sMg Guitars

February 4, 2012

Well, the repaired crack didn’t survive.  What I’ve done is attach the sides to the top and join the cracked section with a piece of engleman spruce backing.  After the box is constructed, with both the top and the back attached to the sides, I will trim out the ragged edges, down to the spruce backing, and insert a binding bordered patch.  Patch is the wrong word; inlay is better.  The binding will match the body binding and the inlay will mimic the end graft, which I believe is rosewood.

The kerf for the top is installed, and once this dries, along with the spruce backing on the cutaway, I can begin to trim the sides in preparation for installing the back.

February 4, 2012

As mentioned previously, the cutaway bend probably cracked.  I let the bent sides sit in the bender overnight so as to allow the bends to settle, then opened the bender carefully.

The underside of the sandwich was held in place with a bit of wire to keep it from springing up and pushing against the bent side.  After removing from the machine, the crack was evident.

Two cracks, on either side of the outer bend can be repaired with CA glue, then the bend can be rounded on the hand bending heater before attaching to the guitar top.  This piece is salvageable and will be fine.  After aggressive sanding and fairing, there should be no evidence of the crack.  I might consider gluing a small spruce caul into the inside of the bend to provide stability.

I began installing the non-cutaway side.  First I increased the bends on the hand bender, determined the position of the cut for each end to shorten the side piece, applied glue to the butt block, neck slot and joint between the side and the top.  It slipped into the workboard easily, and followed the trace of the joint nicely, so I was able, on the first pass, to clamp down.

April 26, 2011

Got a lot done today between printing lesson plans and teaching 9th graders how to divide exponents.  I planed and radius sanded the back until it was in shape to accept kerfing.

Lots to do on the inside before gluing on the back.  Side reinforcements go in, three to a side.

The soundhole needs to be reinforced with two spruce braces.

The ladder bracing on the back was trimmed back, and a label was secured to the back as well.  The soundhole is too small to get my fat mitts into to glue in the label, which is what I usually do with guitars.  The back was trimmed down at the waist to accomodate a clamp to press in against the side waist to square up the sides.

The back is glued to the kerf and held down with spool clamps.

Later tonight, after the glue dries, I’ll flush up the sides and it will appear to be a ukulele.

April 24, 2011

To recover from the wrong way heel slots, I filled with mahogany plates.

I had to carefully build a holding jig for the neck in the table saw which stabilized the neck while I drew it through the 5 degree angled blade.  Slots came out well, and I spent time shaping the heel in preparation for joining the top to the neck.

The top of the neck is routed out to accommodate the thickness of the top and ensure a flat transition from the top of the neck and the face of the top.  Center lines are matched, and the top is glued to the neck at the neck block portion of the neck.

Once the joint is dry, it can be turned around and mounted onto the workboard.  After several dry fit attempts, everything lined up well, and glue was applied to the neck slots and the glue line along the inside of the top where the sides meet.  I probably should not have glued the slot, as I need to shim a wee bit of the sides to press against the heel for a tight fit.  So, there is a little gap between the heel and the sides which I may be able to shim out, but probably not.  The gap is very small, and will disappear when lacquered (or I can fill it).

The sides are clamped to the top, and while drying, the kerfing process can begin.