.  This was to be the fun part!  I clamped the bridge in a vice, and started filing away at the wings of it, with a bastard file. I was to give it an arched profile, similar to that of a fingernail.  The vertical of the sides of the wings was to measure only about 1mm tall.  I filed away at both sides of the bridge for a period of time, and was then satisfied.  I would later be going back over it to finish it off with a milling file, and maybe sandpaper.  

A beautiful, beautiful bridge... not done yet, but it looks
wonderful, so far- a proper thing.  Chiseling next!

Once I finished the preliminary shaping of the wings, I moved on to the chiseling of the core- the three chunks of protruding wood were to be the tie block, and the two pieces of wood which would house the bone saddle.  I began chiseling on the middle piece of wood, closest to the tie block.  It is very rewarding to create such pleasant shapes and curves with basic hand tools- try it, if ever you get the chance, or have the desire.  Ned has taught me the basic principles and importance of tactile feedback, when using hand tools.  Good stuff to know.  Technique is very important!


At about this point, the neck/headstock glue joint was dry, as was the heel block's.  The clamps were removed, and I examined the crude shape of the headstock, neck, and heel block.  It was interesting.  I was to shape these things into a curvy, beautiful instrument, soon enough.  I thought about what I now held in my hands, and what it would soon be.  It's a very interesting process.  Making something out of nothing, is how it feels.  It's great!  Here are a few shots of what I was left with:








After I finished looking at the complete glue joints, I finished the chiseling that I had started on the bridge.  Once I was satisfied with the shape that I had created, I used sandpaper and a fine milling file to smooth any nuanced ridges or other textural discrepancies in the work I had done.  I still had more chiseling to do on the next section, but that would be saved for next time.

 The day's end was drawing nearer, and there was still one step that Ned wanted me to complete, before I left- we had to wait for the glue on the headstock/neck to dry before we could complete it.  I put the bridge aside, and moved to the other workspace where my neck was.  This step would consist of applying the headstock's laminate- I had decided, without a doubt, that I wanted to use African wenge wood, simply because of the intrinsic beauty of its grain.  In addition to the the piece of wenge, there would also be a piece of maple laminate that would go between the mahogany headstock and the wenge laminate, that served solely as an accentuation- the light colour of the maple would make a nice contrast between the mahogany, and the darker wenge.  The piece of wenge was reduced to a thickness of about 2mm, and the maple piece had already been cut to a final thickness of 0.6mm.  I applied glue to the mahogany, spread it out, and placed the maple onto it.  Next, I applied more glue, on top of the maple, and then placed the wenge laminate on top of it.  As per usual, clamps were applied- this time, eight were used- just to be thorough.  This was the final step of the day! 

The gluing/clamping of the headstock's African wenge laminate, with
the accentuating maple sheet, beneath.

A lot was accomplished: I successfully joined my headstock to the neck, and the heel block, as well.  I started my bridge, getting the wings shaped, and one of the protrusions surrounding the saddle, chiseled.  I had now also glued the laminate to my headstock.  All of the basic components of my guitar were now done- the soundboard and back had been completed, the sides were ready to be bent, the bridge was almost finished, and the neck, headstock, and heel block were now assembled;  SUCCESS.

End transmission.

Day 8

The following entry documents Tuesday, March 16, 2013.  Today started out differently than the rest of my days in the shop.  Ned and I began not by working on guitars, but by visiting a few stores, around town.  He told me he had been thinking about buying a bench planer, and had priced a few out.  He also had a file to return, as it had a slight curve in it, and a couple other tools to pick up.  On the way to our first stop, we came across East Coast Hardwood Supply, and decided to stop in for a bit.  I had never been here before, and was excited to see what they had in store- literally.

Upon entering their warehouse area, I was greeted by tons of shelves full of many different types of woods- they were all cut to various sized planks.  They also had chunks of burl, and many other wood rarities.  We went up some stairs to get to the upper levels of the shelving, and started looking at what they had.  I saw various types of ebony, cedar, birch, maple, and more.  I had no clue there were so many varieties of ebony.  I saw a section for bubinga wood- I recognized its name, because a series of Ibanez electric bass guitars I am fond of uses a bit of it.  A new wood I saw was called tulipwood,which had a nice, colorful grain.  Ned found a piece of Spanish cedar that he liked, and ended up toting it along with him for the duration of our browsing.

