Monday, September 30, 2013

Battle in orange dust

This week in the land of orange dust.

We pickup with our hero in the process of cleaning up a neck blank and making it into something useful. The new dust collecting equipment is working overtime trying to stop the orange tide of particles.

Cleaning up the neck blank involves band saws and table routers. First the band saw. Cut the excess from the blank.

We only have to be close to the plane of the fretboard as the router table finishes it up. Then a quick pass through to thickness the headstock. I start on the big saw but 1" blades don't turn and follow volutes so I moved to the small bandsaw. You can see the wedge holding the first cut open.



Now to the router table to do some scary stuff.


While I had the router table setup I might as well cut the trussrod on the other neck blank laying around.


A little silicon to stop trussrod rattle. It had to dry fully before attaching the fretboard.

Preparing to glue the top on the new headless guitar as well as cleaning up the neck blank. I am going to use a walnut veneer between the top and the body. I want the line but don't want to waste an ebony veneer. I just need something dark enough to be seen.



RoboRAD worked overtime this weekend.

Multiscale humbucker bobbins on the machine.

Then a 6 string neck.



While the CNC was working I profiled a 7 string neck by hand.


And put wheels on my new Drum sander. Yes it is that heavy.

Wasting rotting ebony is not going to happen on my watch. This is what West Systems epoxy can fix. It soaks into the rot and voids so I can use something this ugly. This is not a customers guitar so it matters even less to me. But it is going to work and look good. After sanding most of the voids and soft spots are gone.




Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Now where was I?

Now where was I?

Working on new Red Witch.




And the neck and top for the new headless


Making the scarf jig safer with inserts and 10-32 socket heads.


Case badge for the maple burl guitar.

Assembly moving along.



Monday, September 9, 2013

Thought I quit on you...

After a war with the burl maple here is where it stands. The new buffing system is great. Nitro still shrinks but at least it is shiny while it is shrinking.


What is he up to now? I have 3 projects to close out the year and this thread. Headless G5, S6 Bass #2, and a Red Witch S9.


Started on the neck for the S6 Bass (6 string Multisclae for those who forgot) and I am trying to be quiet on Sunday morning so out come the vintage No 14 Millers Falls. You know it is setup right when the ribbons are the length of the piece.


After a few passes through the new SuperMax the bass neck blank is ready for scarf work. The fretboard is going to come from the huge piece of bubinga.


Headles G5 will be Limba and Ebony. I am not sure what top it will get yet might just be bookmatched black limba. I glued scrap tabs on the body for convienence and it allowed me to use only what I needed of my Limba for the body.



The new Red Witch wood pile. Ironically the customer already owns the first Red Witch.