2016 Arrangement competition prize guitar build thread

The label is glued in and the top then glued in place with fish glue.

Next day the top and back overhang are trimmed off and the closed box is ready for the binding.

Colin

Time for the binding, this guitar will have curly sycamore binding with Gonzalo Alves and B/pear/B top purfling, side and back purfling is just B/pear/B.

First job of course is to rout the channels, this is probably the last buttock clenching job on a guitar, but Gary Hallam's superb jig (combined with my awesome talent) makes it a doddle.

The binding and purfling are glued in with fish glue, I actually glue the top and back purfling in first and after the glue has set I can then check and adjust the binding channel for a perfect fit.



Next day the tape is removed and the sides levelled with the binding, yes I level the sides to the binding rather than the binding to the sides as this ensures that the binding remains even all round. The top and back binding/purfling is planed and scraped flush and a basic sanding to make it pretty, more sanding will of course follow.

Next it'll be on to the neck.

Colin

The same delay with the missing tuners and hardwear has held up this build as well as the 'classical' build I'm doing for James, anyway on with the motley.

This guitar is going to have a laminated sycamore neck so a nine piece lay-up was glued together with sycamore/black/pear/black/sycamore/black/pear/black/sycamore layers, using fish glue and lots of clamps.

The scarf cut, stacked and planed level.

The ziricote fingerboard is sanded to thickness, and the slots cut.



Then radiused to 16", I do this by first taking the bulk off by sanding two graduated facets using the drum sander and various thickness shims under the edge.

It's then a simple job to clean up the radius using a 16" radius block and sandpaper.



And checked along the length with the fret caul.




Now the observant amongst you will see that I cut the slots in a flat board and then proceeded to sand off the edges of the board, thus reducing the depth of the slots at the edges. I could have cut the slots deep enough so that when the radius is sanded in the depth of the slot was deep enough at the edge, but this would have meant the slots being over deep in the middle. Now one of my pet hates is over deep slots that have large gaps under the tang when the frets are seated, I like the slots in the board to follow the radius of the face of the board, so I need to re-cut the slots once the board is radiused using the existing slots as a guide and a depth stop set on the saw.

Two finished fingerboards, one the smallest scale length I build 632mm the other the longest at 650mm.

Now when are these damn tuners and truss rods going to get here?

Colin