The dark line on the right side of the brace is a pretty nasty crack that I caused by over tightening the vise I used to hold the guitar while fitting the neck..... Bummer!


After a quick trip to ACE hardware where I was able to find compression springs I was able to modify the pictured syringes into service to glue the brace back together.


Here you can see the process I am going to leave these in place for 24 hours.

Woolson Jig

Here is a picture of the Woolson jig that I made to route the tenon on the neck....

Here are a couple of quick shots of the new Neck. Five piece lamination from Mahogany, Black fiber and Maple. It's still pretty chunky but the volute is starting to come along and it shouldn't be that much longer before I have it down to size.



Still need to look for something for the head plate and I am thinking about binding the finger board. I'll try to post more of the pictures of the glue up and my new jig that I used for routing the tenon in a later post.

Well the new band saw blade arrived and it's new neck time. Thanks to JJ Donahue from www.luthiercom.org for the excellent tutorial and pictures on his process. I should be back in business soon.

Back in the beginning I had trouble with the threaded insert for this neck.... It kept popping loose, I really made matters worse over the weekend when I attempted to replace the old one with a new slightly larger insert. The picture says it all. Oh well it really is the journey I have resigned myself to the fact that I need start over.

While I get new material for the next neck, I started working out the details for making the bridge so many processes for one small piece of wood. First I started by making a template in plastic for shaping the bridge.

The next step was to mock up jigs to hold the material for shaping and slotting




The final jig is to line up the holes for the strings.

As I said these are working mock ups if you will for the jigs to make this part. Not only do I have the ability to make the bridge - I have worked out the details to making functional jigs.

Thanks for looking.

No I have not stopped building - I am working on the bridge and the jigs needed to complete the task. (I will have pictures soon). One other note worthy event is that many of the Florida guitar builders have been talking about getting together. That actually happened last weekend. It was a fun day with 10 or so builders showing up. Lots of exchange of ideas with good demonstrations and many fine examples of their current work. I'll try to post more in that as well later.

Moving along

Okay this is starting to get interesting...... I have found a new forum of mostly guitar builders that are talented and willing to help out in immeasurable ways. www.luthiercom.org very cool.... I am also documenting this build on the forum under the heading of "Here's where I am at so far".

Meanwhile - I really like the additions to the neck one of the members at the Luthier's community was nice enough to send me a generous sample of fiber material for purfling and headstock material. I used it in the heal plate lamination - black, walnut, black, spalted maple..

I really do like the look. The fiber seems to be the same material that I bought for the headstock on the Archtop.
I didn't like the maple binding with walnut purfling. I also had an issue with the results of my attempts to fill the gaps in the purfling and binding... So I decided to start from scratch - routed everything off and repalce it with maple binding and black fiber.... I like this look much better also I found a tutorial on gap filling that worked much better.... The end result isn't perfect but I am on my way and know what to watch for next time....

A little more fitting on the neck joint and I'll be on to the fingerboard and neck.

Neck 2.0

Here is version 2.0 after carving and fitting to the body. Again thanks to Ken Hodges for his expert instruction on fitting necks. Also not a bad shot of the guitar vise I built after my last trip to his shop

Next I will need to get the cap on the back still need to come up with something special..... Might try something in Walnut and Spalted Maple..

The neck - version 2.0

Someone who has traveled before me wrote "that building the first guitar is really about learning what not to do". Well, I find myself there one more time - I strayed into the land of over-sized and lost track of the fact that the 14th fret lines up at the body joint. Version 1.0 would join the body somewhere around the 16th fret.....
(There is a lesson in grafting a headstock in my future). I gained valuable experience in layout, glue up, (preparing the blank) and carving the neck. While I am not done, I am more confident with what is ahead and I'm looking forward to this version 2.0 working out fine. The original version was a walnut and black fiber 5 piece laminate. This neck is a mahogany, walnut and maple 5 ply-lam. With mahogany as the main wood. When it's done I'll have to see how well it matches the guitar to see if it makes it on this guitar.....


I also have settled on the headstock design and have the half template made. I need to get some material to make the full template so that I can route the headstock. I also need to decide on the lamination for the headstock and if I want to try something cool with the back of the headstock...

Work begins on the neck....

