July 5, 2012
The top and back have been joined, and the rosette installed.
Sides have been bent (yes, koa burns easily), and installed into the holder.
Today, I expect to receive more graphite rods which will be inserted into the neck.
I also tackled routing out the channel for the shell for the headstock for Guitar 1202. The yellow tempera was painted on to show the scoring of the edge for an easy visual of how far to rout out.
July 3, 2012
Did a little neck work today on Uke 1201. I used the table saw to cut the spanish heel slots and to nibble away at the heel profile.
Also for both 1202 and 1203, I installed the rosettes. The OM has a teflon strip which is removed before pressing in the abalam. The parlor has a pre-manufactured herringbone.
The abalam is pressed into the gap left by the teflon then flooded with CA glue. The shell shown below will be added to the headstock to mirror what’s on the fretboard.
Before routing out the channels for the headstock shell, the plate has been glued to the headstock.
July 2, 2012
Welcome to summer. I am making plans for making progress. This summer, I have few commitments and grand plans. I spent several hours cleaning and organizing in preparation for dedicated building time. Over the past months, I have allowed my workshop to gather clutter and for the garage to collect dust and debris. The shop has been decluttered and I have located and made an inventory of all things which are required for the 5 guitars and 1 uke which are under construction. I gutted the garage, loaded the truck for a dump run, swept and vacuumed and repositioned all the power equipment.
Rob Girdis Parlor – The snakewood bridge has been rough shaped and awaits finishing. The tuners have arrived and all additional components for completion have been procured. Once Guitar 1002 is ready for the spray booth, this guitar will be sealed, filled, then lacquered.
Guitar 1002 – Frets are installed and finish sanding has begun. Every day I do a bit more, until I can’t stand it any longer. It’s oh so close to being ready for the spray booth. I’m at that stage where I think I’ve got it fair and square, but there’s always more sanding to be done. I must resist the urge to finish it as is, yet dogged by future regret.
Guitar 1201 – Necks for 1201 and 1202 have been chanelled for truss rods and graphite stabilizers have been epoxied in. The top has been braced, and braces (mahogany) for the back have been preshaped for installation.
Guitar 1202 – Top joined after planing down to .110″. Next step install rosette and cut soundhole. Then bracing then box construction.
Guitar 1203 – Top join is next. Awaiting ordered graphite bars for the neck. Once the Myrtle (1201) comes out of the mold, I’ll be able to thickness the sides and bend. This will be a double cutaway, and my thinking is I’ll build inserts for the mold.
Uke 1201 – Only the neck has been tackled. I’ll look for idle gaps between steps of above guitars to thickness/join the back and top followed by thickness/bend the sides.
There’s no end to what I can work on additionally. I have a dovetail repair, some ziricote screaming to be a guitar, some master grade walnut, some bubinga for a uke, and some ovangkol. And….there’s several exploratory repairs that I owe to friends. All this to do before Guitar Camp Week 3, August 11th.
June 9, 2012
Miscellaneous work today on three guitars. Located Engleman Spruce top for the Rosewood OM.
Finished blocking in two necks; final step stacked heels.
After clamping and drying, the neck heel curve was cut using the bandsaw, then rounded with the spindle sander.
The double cutaway parlor for Em has walnut back and sides. The sides are prepped for thickness sanding.
June 8, 2012
Madly trimming/planing box sides down to 30′ and 15′ radius (top and back respectively) then adding kerf.
June 1, 2012
I’m madly working on 5 guitars at a time right now. As I attend to finishing Guitar 1102 and the Girdis Parlor, I’m building necks and boxes for Guitar 1201 (Rachel’s Myrtle Parlor), Guitar 1202 (Susan’s Rosewood OM), and Guitar 1203 (Em’s Walnut Double Cutaway Parlor). This appeals to my desire to make recognizable progress. The sanding and prepping of an almost finished guitar is slow going and the progress seems snail-like.
The myrtle parlor wood is spectacular. It’s in the mold, with butt block and neck block attached.
The rosewood OM too is a fine hunk of wood, very red/purple, with excellent grain lines.
The walnut double cutaway parlor is understated. The sides will be thicknessed and bent once the myrtle comes out of the mold.
May 28, 2012
Today and yesterday have been consumed with the assembly line. I made necks for Guitar 1201, 1202 and 1203, and Uke 1201 and a uke to be numbered later. I also thicknessed backs and sides for Guitar 1201 and 1202, and joined the back for Guitar 1203. In between neck builds, gluing and clamping, I scraped away at Guitar 1002.
Here’s Rachel’s Myrtle back after thickness sanding.
Oooh that’s nice. I also thicknessed and joined the Peruvian Walnut back for Em’s guitar.
I’m ready to bend sides for Susan’s and Rachel’s guitars which means they can be forthwith set into the molds.
December 22, 2011
Back to work in the shop. I’ve done the fretboard inlay for the hybrid, and started tackling portions of guitar 1202, the Rosewood OM also known as Bob. First, I joined the back.
I tried using tempera paint to outline the thorn and vine inlay for the fretboard.
It certainly made for a clear distinction when diving in with the router to clear out the channel for the shell. I was a bit sloppy wity the application and got too much on the shell and had to spend extra time to remove the paint from the shell before installing.
Finally, using black epoxy, the shell was glued in. Note the excess splurted over the top. This ensures all gaps get filled, and a nice clean seam between the shell and the fretboard.
November 30, 2011
Let’s start with the Lava Light.
After William left for UW, several items which I coveted were left behind. Lava Light (or Lamp)!
I mapped out a schedule for the completion of Uke 1101, and it is possible to complete before I go to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. It will be a bit tricky to continue working on the uke while the lacquer is curing. Today, I finished the 8th coat of lacquer, with an intention of putting on 20 coats. Tomorrow I’ll add 4 more coats. Coincidentally, I am adding coats to the Bubinga uke, and after tomorrow’s application, it will have 24 coats.
This is the back of the Bubinga.
Between coats I attached the fret markers to the Hybrid’s fretboard and the Thorn and Vine to 1202 (Bob). The shell is glued to the surface with white glue. I will score a border around the glued shell, then pop off the shell in preparation for routing a channel.
September 4, 2011
I received a deposit to get this guitar started. This will be an Indian Rosewood OM with fancy shellwork. The fretboard will be inlaid with a thorn and vine MOP and paua.
