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After some clarifications, and satisfying myself that I am participating in the spirit of the challenge, I'm tossing my hat into the ring----most likely to be quickly followed by the towel

Anyway, I have two very different projects in mind for my third, and don't know which to go for.

#1 is an OM, with or without a cutaway, to be made of AAA Sitka, Tasmanian Blackheart Sassafrass with New Zealand Puriri(NZ teak) fingerboard and bridge, with other details to be decided as progress allows.

#2 is a Tenor after Antes Regal Tenor plan, made from Tasmanian Huon Pine top, Queensland Maple back sides and neck, Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle bindings, bridge and headplate with a West Australian Lace She Oak fingerboard.

This will be my third, as I'm putting aside my current project, like another entrant, to stay within the spirit of the competition.

Nice idea to stimulate the new builders, without the presence of those of you who are good at this to dissuade entries....

Anyway, I'm in....

Glad to see you Joining .... Now to get the Lady in your life to hide the Towels and we will be in business ! Enjoy and welcome to the Circus !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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Hi Nick, Wud confirmed to me that I was good to go in the contest, so I think your all good too.

Looking forward to seeing this one progress.

Ed.

Here are my timber options. First the Blackheart, and you all know what Brent Cole Sr's AAA Sitka looks like...Then the Huon Pine and the Qld Maple.



I have to admit, that I'm leaning towards the Tenor, as I haven't built one and it's using all-Australian timbers, which mightn't be too often seen by you Northern Hemisphere blokes...

Wow! Nice looking stuff, Nick! Whatever you decide on, it'll look great! If you want to get rid of the leftovers, I'll send some stamps!

Alex

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

Black heart all the way! And I want you to tell me where I can find some!

I think the thing to do might be to have a go at both of them. Can't be too much more complex than building one at a time, can it?

Since they are both using different molds, and all, I can keep them relatively separate and reap the economies of scale by doing the tasks for two guitars at the same time.....

Might get the missus to leave one small towel around.....

Zeke, I think someone mentioned on another forum that LMI has some, but it was really dear. Australian Tonewoods often has some, but I don't know how problematic posting to the US would be for Tim, given the Lacey Act and all.....

Good luck with the builds, guys, and I look forward to seeing your results....

As I built my first in around 6 weeks, I'm gonna take my time and do every step of this properly. So, first step was to build a mold and stretchers for the Tenor.

Next, I'll make proper stretchers for the OM mold I built for my first one.

The timber is now in my poor man's dry room for a few weeks at 40-45%RH before doing anything with it, so I'll just make and re-make a few of my jigs and forms and stuff in preparation....

Restaurant isn't open for lunch today, so i had some time to get a few things on the move....

Firstly, shot the backs to get nice straight top edges. Didn't do that on my last and ended up with a bit of an odd twist in the side.

Cut off some strips from the Blackheart to make bindings out of, and re-trued the side pieces.

Glued some B/W/B purfling to the bindings and "clamped" them up.

Shot the tops and backs for the guitars, and managed to fit three of the four on my workboard. All apologies to Robbie O'Brien and LMI, but for the price, the joiner isn't worth it IMO. I've got three of the four glued up using a nail press, and tomorrow will do the 4th, but would have four days wait, or four times the cost....

"Thickness sanded" my bindings to 2mm using me handy dandy home made gizmo....

Those of you who know what you're doing and have the proper equipment may want to look away

Might bend the sides tomorrow, but need to decide on a cutaway or not for the OM....

Look away! Are you kidding! Any home made tool or jig is more money to buy wood, instead of going to Stewmac et al! And no, I don't know what I'm doing.

Alex

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

Started on the necks for these two.

The OM will be Sassafras. One piece, with a heel extension.

The Tenor will be Qld Maple, scarf joint(my first) and a stacked heel. Two pieces oriented perpendicular to the neck and grain matched to give a more interesting look....



Also, plates joined and marked out, to be thicknessed this week.

While I think I'm committed to the Queensland Maple for the back and sides of the Tenor, I just got this lot in the post yesterday, and am very tempted to swap over....

