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Thank you. I'm calling this my mini, mini jumbo model.



Actually, it's a 13 fretter. My original aim with this guitar was to make it as small as possible for easy travelling. I thought of making a 12 fretter, but decided I wanted more, so I drew the double cutaway to give more of a normal acoustic neck feel.



I think I must have a subconscious tendency toward that style! My tutor was saying only the other day that the desk I'm building looked art-deco.
Those pieces of wood are mostly just scraps and offcuts that I've saved for rosettes because they looked nice. Apart from the white wood with the purplish streaks, which I sliced from a lilac tree branch in my garden.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
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I was just thinking, there is a tutorial in the fixtures and jigs section on making a handheld circle cutter. Cant remember who posted it, but I made on and love it.

Ed

viewtopic.php?f=10117&t=34874

Here it is.

Ed

Well, I tried making a circle cutter, but it didn't work too well and the blade wandered. So I did it freehand instead . I think it looks ok, but I haven't filled the channels yet (waiting for shellac to arrive) so don't know for sure. I'll be making the black lines with charcoal dust and superglue.

I've cut all the inlays ready to go in, though.



I've also glued up the laminated neck. Hopefully those holes will be cut out in the truss rod slot.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

The shellac has come and the rosette is done. It actually turned out far better than I had hoped! I used a variation of the mastic rosette technique jfmckenna used on his challenge build. To make the charcoal, I burnt about 15 matches and crushed them up to make a fine powder. Then I tipped the powder into the shellacked channels and dripped thin superglue over the top. Waited a few minutes for it to dry and scraped back. Works perfectly!

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Very cool rosette! Excellent job cutting that out by hand! That charcoal method is very cool but seems a little messy, I can't wait to see what else u do on your guitar.

Thanks. I can't either!

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Your build is looking great! I've always wanted a guitar that was in this scale
length range. Similar to playing capo 5 or so, but open chords = awesome!
Looking forward to seeing and hearing this one.
And nice rosette by the way. You and Zeke have given me rosette
envy

jeremy

That's cool Peter, I really like it so far. I like the way you just dive in and get it done

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks Jeremy and Steve.
Not much progress this week - I'm still trying to find a way of thicknessing the back without tearing it. I'll probably resort to a belt sander when I get time to use one. I actually think I may have misidentified it and I'm beginning to think it's curly bubinga. I've not seen any jatoba that is this curly - it even has patches of endgrain showing on the back! Exactly like this bubinga:


From http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/ ... ubinga.htm

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

That's some wild looking wood Peter. I can't wait to see more of your work. I really like your style.

Nice work on the rosette! Love your attitude. No tools? Just freehand it

I'm also a fan of the body shape. Well proportioned and "natural" looking curves, rather than the computery bezier curve style that a lot of people are doing nowadays. However, the bridge looks bulky to my eye. What kind of wood are you planning to make it out of?

The headstock looks just the right size for a small instrument Possibly heavy, though. Gotoh Stealth tuners and Pegheds are the lightest weight I know of, but both are expensive, and at least Burton LeGeyt has had trouble with the Stealths. StewMac's Golden Age Restoration Tuners are pretty darn light, and reasonably priced. Their open geared economy tuners are even lighter, and dirt cheap. Not sure how nice they feel, but especially if you're keeping the instrument for yourself, that would be a good option.

Not sure on the back wood identification... the color doesn't look quite pink enough for bubinga to me, but it could just be the light/camera. The fact that it's a pain to plane sounds right though Does it have any smell? Bubinga has a very light but kinda stinky smell... at least the one set I've used did. I ended up doing most of the thicknessing by scraper... took forever.

Nice, Peter! Have you thought about flipping your peghead? You may like the way it flows with your double cutaway body shape.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

Thank you. It is actually a computer generated curve from G-thang, but I tweaked it until it looked right. The bridge will not look like the one in the drawing, I just copied it over from my last guitar. It will be made of bubinga as well, but out of a different piece to the back.
The back wood smells like fruit tea when working with it. Makes a nice change from the parana pine!

These are the tuners I'm planning on using: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271082918652? ... 1423.l2649. They look quite light. I can't really afford anything at the moment, so I'm trying to make this guitar for next to nothing.



Thanks for the idea. I hadn't actually thought of it in terms of the body shape.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Sorry I haven't updated for a while, but I've been working on the back inlays and I was waiting till it was finished in case it didn't work out . Anyway, it did, so here is the finished back! (apart from proper sanding)
I think the vine leaves are a strange pale variety of wenge and the black lines are more of the charcoal inlay method. I think it took around 10 - 15 hours altogether as I don't have a dremel, so had to do it all by hand using knives and chisels.


And here are the 'in progress' pictures:


Clamping in the back stripe.




Main stalk done.


The first leaves.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

The messy part!


And it's done

_________________
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Cool inlay peter! I just dont see how you cut all that by hand! You are more patient than I. I dont thing the leaves are wenge though. I cant see any pores and wenge has HUGE pores!! Either way it looks fantastic!

Thank you!
I've spent hours trying to identify that piece of wood, and I know it doesn't look like wenge, but I'm sure it is. It does actually have quite big pores, but they don't really come out in the photos.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Not much new progress. I've cut out the moulds and bought the tuners - a really nice set of gold plated, open backed Wilkinson's for $40.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

I've been away for a week, so again not much new progress. The truss rod has arrived, though. I went for a double action mandolin truss rod in the end, and it looks like a perfect fit!


While I was away, I made a trip to The Acoustic Music Company in Brighton. That was a great experience! I was able to try out loads of amazing guitars by luthiers such as Matsuda, Doer, Baranik, De Jonge and others. I also took my first guitar to compare, and was surprised to find that it sounded almost as good as some of them! The workmanship was in a whole different level though!
I came away with a load of new ideas and if you can make it there, I think it is definitely worth it. The staff are very friendly and helpful as well.

Trying out a fan fret for the first time.

_________________
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Very cool Peter! Maybe you can talk Trevor into putting one of yours on the wall for sale

Great shopo that.... tried out a Shepperd when I was last their.... was so tempted to sell everything I own to buy it - quite frankly IMHO the best sounding instrument I have ever played...simply stunning.

Finally got some work done on this. I've finished the mould, and thicknessed the sides. I stupidly cracked one side across the grain while planing it down, but managed to repair it with CA glue. Unfortunately, the crack would have been right on the waist, so I had to flip it around to get it onto a less bent part and now they aren't really bookmatched very well. Oh well, you can't have everything perfect!

I got the sides bent as well. They still need a bit of work, but there's another crack starting in the other waist , so I'll leave it to dry and glue that up before finishing.

Has anyone got any tips on how to miter the corners of the cutaways?

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Peter, maybe this will help

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=12750%22

Thanks Zeke, just what I was looking for!

_________________
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars