Official Luthiers Forum!

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Jay, nice one with the dust control, even nicer with the Sapelle(?) cutaway.

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That's an African Mahogany set I got from zootman.

The Jet is hanging from the ceiling now. It's a 10 foot ceiling so installing the frame to hang the Jet from was challenging and getting the box up there was interesting but nothing came crashing to the ground in the process. I'm really surprised by how much air this thing moves on just the low setting even on the intake side.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Finished another. Mahogany, Lutz topped L-00. Curly Cherry binding. Lots of Abalone, and the customers name at the 12th in MOP. I just love this shape and feel of this size of guitar. I will be making more of this size.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

i need a nap!

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Amazing work on display and a bunch of busy bees. Well done!

I've been experimenting with various pore filling techniques and different stains on scrap pieces of white oak from an OM that is nearing the finishing stage. (Yup, inspired by Haans.)

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George :-)

Fred Tellier's Guitar:

Fred, I would like to try an armrest like yours (looks great!!!). Any suggestions as to what tutorial would be a good place to start?

Thanks

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I did my 1st one from looking at ideas online before Kent Everett put out his dvd. I picked up a few good ideas from it that made the process easier. The preshaping the top and sides for the armrest and the using map pins to nail the binding and purfling in place were worth the price of the dvd. My 1st 6 were done with ebony binding and black dyed veneer and other than bending the ebony it is quite easy to do, the Koa was a bit of a challenge, high figured Koa was hard to find and the veneer application had to be carefully thought out to get the figure lined up with the binding. Now it is completed I will be more willing to do non black bevels but will still prefer black. Another thing is I now use spruce for the inner support and I have lots of spare bracing wood.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

These threads should be a monthly thing.
Love seeing the wonderful work you fellers are doing!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Quite a bit-

A size 2 back from finish. Bridge pinned in place. I'll glue it tomorrow. Next to it a 70's LoPrinzi in the humidity sack for crack repair.



A double side Mahogany/Sitka OM getting the rosette installed.



And a Taylor in crack ICU as well as an electric repair and a 20's Ludwig tenor banjo that had it's head re-skinned.



Finally a 15" archtop in construction using spruce from the old Bellanca aircraft wing works which was right here in Alexandria MN where they made the Viking.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Thanks Fred, I do need all the help I can get on the binding. That part has me most anxious. I love the look you are getting with the Koa binding. It is outstanding. The one I'll be doing is a cutaway Indian rosewood. I think the ebony binding would be a good place to start. I'll check out Kent's DVD. Thanks for the direction!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

George, I have been doing the same thing! I had good luck (initially, at least) with egg white whipped with 0000 pumice and applied to bare wood sanding it in. 2 applications left a very decent fill on my test pieces. I am going to buff out later this week but initially it looks good-

Next test is to do it over a sealer coat and mix in either dust or powdered pigment. I'll have to make it thicker and use it like a paste. Not sure how well that will work.

What did you try? I see "linseed oil and pumice" written on one piece there-

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I've been doing similar experiments on White Oak. Mostly to see what I like the most rather than how to get it to work best. So far I like a dark varnish (Interlux) the most. I've not gotten dark stains to look appealing to me, they're just too dark.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

If you would like to make your life a little easier Joe, find a stick of African Blackwood for binding. I haven't bent much Ebony, but I hear it can be cranky. ABW on the OTOH hand bends like butter. It can be a little difficult to find.

Good to know others are working with oak. That's cool.

I've experimented with boiled linseed oil and pumice powder, Timbermate, end grain dust and shellac (ala Robbie O'Brien's recently posted video tip), and a similar effort at making a slurry by simply wet sanding with 180 grit and shellac.

I've used Timbermate before and it works well, but I'm just not a fan of how it colors the pores so distinctly. I like that effect in some woods, but think it makes the oak look kind of dirty. Frankly, the other three approaches that I've tried all seem about the same. They are all quite simple to execute and fill things pretty well with a couple of passes.

