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Finally got down to the shop for an hour; first progress I've been able to make in the last 4 or 5 days. Roughed out the sound port. I use a laminate trimmer with a 1/4" straight bit.


Got it roughed in and cleaned up some with files.


A little water and some light scraping cleans off the pattern.


I'll finish it up later by rounding over the sharp edges and finish sanding it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Wow, nice! How long did it take to work up the courage to free hand the routing the first time?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Took a while the first time. I used a much smaller diameter bit and snuck up on it very slowly. Quite nerve wracking it was.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Been busy doing some construction on the house which has really interrupted my shop time. I did get down and clean up the soundport.

Outside


Inside


Closeup. There are a few places that need to be cleaned up some. I'll do that before I close the box.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Really nice!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I'm still out here but have been working a project for my wife the last few weeks. We've been redoing the garage with new wiring, new lights, paint, ..... Really messing with my shop time but the worst is over. All I have left is to patch and paint walls then epoxy coat the floor. Only nice thing is I've put the daylight T8 fluorescent lights in the garage and I really like them so I am convinced that I want to update the shop fixtures soon.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Looks great Steve.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Finally got a little bit of work done last night. Nothing worth a photo. Just laying out the bracing pattern for the live back and cutting up some Adi brace stock.

Also dipped a scrap of the bastogne walnut I'm using for bridge and fretboard into the vinegar/steel wool mix and it came out a very deep blue-black. I have some bark (forgot the name) that tanners use that I should be able to use to end up with a deeper black. I do wonder how durable the color will be on a fretboard but I guess the best way is to just try it. As I get more going on with the process I'll post some photos.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Oil up that scrap of walnut. I bet it is plenty black without add+ing extra tannin once finished.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I'll give that a try Bryan, thanks.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Got a few more hours in the shop and was able to radius the braces and get them glued to the back.


Here's the piece of Bastogne walnut I dipped in the vinegar/steel wool potion laying on my fretboard blank of the same material. The bluish cast doesn't show up in this photo but no matter, I still need to do more experiments on scrap before I use it on my fretboard and bridge. The line in the middle is carbon fiber - the scrap is an offcut from my bridge.


Tomorrow I will be painting most of the day but hopefully I can get to the shop for a while and do the layout for the top. I'd like to get the rosette in and get started on the braces.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've had only a few hours in the shop in the last two weeks but I have managed to almost finish the back. I'll try an post a pic tomorrow. I'm way behind but plan to keep plugging on regardless.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Finally some progress:

Decided to do the center strip last this time. I always do it first and then cut for the braces; I'll do that in the future. Doing it last is a pain.


Got the braces carved and the back cleaned up. Ready to notch the sides. At least it should look good when I get done.



Also got the neck cut out, tuner holes in, and headstock shaped.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

What setting did you use for the iron? At 6 or more it can scorch pretty badly if no water is used. I typically keep it at 5.5 and bend rosewoods dry, and 5 for white wood. Thickness, max 0.08, and lower for denser stuff.

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Build log

These were the first sides I bent after I hot-rodded my Ibex bender based on Howard Klepper's instructions. The bender gets hot much faster now. The sides are about 0.075" and I usually bend with the Ibex just cranked up.

Since the mod I don't need to turn it up so high and I believe I had it set around 5 or 6. Still too hot. It was late and I was in a hurry, I thought the scorching was no problem but I was wrong. I bent a second set of sides using a damp cloth on the iron and they turned out just fine with no scorch marks.

Lesson learned

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I'm back from New England and probably just in time based on the weather reports. I was able to make some progress today. Finished connecting the ducting for the exhaust fan in the spray booth. Also got started on the rosette - no photos of that yet.

Got the back fitted to the sides so it will be ready to glue up when I'm ready.


Did the basic layout on the top for the falcate bracing.


Turns out parchment paper is good for tracing. Only thing I've used it for in the shop to date.


Made a couple of forms out of scrap to laminate the braces and bent the brace stock.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have to ask , whats the point of the 4 smaller diagonal braces on the back . Is it just for stiffening ? I like the look and like the idea , but dont understand the logic .

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Wud,
That bracing is supposed to make for a more responsive back. A few people around here use that style. Chris Ensor is one, I believe.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Wud, I'm following one of Trever Gore's methods to build a live back. The notch in the bottom back brace is used to tune the back. The top will use falcate bracing. The goal is a D-sized guitar that will be more responsive than what I'm used to with standard Martin-type bracing. I wanted to try something I've never done for the challenge and this qualifies - cause I have absolutely no idea how it's gonna turn out

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Got up early and got the falcate braces laminated before I went to work. Male-Female mold works much better than then male-only mold I used for the linings.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

More progress this morning. Used my phone camera and the angle made it look asymmetrical but it's not. Still need to do the bridge plate and a couple of short, straight braces and the top will be ready to brace as soon as the rosette is installed.

Hardest parts about the falcate bracing, so far, is translating the drawings onto the D shape and the need to locate the bridge before bracing the top. It's taking a lot of extra time. If I was doing a standard X-braced top and ladder braced back I would already have the box done. Hope I've got it right!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Spent last weekend sanding/scraping the garage floor that had old poorly-applied epoxy on it. Prepping for new coating this weekend. Somewhere in there I need to finish the rosette and get it installed so I can glue on the top bracing.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That's awesome. Good clean work, curious to hear the falcate. One day I'll give it a go....

Thanks. I'm curious to hear it too. I wanted to see if I could build a dred with a more balanced sound but have no clue what this is going to end up sounding like.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Got some work done on the rosette this morning. I just need to sand it down cut out the ring; it's oversized right now. Backing is 1/64" birch ply. I'll use BWB purfling on the inside and outside of the ring.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"