davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 19, 2020 11:28:29 GMT
A soundport “bung” is made from Oregon Myrtle and will have an Bog Oak bridge pin “handle” to enable the guitar to be played with the soundport open or closed. The neck and soundport “bung” are sprayed too:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 14, 2020 17:45:30 GMT
The Oregon Myrtle pores are so small that no pore filling is required. The first pre-catalysed lacquer coats are sprayed on:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 11, 2020 16:15:11 GMT
Good to see it back out - I've got a copy of the first re-issue CD of 1998.
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 10, 2020 8:10:19 GMT
I'll be interested to see what ytou think of the steel string version... I assume it means heavier bracing? Any other changes? Leo, So will I The top X braces are slightly higher, the saddles are slanted for the compensation needed for steel strings and the nut width is 2mm less.
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 9, 2020 15:12:08 GMT
A little tangential to Rob's guitar but related - it's amazing what this "Lockup" can do to you and here are a group of "Boghas in the white": Left to right we have Rob's "Bogha Fada", then a "Bogha Fada" I'm making for me as I liked the one I made for Steve Tilston a lot - four piece European Spruce top with Almond back, American Black Walnut sides, Cedrella neck, Claro Walnut fingerboard and bridge and Ovangkol bindings and headplates; then a steel string version I'm making to see how that works out, "Bogha Fada Cruach" - Caucasian Spruce top, English Walnut back and sides, African Walnut neck, Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard, bridge, bindings and headplates; and finally "Bogha Beag" the eight string Piccolo guitar whose build I'm documenting in this Forum thread.Lots of fun applying finishes and setting these up to come.
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 9, 2020 10:02:53 GMT
Looking great Dave, thank you. I was talking bog oak today with a timber framer, he was given a large log by a friend, apparently you have to soak 'raw' bog oak before you machine it otherwise it really twists and bends... He generally works with green oak (buildings) but has been using the bog oak for smaller pieces of furniture and accent features. He also said it really smells when it's cut and is colloquially called 'stink oak'.... Not sure if he was pulling my leg, he seemed sincere. Rob, I haven't worked with wet Bog Oak but the dried stuff certainly has its own aroma when cut but then so does ordinary oak - a sort of spicy smell. A bit like pig farms - it's a good way of checking you don't have one of the Covid symptoms You can see how it becomes coal as the dust can get everywhere.
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 8, 2020 16:37:48 GMT
The bridge is positioned in the correct place on the top and clamped with a caul underneath the bridge-plate. The outside two holes are then drilled through the top for holding the bridge when gluing: The holes are reamed with the 3° reamer enough for the Ebony bridge-pins to hold the bridge in place:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 8, 2020 16:36:14 GMT
The Bog Oak bridge blank is thicknessed and marked out for the saddle slots to be routed and then the bottom of the bridge is profiled to match the top’s curvature: The saddle slot is routed using this jig: The ramp behind the saddle slots is made and he bridge pin holes are drilled out (4mm drill) . . . . . . and countersunk. They will be reamed later for the pins to fit: The rest of the bridge is then shaped:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 4, 2020 10:25:59 GMT
The fretboard is radiused to 16” checking for straightness with the straight edge and radius with the fret caul: Then the gold EVO frets are pressed in: Here’s the fretted neck on the body:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 3, 2020 18:33:10 GMT
This is quite a good cartoon Merry Christmas There's a lot more cartoons here probably including the catalogue or ones like it
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Dec 1, 2020 16:15:59 GMT
I wonder what you have to do to become a "Master Luthier" - is that a step on the way to becoming a "Doctor of Luthiery"? Open University course perhaps? I think you just call yourself one. I'm sure you qualify Dave. Dave- I've called myself many things but not that one
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Nov 30, 2020 13:28:21 GMT
Can any of the luthiers here tell me what the environmental and sustainability impact is when using bog-wood to make guitars? I appreciate our tropical hardwoods are rapidly running out, but moving to a semi-fossilised substance that only exists in severely limited quantities and takes thousands of years to mature doesn't instinctively feel like a step in the right direction to me as a casual observer. I also recently heard a report about the catastrophic effects on habitats and CO2 release that draining peat bogs during the 80s and 90s had, even as part of a well-intentioned government scheme to plant more trees. I don't know Pete. I've only used small pieces - fretboards, bridges, bindings - sourced from the East Anglia Fens and as I understand it a bi-product of farming rather than an active recovery industry. Cursory Googling hasn't thrown up any huge outcry about it in ecological terms. What I did find is that there are huge "bog areas" in the USA, Africa and Eastern Europe/Siberia where there are concerns about CO2 release and future management. I did come across one article that seemed to suggest a more active recovery industry in the Ukraine but this seems geared at the bespoke furniture market and arts collectors rather than the musical instrument making industry. The effect on the planets eco systems from individual luthiers I suspect is tiny.
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Nov 29, 2020 13:27:12 GMT
When the glue is dry the heelcap is scraped and sanded flush. As far as I am aware I’m the only maker that binds heel-caps like this and I did my first in one 2006. It allows the use of off-cuts of the back wood to continue into the heel-cap with the binding also flowing through. You can also use it to continue the wood used for the neck into the heel-cap when you have interesting neck woods like Spalted Beech or use a laminated neck: Here’s how the back looks: Looking more like a guitar:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Nov 29, 2020 13:25:06 GMT
The guitar will have an Oregon Myrtle heel cap bound with Bog Oak with bwb purfling to match the side binding. The first step is to shape and glue on the Oregon Myrtle heel cap using wood off-cuts from the back that match the grain pattern: Now it’s one of my favourite parts – neck carving - as colins says removing all of the wood that isn't the neck : The heel is then routed for the binding: The Bog Oak binding with bwb purfling is bent on the hot pipe and glued on using fish glue:
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Nov 29, 2020 10:58:06 GMT
Just to be clear my comments were a response to andyhowell choice of words that I couldn't resist I'd have no hesitation in using a suitable set Bog Oak for back and sides and have made other guitars using "bog standard" oak which is a mighty fine tone wood and in my eyes a beautiful wood in it's own right. I can see how the source and creation process of Bog Oak gives it an added mystique along with the darker colour and other makers such as Fylde, Brook, Lowden have used it - this is Roger Bucknall's take on itmichaelwatts I enjoyed the video but a question for you - I'm intrigued to know how many Bog Oak back and side acoustic guitars you have played and what criteria you used to calculate/estimate the difference in degree of "vitreous/glassiness" of the Bog Oak used on the guitars as alluded to at 2m57s to 3m in the video.
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