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!