sMg Guitars

February 27, 2011

Took some time today to advance the work on 1002’s neck.  As it is a Spanish Style neck, slots need to be cut at the 14th fret for body side insertion.  Two slots are cut (perpendicular, as there is little body arch at the neck) on either side of the neck, leaving 1″ of stock between the bottoms of the slots.

The slot on the cutaway side will have a small blank inserted to meet the cutaway side at a 90 degree angle.  Thoughts of binding and purfling in this tight little area have me wondering.

The neck profile has been marked and cut off in the bandsaw, leaving the neck at the approximate width, tapering up from the nut toward the heel.

The block piece of the neck which is inside the guitar body will be trimmed down to allow the cutaway to run under the fretboard and flush.  That cut will wait until the sides are bent and ready to be installed to the top and neck.

February 6, 2011

The Macaferri body is new to my arsenal, and so is a cutaway.  I needed to build bending molds and build or procure a cutaway ram for my bending machine.  I located a fairly inexpensive ram from Bluescreek out of Pennsylvania, and it should arrive by the end of the week.  I’ve also got a good idea about using the ram for a uke side bender, as the full sized bender is too restrictive for the small sized ukes.

Doc2

Using the Mac plans, I created an acrylic template, then transferred 1/2 (the side without the cutaway) to birch ply.  I cut out 6 half plates, 3 for the regular side, and 3 for the cutaway side.  I finished one of the half plates a wee bit smaller than the actual size, and used it as the master for replicating the other 5 using the router table.  I assembled the non cutaway half first using existing spacers and 3/4″ dowel.

The master was then trimmed to emulate the cutaway shape, then the remaining two plates were trimmed on the router table.

The dowels are secured with titebond and CA.

January 23, 2011

The heel profile and neck thickness have been cut using a band saw.

Next, a slot will be cut at the 14th fret for the sides to be inserted into.  Then, the neck will be tapered to dimensions of a steel string neck profile.

January 17, 2011

I used the router table to smooth away the divots from drilling out the head slots.

Final smoothing will be done after tuning machine holes are drilled.  To ensure the holes are spaced properly, and equally balanced from side to side, I built a jig to direct the drill, locate the trio of holes, and prevent tearout upon exiting the headstock into the slot.

It’s a bit crumbly, as part of it is MDF.  I may rebuild with birch ply if I need to use it again sometime in the future.

Using the jig, I was able to drill holes, avoid major tearout, and dry fit the tuners to check appearance.  The top drums will need to be trimmed as they bang into each other due to the narrow profile on top..

December 26, 2010

Located slot position on headstock and drilled out holes (smaller than 1/2″) in preparation for head slotting.

The slot opening will be 1/2″.  By rasping out the material between the drilled holes, I’ll be able to create a flattened opening.

December 23, 2010

Using the softwood template for shaping the headstock, I first clamped to locate.

Screws through the tuning machine slots are used to hold the template in place.  Using a bearing mounted flush cut router bit, the headstock is shaped to the template.

The template is removed, and viola, the headstock is shaped.

November 26, 2010

I continue to work on the neck for the hybrid guitar.  The center lam strip has been installed.  I routed out a channel to accept the truss rod (access will be through soundhole) and plugged up the neck end with a piece of mahogany.

This piece has been trimmed down flush with the neck and headstock.

November 22, 2010

Jim challenged me as to whether this neck was cedar or mahogany.  I mistakenly identified it as cedar but confirmed that it’s Honduran Mahogany.  It’s lighter than the Sapele or African that I’ve used in the past leading me to misidentify it as Cedar.  Mahogany it is.

I’ve formed and installed a Camatillo center laminate strip.  Camatillo is very red and should provide excellent contrast to the neck once finished.

I created a softwood template of the headstock shape, which I used to trace over the headstock to check position.  This view is from the top.  The lam strip will only be visible from the underside of the neck and headstock as the rosewood headplate and the fretboard will be installed on top.

November 21, 2010

Yesterday, Jim turned over cedar plates for the top, Palo Escrito back and sides, some kerf, fret wire and tuners for guitar 1002.  I took this as a challenge to get started working.

Jim got the wood from LMI.  I haven’t worked with cedar nor Palo Escrito.  Here’s what they have to say about Palo Escrito: Palo Escrito is the premiere native back and side wood used by the luthiers in Paracho, Mexico. It is a true Rosewood, but differs from Indian Rosewood visually with slightly wider grain, more figure, and lighter color. It is also lighter in weight. Although Palo Escrito is a natural for flamenco guitars, classical builders like Kenny Hill and Dake Traphagen have enjoyed using it, and steel string builder James Goodall has been very enthusiastic about the tone of the guitars he’s used it on. Moderately priced and plentiful, each set is unique.

I’m working on the neck this weekend.  A first for me, using Cedar for the neck wood.  I measured the blank for cutting the 10 degree headstock angle, then used my bandsaw jig to cut.  After truing with a hand planer, the headstock piece was rotated and glued.

This guitar will have the Spanish Heel, so that was taken into account when measuring and cutting the heel block stack.

It’s had a couple of hours to cure, so I removed it from the clamps in order to measure for the camatillo center strip construction.

Jim wants a tri-laminate neck, for stability and decoration.  I’m constructing a 3/16″ wide camatillo center strip which mimics the blocked out neck.

After everything comes out of the clamps tomorrow, I’ll put my new planer to work getting square sides on the neck and the camatillo, then I’ll slice the neck down the center on the table saw, then laminate the three pieces.

Jim likes the headstock design from the Macaferri plans.

I lined up the tuning machines, and noted that due to the narrowing of the headstock toward the top, the tuning barrels will be too long and need to be trimmed back slightly to keep from jamming.

October 17, 2010

My friend Jim has commissioned this Hybrid Cutaway, and a few decisions still need to be made.  We’ll model it after the D-hole Macaferri, but use a round soundhole instead.

I have this real nice premade rosette for a classical guitar which might look divine on this guitar.

This template is looking from the inside so it appears the cutaway is reversed.

Jim was going to provide maple or holly fretmarkers, but his lathe refused to cooperate.  Here are some options from my shell collection.

White MOP:

Paua dots:

Paua diamonds:

And Chinese Turquoise:

I also have a fancy MOP inlayed fretboard looking for a home.  It will clean up real nice once I use fretboard/ebony blackener (devised for the modern striped ebony).