Octatonic's guitar buildery thread

octatonic

Update:

Fingerboard was glued on today.

It took me a bit of work to get the fingerboard radiused and then up to 600 grit.

I had to redo two of the dots (at the 12th fret) as I had sanded down to the wood- fairly common I think.

Pics:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31.0-8/10259115_507069189422867_7818580723288975415_o.jpg

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/l/t31.0-8/1669929_507069239422862_6455788548654346943_o.jpg

I start fretting tomorrow and then will get the bridge sorted towards the end of the week.

I hope.

xHymnal

So close! 

Can you do a vid when it's done so we can see how it sounds?

octatonic

Update:

Fingerboard went on fine- a bit of a gap under the fingerboard extension but only enough to get about 0.5mm bit of paper into.

Today I shaped the back of the neck, trimming it to the fingerboard and final neck shaping.

Then I fretted it.

Anyone who is thinking about fretting guitars- get the Jaws 1/2/3 set from Stewmac.

It is worth its weight in gold.

All of the frets inserted in under 2 hours.

I hardly have to do anything either- as pressing them doesn't deform them like hammering.

Amazing bunch of tools.

Pics:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/10330377_507543706042082_7778050811699044130_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/10258269_507543766042076_3069132656410850670_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31.0-8/10333398_507543882708731_7459051714228038114_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31.0-8/966224_507543932708726_114533641204008250_o.jpg

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/10258458_507544006042052_2877218946905330092_o.jpg

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t31.0-8/10320925_507544086042044_2828951083758125692_o.jpg

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31.0-8/1939516_507544219375364_8483844319182178667_o.jpg

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31.0-8/1939516_507544219375364_8483844319182178667_o.jpg

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/966212_507544326042020_6896843401156720038_o.jpg

octatonic

Tomorrow I'll check to make sure the frets are fine, then look at dressing/crowning them.

Then I can look to the bridge and the nut/saddle etc.

octatonic

Hymnal said:

So close! 

Can you do a vid when it's done so we can see how it sounds?

Sure thing.

Kebabkid

Good work J and how many hours have you spent on this to date?

Sorry I didn't catch you and the lads and your CAE at last week's Gearfest (another time).

octatonic

Kebabkid said:

Good work J and how many hours have you spent on this to date?

Sorry I didn't catch you and the lads and your CAE at last week's Gearfest (another time).

I think this one has taken around 600 hours of being in the workshop, but not all of that buckling down to get on with it.

At this stage of building there is a lot of waiting around- either for a bit of equipment to be free, a tutor to answer a questions or generally just trying to work through a problem for the first time and going slowly.

There is also quite a lot of banter, pranks and jokes about each-other's mum.

octatonic

Today was fret level day.

First I worked on the fret ends, getting them shaped neatly.

Then I took a 'fine' diamond stone to the frets to level them.

Once they were pretty level I took my fret rocker to find the high frets, which I went over with a file until they were roughly to size.

Then I crowned them with the crowning file.

Then I polished with 240/320/400 grit sandpaper and then started on the micro mesh.

Anyone who does fret work- get some micro mesh.

Take it through the grades and you get an AMAZING finish on the frets- as you can see on the lower frets.

The higher frets were still to do when I took the pic.

Still have 4 to do, which I will do tomorrow.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t31.0-8/10365334_508445182618601_2027059675672337330_o.jpg

Panama_Jack666

So close...

Panama_Jack666

What's the expected finish date on this bad boy?

octatonic

Next week I guess.

WezV

octatonic said:

Today was fret level day.

First I worked on the fret ends, getting them shaped neatly.

Then I took a 'fine' diamond stone to the frets to level them.

Once they were pretty level I took my fret rocker to find the high frets, which I went over with a file until they were roughly to size.

Then I crowned them with the crowning file.

Then I polished with 240/320/400 grit sandpaper and then started on the micro mesh.

Anyone who does fret work- get some micro mesh.

Take it through the grades and you get an AMAZING finish on the frets- as you can see on the lower frets.

The higher frets were still to do when I took the pic.

Still have 4 to do, which I will do tomorrow.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t31.0-8/10365334_508445182618601_2027059675672337330_o.jpg

Micromesh is great stuff, I use it on everything. but these days I also follow up the shine you already have with a final polish with t-cut or any other polishing compound.

I found on some guitars the shine from micromesh was not lasting forever, even when taken up to the 12000 grit.   The ones i have given a final polish last much longer.  only takes 30 seconds per fret but well worth it.   I would do this as a last step once its finished, before stringing

 

Also, you should not need to find high frets after you have levelled.  Always worth checking everything to make sure, but you shouldn't find any high frets at this stage unless something has gone wrong with the fretting or levelling.   If you are finding high frets after the level then look to see if any are springing back up, if its not that then its to do with your technique when levelling.   The worry is that filing single frets lower does not address the reason for that fret being high

octatonic

Thanks Wev, how do you level frets then?

