colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by colins on Mar 15, 2016 19:54:05 GMT
Building the prize guitar for this years arrangement competition is underway, as you'll know this will be a OOO 12 fret guitar made from White Spruce and Gonzalo Alves with a laminated curly sycamore neck.
Top : White Spruce B&S: Gonzalo Alves Neck: Curly sycamore with ebony and pear laminates FB and Bridge: Ziricote: Binding: Curly Sycamore.
This is the model guitar, this one is Lutz Spruce/Black Limba/Cherry
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The body is 15" lower bout and is my FE19 Torres classical body that I also used on the OO-13 that was last years draw prize, but with a half inch added all round, it makes a very sweet fingerstyle guitar, especially suited to standard tuning, but will also work altered.
The wood.
First job is to make the laminated linings, they are four layer laminates, with three of spruce and a cap of mahogany, each layer is thinned to 1.25mm and then they are glued and layered so that the inside one is mahogany and cold glued in a two part form. They then become extremely rigid and form a very stiff lining for the sides. I believe in architecture they call these engineered joists.
Next a lot of sanding, the sides have to be thinned to just over 2mm in preparation for bending, the top and back are taken down to 3.5mm thick ready to joint and glue up, they'll be further thinned after joining, and the installation of the rosette.
I'm building this guitar in tandem with a nylon string guitar, based on my Torres classical with a few twists, for James Daubney, so I'll also start another thread for that.
Colin |
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 15, 2016 23:07:15 GMT
Oooh, two new builds to watch!  Keith |
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colins
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Post by colins on Mar 18, 2016 18:35:49 GMT
The edges of the plates were jointed, one of my favourite bits of guitar building, it's using a pre-war Record plane to take micron thick shaving to produce a perfect join, I love it.
The plates are joined using Hot Hide Glue and the tent method.
I use wax paper under the plate, you don't want to glue your joined plate down onto the bench and then have to use your side bending blanket to unstick it again do you? DAMHIK!
The joined plates.
Colin |
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R the F
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My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Mar 18, 2016 20:00:09 GMT
The brown tape. This is an example of the sort of thing I see/read about in proper builds (like yours) and then spend days blowing up pictures and worrying over descriptions to work out exactly what kind of brown tape I should be using. Is it the stuff you lick? (I can't see you doing that much licking). Is it the shiny stuff they use for parcels? (A bit tacky that stuff). I've actually settled on the kind of brown tape I think it is but am I right? (I use self-adhesive paper stuff which comes from an artist's materials shop and is meant for closing off the back of picture frames and so on.) Am I on the right track?
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Post by Mike Floorstand on Mar 18, 2016 23:28:01 GMT
For some reason I rather like seeing pictures of the tent method, it seems to be both ingeniously and perhaps deceptively simple.
I assume there are other methods, which are probably fiendishly difficult and less effective than tenting?
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Post by earthbalm on Mar 19, 2016 8:44:23 GMT
Sorry to ask a question (or two) but what is the tent method and how does it differ from other methods of joining back / tops?
Thanks all.
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R the F
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Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Mar 19, 2016 9:18:28 GMT
Sorry to ask a question (or two) but what is the tent method and how does it differ from other methods of joining back / tops? Thanks all. First of all you have to find a tent big enough to get all the equipment in... No, I think I'd better let someone else explain this - I'd only get something wrong. |
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Post by earthbalm on Mar 19, 2016 9:48:49 GMT
Sorry to ask a question (or two) but what is the tent method and how does it differ from other methods of joining back / tops? Thanks all. First of all you have to find a tent big enough to get all the equipment in... No, I think I'd better let someone else explain this - I'd only get something wrong.  That was my theory too... |
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 19, 2016 9:51:36 GMT
Caravan method of joining bits of wood? A bit slow, hard to get past and holds up all the subsequent activity far too long.
Keith
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colins
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Post by colins on Mar 19, 2016 11:55:14 GMT
A lot of methods of joining backs and tops stem from the old Spanish methods using wedges and rope to pull the pieces together on a board. The tent method simply uses tape to hold the two pieces together.
First the two pieces are taped together on one side using a slightly stretchy binding tape they are then turned over and raised into a 'tent'.
Hot hide glue is then run along the surfaces to be joined (collagen glues like HHG and fish glue work best for this as they pull the joint together as they dry).
The tent is then lowered flat and the top side pulled tight with tape.
If the joint is planed true in the first place then very little pressure is needed to ensure a tight joint.
Colin
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francis
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My main instrument is: Whatever I'm building...
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Post by francis on Mar 20, 2016 9:18:20 GMT
I use wedges for backs and fronts but for smaller pieces I use 1" masking tape
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Mar 20, 2016 13:12:31 GMT
Then there's tent with pegs:   |
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Post by earthbalm on Mar 20, 2016 14:07:32 GMT
A lot of methods of joining backs and tops stem from the old Spanish methods using wedges and rope to pull the pieces together on a board. The tent method simply uses tape to hold the two pieces together. First the two pieces are taped together on one side using a slightly stretchy binding tape they are then turned over and raised into a 'tent'.  Hot hide glue is then run along the surfaces to be joined (collagen glues like HHG and fish glue work best for this as they pull the joint together as they dry). The tent is then lowered flat and the top side pulled tight with tape.  If the joint is planed true in the first place then very little pressure is needed to ensure a tight joint. Colin Thanks very much for the explanation Colin. Makes much more sense now. Dale |
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,397
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Post by colins on Mar 20, 2016 19:32:30 GMT
Sides bent today, my usual stack bottom to top, slat/foil/paper/side/paper/foil/slat/blanket. Just a light sptritz of water on the paper.
Both sides out of the bender in one piece with no cupping or spring back. Celebratory cup of tea then consumed.
Colin
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,397
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Post by colins on Mar 21, 2016 9:58:53 GMT
The brown tape. This is an example of the sort of thing I see/read about in proper builds (like yours) and then spend days blowing up pictures and worrying over descriptions to work out exactly what kind of brown tape I should be using. Is it the stuff you lick? (I can't see you doing that much licking). Is it the shiny stuff they use for parcels? (A bit tacky that stuff). I've actually settled on the kind of brown tape I think it is but am I right? (I use self-adhesive paper stuff which comes from an artist's materials shop and is meant for closing off the back of picture frames and so on.) Am I on the right track? Sorry missed this. The tape I use is the standard binding tape from Stew Mac or LMI. I expect it's available here in the UK, but I always add a few rolls to every order I make with SM or LMI. It has a slight stretch and just the right adhesion for me. A lot of the US builders use this stuff : www.rothkoandfrost.com/binding-tape/ ,which I think I might give a try.
Colin
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That was my theory too...
Jo whoever he is.