The odd piece is for the bindings on the tenor, and there is lots of Tiger Myrtle on it already, so I think I'll stash this for a future project. Another Tenor, or a couple Ukuleles if I ever decide to make one of them....



Pretty cool looking stuff....And, got it cheap.

You can't go wrong with any of that wood. If it's any reassurance for you, I really like the Queensland Maple, too.

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

Hi Nick,
I'd like to see you go ahead with the tenor as well, that's a nice piece of Q/M and I would like to see how the Huon works for you. I have a piece lying around here that I'm not sure what to do with
BTW where did you get your tenor plan?

Matt

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Matt

Ah! G'day Matt.

I thicknessed the huon, and it taps pretty nicely, despite all the nay-sayers. Sounds much like the spruce I've got going along side.

The maple is gonna get used. On sanding clean, it has some nice figure in it, too. I inlaid a backstrip yesterday, and flushed it up this morning. Ought to have the plates all thicknessed tomorrow or next day. Then some good RH for awhile, and I can get the sides sorted while that's going on.

Still working out how to get a few ideas I have done, but that's what time is for....

Can't remember where the plans came from. I can post them down to you when I'm done if you like. I'll have a poke around and let you know if I find the site. I think I saved it

Cheers,
Nick

Thanks Nick
I'll have a look around as well, it shouldn't be too hard to find something but if I have any trouble I might take you up on that offer.
Cheers

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Matt

Dat Sassafrass! It is sweet. Nice looking work so far. Keep it up!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Chris, Mate, there are plenty of times I wish i could get "normal" timbers for less than the price of a kidney. You know, a bit of flamed maple, some nice walnut, etc, etc, spruce for less than the cost of a new car.....Don't hate us because our timber is beautiful....

Thanks Tony. Happy so far. Lots of time left, so I'm taking it slow.....

Had a bit of time this morning, so I started on the Tenor top. I want to do something diffeent for this one, and play around with a few ideas, so I'm inlaying a front strap, if you will. B/W/B/W/B purfling that will mimic the back and tie into the top and back purfling. I have a few other ideas that I'll work out later in the build.

Anyway, I made the bindings and glued the B/W/B to them.

Then routed out the rosette.

Glued up the Rosette stock. I plan to have a solid rosette out of Tiger Myrtle, with a bit of a twist. I want to continue it into the soundhole and treat it as being bound....will see how that all goes...then B/W/B aroung the outside, tying into the "top strap."

I like the idea, but the execution is still to come.....

i'll think about it, and see what's around, Chris. I like building with Aussie timber, but. I reckon one ought to use native or nearby stuff as much as possible..

Meanwhile, I did a bit more on the rosette for the Tenor. Couple pix sanded back to 120 and with a wash sealer of shellac. Pity to cut out the Tiger Myrtle, but I'm not going with a soundport.....Maybe it's easier to see the "top strap" idea I'm working on here in these photos. Needs a bit of black fill in a couple spots, and final work, but I quite like the look so far...

Also cut out the back and a back headplate from the back plate. Heel cap is gluing up, also from the Q.Maple. Nice bit of figure in this set....

Before you all ask, I thought that simply inlaying the strip on the front of the soundboard would be a bit weak, so I routed out a channel on the back of the plate, and inlayed a strip of counter-grained spruce to strengthen the joint...

And, here is the stock for the headplate from Tiger Myrtle as well....

OK, bent the sides, but didn't take a pic, as we all know what sides in a mold look like. I also unclamped, and sanded clean, the headplate. This one will have a front and a bck plate. This is Tiger Myrtle with B/W/B/W/B purfling in the centre. I'm using the BWBWB as a theme on this guitar, so you'll see it alot....Anyway, here's a pic, and the heel cap will likely come out of this as well....



Pretty nice graining in this one....

That grain is insane in the membrane! I want you to pack up all the tiger myrtle you can find that looks like that. Pack it up nice and tight and ship it to cross plains Tennessee! Why are you still standing there? Go go go!

Looking good, Nick! Loving that Queensland Maple. Just beautiful.

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

That is some beautiful wood !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/