I have started working on the neck - Pretty straight forward five piece laminated glue up.
The heal is still chunky..... I am om my way out of town so I'll get on when I get back.....
I still need a design for the headstock and to slot the finger board. Then it's on to fitting the neck.........

A day with Ken Hodges (can it get any better?)

I spent the day at Hodges Handcrafted guitars learning from an expert on how to set necks....
Ken is a great guy that is working night and day getting ready for the Nashville show. He is taking nine guitars and a banjo. I can't tell you how much fun I had.......

Thank you Ken for taking the mystery out of setting necks.....

Okay here is the picture I forgot.

Okay here is the top in the clamps. As I said earlier I was playing around with the positions of the clamps both are fine. I really the finger holes, also once the wedges are in place the entire unit is portable. I really like this system....


Here I am using a router to excavate the cavity for the rosette ...

Spanish Luthier's Clamps and Resaw jig

Since I have the wood for another body I thought I would start the next guitar. Sort of the Irish twins method of building two guitars at the same time. This is my set up for re-sawing. The use of a toggle clamp has been a very quick solution for adding the taller fence….

Here is a shot of my shooting board and the new redwood top. Getting ready for glue up.

I have been reading about the use of Spanish luthier’s clamps. Here is what I came up with I am very happy with the results. I would suggest you do a couple of dry runs, just to get your process down, but the end results are worth the effort. (And you can’t beat the price compared to clamps).

Sorry the first shot is blurry because I am trying to show the glue. My workspace was dark and I can’t go back now for a retake (you get the idea) You can also see the braces that are the platform of the system.

The next step is to position the rope. As you start to wrap the figure eights you can adjust the tension. You will also need to compensate for pull as you move to the next bar. Nothing complicated.

Next install the wedges. I was playing around with positions. I did find the finger holes of value. You can make up your own mind. Note I did apply tape to the bottom of the wedges to keep them from being glued to the top. I also forgot to mention that I used a strip of tape along the back seem to help in the glue up. Tape on the flat stock also keeps from glue the work to the jig.

Work continues on the binding - I really need to improve my process and try to limit the amount of spring back from the bending process.
I plan on going back and looking over all of my material and links on the process as a hole, Spring back can cause significant challenges when using wood as a binding material - it's just not that flexible in the cutaway...... I was able to make it work but there has to be an easier way...

Detail of the cut

Here is a pretty good detail of the cut the machine helps achieve...

Binding Machine part two.....

Everyone knows that I am no expert but I have to report that the binding machine worked great for me.... I liked feeding the guitar and the router being stationary.....

On to the fun part, wood binding.........

Binding Machine

Based on my limited shop space and the fact that I already purchased the plans I built the LMI binding jig. I know the debate continues between jigs the move the cutter or the actual guitar.... I can say that this design is well thought out , seems to operate smoothly and certainly wins in the storage department. I expect I will have first hand knowledge very soon regarding how well it does the actual job..... (Film at 11).

Ready for binding.....

The Body is one......

Just playing around with the top back and sides in the clamps. So far so good. Of course everything gets very serious when you start to actually glue everything together.... It has been so darn hot,Angel has been a very good sport and put up with a lot of the assembly process in the house.



I used the go-bar deck to glue the top on the body...... I can honestly say this is a real learning experience.... As I move from step to step I have learned there are certain key points to watch for. As the back sides and top become one you really understand the importance of the center line......

OM build continues with the body

Bracing the top on the 25' radius dish.


Installing the kerf-linings in the cutaway.


Here is a good shot of the radius dish used to profile the top.

Pretty busy weekend the goal is to get the box closed up this week.... I would like to start on binding the body, and then build the neck....

Neck, Tail Block and sides in the mold

I worked on the sides, neck and tail block (Sapele) Still not certain if I am going to use the mold method or solera to build the guitar on/in. I bent up enough sides for a couple of guitars so either way I am going to use both methods somewhere down the line....

Here is a shot of the walnut sides in the mold (I ended up making new spreaders bars). Jeff, I used the Drum sander you gave me, it did a real nice job... Everyone could use a friend like you... Thanks again Jeff....

Dean has been very busy on his guitar the far left shows his carving cradle used to graduate the top and back here is a nice shot of the back hope you can see the flames , they are pretty spectacular. There is a really nice tap tone. The lower shot is of the top and the components for the neck and tailpiece.