Octatonic's guitar buildery thread

octatonic

Update:

Today I cleaned up the crevice (technically a mortise) and then made a piece to fit it.

Went pretty well actually- I made the mortise slightly *not square* so it is a ever so slightly wedge shaped, which helps with fitting it, and more importantly getting it out again when you come to attach the tenon to the neck.

It looks square in the photos but there is 0.5mm difference between the front and the back of the tenon.

Then I started shaping the top curve of the guitar, where the neck will attach to.

It is pretty much done- then I have the unenviable job of getting the neck to fit that curve.

It is a real bugger to get right- expect may frustrated posts over the next few days.

Pics:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1.0-9/1618613_489593234503796_1555698085018686303_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/10157219_489593317837121_6070245529431699282_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1.0-9/10009851_489593281170458_3389348116977569162_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/10153912_489593261170460_9174949001645112577_n.jpg

ArchtopDave

octatonic said:

.

It is pretty much done- then I have the unenviable job of getting the neck to fit that curve.

It is a real bugger to get right- expect may frustrated posts over the next few days.

Are you allowed to use carbon paper?  I found this very useful for getting the final fit of the Neck against the complex curves of the surface of the Body of the Archtop that I made.

octatonic

ArchtopDave said:

octatonic said:

.

It is pretty much done- then I have the unenviable job of getting the neck to fit that curve.

It is a real bugger to get right- expect may frustrated posts over the next few days.

Are you allowed to use carbon paper?  I found this very useful for getting the final fit of the Neck against the complex curves of the surface of the Body of the Archtop that I made.

We can use carbon paper- I'm using chalk at the moment and then move to the carbon paper as I get closer.

ThePrettyDamned

Oh man, I do not envy you all this precision work...

But it's going great.  Really puts it into perspective, why most acoustic luthiers charge so much money.

And makes me wonder how China can knock them out at half decent quality for a couple of hundred quid.  I know robots have something to do with it, and yes, I know you cannot compare quality, but there is still a fair amount of work to be done... Frightening.

Can't wait for finished pics

octatonic

Update:

Today was spent doing nothing more than pushing the neck against some scratch to get it to conform to the shape of the body.

Pics will make it clearer, I guess.

It is really tedious- it is all end grain, so I expect to be doing this for a while longer.

If I get it sorted within a few days I will be very happy.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/p526x296/10001323_490534644409655_3936414181238104262_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/1402950_490534664409653_2428504402775330253_o.jpg

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/1920972_490534684409651_254435153368108949_o.jpg

octatonic

ThePrettyDamned said:

Oh man, I do not envy you all this precision work...

But it's going great.  Really puts it into perspective, why most acoustic luthiers charge so much money.

And makes me wonder how China can knock them out at half decent quality for a couple of hundred quid.  I know robots have something to do with it, and yes, I know you cannot compare quality, but there is still a fair amount of work to be done... Frightening.

Can't wait for finished pics

It is pretty slow going at times, but if I don't do it right then the neck will be gappy.

Edging towards completion.

Spider

It's about time you got back to work on this @octatonic this wonderful thread has dropped to the second page. 

octatonic

Spider said:

It's about time you got back to work on this @octatonic this wonderful thread has dropped to the second page. 

I'm on holidays at the moment.

Working on the written work- I'm back in the workshop next week.

Fusionista

Should think that is not untypical or many an FE course.  Likely they are deciding/have decided that it isn't for them and will drop out.

Few people understand the real cost of money.  Einstein himself said "Compound interest is not only man's greatest invention, but the most powerful force on Earth." 

That said the Student Loan Scheme itself is apparently in trouble with the Government calcualting that over 40% of students will never repay their borrowings.  Normally the first rule of lending is "Only loan money to people you think will pay it back, or you can oblige to pay it back."  The principle is called creditworthiness, and some people never get it.

octatonic

Wee Updatery:

Have the neck shaped to fit the body-need to change the angle ever so slightly and I couldn't face yet another day with nothing but sandpaper and mahogany dust so I sorted the headstock.

Marked it up with masking tape on, then drilled the side holes and then drilled out the slots with a forstner bit.

Final shaping/squaring was done with a chisel and then a Herdim rasp.

A bit more rasping to get the waste away for the strings to pass through from the nut.

Machine heads fit great- the pic makes them look a bit off but that is just the angle.

Very pleased with my work today- was in the groove of it.

Pics:

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1.0-9/10150649_500547883408331_4686841085907551083_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10255559_500547873408332_8747105445678928562_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10154977_500547886741664_9090010150921284833_n.jpg

Spider

Thought you may have drilled too many holes (in the second pic) but it's looking very nice, good work oct. 

octatonic

Update:

The neck is on.

It is a bit of a saga so I will do it pictorially.

First, I drilled out the holes for the screws:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/10313825_501997189930067_7445287773655246003_n.jpg

Then I spot glued the false tenon- using a dab of superglue & test fitted.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/1010716_501997226596730_801454293455830962_n.jpg

At this point it  was all looking good so I glued the tenon to the neck and then glued the neck to the body.

The tenon was a bit too tight once the glue was on and this meant that I couldn't quite get it as good fitting as the test fit.

I (with the power of hindsight) should shave made the tenon a bit looser to allow for the swelling.