However, I've run into a problem that maybe someone can help with. I'm aiming for a dark stain that leaves the highly reflective flakes in the figure more pronounced. If I stain first the process of filling the pores removes too much of the stain. If I pore fill first the stain goes on too evenly and I lose the dark/light contrast that I like. I seem to be caught in a trap and I can't get out, if you know what I mean. Any ideas?

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George :-)

When I have been happy with staining white oak it was always in 2 steps- First with a VERY yellow/orange stain which gets only mostly sanded back and then a darker one over top of that. That generally gives me the pronounced ray look I want. I've seen people use a similar method on curly maple with a darker (almost black) stain.

Maybe apply the first one, then pore fill and remove most of the first stain cutting back the fill?

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Burton, if you're looking to darken it, you can also use ammonia fumes sparingly. It will make it look really great. Start with your yellow/orange and then try the ammonia. Remember.. fumes, not straight on the wood. You may have to try several pieces for timed exposure.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I tried the ammonia- It was nasty! And it didn't look like what I wanted, it made it more grey than brown. I didn't do too much tests of times/etc.... The stain really worked well for what I was after:

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I'm using a two-step process as well: Transtint dye followed by a dark gel stain. Good idea about pore filling after the first step, Burton. I'll give that a try and see how it goes.

You can never have too many drills. :-)

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George :-)

Did you put any finish on the fumed samples, Burton? They come out from the fuming greyish, but go brown after an oil varnish is applied. I don't think that you would get a change from grey if you use a water based finish.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

This is a great thread. Hey you guys with multiple instruments on the bench - are you pros or just prolific amateurs? Some beautiful stuff going on, great inlays, great woods, great designs. I may have to try a mandolin.

Here is my entry in the come-as-you-are party:

I am putting together the parts for an oak, 12 fret, ladder braced J-185 (16" lower bout). I have been waiting for the neck, which showed up last night, and for the pearloid (MOTS) for binding and to cover the fretboard, and that should be here this week. That's the very nice red spruce top in the middle. There are two Stanley 80 scraper planes there. I have the full array of 12, 12-1/4, 12-1/2, and even a 12-3/4, along with a 112, but I find these guys the easiest and most consistent to use. The one on the left has been modified with 2 heavy cabinet knobs to add some weight and it seems to help:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/17233564145/in/album-72157652049841576/

The head and heel cover will be gold leaf, and the rosette and purfling will be gold glitter. My bench is just the right height to pull up a stool and use as a desk at this end. That's my go-to Stanley Bedrock 605-1/4 which I find to be about perfect for most guitar jobs:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/17207608876/in/album-72157652049841576/

Keep 'em coming

Ed

I did wipe a little oil based finish on. It was better but still not quite what I wanted, not as rich a red brown as I hoped for. The rays and the rest were still mostly the same color too. I imagine it would vary piece to piece though.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Doesn't everyone have at least 4 guitar projects and a mandolin in work??

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Hahaa!
I have 3 on the bench, but I am barely a rank amateur.
The driver is is humidity - I never assemble the box above 40%.
Where I live, it is just sneaking up to that now, so I was happy to get the 3rd box closed up last weekend.
I find it much easier to humidify than dehumidify.
So the build season here is basically Oct - April.

I build electrics in the summer....with the doors and windows open...

first gloss top in a few years...

quilted mahogany NL-00

all mahogany 000 with a piece of mahogany that has a very crystalline tap tone...

soon to be quilted mahogany parlour...

on the left a glossy Tinker and two satin Halcyons on the right...

Great to see so much inspiring W.I.P. and exchange of of ideas.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Wow ... lots of industrious folks posting ... amazing work!

Just strung this one up (and it was just picked up by the gent who commissioned it today). It's a rare (for me) slope-shouldered dreadnaught ... Sitka/Indian with quilted Sapele binding, Taj Mahal peghead with cast metal logo-badge.