Octatonic's guitar buildery thread

chillidoggy · February 2014

Thanks for that, very informative.

I agree that working with hand tools can be theraputic, but for sure I'd always use a power tool if it made the job easier, and produced a better result. Trouble is, where do you stop? You can end up being exactly what you don't want to be - a production line. Presumably you'll see how it goes and then decide if it's for you?

octatonic · February 2014

chillidoggy said:

Thanks for that, very informative.

I agree that working with hand tools can be theraputic, but for sure I'd always use a power tool if it made the job easier, and produced a better result. Trouble is, where do you stop? You can end up being exactly what you don't want to be - a production line. Presumably you'll see how it goes and then decide if it's for you?

Pretty much.

I doubt I've ever thickness a sound boar with a plane again- I'll just use a thickness sander- you have to scrape it back after the binding is on anyway, so this idea that a plane finish is better is not really true as you never stay with a plane finish, exactly.

You need to use a plane though, and therefore you need to know how to use them.

For instance once you've done the scarf join you need to plane the top face flat- you cannot do it with a thickness sander as the neck join is already done so it isn't a flat piece.

All the time spent thicknessing soundboards with a plane has prepared me to be able to do the headstock face really quickly and still doing it well.

I can square stuff up quite fast now and I wouldn't have been able to do it if I hadn't spent all the time using a plane last year and this year.

When I get doing it properly I will be much more confident because of all this work, I guess.

ThePrettyDamned · February 2014

Wow, this is really starting to take shape now.

Warming up some 'wow's for you

Scarlett looks awesome.

chillidoggy · February 2014

She knows.

octatonic · March 2014

Update:

The last of the back binding is on.

Finally.

It has been 5 weeks I think since I started it.

Some pics:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/1780089_474157799380673_1333695694_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/1957830_474157832714003_653931129_o.jpg

Also started shaping the neck.

This is more fun.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/1966274_474157782714008_1334563083_o.jpg

octatonic · March 2014

Today was spent shaping the neck.

This is much faster work and it is going well- I use Herdim rasps and my Veritas spokeshave to do it, cut 3 half round to remove most of the material around the heel and then go to a cut 5.

Eventually I will sand it down but there is quite a bit to remove still.

Neck shape will be somewhere between a C and a D, as is my preference on acoustics.

I still need to do the soundboard binding but hoping it will go quickly with the true channel router approach and a single piece of ebony binding.

Some pics of the neck shaping thus far:

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1966834_474842175978902_838972802_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1003547_474842209312232_1022036096_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1969301_474842232645563_1510780721_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/1782055_474842259312227_388780351_n.jpg

chillidoggy · March 2014

How do you determine the profile, or have I missed something?

octatonic · March 2014

chillidoggy said:

How do you determine the profile, or have I missed something?

I didn't go into too much detail, you're right.

First you do this:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/1966274_474157782714008_1334563083_o.jpg

at the 1st and around the 9th fret, with the Herdim rasps.

The profile at these points is up to the builder.

You can use a half template to get the symmetrical at each side but I don't bother with that.

I know what sort of neck I like so I just do it by eye.

Then you take the spokeshave along the gap between the profiled sections until you cut the excess away.

That took about an hour total.

The flow of the heel and the headstock is where most of the work is.

That is a combination of the Herdim rasps (cut 3 & cut 5, a variety of sizes and shapes- I like the half rounds), Japanese carving knives and some sandpaper.

Takes quite a while- I reckon I'll spend all day today and Monday working on it.

Then I start making the false tenon.

I'll get the soundboard binding on before that though.

WezV · March 2014

Thats pretty much the way i do it when free handing a neck shape, which is always my faourite way of carving a neck. I use a half round rasp rather than a flat one as then the head and heel countours are starting to form in stage 1.

There are time i have had to copy neck shapes a bit more accurately.

Rather than make a neck shape template to try and carve too, I convert the cross section into a series of facets which get transferred to the wood and carved in series. Thats not described very well and i may need to do a drawing to explain later, but i know a lot of new builders i have shown the method to like that it gave them a bit more guidance than "just carve till it feels right"

No need for a drawing, i have found a nice link that explains the process. its definitely easier to do than to explain

http://liutaiomottola.com/construction/NeckCarve.htm

StooEd101 · March 2014

Really enjoyed reading through this thread, I'm currently studying guitar building myself at Anniesland College - my first build had been an OM-style steel-string. It's even interesting seeing where the making processes have differed and where they have been consistent between the two builds. Looking forward to following your progress mate!