leoroberts
C.O.G. 
Posts: 26,116 
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Mar 16, 2021 6:52:13 GMT
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Post by lars on Mar 16, 2021 18:54:55 GMT
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garynava
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 460
My main instrument is: Stanley No.5
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Post by garynava on Mar 17, 2021 16:26:04 GMT
Looking good Lars! Neat mitres on the purflings!
I like the idea of having the elevated fretboard- it's something that I would try if I got around to building another guitar! I think that it will give you much better height over the soundboard at the saddle and maybe increased volume? Look forward to the end result.
Take care Gary.
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Post by lars on Mar 18, 2021 19:53:11 GMT
Looking good Lars! Neat mitres on the purflings! I like the idea of having the elevated fretboard- it's something that I would try if I got around to building another guitar! I think that it will give you much better height over the soundboard at the saddle and maybe increased volume? Look forward to the end result. Take care Gary. Thank you Gary! I really hope that you'll get around to build more guitars! But may be you're overestimate my reasoning behind the elevated fretboard. The neck extension will rest on the top - which in its turn is resting on the neck block extension. So I doubt that I will have an increased volume. And this time it was necessity that made me use the method, as I screwed up the angle of the top at the upper bout. But I think it makes it easier to get the right string height and I hope it will increase the playability at the higher frets. And in the future I might develop the method with an adjustable neck and have a truly elevated fretboard. /Lars |
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garynava
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 460
My main instrument is: Stanley No.5
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Post by garynava on Mar 20, 2021 16:09:48 GMT
Looking good Lars! Neat mitres on the purflings! I like the idea of having the elevated fretboard- it's something that I would try if I got around to building another guitar! I think that it will give you much better height over the soundboard at the saddle and maybe increased volume? Look forward to the end result. Take care Gary. Thank you Gary! I really hope that you'll get around to build more guitars! But may be you're overestimate my reasoning behind the elevated fretboard. The neck extension will rest on the top - which in its turn is resting on the neck block extension. So I doubt that I will have an increased volume. And this time it was necessity that made me use the method, as I screwed up the angle of the top at the upper bout. But I think it makes it easier to get the right string height and I hope it will increase the playability at the higher frets. And in the future I might develop the method with an adjustable neck and have a truly elevated fretboard. /Lars With the strings a greater distance from the soundboard, the saddle should move the soundboard more. My theory anyway! Cheers Gary |
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Post by lars on Mar 21, 2021 19:39:57 GMT
With the strings a greater distance from the soundboard, the saddle should move the soundboard more. My theory anyway! Cheers Gary Let us hope you’re right! Cheers Lars |
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Post by lars on Mar 24, 2021 18:35:47 GMT
FinishingHere is what has been going on for the last week or two weeks. After a lot of sanding I pore filled neck and body with egg white, as I learnt on this site. It's a tedious work of rubbing in egg white and wood dust with fine abrasive:  This is made 3 or 4 times and sanding down to the wood each time (except for the spruce top which only gets one layer as it hasn't open pores). Then it's more sanding up to 1200 or 2000 grit (I can't remember where I stopped). I planned for using the same Osmo Hard Wax Oil as I used on the previous guitar and the two previous mandolins. But I was out of oil and the store couldn't deliver for a long time. So instead I tried a one component polyurethane lacquer that I diluted with white spirit to become a "wipe on poly":  And after a few more layers:  The result in real life isn't quite as convincing as on the photo. But I stopped after 8 layers. Now I have some waiting before I can polish the surface with MicroMesh. And I will not know about the end result until then. Meanwhile I could be working with bridge and saddle, but I have to wait until humidity rises. Two days ago the hydrometer showed this:  Then spring arrived yesterday and levels are more normal. But I can't trust that the wood have adapted to normal conditions yet. So right now it's all about waiting. And this weekend I will go for Easter holidays (not braking any covid-regulations) and stay for a bit more than a week. So I guess that next update will take two or three weeks.
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Post by lars on Apr 5, 2021 12:41:24 GMT
Making the bridgeNow I'm back home from Easter holidays and today I had the time to make the bridge. The material is the same as the fretboard, a "wood" called Blackwood Tec - a softwood that has been prepared to get the looks and properties of ebony. To be honest - I don't like it and I will probably not use it again. It's as difficult to work as ebony and it seems to be as unhealthy as true ebony. And it's not very convincing as an ebony look-a-like, but at least it's very black. First I must take down the size to near finished dimensions. It was hopeless to plane, but I made it with some efforts:  The blank is put in this jig for the Dremel:  And the saddle slot is routed in the correct angle:  The underside is sanded to match the top curvature. First roughly on a sanding template:  And then on top of the top itself:  The extension of the neck sides are marked at the bridge position, so the position for the strings and end pins can be estimated:  The holes for the end pins are drilled and the outline of the bridge is cut with the band saw (no pictures taken). The bridge gets its final shape with a lot of filing and sanding. The height must be reduced and also get the same curvature as the fretboard. All rough ends and surfaces must be smooth:   Here the finished bridge lies in approximately the right position:   Next week I hope to glue the bridge in position and make the other steps so it can be strung up.
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Post by lefranglais on Apr 9, 2021 21:45:12 GMT
That's looking very nice Lars
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Post by lars on Apr 10, 2021 17:56:18 GMT
That's looking very nice Lars Thank you Dave:-) |
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Post by lars on Apr 11, 2021 15:18:00 GMT
Attaching the bridge and stringing up!I add some masking tape on the top and find the exact position for the bridge with some help from StewMac Fret position calculator. I carefully clamp it temporarily and drill the holes for the outermost holes. I also scribe around the bridge with an exacto knife.  Here I make a dry clamping to see that everything will work. I use bolts, washers and wing nuts to use the holes for clamping and add with three special clamps:  Then I remove all, including the inner part of the masking tape (which was scribed). The lacquer is removed with a gauge (this takes some careful carving!) and the surface is sanded:  And it is time to glue the bridge:  The last steps involve making a saddle and a nut from bone blanks. I didn't document these steps except from this one image of a half made nut:  So here is the guitar ready to be strung up:  The problem was that I didn't have the appropriate strings to put on. I found a set meant for dadgad with extra heavy strings especially for the E, b and e strings. So I used them for the first preliminary period:      I can't say very much about the sound yet. It's loud. It doesn't have quite the fullness in sound that I'm hoping for - yet. But it's a spruce top and the sound will change a lot in the first weeks. The playability is awful right now. I left the saddle far too high on purpose, to let the top set in, so the string height is accordingly too high. This combined with the extra heavy strings makes it a bastard to play. But I have good hope for the future. I will wait for at least two weeks and play it regularly. I will then sand down the saddle to final height and restring with ordinary medium strings. A truss rod cover will be added together with strap buttons. I will probably add a K&K as well. Until then... cheers!
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Jo whoever he is.
