Thursday 4th February 2010

So, before I hand her over to Igor for sanding there's one more small job on last weeks headless Moonshine guitar

 

Poor Igor, he get's stuck swapping the doors over..

 

A bit of mahogany from a reclaimed desk drawer is cut up as a backplate for the headless moonshine..

 

The bobbin sander fine shapes the new backplate..

 

It is carved to match the ergonomic contours of the back of this guitar..

 

Finally the screw holes are drilled and countersunk.. She's now ready for sanding and finishing!

 

On to Nick's 45rpm guitar, the excess headstock veneer is rasped and chiseled flush with the headstock edges.

 

Looks like there's some carving to be done on Nick's neck and headstock..

 

Neck shape is subjective but with the description 'fat vintage' you can't really go wrong!

 

After rough carving with the grinder and sanding disk I finalise the shape with a Japanese saw file.

 

Finally the tuner holes are drilled in Nick's headstock.. Binding and inlay to follow later..

 

It seems that every other job involves changing bandsaw blades!

 

One of my favourite skills is being able to get the blades folded up into a manageable size!

 

So, new blade on the bandsaw.. Next up the big circular saw is used to rough out this massive plank of mahogany

 

Next up the mahogany blank is planed flat on the sedgwick planer/thicknesser

 

Nextly the mahogany is bookmatched.. A bookmatched body is the height of custom guitar artistry

 

The body of Kirk's moonshine is marked out on the mahogany.. And checked against the through neck..

 

The tone chambers are marked out and then pre-drilled..

 

and then routed out..

 

After another blade change the moonshine's wings are bandsawed out..

 

The template is screwed to the wing and the workbench while I use a bearing cutter to rout out the final shape 

 

Glue is applied to the wings and the maple veneer spacers.. (she's got to look good hey?)

 

And once again this Moonshine guitar has a body.. She'll be a stunner!

 

 

Good morning, for starters the clamps are removed.. She's ready for a top!

 

And Igor is still on door fitting duties.. Or should he just stand there holding it closed? Good Igor!

 


Here we take a look at Fred's RF Slimline.. She's in from the spray booth..

 

 

The masking is removed from the fretboard and she's ready for rubbing down.. And then back for some more lacquer

 

Now, the plastic plate that goes around the bandsaw blade has snapped and I need a new one..  a gapeing hole tends to make cutting fine pieces rather difficult..

 

Bandsaw heal thyself.. I really thought the hole would preclude using the bandsaw for this.. :)

 

The lathe comes in handy as the blank is brought to the correct thickness..

 

Now this is never going to snap in half.. Long live custom tool building!

 

Now, to Steiner's eight string extended range bass.. We need string retainers for the headless tuning

 

The string retainers are being made from one big block of aluminium.. Mass production stylee..

 

The holes are each tapped to take the M4 thread of the tuners..

 

We also have a door fitted.. Have you noticed my predeliction for blackboards?

 

So here's the basic idea.. Though an easier way of making the string retainer has now occured to me..

 

Now, to some wood work.. kirk's moonshine needs a top, here the body is planed flat..

 

The router makes an appearance as I route the wiring channel..

 

kirk's figured pearwood top is planed flat.. With my number 5 stanley plane..

 

Another blade change for the bandsaw and the top is cut roughly to the moonshine shape..

 

So, the difficult part, especially given that this is a multi-scale guitar! The neck pocket is marked out

 

The pocket is then bandsawed away.. I must say I'm really loving the new workshop layout!!

 

Various rasps and files are used to fine-shape the neck pocket.. Keeping things square as we go!

 

The trick is to have her tight enough to look good but not enough to pop the joint!

 

So, finishing the moonshines neck pocket.. I've created a shelf under the fretboard for a better looking joint

 

Finally a load of clamps come out and the figured pearwood top is glued in place

 

The headstock of Nick's 45rpm is ready for binding and inlay..

 

A rough template of the headstock is stuck on with double sided tape to stop the router hitting the fretboard

 

The bearing cutter is set up on this mini router table.. Different bearings create different sized routs

 

The mini router table is a bit rough and ready but works very well for smaller, more delicate jobs! .. one day I'll get around to making a better looking table for her..

 

Back from lunch and Igor has finished rough sanding the headless guitar front..

 

Some makeup powder is mixed into a 2 part epoxy mix..

 

And the epoxy mix is slathered all over to fill every hole and pore in the top..

 

The headstock binding process on Nick's 45rpm is begun..

 

She's really starting to come together now.. Binding is a nightmare to do but the results are worth it!

 

Through judiscious use of superglue accelerator she is ready to chisel away the excess binding!

 

Igor is going to have a few days fine sanding various guitars to prepare them for finishing.. 8 string in this case

 

The Moonshine guitar has a top.. And it's pretty, figured pearwood is not a common wood in luthiery

 

The pin router is loaded up with a bearing cutter and the excess top wood is routed away..

 

The slanted pickup cavities are marked out

 

The pickup and control cavities are predrilled on the big pillar drill

 

The control cavity and the rout for the recessed timber control plate are routed out..

 


And finally the pickups are routed and she's ready for carving..