First acoustic build. Progress thread.

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paulkpaulk Frets: 318
edited September 2016 in Making & Modding
I started my first acoustic guitar build yesterday, something I've wanted to do for a long time. One day a week with luthier Frank de Haan at de Haan guitars in Alkmaar. I will be building a parlour sized instrument sort of inspired by the looks of the Fender Ron Emory.

Progress of the day was as follows:
Coffee 
Wood selection - spruce top, mahogany sides/back. Also selected herringbone inlay that will be used on the top/neck/headstock.
Bookmarked and drum sanded the top to @ 3.5mm
Bookmarked and drum sanded the back to @ 2.8mm
Clamped and glued top, sanded clean. Same for the back.
Bookmarked the sides, drum sanded to 2.2mm and rough cut the profile - 10cm at the bout, 8cm at the neck.
Steampressed one side.

Most of my day was spent using the orbital drum sander then learning how the press works.

I'm spending 1 day a week building so it will take approx 6 months before it's ready. Patience, patience



Some photos:













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Comments

  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    Sweet I look forward to watching it take shape.  Good luck 
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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    Brilliant, I always love watching a good acoustic guitar build thread!
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • DeadmanDeadman Frets: 3852
    Excellent stuff. I love threads like this. The parlour is a good choice too  :)
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    I'll post a few pics after each build session.
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  • Enjoy making it. I think your estimate of 6 months is about right. I took somewhere between 28 and 30 days in total to make my OM Acoustic with Mark Bailey (my third guitar build), though that included binding, inlays, and a rather complicated rosette.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Very nice.
    Will you be thinning the soundboard down below 3mm at some stage?
    What bracing pattern are you using?
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    octatonic said:
    Very nice.
    Will you be thinning the soundboard down below 3mm at some stage?
    What bracing pattern are you using?
    Yes and don't know exactly yet :)

    This is totally new to me and I'm taking the lessons as they come. Tomorrow back at it so I'll get fuller answers for you then.
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    edited September 2016

    Today's progress. Rechecked the centreline on the back, drilled positioning holes and rough cut the outline with @ 0.5cm overlap. Marked centreline on the inside of the back, marked and glued in the centre back brace, then sanded that to a radius.

    Radius planed and sanded the head block (end fit already, just needed cut lengthwise to fit. Marked out the spacing of the back braces (quarter-sawn pine), chiselled out the spaces. Marked the braces on the radius board (15ft) and finger-planed/sanded them to the radius. Fit and glued the braces to the back (against the radius board), checking everything was lined up properly.

    Bracing pattern on the top will be a tradition X style. 

    Also steambent the remaining side then sanded their insides down smooth. Used the mould to measure the sides properly to length, then cut. Needed some emergency surgery to repair a small spilt in one side - Titebond for the win every time!



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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    Great progress. Is this a course that you're doing or is Frank a friend of yours?
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Looks great.
    Glad you are doing an X brace- a lot of parlours were ladder braced and they are poorer for it.
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    BigMonka said:
    Great progress. Is this a course that you're doing or is Frank a friend of yours?
    Frank runs the Dutch School of Guitarmaking (http://www.dehaanguitars.nl/ ) . Earlier in the year I took a 2 day course with him putting together a tele and loved it so much that I signed up to build an acoustic. He runs different courses - either longer term or shorter. I'm just building one day a week with him till it's done.

    Yesterday in the shop there were 2 of his apprentices working on different stages of an acoustic build and another student working on the neck joint for a 335 style build. Frank spends time going around everyone and checking/advising/teaching. It's also fantastic to see a real craftsman at work - you learn just by observing the simplest things.
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    edited September 2016
    octatonic said:
    Looks great.
    Glad you are doing an X brace- a lot of parlours were ladder braced and they are poorer for it.
    Why is that @octatonic? (newbie builder question, sorry)
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318

    Today's progress. Had to start by removing and replacing one of the back braces. I had fubar'd sanding the radius and there was a minuscule gap. Probably not enough to affect the final sound but enough to leave me pissed off and annoyed at myself for a lifetime. So - planed it down, removed carefully with a chisel, sanded off the leftover glue and put in a properly radiused brace.

    Then, took the top down to @3.1mm in the orbital belt sander (then set aside, nothing else done with it today)

    Manually bent the sides a little bit more and got everything ready for the mould. Glued in the back block - lined up with the centre on the mould. The edges do not need to be exactly flush as there will be an inlay panel at the back and the neck covers up the front. That said, everything needs to be as 'netjes' as possible.

