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..