African wenge wood- some of this beautiful grain will
be featured on the headstock of my guitar.

After looking around for 10 or 15 minutes, we went back to the front of the building, to the checkout area.  The woman behind the counter measured the wood, and priced it out for Ned.  While she was doing this, I was browsing their lobby area- there was a friendly little pug, and a vast array of unique woodworks.  There was a large cross section of a tree, a succession of boars carved into a single log, another succession of animals- elephants- carved into a single log, a few taxidermy pieces, and some African-themed wood carvings.  Tons to look at!  I admired the quality of the boars and elephants- they were my favourite of the gallery.  We left after Ned was done his transaction, and headed to our next destination.
We went to Busy Bee Tools in the Burnside industrial district of Dartmouth- Ned and I split up, and looked at different things.  I picked up two different sized metal rules, and a tweezers/magnifying glass combo- I purchased these three tools for just under $7.  Ned ended up getting a bench planer, as he had planned.  We left, the store, and headed to Kent (an Atlantic Canadian building supply store) to exchange the file that Ned had.  He found a replacement, and an additional file, as well.  We headed to the checkout- Ned is very particular, and concerned with quality- he went as far as asking the clerk to let him cut open the packages to inspect the files for integrity, making sure they were straight, so that he wouldn't run into the same issue, again. He opened 3 different packages, and ended up purchasing two of them.  We were done our tool run!

Once we arrived back at the shop, Ned unpacked his new bench planer, and I pulled out the sides of my guitar.  I had already dressed one side of them, so it was now time to thin them to a near-final thickness.  For this, I used a belt-sander.  It took multiple runs through the belt sander to get them to the right thickness, which I believe was roughly 2.5mm.  The remainder of the finishing would again be done with the wood scraper, for a higher quality finish, with hand-precision. 

 

The sides- completed

After I finished scraping/dressing the sides, they were at about 2.2-2.4mm thick.  There would still be some final scraping, to reduce them to between 2.0 - 2.2mm- this was to be done after the top and back were joined.  I put my sides away for the day, and consulted Ned, to see what the next course of action would be.  Ned had been running a piece of maple through his new bench planer, as a test piece.  It seemed to work fine, but he said he'd have to do some adjusting, as the planer didn't get the wood quite as thin as he wanted it to be.  The next step I would undertake was doing some work on the neck of my guitar.  The neck was to be mahogany- he pulled out a massive chunk of it, and started doing some measurements, to optimize the yield of usable sections for guitar-building.  Once all was said and done, I had a plank that would serve as my neck and headstock- they were to be cut from the same piece of wood.  Before this was done, the mahogany was split down the middle, into two equal sections.  I now had to

The chunk of mahogany from which my neck was cut

decide if I wanted an ebony accent strip, or a wenge one.  After a few minutes of comparing, I chose the ebony.  I found the contrast of the dark ebony against the lighter mahogany much to my liking- I also knew that my headstock would have a piece of wenge on it, which reinforced my choosing ebony.  Ned cut a piece of ebony for me, and then cut it in two pieces- one for the headstock, and one for the neck.  The cut was at an angle, which was done for one specific reason:  the headstock was to be cut from the same piece of the neck, at an angle- after this is done, the piece is flipped over, and glued back onto the piece from which it came, but the angle at which it's cut makes the headstock have the desired angle, relative to the neck.  This is called a scarf joint.  Future pictures will better illustrate this concept. 

The two halves of the neck/headstock, and an
ebony accent/centre strip

I did a bit of planing and sanding the mahogany to get the interior edges flush for the glue joint- I also did a bit of sanding on the ebony.  Ned helped a bit with getting the fit to be as flush as it could possibly be.  Once this preparatory work was done, the glue was applied to the mahogany, and the ebony was set in place.  The ebony was sandwiched between the two pieces of mahogany, and then clamped into place with 4 or 5 clamps.  This was the last step of the day!  I will return next week, to do some further work on the neck.  The sides are now ready to be bent, as well, but this will be done closer to the time of joining the top and back, so the shape which they are bent into will keep its form as much as possible (e.g. If you need to iron your clothes for work, you do it right before work- not a week before).

The glued and clamped neck/headstock, with highly visible glue squeeze-out.  A good thing to see!

Thanks for reading- stay tuned for the next step of the process!

