sMg Guitars

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).

October 16, 2010

Bracing is underway.  Spruce for the top and mahogany for the back.  Using the table saw, all pieces were cut.  Those needing a radius were preshaped on the belt sander then finished in the radius dishes.  I used the oscillating drum sander to pre shape the end tapers and scallops, then the belt sander to round over.  Each brace is essentially its’ final shape.  I’ll use a chisel to bring each brace down to finish size and shape.

The go bar clamping system is used to attach braces.  Note the plate is sitting in a radius dish.

I use an acrylic template to layout my bracing before transferring to the top.

Fiberglass rods provide plenty of clamping power.  Gloves are employed to avoid fiberglass splinters.

The sides have been kerfed and radius sanded and are ready for back and top attachment.

October 8, 2010

I now have an apprentice.  Devin is learning while helping with construction.  Tonight we made good progress on the box construction.  Starting Wednesday we started with the side bending.

After the sides spent sufficient time in the bender, they were removed, trimmed and inserted into the body mold.  The neck and butt block were glued in and clamped.

Again, after sufficient drying time, the clamps were removed and kerf installed.

The back and top were futher sanded and scraped, the soundhole was cut from the top, and the backstrip installed.

Finally, the back and top plates were trimmed in preparation for bracing.

October 7, 2010

Oooh, more wood to play with.  Just got this myrtle today.

October 3, 2010

I have thickness planed the sides down to .108″.  I still need to get them closer to .090″ before I send them off to the side bender (me, I’m the side bender).   Once they are an acceptable thickness for bending, I can start the bending, end block, neck block install, followed by kerfing.

Back and top braces still need to be cut from stock then radiussed before installing.

October 3, 2010

I’m starting a new guitar for a friend.  Jim has asked for a Macaferri style guitar with a cutaway (my first), a steel string neck width, and nylon strings.  I’ll be referring to this new guitar as a hybrid.

All the components have been ordered, or were already in hand.  Jim is responsible for the tonewoods and the tuners, which he will deliver later this month.  He’s chosen Red Cedar for the top and Palo Escrito for the back and sides.  The headstock will be open and use classical tuners.

Most of the design choices have been made, but much detail to be determined as I progress.

October 3, 2010

Happy October everyone.  I’ve been working on ukes this weekend, which means focus on jigs and such.  I crafted a taper sled, which allows me to make taper cuts on the table saw.  It’s just a slab of 3/4″ birch ply with two t-channels, channel clamps, and a guide strip on the back.  Fingerboards need to be tapered, and after marking the taper line, clamp the fretboard into the sled and slide it through the table saw, and shazam!

Prior to doing the taper cut, I need to inlay the fret markers.  I’m using diamond shaped paua.  The fretboard is marked with a center line, and additional lines are scored at the 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th fret.  Note that ukes don’t use the same fret marker patterns as guitars.

The shell is glued to the surface of the fretboard to allow for later scoring around the shell.

The shell is removed after scoring, then the cavity is cut out and black epoxy is added to the cavity.  The shell is pressed in, and additional epoxy is glooped over the top to fill any gaps.  After 24 hours, the fretboard can be sanded.

Looks funky now, but it’s like unburying treasure once you sand it down.

September 28, 2010

Now that I’ve settled on Tenor as the size for my first uke constructions, I need to make jigs and molds.  The side bending mold, which fits into my side bending machine will be the first to tackle.

The mold is constructed from three pieces of MDF joined with 3/4″ dowel.  The master template shape is derived from the plexiglass template I created from the uke plans.  I rough cut 3 pieces of MDF for the bending mold and final shaped the first template piece.

Once this piece is properly shaped, it’s used as a guide to shape the next two plates.  A router bit with bearing is used to do the finish shaping.

3/4″ holes are drilled into the plates to accept dowels, 4 @ 6″ lengths.  The plates are separated and held in place with spacers as the dowels are pressed into the holes.  CA glue is flooded into the seams, and voila, a side bending mold.  A channel needs to be sawn out at the waist to accept the holding plate on the screw press, then side bending can commence!

September 28, 2010

Spent some time squaring up the drum sander to ensure true surface sanding.  Ran the back plates through several times and brought down to .110″.  Used a shooting plane, then sanded to achieve perfect fit between plates (no sunlight shines through the joint).  Used spanish joining jig, let dry for 2 hours then took a first pass at orbit sanding both sides of the joined plates.

September 21, 2010

The black epoxy used to glue in the headstock inlay dried overnight.

A wee bit of the shell can be seen peeking out from under the epoxy.  After sanding on the belt sander, the inlay appears.

The center piece in the cheek moved a bit.  I will pry it out, refinish the cavity and cut a new piece to fit.  Also, I will score some of the border lines wider to further accent the demarcation between pieces, then flood more epoxy.