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It could have been avoided, really...
There seems to be a bit of a thing about 'Pinecasters' over on TDPRI and I'm a cheapskate, so as a bit of an experiment, I thought that I'd try to make a (somewhat) rustic pine body.
(It's a tele, right? If I don't like it, I can make a different one.)
No 'hundred year old pine' for me, sadly, but I did have some left-overs from a house extension that have been weathering away at the bottom of the garden for the last ten years. Unfortunately, a lot of the wood had split. There was a length of 9" X 3" that seemed to be ok.
I picked a section that was as free as possible of knots and cut a couple of pieces to join together to make a body blank.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3138_zps7911fc57.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3140_zps0e787d96.jpg
I cleaned up the faces of the blanks with the electric plane (which also took off a lot of the weathering... )
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3527_zps874c144e.jpg
I had to use the hand plane to true up the two edges that would be glued together - the electric plane is hopeless for that. (I'm constantly amazed at what a nicely tuned plane can do, even in the hands of a bodger like me.)
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3528_zpsa85f83b1.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3525_zpsa833e5df.jpg
Got a square and true edge on both pieces, then sanded them to open the surface up and glued them together.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3530_zps18e1895a.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3531_zpsabd85365.jpg
This got me a massively over thick blank that I'd need to thin down.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3535_zps141368e6.jpg
I decided to true up the weathered face and see how it looked. If I didn't like it, I could take more off that side of the blank. If it was OK, then I could take all the thickness off the rear of the blank.
I happened to have a couple of offcuts of Dexion that were dead straight and long enough to bridge the blank, so I cobbled together a router support that I could use to hold the router at a fixed height to machine down the blank (not my idea).
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3540_zpse83d98f9.jpg
It was necessary to pack the blank up to stop it rocking, and to get the top face as flat as possible, so I could take the minimum amount possible off to true up the top surface. When it was trued up, I thought that there was probably enough 'character' left to go with the (somewhat) rustic theme
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3541_zps62b01132.jpg
So I flipped the blank over and marked the amount of material to be removed
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3542_zpsc7a619a8.jpg
That line is still 1/8" over finished thickness, so it is a LOT of wood to come off. As planer blades are cheaper than router cutters, I took most of the thickness off with the electric planer before going back to the router to true the face up.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3544_zpse6ec3909.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3543_zps2a7f6643.jpg
It was taking off about 1.5 mm per pass, so it must have been about 15 passes.
So I brought the blank into the house and weighed it every day, or so. It lost about 1% of its weight over the space of about a week, then seemed to stabilise, so I thought it was OK to carry on.
I soaked the weathered face with epoxy and worked it into the cracks as best I could to fill / stabilise them.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3563_zpsce9991c9.jpg
When the epoxy had set, I skimmed this surface flat again (in fact it had moved very little, if any since I'd brought it into the house), then flipped the blank over again and carefully brought it down to the finished thickness:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3569_zps944c8f81.jpg
I haven't got a template bit for my router that is long enough to cut this thick a blank, so I needed an under-sized template to use with a guide bushing on the router base. As luck would have it, there is an autocad drawing of a tele body over on TDPRI (and I have access to Autocad ) which meant that it was easy to create a template that was 2mm smaller all round. Not so easy to get four pieces of A4 to line up while holding sellotape.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3546_zps5b81b630.jpg
I glued this to a piece of 6mm MDF, cut along the dotted lines and made a template. I don't know why I got the MDF - I hate the stuff for templates. I find thin ply much easier to work with. I had to soak the edge of the finished template in superglue to make it solid enough to use.
I used the "washer trick" to get a guide line for roughing the body out (the router cut will be offset from the template by 2mm)
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3570_zps41e79dae.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3572_zpsa33c4032.jpg
I felt a strong urge to align the centreline of the template with the glue line in the blank, but the grain just didn't look right to me, so I offset it and angled it until it looked 'right'. It may well look 'wrong' when finished.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3573_zps2b095d21.jpg
Roughed the blank out with my cheapo band-saw (a jigsaw would work just as well, but I like band-sawing stuff )
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3575_zps6f5a0b07.jpg
Took several passes with the router to cut most of the way down the blank (running the guide bush along the edge of the template):
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3577_zps3e537c84.jpg
Then cut out the various recesses to their various depths while the 1/2" bit was still in the router:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3579_zpsd5c15fa0.jpg
Then flipped the body over and used a flush trim bit to take off the remaining 'lip' around the back of the body:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3580_zps70bf4816.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3583_zps0db5cdd5.jpg
I had one little wobble when cutting from the first side
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3584_zpsb3acb79d.jpg
and some poor cutting
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3585_zpsf0220553.jpg
but I think everything will sand out.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3623_zpse6cb9c56.jpg
To cut the neck pocket, I made up a template by clamping a length of wood each side of the neck, then, while they were still clamped, fixing them to a piece of ply. In theory, when the neck is removed, this should give a perfectly fitting router template. I made some test cuts in scrap pine and if anything, the pocket was a little snug. If I do it again, I'd put a sheet of paper between the neck and the pieces of wood to generate a smidgen of clearance in the pocket.