Day 7

Using the chisel to scallop the edge of a harmonic brace

It just so happened I had another Friday off.  I like going to work on the guitar on Fridays, because Ned and I always have a beer or two at the end of the day- it's nice.  Today, I knew I'd be finishing up my soundboard, and starting on something else, which I initially thought was going to be the neck.  I was wrong.

I began by clamping down the soundboard, and gathering the necessary tools for the next bit of work.  This meant fetching the small plane, the small metal rule, the medium-sized chisel, and a couple strips of painter's tape.  I only had to shape another brace or two, and scallop maybe a half-dozen, at the most.  I started chiseling away.  I used the chisel to shape the remainder of the braces, simply because a plane wouldn't be able to fit in the small spaces where braces were close to each other.  I found the chisel much to my liking, and told this to Ned- that I enjoyed using it more than the plane, for shaping.  I think this was mostly because the chisel is a bit more primitive than the plane- you can see the exact point where your piece of metal is contacting the wood, whereas the plane has a body in which your blade is embedded in, and the contact point is thus obscured from view.  Another appealing aspect is that there is no adjusting of the actual tool to be done, with a chisel, unless of course you need to refinish the edge.  A plane would require adjusting the depth and pitch of the blade- more variables to consider.  I become the adjustment, when I use the chisel.  Ned was glad to hear that I favoured the chisel- he felt that a certain set of qualities was being instilled into me.

An almost final picture of the braces- 2 left to be applied, and 2 edges left to be scalloped.

Clamping the final braces- at last!

Once I finished my shaping and scalloping, I glued two additional braces- these were the final pieces of the soundboard.  These ones didn't need to be shaped, vertically, or scalloped- they were merely flat pieces of spruce, only about 2 - 2.5mm thick, and maybe 1cm wide, that went on either side of the soundboard.  I obtained these pieces from the remaining wood from a spruce soundboard cutout that Ned had laying around- I measured and cut the two rectangular pieces, sanded both sides, and then went through the process of getting them to fit into their homes.  They were both to be seated between the two harmonic struts/braces, which are not parallel to each other- this meant that one edge of the brace would be perpendicular to its respective sides, while the bottom edge would have a slight angle, in order for it to fit flush against both of the harmonic braces.  This was a trial-and-error process, where I sanded an angle to the bottom edge of each brace, shimmying it along the inside of the braces, until it had the right angle and length to go where it was to be glued.  Once all was said and done, I grabbed some wood shims/blocks for clamping, applied the glue, and clamped them into place. 

At one point in the day, Ned showed me some tuners, online, made by a gentleman whom he had met- they were truly beautiful- and handcrafted (His work can be seen here - http://www.graftuners.com/home.html).  After taking a few minutes to check them all out, I asked Ned about my tuners, and he gladly pulled them out to show me.  I saw them up close, studied them, and was pleased.  They were very sharp looking.  Golden-coloured metal plates, and dark ebony knobs.  I can't recall the brand of them, but I will go into further depth on them, once I get to the end of my guitar-building journey.

After lunch, I removed the clamps from the last two braces, and scraped away the excess glue around the two final braces.  Once I finished, I took a look at my work- the soundboard was finally completed.  It was time for the next step.

While I had previously thought that I would be
starting on the neck of my guitar, next, I instead began working on the sides.  The sides, as I have mentioned before, are Indian rosewood, just as the back is.  I pulled out the old trusty wood scraper, and started.  Ned suggested that I decide which side of the side planks would be the exterior side- he suggested I started this decision-making process by scraping the wax off of the ends of the planks, to examine the grain from the side.  I did this to both pieces, and the grain looked very consistent.  Since I was unable to make a decision in this manner, I scraped a small section of the wood away until the grain was revealed- I could barely make out the grain, before, due to the rough saw marks and splinters of wood sticking out.  I made my decision, and Ned marked which side was to be dressed, and which was to be thinned. 

I began the dressing process, but not before Ned trimmed a bit of length off of the long side of the side planks, to reduce the amount of scraping to be done.  I then started scraping.  I continued this process throughout the afternoon, and I felt a great deal of improvement, in my scraping technique.  Ned, of course, gave me pointers, here and there, and by the end of the day, he had noticed a great deal of improvement in my technique, as had I.  Of this, I was proud.  This was what the remainder of my afternoon was spent doing.

