sMg Guitars

March 19, 2011

Rachel returned from China/India Tuesday and she brought me a present.

She’s not sure what it’s called, so what’s it called?  I need to restring, and I’m not sure what the bridge orientation should be.

Today I added more lacquer coats to the koa dreadnought (6 of 12) and the uke (9 of 12).  The uke is a disaster.  It became dislodged from the spray booth bracket and fell to the cement causing a reasonable amount of damage, including pebbles throughout the wet lacquer coat, a chip out of the headstock, and a segment of binding with road rash.  Oh well, file it down, keep going.  Thank god this is just a “test uke”.  I’m sure it will sound lovely, but it will look like shit.

I’m also refinishing a headstock on an eBay purchased Fender koa uke.

I have some aerosol nitrocellulose that I am using to refinish this headstock.  It’s got 4 coats now, and I’ll probably go as far as 10.

I devised a little jig for drilling holes in my uke bridges.  I’m going to use bridge pins with strings secured inside the body with bone beads.  I’ll get a picture up later of the string beads.

March 18, 2011

Today is a day off school, so I’m spraying.  I’ve applied the 9th coat to the uke and the walnut OM, and the third coat (of 12) on the koa dreadnought.  It’s looking fine, after an exceptionally well executed pore filling step.

March 13, 2011

I knocked down the pore filler on the koa dreadnought.  After sanding and scraping the binding to clear off the pore filler haze, we’re ready to start the lacquer application regimen starting tomorrow.

I must say, this pore filling process worked beautifully.  The surface is mirror smooth.

March 11, 2011

Spray day today.  Added 3 more coats to Guitar 903, and Uke 1001 bringing them to 6.  Striving for 12.

Applied the first three coats to the neck for Guitar 1001 while the pore filler dries on the box.

Between coats, I spent a wee bit of time inserting a temporary piece in the truss rod channel for Guitar 1002.  This is to assist in finding the centerline for the neck as I work on the taper.

March 11 , 2011

Well well well.  Dove on down to the shop, prepped the body for pore filling and dove in head first.  The back was tackled first, followed by side one then side two (A side and B side?).  First step was to apply a thick coat with a bristle brush.  Its’ consistency is somewhat like tahini.

Or maybe, fudge brownie mix.  Next, dapple with the brush to force filler into pores.

Kind of reminds me of that textured ceiling spray.  I only let it sit for 5 minutes before taking the bondo scraper to it at a 45 degree angle.  It’s a bit of a messy process, and the filler tends to drool over the sides, and stray globs ended up on the top, but quick action removed the globs sufficiently.

Next the sides were filled, one at a time (A and B, remember?), as the filler dries quickly, and the guitar is resting on the opposite side while applying.  Once all sides and the back were scraped clean, there was still quite a bit of filler floating on the surface.  With a shop towel (like burlap), the guitar was buffed, which removed most of the surface filler, yet kept the filled pores filled.

After several hours of setting, I will sand off the remaining filler that still coats the surface, resulting in a resumption of the koa golds, the white purfling, and mirror smooth surface (I hope).

I am NOT going to pore fill the mahogany neck.  Or am I?  Let me think on this one for a bit.

March 11, 2011

I have applied the first coat sanding sealer to Guitar 1001 in preparation for pore filling.  Today I will apply the pore filler first coat.  For the uke and the OM Walnut under construction, I used Z-Poxy as the pore filler with results that were not fully to my liking.  Although Z-Poxy is appropriate for pore filling, the application and knock down are difficult and time consuming.  Hearkening back to my lazy disposition, and not enjoying the whole knock down process, I will use a more traditional pore filling product, Chemcraft Pore Filler from LMI.

I ordered a pint of Chemcraft, colored Medium Brown, appropriate for koa, and it arrived earlier this week.  I have used Chemcraft on previous guitars with good results, but this time I’m determined to get exceptional results.  I learned from my previous forays with Chemcraft that one application is not enough:  the pores get semi-filled with one application, and two or more will be necessary to get mirror finish results (or full pore filling).

The online instructions from LMI are extensive for Chemcraft.  To gather my thoughts, I’ll recap here for you instruction geeks, and to set a roadmap for my work today.

1.  1 coat of sanding sealer (lacquer), thin.

2.  Apply with cheap bristle brush, across the grain.  “Hide” the wood under the filler.

3.  Blot or poke filler into pores with bristle brush at 90 degree angle.

4.  Wait until 70% of shine is gone and filler hazes over.  (Guess I’ll need my attenuated shine goggles for this measurement).  Instructions say 5 to 20 minutes.

5.  Remove excess with a squeegee into another jar (can be reused) at a 45 degree angle to the grain.  I have some bondo squeegees that I’ll give a try.  Some builders use old credit cards, etc.

6.  Any thin layer of filler left behind after using the squeegee can be removed with burlap or sanding after 12 – 24 hours of drying time.  Burlap can also be used 30 minutes after squeegeeing.  Rub across the grain.

Proper application can result in a one coat only experience.  If a second coat is necessary, it will be evident after sanding the dried pore filler.

March 11, 2010

Yesterday, a customer came into the shop for a truss rod adjustment.  His guitar, an Ibanez cutaway, is an example of the approximate construction for Guitar 1002.  I took a few pics to document how the binding and fretboard and heel all come together.  This will give me some reference as I start to dimension the heel and the heel block.

Note that the side comes in and under the edge of the fretboard.

The heel is square and meets the body flush with the binding.

I may take that approach, but I may also consider tapering the heel.  I understand the squared heel aesthetic, as it also creates a smooth transition for the hand where the body and heel meet, rather than having an abrupt corner where the heel tapers back from the body.

This also informs me as to the width of the heel block inside the guitar.  What it also does is scare the shit out of me when it comes to creating nice binding channels around the cutaway/fretboard/heel junction.  I’ll need to carefully consider the whole binding channel preparation sequence given the spanish heel construction calls for attaching the top to the neck before inserting the sides.  I think I’ll have to get some mad chiseling skills in place.

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 24, 2011

Devin is a student at the Seattle Art Institute studying Industrial Design.  His apprenticeship with me is a graduation requirement.  He and I have brought his guitar nearly to completion.  It’s finished enough to take on the road and display at his department’s grand opening party.  Students in the Industrial Design program will be displaying work from their portfolio, Devin’s being this guitar.

We just completed doing the pore fill step which precedes the final lacquer application.  We used Zpoxy as the pore filler, and it is just now dry enough to allow the guitar out of the shop and to go on display.

Devin was scheduled to come by last night and prep the guitar to bring to the design fair, yet we were hit by a snowstorm which slowed things down and actually closed my school today.  I prepped the guitar this morning and will take it down to the fair for display.

I removed all the masking (which will have to be replaced before lacquer spraying), installed the tuners and bolted on the neck, and taped on the bridge temporarily.  I slapped an sMg sticker on the case (for marketing purposes), and stuffed a polish rag and some scotchbrite into the case compartment to give Devin an opportunity to demonstrate his buffing skills during the fair.

Devin has accumulated enough hours to fulfill his apprenticeship, and we’ll work out remaining shop sessions to finish guitar 903, which coincidentally, has been transferred to Devin for his own.

February 18, 2011

On page 8 of Allied’s weekly specials, one of my guitars, the parlor with the sinker redwood top, is featured.  There’s a link there to this blog, so if you are here via the link, welcome.

My blog is a blow by blow account of the building of my guitars and ukes, where I expose myself through my mishaps and victories.  If you are a builder, hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and help me celebrate success.

Leave comments, make suggestions, ask for advice, I always respond.  I do get spam, and am quick to dismiss if you offer prescription salves over the interweb.