After finding all the centre lines, the template can be lined up on the body and positioned so that the neck pocket finishes 3" into the body:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3592_zps32da3e53.jpg
Didn't take long to route it out to 5/8" deep
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3594_zpsad5b7042.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3595_zps8ba0e0a7.jpg
A little snug, but the neck fits! (I just cut out the 'notch' for truss rod adjuster access with a saw & chisel.)
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3604_zps7b9fc54a.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3622_zps0fbbeb9d.jpg
I wanted to set everything out on the front of the guitar, but the pick guard wouldn't quite fit around the neck heel, and the 'step' on the neck heel wasn't quite deep enough to accomodate the thickness of the pick guard.
The pick guard was easy: I set the bridge out on the centre line and juggled the pick guard and the control plate around until everything seemed to line up then clamped the pick guard in place
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3596_zpsda5b441f.jpg
You can see the slight mis-match with the neck pocket:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3597_zps68944820.jpg
Easily removed with a flush trim bit in the router:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3598_zpse70d9be3.jpg
For the neck heel, the cut needed to be clean, as any irregulatities would stick out like a sore thumb against the flat surface of the pick guard. So I cheated and put it back on the router table with a fence to keep the cutter away from the end of the truss rod. I cut away as much of the step as possible, just leaving a bit of cleaning up to do with a chisel.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3656_zpsca57ea3f.jpg
That meant that I could do this!:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3599_zps1f08e307.jpg
Nothing is fixed down or finally positioned, but you've got to do it, haven't you?
Good stuff.
Glad you're diggin' it.
More soon...
I marked the position of the neck screw holes out on the back of the body - Looks like I had got a bit enthusiastic with the sanding as the neck plate comes quite close to the edge of the body.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3624_zps7e2b72b3.jpg
I drilled 3mm holes through the body only in the drill press to get them straight, but before I drilled the holes into the neck, I wanted to get the neck properly lined up with the bridge.
With the neck clamped into position, I ran some fishing line from the outer saddles of the bridge up through the headstock and positioned it roughly where the 1st and 6th strings would be at the nut:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3627_zps4e771c16.jpg
I'd marked the centre of the bridge (on masking tape) so I could hold the bridge on the centre line of the body to check where the strings would run. It only needed a very slight nudge on the neck to get the string spacing even at the neck heel before tightening the clamp up to hold the neck in position while I drilled the screw holes.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3626_zps6a155f54.jpg
Check neck screw against 3mm drill bit to set depth:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3628_zps9b13456e.jpg
Double check that this won't go straight through the neck!
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3631_zps537b7313.jpg
Then just drill down using the existing 3mm holes in the body as a guide:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3632_zps7205c786.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3633_zps68e387d0.jpg
Finally, enlarge the holes in the body to be clear the thread of the neck screws (5mm IIRC):
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3634_zps57ec5a82.jpg
Then screw it all together for a test fit:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3637_zps4b654873.jpg
With the neck fitted, I could measure for the correct bridge placement - The Gotoh bridge I had picked up on ebay only has a small range of intonation adjustment (for a tele). I moved the intonation adjustment all the way forwards, and moved the bridge along the centre line until it measured 25.5" from the saddle to the fretboard side of the nut and marked the bridge position. I carefully drilled for and fitted a couple of the bridge mounting screws and checked that everything still matched up. Then I had a cup of tea, and came back and checked again.
It all semed to be OK, so I drilled the other two mounting holes and made a start on the string holes through the body. Aside from the neck, this was the aspect that I was most bothered about being able to do. The holes are too far into the body to be able to drill them in my (cheap B&Q) pillar drill, so they would have to be done by hand.
I'm crap at cutting or drilling anything in a straight line, so I had set squares balanced on the body to sight the drill against to try and help me drill straight. The best help, though came from the chrome plated bridge. I was using the bridge as a template to position the holes, and from a dim memory somewhere remembered a tip about keeping the reflection of the drill bit in a straight line to drill square to the surface:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3640_zpsca139329.jpg
If there's a kink between the drill bit and its reflection, then you're drilling off line.
Anyway, I drilled the two outer holes right through to the back of the body, but only drilled the other 4 holes about half way through then removed the bridge.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3638_zps8da7c503.jpg
I flipped the body over and used a couple of loose fitting screws to line the outer string holes of the bridge up with the holes through the body. The holes spacing was ~1 mm off on the back of the body, but close enough.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3639_zps97e97466.jpg
Using the same technique as before, I drilled through to meet the middle 4 holes using the bridge as a template.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3642_zps328271ac.jpg
Everything met up - I'll settle for that!
I drilled some similar holes on some scrap and tried enlarging them for ferrules:
Ok, they're different heights (which makes it look worse), but they're not in line either:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3649_zpsed0c479f.jpg
So I decided some assistance was needed. I used the bridge as a template again to drill some 3mm holes in a strip of aluminium, and then put this against a fence on the drill press to enlarge them:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3647_zps860800b6.jpg
I could then clamp this strip over the string holes in the back of the body and use it as a guide to drill through for the ferrules:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3646_zpsda33ff09.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3645_zps0e1d543b.jpg
This worked a treat:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3650_zpsd624408b.jpg
With the ferrules pushed in as far as I dared (the body needs to be finished before I fit them for real):
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3651_zps83cb1626.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3652_zps9098a21d.jpg
WELL chuffed with that.