Before & after scraping/dressing

Before the day came to an end, we split two pints.  The previous day, I went for a trip to Premier Wines, located in Halifax- they carry a broad selection of crafted spirits- much more satisfactory than the local NSLC chains.  I decided to bring a bottle of Propeller's Double IPA, and a bottle of North Coast Brewing Company's Brother Thelonious.  I found it appropriate to get the latter beer, since Ned had a bit of history with jazz, and the fact that the beer was music-related, in general, caught my attention.  We started with the Brother Thelonious, sipped away at that, and then moved on to the Propeller- It was a great way to finish the day.

I finished dressing my sides- my next session will include the thinning and bending of them!  That's pretty exciting... the curves are being made- and the shape of the guitar is coming together!  It's great! 

A handful of Indian rosewood shavings

Until next time...  Thanks for reading!

Day 6

Ahhh, yes.  Another good day at the shop.  This entry is documenting Friday, April 5, 2013.  I've been busy with work, so I haven't had time to update the blog.  I was up and at it early- it's always nice waking up early, and having your routine to go through, with time to spare.  Ned and I caught up a bit, and then got to work.

I began my day by using a chisel to scallop the ends of my already glued and shaped fan braces- all seven of them.






Once all seven of the fan braces were completed, I moved on to the two small lower ones, that you see below the fan braces.  I came to realize that planing and shaping the sides of the braces gets tricky, once you already have other braces glued in place, within a close proximity.  But I got it done.  I used a doubled-up strip of painter's tape to protect the ends of the fan braces, and then I shaped and scalloped the two lower ones.





Beautiful.  I was quite pleased with the outcome of the shape and scalloping of all of the braces.  There's something very satisfying about the forming of braces.  Turning a rigid and angular piece of wood into angular and aesthetically pleasing shapes...

The soundhole is now a hole!  This picture also reveals the
next bit of work I started- the gluing of the harmonic braces,
and a couple others, as well.

The next bit I did was a simple step, but a very substantial one, in my eyes.  It is one that makes the guitar really look more like a guitar.  I cut out the soundhole!  I used the same device (made by Ned) that I used to cut out the circumferences of the rosette channel- the only difference was that the blade was set deeper.  I had Ned calibrate it to the right radial measurement, and I double-checked things.  We did a couple test runs, then deemed it ready.  Ned fetched a scrap piece of wood, roughly 3/4" thick, to put underneath the soundboard, as the braces were facing down.  This piece of wood also had a hole drilled in the center, in which we placed a small peg for the incising device to be seated upon.  I used the cutter to score the circumference of the soundhole, around the interior of the rosette.  A small bit of cedar was left on the inside of the rosette, so that the edge of the rosette, itself, would not be exposed.  It's also more aesthetically appealing.  The scoring helps make for a smoother cutting process, and also ensures that no grain splintering occurs during the cutting.  After the initial scoring was done, I continued dragging the blade around in the trough that was left in its wake.  I did this a numerous amount of times, until the length of the blade was as far down as it would go.  I removed the device, and let Ned set the blade to cut a bit deeper, as I had not cut completely through the soundboard, yet.  Once it was set, again, I repeated what I had done, before, and continued making circle after circle, until finally, I heard the last bit of grain being cut.  I then removed the incisor, and extracted the cedar disk.  At last!  I examined the hole, and the piece that was once in its place- I think I will put a finish on the cedar puck, and make it a nice beer coaster, or something like that.  It's sort of like a little trophy.  As I was glancing upon it, Ned pulled out a small stack of soundhole inserts that he had saved, himself.  Pretty neat!

So, as the picture revealed, I glued my harmonic braces, next.  And long story short, I did a bunch more braces, after that.  That was most of the day.  Braces.  Gluing, clamping, shaping, and scalloping.  That's it.  Here are some more pictures:

The octagonal template/caul is still used, so that its curvature is
applied to the braces during the clamping, and thus, to the
soundboard.

Lower harmonic brace/strut

Back

Top/soundboard

This is the last photo of the day- I made a lot of progress!

I got all of my braces glued on, and most of them shaped and scalloped- I only have two braces left to glue on, which are ladder braces that will go on either side of the soundhole, for reinforcement.  Other than that, I just have a couple other braces to shape/scallop, that are already glued on.  Can't wait to be finished with my soundboard!  I'll also take a picture of it from the front, so you can see the rosette and soundhole.  Once I'm done with the soundboard, I'll move onto the neck!  Super-exciting.  Until next time...