Post by davewhite on Feb 9, 2017 14:16:31 GMT
I can’t match George Lowden’s 20,000 but the next instrument I make will be the hundredth to have a De Faoite Stringed Instruments label and serial number. It will be made at the same time as I am re-building the first two instruments I made – exciting. The instrument will feature some special woods that I have been saving and will be the model that bears my alter ego name “Daithi”:
The top will be a nice European Spruce one I bought from Bob Smith and the back and sides will be a set of Madagascan Rosewood I bought for a tidy sum from Touchstone Tonewoods back in 2004 – rather plain but it rang like a bell and I couldn’t pass it by. The bindings will be off-cuts from the sides and the fingerboard, bridge and head-plates will be some more figured Madagascan Rosewood. The end-graft, heel-cap and inlays will be spalted beech that I rescued from a firewood pile, and the neck is some Old Cuban Mahogany I bought from Bob Smith that was imported from Jamaica in the early 1900’s. The purflings will be black/ pear/ black and the tuners are Antique Copper Gotoh 510’s that I got from Gavin Davenport (gavdav) with ebony buttons. The scale length is 650mm and the body will have a Manzer-style wedge.
Here’s the initial set of plans:
I don’t have a mould or bending form for this model so will have to make some but first I’m starting on the neck. This will consist of a scarfe-jointed headstock and a one piece heel. First task is to thickness the neck blank and cut the scarfe joint for the peghead on the bandsaw. The headstock pieces are trued and then glued using hot hide glue and this clamping jig:
The next job is to route the truss rod slot and the slots for the carbon fibre bars:
The two-way truss rod and carbon fibre bars are checked for fit and are then glued in together with a mahogany cap over the truss rod using fish glue:
Then the top and back plates are initially thicknessed, jointed and glued together using hot hide glue and the “tent method”:
The top will be a nice European Spruce one I bought from Bob Smith and the back and sides will be a set of Madagascan Rosewood I bought for a tidy sum from Touchstone Tonewoods back in 2004 – rather plain but it rang like a bell and I couldn’t pass it by. The bindings will be off-cuts from the sides and the fingerboard, bridge and head-plates will be some more figured Madagascan Rosewood. The end-graft, heel-cap and inlays will be spalted beech that I rescued from a firewood pile, and the neck is some Old Cuban Mahogany I bought from Bob Smith that was imported from Jamaica in the early 1900’s. The purflings will be black/ pear/ black and the tuners are Antique Copper Gotoh 510’s that I got from Gavin Davenport (gavdav) with ebony buttons. The scale length is 650mm and the body will have a Manzer-style wedge.
Here’s the initial set of plans:
I don’t have a mould or bending form for this model so will have to make some but first I’m starting on the neck. This will consist of a scarfe-jointed headstock and a one piece heel. First task is to thickness the neck blank and cut the scarfe joint for the peghead on the bandsaw. The headstock pieces are trued and then glued using hot hide glue and this clamping jig:
The next job is to route the truss rod slot and the slots for the carbon fibre bars:
The two-way truss rod and carbon fibre bars are checked for fit and are then glued in together with a mahogany cap over the truss rod using fish glue:
Then the top and back plates are initially thicknessed, jointed and glued together using hot hide glue and the “tent method”:
I didn't use moulds in my earlier building and the bending form got re-cycled quite a while ago.
Jo whoever he is.