Instagram
Just a few jobs left to do on the body:
Drilling the holes between the cavities was straightforward enough
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3600_zpsbd6de34c.jpg
They came out closer to the bottom of the control cavity than I expected, though:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3601_zpsde4a5804.jpg
I was reluctantly resigned to sanding a radius on the edge of the body, but happened to get lucky on ebay. I've been looking for a cheap, small radius, roundover bit for ages - the cheap ones are all ~10mm radius, and the 3 - 4 mm radius ones are few and far between, and always seem to be ~£40+ professional ones.
Then I found these - a set of 6 different round-over bits between 3 and 10mm radius for £15. They were described as 1/4" shank when I bought them, but they turned out to be 8mm shank when they arrived. Luckily I have an 8mm collet (the first time I've ever used it). They seem pretty decent (for cheap cutters), and the 4mm radius bit took the corners off the body in no time flat.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3659_zps603ceeac.jpg
The last job before finish sanding was to drill for the jack socket. The electrosocket needed a 25mm diameter recess a few mm deep for the rim with a 22mm hole behind it for the body of the socket. The only 25mm drill bit I had was a nasty spade bit which aren't renown for their neatness. I tried it out on some scrap and it seemed to drill a reasonably clean hole, so I went with it
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3660_zps3780289e.jpg
I wedged packing in the control cavity before the smaller hole broke through to try and keep things neat.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3662_zpsdbc7b6d4.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3663_zpsefed76e9.jpg
Not the best in the world, but it'll do,
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3664_zpsc6723afe.jpg
Then sanding, sanding, sanding,,,,,
Early on, I managed to get the corner of a piece of sandpaper folded under and put a big gouge in the back before I realised:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3665_zps1ca89068.jpg
I brought the body into the house, and when nobody was looking, I covered it with a damp cloth and ran the steam iron over it. It brought the gouge out pretty much completely!
There were a couple of spots where the routing had torn out isolated fibres. This left pits that were too deep to remove by sanding. I tried to fill them with superglue which worked, but the glue soaked into the surrounding wood and left a stain that went in too far to sand out! :-/ Ho-hum, I'd intended that the body be somewhat 'rustic', so these stains will just add to that vibe (maybe).
I wasn't sure what sort of finish to use on the body: I wanted to see the weathering on the front, so it should be a transparent finish; I was desparate to avoid that sickly varnished pine look; ideally it would be something pretty hard as the raw wood was very soft, and cheap would be good, too.
I had 1/4 of a tin of this water based varnish left:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3709_zps29caf21b.jpg
It had worn very well on the skirting boards in the house, but was an absolute pig to try and get smooth finish with a brush. I have a smally spray gun...
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3687_zpsc928b64f.jpg
so I wondered if I could spray it...
I tried it without thinning to start with, and it seemed to work OK on some scrap, so I hit the body with a couple of coats and thought I was on to a winner:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3669_zps5f7abe18.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3670_zps6d8dcf39.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3671_zps1a717951.jpg
The first coat went on quite 'dry', so I opened the paint needle up as far as possible for the second, but the surface was still very dry, and hadn't really flowed out.
For the third coat, I tried thinning the remaining varnish with 5% water (it was quite alarming when adding the water, as the varnish went bright blue and milky until I stirred it up!). This went on quite nicely, and seemed to flow out well. When I came back to it, though, there were a number of runs which had appeared whilst drying:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3676_zpsa16ae918.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3677_zps54900e36.jpg
Annoying, but I thought if I put a bit less paint on, and kept the body horizontal after spraying, that everything would be OK. So I carefully wet sanded the runs out (the varnish actually wet sands very well) and fitted some screws to the existing holes that I could use to support the body while it dried...
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3690_zps0853ee4b.jpg
...and carefully went for the 4th coat.
Looking good...
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3692_zps5ccc0f70.jpg
Until I turned it over! :x
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3694_zps6c166945.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3693_zpsbbe4ec0c.jpg
This was just silly! I'd been careful about how much I had been spraying, and it had looked perfect immediately after painting, and yet it was sitting in puddles !?
It occurred to me that what was probably happening was that the varnish wasn't 'going off' quickly enough, so that it had time to run and pool. In hindsight, the problems probably coincided with the weather turning cold and damp.
So I wet sanded all the runs out again, put a fan heater in the shed for a few hours, warmed the last of the varnish and went for it again (5th coat!).
This time, it seemed to work OK:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3725_zpsdb851d89.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3727_zps7292d538.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/TC/DSC_3729_zps676bb480.jpg
In an ideal world, it could probably use another similar coat, but I've run out of varnish and enthusiasm for varnishing, so will stick with this. It's supposed to look 'rustic' :^o