Day 15

Saw this little guy on my way to the shop.

Got a good bit done, today.  Before starting the day, Ned made a list for me of tasks to complete.  I got 5/6 of them done, by the end of the day, which wasn't bad, in my opinion. 

I'll try my best to recollect what the list consisted of:  cleaning up the sides, getting the tail strip glued on, cutting the sides to prepare for gluing, gluing the sides to the neck, gluing the upper linings into place... and something else that I can't quite remember.  Maybe it'll come to me, later...

I began by starting on the step that involved the tail strip.  I had a tapered piece of ebony to put where the sides joined at the tail, so I placed the ebony where it needed to go, and drew lines to indicate where it would go.  I then used a small pull-cut saw to create 1mm cuts, corresponding to the location of the lines I had drawn.  I then used a chisel to create a channel for the tail strip to sit in, between the two cuts I had made.  The cuts helped to prevent any grain tear-out/splintering during the chiseling process- they were also evidently a visual perimeter of where

The beginning of the chiseling process

the chiseling was to be done.  I chiseled away for a while, and fitted the ebony strip in.  I also had two very small strips of maple that would go on either side of the ebony, serving as a contrast between the darker woods that were Indian rosewood and ebony.

I did a dry clamp of the three pieces of wood, before I got ready to apply the glue.  It was a tight fit, which I thought seemed pretty good.  After the dry clamp, I got the glue out, and began to apply it.  Ned came to see where I was at in the process, and was quick to show me a more efficient way of applying the glue for the process (I tend to over-think things, sometimes).  The glue was applied, and the pieces were put into place.  A thin block of wood was used to clamp onto, and two clamps were tightened into place.  I eventually placed a third and smaller one, just for security.  Getting the glued pieces into place was a bit of a challenge- as I said before, the dry clamp of the wood was tight; I hadn't accounted for the swelling that the wood would do, after the glue application, but all's well that ends well!

The tail strip, with glue and clamps applied

Once the tail strip dried, I began doing some scraping.  The ebony and maple stood above the Indian rosewood, so it had to be leveled.  I scraped it from various directions, and then moved on to cleaning up the sides a bit, since I had the scraper handy.  This mostly consisted of scraping off any dark spots created from the heat burning the wood during the bending process.  Ned did a little tutorial for me involving methyl hydrate- this is used to disperse the dye of the Indian rosewood.  Next time, I'll use that to get the sides closer to completion.  I am pretty sure I'll be doing this to the back of the guitar, too, as it is also Indian rosewood.  Once I finished with the tail strip, I moved on to the next step, which would involve gluing the sides into the heel block.

Ned and I put the sides into the form that he had made.  Measurements were roughed out, and lines were drawn.  Once I had made the lines indicating where I was to cut, I grabbed a cutting block, a saw, and got to work.  I cut the sides to length, and then tailored them a bit more.  I used a small plane to fit them into the slots in the

The tail strip, after the scraping.  Sharp!

heel block.  Once they fit well, it was time to glue.  I filled the slots with glue, then fit them into place, cleaning up the squeeze-out along the way.  Once I had everything set, I looked it all over:  the sides were now glued into the heel block, which is affixed to the end of the neck.  The guitar was starting to look like one.

Towards the end of the day, I pulled out my linings to get them ready to glue.  It came to my attention that I hadn't quite finished bending them, so I got to work.  After getting one bent into shape, I measured and cut it to the proper length, so that its ends fit against the tail and heel blocks.  I began working on the second lining, but time intervened. 

All in all, the day was a good one- I got a lot done.  The guitar's shape was starting to come together.  The only thing on the list that remained was to get the linings glued into place.  Well, that, and finishing up the cleaning up of the sides, with the methyl hydrate, but that would be a fairly easy step.  Next time, I'll do these things, and then attach the soundboard, I believe.  I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE GUITAR TO BE DONE!

Day 14

Ok.  So both of my sides are bent.  Today I'll be bending some basswood linings, trimming the sides, and begin joining them.  I'll also work on my bridge a bit more.

The bridge work I did today consisted of filing, mostly.  I used a few different types of files to flush up the edges of the bone with the sides of the Indian rosewood tie block.  After everything was flush on all edges, I used the files to soften/round the outer edges of the bone.  Doing this makes the finished result look nicer, and it also reduces the chances of any chipping occurring on the sharp outer edges of the bone.  I refinished the whole thing over with a milling file, and then with two different grades of abrasive pads.  Boom.

Next I began getting my tail block ready for gluing the sides together.  The piece was a small flat block of mahogany.  Before gluing, I had to give the surface that was to be glued a slight camber, as the bottom of the guitar, where the sides join, would not be flat, but would have a very slight curve.  I took the piece of mahogany and gave it the desired effect with sandpaper, doing one side of the block, at a time.  The centre of the block would stay the same, but each of its edges would have to be reduced very slightly, and the transition between the reduction and the centre of the block would have to be made fluid, to properly fit the curve.

Ned put some strips of basswood in the bathtub for me, to let them soak in preparation for bending them.  After they sat for a half hour or so, I began bending them.  He briefed me on their qualities and characteristics, and told me what would happen when I bent them.  Basswood is much softer than Indian rosewood, so I would have to be a bit more gentle on them.  He also let me know that a sort of crumpling effect would take place when bending them, as the surface touching the heating peg would sort of fold in on itself, while the outer edge would stretch.  I began bending, and got the feel for the wood.  I noticed quickly the effect he spoke of, and learned how to sort of blend the crumples together, to make the interior smooth.  I got two linings bent, fitting them to the inside curve of the already bent sides, as this is where they would be glued.  There would be four, total.

After getting two of them done, Ned said it would be best for me to begin cutting my sides, getting them ready to glue together- so I did.  I fit them properly in the template/jig that he had built, and began marking lines where I was to cut.  Essentially, the sides were longer than they needed to be, so I had to trim a bit off of each end.  The bottoms would sit flush together, whereas the tops would fit into the heel block, so they were cut shorter, just shy of the halfway/centre point of the guitar.  I used a square to mark lines on all four sides, fetched a cutting block, clamps, and the pull-cut saw, and began cutting.  

I clamped the sides back into the jig once I was done, and inspected the fit.  Not bad at all!  I took them back out, and got ready to clamp the sides together, with the tail block on the interior wall.  I did a dry clamp, first, to make sure everything was flush.  Four standard clamps were used.  I applied glue to the tail block, set it in place, and put a small sheet of wax paper on the exterior seam of the sides.  I then applied the clamps, after fitting the sides on.  I saw a good bit of glue squeeze-out.  Good stuff.  I used a cotton ball to remove some of the squeeze-out, to make it easier on me, once the glue was dry, as it would've been a bit

more difficult scraping the dried glue off with a wood scraper, on a surface that has a slight curve.  Hard to explain, but yeah.  I set the clamped assembly aside, to let it dry.  I believe that was essentially it, for the day.  Next time, I will be bending the other linings, and gluing the top of the sides into the heel block... or so I think.  Can't wait!

Also- I will be out of town for work, next week, so I will not be updating the blog until the week after next.  Unfortunate...