Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm putting a Martin D18 on my build list. The first guitar wood I bought, maybe 5 years ago, is still on the shelf with a rubber band around it. Yesterday I brought some wood back from Appalachian Tonewood, and the Hemlock set is pretty big. The bearclaw on the stuff I bought with mahogany back, sides, and neck is smaller than the mahogany. It's only 14.5" or so wide; a 00? The Hemlock and Mahogany could do 17" so size isn't a problem.

I don't know anything about the sizes, and bling specs; but apparently a D18 was a very early steel string; with a mahogany back and sides. So it could look similar to something real.

I see a plan for a Dreadnaught on gen-one luthier supplies, and not much else. Looks like it would get me there. Anyone used that plan?

_________________
Why be normal?

I havent used the Dreadnaught plan specifically from Gen-One but I did download their 00 plans and they are pretty good.

_________________
-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

Stew Mac has a decent dred plan, You need about 16 inches for the back,

I used the Stew-Mac 'herringbone' dreadnought plan, reduced in size, as my starting point for my scratchbuilt guitars. I found I could learn a lot by looking.

_________________
Peter Havriluk

I’ve used the LMI plan as a starting point - https://www.lmii.com/plans/3326-plan-dr ... tring.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

I would talk to John Hall, he is the resident Martin expert and has plans for sale. Plus he's great to work with and offers all sorts of jigs.

_________________
https://www.instagram.com/fostinoguitars/
https://www.facebook.com/PuraVidaUkuleles/

I haven’t seen the plan you mention, but my dread plan is also based on Stew-Mac’s ‘herringbone’ plan which I believe is a D-28.

avoid gen one it is not accurate
the stew mac herringbone and Cadguitar plans are good
the only thing is they are D28
the main difference is
A no neck diamond or valoute
B Obviously Mahogany not Rosewood
C the rosette uses a specific trim
We have that at blue creek .020 black inner and outer ring the rosette double the top purfling for the 1 9 1 rosette
D the D 18 used both ebony and rosewood as the fretboard and bridge material Dots are 1 .250 .156 and .187 paua
E binding is usually tortoise or black the tail piece matches the binding and the heel cap can also be matching or rosewood

other than that they are similar in size and shape
in 1939 the bracing changed to rear shift and the nut width went from 1 3/4 at the nut and 2 5/16 at the bridge to 1 11/16 at the nut and 2 1/8 at the bridge.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John. I'll get a better plan. The belly will be this piece of Hemlock. It already has the outline on it! It has some character.

_________________
Why be normal?

I'm very interested to see how the Hemlock turns out, Ken.

Hemlock is brittle and tends to crack.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I've used hemlock timbers on several of my timber framed buildings. Nasty stuff! At least the horses won't eat it, so there is that.

Thanks for the the heads up John.

I had a Red Spruce violin belly that kept cracking right on the grain. I finally threw it away.

I could snap the Sitka of my cello 1/8" thick. Easily.

I was really wondering about the curly redwood of my archtop. It seemed very flimsy. It sounds great. I may put lighter strings on it though. I didn't realize that the 80/20's had more tension than the phosphor bronze. I do think that it feels MUCH stiffer with the Z-poxy on it. Same with the Home Depot Cedar with the shellac and resin coating on it.

I did throw away a belly of local 100 years old ERC barn wood. It cracked even more than the Red Spruce did.

We work with thin wood, and then put over 100 pounds of tension on it. Most of the time it works.

_________________
Why be normal?

I just opened up the plans I bought off Pat Foster. A real blueprint from Guitarmaker's Connection. Cool.It is for a D-28, but I don't know what I will do with the trim yet. The plan doesn't even have a truss rod, but a t bar, with instructions to build in back bow that the string tension will straighten out.

_________________
Why be normal?

that is the same plan as stew mac drawn by Dam MacRostie
its a decent plan. Understand that martin didn't have a blue print for the guitar. They used fixtures. The first print made was for the neck block drawn by Dick Boak in around 1979. The plan you have was contracted by martin to use with the kits they started selling from GMC. You won't go wrong with this one. Dan did a good job.
the guitar changed in 1939 with the rear shifted bracing , added popsicle brace and the narrower neck. I think the brace angle also changed along with the smaller neck block.

when you start building don't make a lot of changes from guitar A to B keep them simple and notice the changes.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it