    Rough chiselled the back braces. Mark 5cm in from the bodyline then chisel a curve down to a 1.1mm endpoint. Braces 16mm high at midpoint. Sweating bullets on this one as one wrong slip of the chisel and I'm in a world of shit. Tried to remember all the lessons my Dad taught me about how to hold and properly work a chisel! Really a matter of feel, eyeballing it and feeling it again.

    Shaped the brace tops with a finger plane then rounded off with 80/120/320 grit sandpaper. 

    Cut the groove in the headblock. Glued the headblock. 










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  • Andyjr1515Andyjr1515 Frets: 3127
    Lovely job.  Watching with interest :)
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318

    Today's progress. Firstly, set the body in the sanding mould, propped up the end/neck blocks, chalk marked a line around the mould to ensure no sinkage, then sanded the body edges on the back to a 15 foot radius. Repeated this step for the front but, obviously, with a flat profile.

    Measured out the kerfing for the inside edges. Glued and clamped.

    Centrelined the top again and rechecked the exact size of the soundhole we'll go for (83mm) and the bracing positioning. 

    4mm hole drilled in centre of where the soundhole will be, awled to 4.8mm and routed out the rosette groove to 1.6mm with a 4.5mm width.

    Bent the herringbone inlay for the rosette on the hot-bender. Discovered that working with herringbone is a complete pain in the ass. Shaved off the extra inlay with a razor as I was a fraction of a millimeter out and the fit was really tight. Too tight as it turned out as we had to redo the rosette because once clamped.glued then ran through the orbital sander there was a small 2mm piece not sitting correctly right. So, back to the router to redo the entire thing!

    Chose a nice piece of ebony for the fretboard and took it down to approx 6.5mm. Had a cold beer.



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  • I'm interested in the idea that you shaped the braces after gluing them on - is there a reason for that? I ask because whilst you obviously didn't cock it up (quite the opposite, it's a fabulous job so far), I would have thought the potential for making a pretty calamitous mistake with a chisel and a thin back was definitely there. I personally would have shaped the braces before applying them.*


    *Not a criticism at all, btw, just an observation.
    If you must have sex with a frog, wear a condom. If you want the frog to have fun, rib it.
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    @TheOtherDennis I'm not quite sure as to the "why" of it and looking in my notes didn't reveal anything. I've asked Frank, the luthier supervising me, and when I get an answer I'll let you know. 

    That said, it's not really THAT difficult shaping the braces if you have decent control of a well sharpened chisel though I was sweating it a bit at that stage thinking "I hope this doesn't fecking slip" :)
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318
    @TheOtherDennis According to Frank there's more stability and control with the braces preglued on the back and the "fuck up" risk is low. It would be possible to pre-shape them if you want. The top braces will get more pre-shaping before being attached. Hope that answers your question.
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  • I guess I can see the advantages of having the braces held securely on a good solid base in a way in which they won't fall over sideways.

    It's just that, as you say, you need to have pretty good control of your well sharpened chisel, and I have neither, to be honest. :-)
    If you must have sex with a frog, wear a condom. If you want the frog to have fun, rib it.
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  • paulkpaulk Frets: 318

    Today's progress. First sanded the top down to @2.60mm paying attention to the feel and stiffness/springiness of the wood. Then routed out an 83mm soundhole.

    Decided on where exactly the fingerboard will finish on the edge of the soundhole (i.e. have a full fret space or a cut. We decided on a full fret - looks better) Then calculated the position of the bridge, specifically the saddle - 31.6cm from the 12th fret with 2mm added for compensation of the eventual string thickness.

    Decided the bridge shape - old style rectangular in keeping with the look I'm going for.

    Transferred the markings for the bridge to the inside of the top, drilled to 6mm fixing holes and roughed out the top itself.

    Decided on the bracing pattern. This step surprised me as I was expecting that everything would be super, super precise. Well, it IS super, super precise but Frank also encouraged me to use my own instinct in deciding final placements. We actually used a pattern from a 14 fret template rather than a 12 fret one as the positioning just worked better. Consulted the Martin reference manual and based our decisions on a guitar from 1840. If it was good enough for Mr. Martin it's good enough for us! Finally we came to a pattern that we were both happy with.

    Rough cut the braces from sitka spruce and sanded to 8mm x 16mm. Radius sanded all but the brace closest to the neck to a radius of 50'. That one stays straight. Laid everything out to simply eyeball it.

    Cut the joint in the X braces, glued and clamped them into place in the radius dish.

    Rough sanded the tone bar with a profile angle cut the end and also glued it into place. Cleaned off all the excess glue.

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