WezV

pretty much the same as you described actually, but once they are levelled from the stone there is no more levelling to do, just recrowning and polishing.  the idea of going back and spot levelling single frets does not sit well with me

Step by step:

1) adjust neck.   I don't have one of the neck jigs that simulates string tension, they are the best option but I have managed without for a long time.  Setting the neck dead straight is the usual way but sometimes I actually put a tiny bit of back bow in by tightening the truss rod slightly.   I do this on guitars with single action truss rods or very stiff necks as its allows you to dial in the right amount of relief on very stiff necks rather than rely on string tension to pull it in.  obviously on truss rod free necks you have no adjustment and you want to make sure the fret board is dead straight before levelling

3) prep - making sure i have a secure place to put the neck and it is fully supported.  also masking of the board and any bits of body that get anywhere near it. put permanent marker along the top of every fret.

4)level with the diamond stone. I hold the stone slightly on an angle and push it length ways along the string paths.  I only ever push it in one direction at a time, no back and forth.   I carry on until there is a thin line of filed metal along the top of every fret.   each fret has been touched on the top of its crown by the diamond stone

5)Check. as above, there should be no high frets at this point, btu its always worth checking.  i do use a fret rocker, straight edge and relief gauge to check it all over at this stage.   But even just the marker pen will tell you how well you prepped the board and how consistently you inserted the fret. If you did it well the ink free section on top will be consistent on every fret, if you do it badly then you will see wider sections of removed ink where the fret was high and thinner sections where it was low.   If there are any inconsistent areas then you need to double check the frets are inserted correctly before doing anything else.

I know if i still find a high fret at this stage then the fret isn't seating properly and i have a lot more work to do to put it right.  thankfully it almost never happens now and i generally have a consistently thin line on top of each fret at this stage

If there are any sections that need more work the diamond stone will come out again and i will redo the problem area  followed by the whole length again to ensure they are all consistent with each other.   I will reapply marker pen at each stage so i can monitor progress

Last stage is to use the stone again to focus on the last few frets to add a little drop off

WezV

6) reapply  pen to the top of every fret

6) recrown - i have used every type of fret crowning file there is and hate most of them... but I finally stumped up for the stew-mac diamond ones and am happy with them.  before that i often ended up doing it the long way with triangle files to manually recrown.   the important thing here is that you are after the reverse of the last stage, you want to leave a thin line of pen on the crown.   if you got a thin consistent line in the last stage you have very little work to do here.   I often dress the ends at this stage too, but that can be done at any stage before the polish.   Sometimes i need to do cheap repairs for schools and if i am happy the level went well (thin consistent line on each fret) I am happy to skip the recrown altogether to save them money.

7) first polish - this is the most important step and a guitar will be playable after this one. apply marker pen again, it will fill the file marks.  I use wet and dry paper and go along the frets till the pen is removed.   must be to at least 400g, but often i rinse and repeat up till 1000g.  when i fix guitars for schools i don't go further than this.  skipping the recrown and other polishing stages helps keep it at a price they can afford.  It will play scratch free but look a bit dull.

8) second polish, this is the micromesh stage.  i use from 1500 up to 12000.  I went along the fret in the last stage so with this i go alternate between along the neck and along the frets.  I make sure to get the ends of frets in this stage too, especially with the along the neck strokes.

9) final polish with compound.   I only use a small amount on a cloth wrapped around the tip of my finger.  A few seconds going back and forth along each fret  and then a final buff with a soft cloth

WezV

oh, I use a red, blue or green marker pen, not black.    Bright colours show up more.  If doing a board with know high frets then i often use red on every fret followed by blue on any high spots i find with the fret rocker

octatonic

Thanks Wev, I'm going to put this into practice next time.

Thanks for taking the time to post it.

octatonic

Update:

Bridge went on today.

No major problems experienced, although I did have to radius the bridge again as it moved a bit once I started shaping it.

Also cleaned up the soundboard quite a bit and filled any gaps with ebony dust and superglue (runny, not the gel).

Came out a treat.

First pic is of my gluing a small bridge patch extension as I placed mine in slightly the wrong place.

It is only a tiny 55x25x1.5mm patch- won't make much difference I don't think.

Pics:

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31.0-8/1548033_510967835699669_3537661531784435204_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31.0-8/10404022_510967862366333_9155850358735243892_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31.0-8/10295223_510967899032996_8840598955253693615_o.jpg

marantz1300

I have just found this thread.
It is GREAT. I'm learning all the time.
Keep up the good work and a massive thanks.

octatonic

Bridge is on- I had a bit of a shit day though so I decided to not do any building until next week.

Should be finished next week.