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Post by andyhowell on Apr 19, 2017 17:25:00 GMT
Getting there. I have no
Opinions about binding except beware of overdoing it!
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Apr 19, 2017 17:32:41 GMT
I've been wondering about this final modification of the binding; what do you think?
 Good Lord, no. Smiley faces and Morphs....<shudder>  |
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Apr 19, 2017 17:39:18 GMT
I double dog dare you Rob!  Keith |
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Post by littlemart on Apr 19, 2017 19:08:45 GMT
Yep, I think the baby owls certainly look cuter than slugs or woodlice!
Joking apart, it's looking as if it's all coming along very nicely.
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R the F
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Post by R the F on Apr 19, 2017 21:13:05 GMT
Baby owls? Morps? Double dogs? Woodlice? Smiley faces? I actually had Kilroy was here in mind - but it may just be an age thing! Thanks for trying anyway!
And to anyone who thinks it - I mean the real thing - looks awful but doesn't want to say so, thank you, too! I may agree with you... but just find me another one like it (as they say on Bargain Hunt).
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Apr 20, 2017 6:48:19 GMT
Rob, Hats off again to you again sir  I love the binding - it reminds me of the styles used in making early instruments - Stradavarius, Lacotte etc and will look unique and stunning. Just think what those early makers could have achieved if they'd had an electric rolling pin  |
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R the F
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Post by R the F on Apr 20, 2017 8:32:58 GMT
Thank you kindly, Dave.
p.s. They would certainly have achieved a warm palm.
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Post by gavdav on Apr 21, 2017 11:22:44 GMT
What I love most about the binding it that it looks like a quite simple process (haha) that would be a total pain to do entirely mechanically, i.e. a big gulf between hand building and factory production, in the best possible way.
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R the F
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Post by R the F on Apr 21, 2017 13:00:58 GMT
I think you've probably hit upon what I was after. I was looking for a binding that didn't entail straight lines and the use of a router (which is always a pain to set up unless you have built a proper jig to do the job and even then can be a bit iffy). I wanted something that was very clearly hand-made - and, unfortunately, it is very clearly hand-made in places (photos not below)!
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Apr 30, 2017 13:30:29 GMT
Chin up, Rob...as you say, it looks like a guitar, hopefully it'll sound like a guitar and, as with ducks, that means it'll be a guitar. And, if it doesn't, congratulations on inventing a brand new instrument  |
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R the F
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Post by R the F on May 11, 2017 8:46:16 GMT
The problem is that I've started going to evening classes in painting watercolours and gaps in my timetable get filled in with practising for next week's class rather than writing up what I've been doing in the workshop of late. To reassure you I should add that I lately attended a whole term of evening classes for "acoustic guitar improvers" with a view to improving and also hoping that someone would be interested in the weird guitars I was taking along each week. Nobody was. So now it's watercolours. I feel a new avatar coming on...
In the workshop I did some sanding of the fingerboard using the homemade radius-block that I always use:
This also takes the fingerboard thickness down to a fairly precise 6mm in the middle and between 5.2 and 5.4 down the sides. I then turned it over and carved the neck. This is always a much quicker and simpler job than I imagine it's going to be. Once you've got a few reference points - like the depths you're aiming for and card profile cut-outs at various fret positions - it doesn't demand too much thought and the rasps and sanding blocks seem to know where they're going:
I even started to sort out the shaping of the back of the head. This is one of those funny areas which just needs to have a decision made about it if it isn't going to end up looking a bit naff. Personally I go for a sort of a v-shaped continuation of the curved at the base of the head. It doesn't get in the way of your hand as long as it's not too lumpy:
I should really have provided a photo of the finished article but I think you can see where it's going.
Next on my list - and I do have a list, though I don't always stick to it - is the fret-markers. I've explained before - but I'll explain again - that I favour a rather odd arrangement. It all stems from the fact that my guitar playing has remained at the "acoustic guitar improvers" level for the last fifty-eight years now. I find it helps to mark the two bass strings - E and A, I mean - on the "whole" notes, by which I mean the ones without sharps or flats. That means starting with fret zero (E/A), moving to fret 3 (G/C), then fret 5 (A/D), fret 7 (B/E) - so far so traditional - followed by fret 8! (C/F) and then fret 10! (D/G) and back to normal with 12 (octave E/A). This is great for improvers since it guides you simply to the bass note of the chord you are playing in the knowledge that the marked frets (like the white notes on a piano) are simple notes whilst the unmarked frets are the equivalent to the piano's black notes. This isn't as controversial as it may seem; a number of older makers marked the 10th instead of the 9th fret; for example:
www.djangoguitarstore.com/product-p/40dmar.htm
Anyway, you'll have guessed that the problem lies with bloody guitarists. They get confused if the dots are in the "wrong" place. I don't think I've ever met such a conservative bunch when it comes to instrument design and ornamentation; (it's cat-among-the-pigeons-time). Recently I have bowed to the pressure and now I completely omit any dots between 7 and 12.
Back to workshop mode, then. Here is my jig(gery-pokery) for routing out the edge markers:
Slick, isn't it? It might make more sense (?) if I add the router:
and the resulting damage at 3, 5, 7 and 12...
To cut a long story short, I then shaped some bits of camel bone and stuck them in with araldite just to make sure - oh, and I also stained the fret-board with iron acetate (? - nails in vinegar) because I know black's a popular colour:
Ah yes. I hammered the frets in, too - well, most of them... I ran out with three to go. An order has been placed.
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on May 11, 2017 9:59:21 GMT
I don't think I'm particularly conservative Rob, but since most people start to learn barre chords at the nut end, doesn't missing out the F on the 6th string and the B on the 5th - presumably because there's a sharp/flat on the other bass string at that point - compromise the principle somewhat?
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R the F
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Post by R the F on May 11, 2017 10:12:06 GMT
Why do you think I didn't mention it?! But it's more of a practical than a principle. Down by the nut a bit of study means you know what all the notes are; the markers are really meant to guide you when there are no landmarks around. And, besides, the whole point of barre chords is to play them way up the fretboard rather than next to the nut, isn't it? Still haven't convinced you - then you're a lost cause. As to the accusation of "conserservative"; I had noted your support for my more dare-devil design features and it's much appreciated, Riverman. I hope you noticed the size of the "c" in my previous post.
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I love the binding - it reminds me of the styles used in making early instruments - Stradavarius, Lacotte etc and will look unique and stunning. Just think what those early makers could have achieved if they'd had an electric rolling pin 
Jo whoever he is.