In the end it was ok- but the neck photo won't show this.

Basically I had a gap:

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1.0-9/10153761_501997269930059_6929571829264208185_n.jpg

Not a massive one- but it was enough to irritate.

Unfortunately I couldn't take the neck off as the fitting was SOOOO tight that I couldn't take it off and refit it.

So, I had to push it down as hard as I could, still a bit of a gap- er, ok, what do I do now?

What I did was mixed up some mahogany dust and glue and filled the hole.

It was a fairly small gap so it was ok, but I didn't like the ugly blotch in the corner.

Had the idea to then paint the neck join with the dust and glue solution, wait for it to dry and then clean it up.

This was a pretty good idea as the fill looks pretty much invisible- you just see a dark line at the neck join that will utterly disappear once I get some Tru-oil on it.

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/10264262_501997346596718_9144328625149623770_o.jpg

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31.0-8/10333665_502038066592646_1201988390808941433_o.jpg

This is before it has been completely cleaned up.

Trust me, it will be fine.

octatonic

Update:

Neck fit is fine- really good in fact.

yesterday was spent thicknessing the fingerboard blank and starting to prepare my bond nut and saddle.

I had to mill the bone out of a much larger piece- a leg bone of a cow roughly 30cm x 6cm.

Creates a LOT of dust- so worse a mask while doing it.

Pics:

Not set up at all- fingerboard is 6mm exactly (alright, maybe only at this point)

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31.0-8/10012828_504127383050381_4537115097778281057_o.jpg

Nice bit of figure on the ebony board:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/10314643_504127479717038_2644623006471615312_n.jpg

Ready for slotting:

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10309755_504127506383702_2306282930049909422_n.jpg

Bone for a couple of guitars worth of nut and saddle:

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10294329_504127413050378_2149804070458181448_n.jpg

Today I will be slotting the board with a circular saw jig and then will cut it down to the right size.

Then I will attach the fingerboard to the neck and fret it.

Getting close now.

xHymnal

Awesome work. This is probably my favourite thread on this forum tbh. However, in the first post you mention making two? Your pics all seem to be of the same guitar. Are you doing the second after this?

octatonic

Hymnal said:

Awesome work. This is probably my favourite thread on this forum tbh. However, in the first post you mention making two? Your pics all seem to be of the same guitar. Are you doing the second after this?

Thank you- that is very nice to hear.

I abandoned the idea of doing two fairly early on.

I will build 2 next year but the requirement to do everything by hand has slowed me down considerably.

Next year I will be free to use machines a bit more.

octatonic

Update:

Today I fashioned a neck heel cap, slotted the fingerboard and trimmed it to shape.

I did a lot more than that in real terms but those are the major bits.

The fingerboard is 47m at the nut and 56mm at the 12th fret- I'm mainly putting this in so I remember.

I have a handy little ruler that has a centreline in the middle and two lots of markings on either side so you can measure of a centreline- funnily enough it is called a centreline ruler.

Who knew, eh?

Pics:

Saving myself some time with the plane:

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31.0-8/10265410_504355919694194_8457765749544078880_o.jpg

Heel cap ready for shaping:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31.0-8/10264166_504355976360855_8886404151839659732_o.jpg

Heel cap glued:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31.0-8/1556437_504356023027517_5249555717933842233_o.jpg

Fingerboard slotted and rough cut to shape:

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31.0-8/1529949_504356106360842_5614901965253197640_o.jpg

Fingerboard shaping:

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/l/t31.0-8/10012920_504356193027500_5025829098986940495_o.jpg

Fingerboard shaping finished:

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/10348861_504356229694163_7935862943951220186_o.jpg

Tomorrow I will be ready to start radiusing the fingerboard and install the fingerboard dots.

To fit I'll drill a couple of locator holes in the 1st fret and the 12th fret, diagonally opposite each other- so I can pin the board into the neck.

It means the board won't slip whilst gluing.

I'll need to trim the neck excess to be in line with the fingerboard too.

Then I can think about fretting it.

octatonic

I just want to ruminate for a second- I'm really happy with my build so far.

I know it isn't perfect but it is representative of a lot of work and a lot of learning.

It will definitely be the worse guitar I've ever built- but I'm fairly sure it will be a decent player by the time I get it strung up.

Really glad I've done this degree, despite all the dramas that go with it.

I'm going to miss the group workshop environment too- it makes the time fly by when you are with a good bunch of fella's, all working stuff through, messing about and joking with one another.

I've never heard (or made) or many 'your mum' jokes in my life.

It has been pretty neat so far- and I still have a year to go.

Rocker

This is a great thread @Octatonic.  I am amazed at the amount of work involved in building an acoustic guitar.  And in awe of your skill level.  Well done my friend, I hope to get to strum a few chords on it sometime in the future...

octatonic

Rocker said:

This is a great thread @Octatonic.  I am amazed at the amount of work involved in building an acoustic guitar.  And in awe of your skill level.  Well done my friend, I hope to get to strum a few chords on it sometime in the future...

Thanks Rocker.

octatonic

Update:

Today I installed the mother of pearl fingerboard dots and started radiusing the fingerboard.

Going for a 16" radius, which is fairly flat.

It will be a bit quicker and I kinda prefer it like this.

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10277104_505270999602686_8229151367245269414_n.jpg