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I'm working on my parlor guitar from the Antes Small Concert plans. Redwood top with Spanish Cedar sides & back. I just glued in the walnut end graft. The binding, peg head and heel cap will also be walnut.
Dan in Minneapolis

Cool looking rosette central motif, Max. Don't expect too much expansion!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Nice inlay Trevor!

I managed to get my rosette completed, top bracing done and set up my new Fox buffer:

Padauk Rosette with Zipflex (Thanks Mike!)

Well, now that school is starting I'm up to my ears in cellos and basses. I fit four cello bridges yesterday a.m. and fixed three broken necks (two basses and a cello). Monday I pick up six more cellos. I also have to wrap up a Strat neck that I refret and refinished.
Jason

Just fired up the side bender I got from John Hall and bent 2 sets of mahogany sides like they were nothing.

Thanks John

Steve

I'm in the midst of working on an all-mango OO. Its been a pretty fun project, and I think it'll turn out to be a very nice instrument. I can't wait to see it under finish! The body is complete except for finish sanding and I'm in the midst of working on the neck.

Ellison, that looks AMAZING!!!!
It appears there is some rays in that mango top....make sure you post lots of pix when you get some finish on it.
Are you going with a slot-head 12-fretter on that L-00 or a conventional 14?

#6 is on the bench!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

It didn't really take that long, but it seemed like it. I just finished the binding-purfling on this OM-45. Everything is scraped, but still needs some final sanding. I enjoy doing these, but they do take awhile. I figure I could have done a half dozen standard binding jobs in the time it took me to do this one. I was going to take photos as I went, but completely forgot. Maybe next time.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

Finished most of the bodywork on #2. I still need to round the edges of the binding and soundhole, then onto the neck.

Love those inlays! Especially that rosette. Awesome idea with the segmented "window" look, simultaneously making it more interesting and avoiding most of the ugly MOP joints I'll have to remember that trick.

And John, that pink ivory is amazing! Where did you find it, and is there more?

And Chris, five bucks if you include those bridge blanks with my order


I've been working on this here neck for the past while. It's pretty much done, just missing the heel cap binding and last couple inlay pieces. I now understand why mahogany necks are so popular, and have much less desire to ever do one in curly maple. This stuff carves like butter. So much fun, and allows focus on the shape rather than the tools. I've got it feeling great, can't wait to get it strung up.

Headstock binding was quite a pain, and ended up with a couple gaps, at the top left and at the inward curve on the right. I guess I'll try glue and dust on them. Maybe I should come up with a simpler headstock shape
Or just do veneer layers underneath for pretty lines on the side instead of binding it. The binding sure is pretty though.

Also got the neck-body angle set. Projection along the fingerboard is a hair less than 7/16" at the saddle center, right in range for a 3/8" thick bridge according to Cumpiano & Natelson book. However, now the fingerboard extension sticks up about 1/16" above the surface at the soundhole edge. Possibly a good thing as it will naturally want to back-bow when fretted, and it will certainly avoid the "ski jump" problem, but it does put a damper on my plan to get the neck attached and fingerboard glued on before radiusing and leveling and fretting it. Not sure how to guarantee level frets if the board is never flat on the body...

Maybe I should arch my upper transverse brace to 1/8" instead of 1/16" next time, to match the gap so it will lay flat at the proper neck angle. And for this one, I guess I'll fret the board before gluing it, and support the headstock and put a weight at the body joint to hopefully bend a little bit of the gap out while gluing the extension down to the body, hopefully preventing a major 14th fret hump. Anyone have better ideas?

Very cool design Filippo, that fret board really sets it off.

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Tim

Is is just my eyes or is he installing the fretboard backwards.....

My son hangs out in the shop with me sometimes too... but he is only 4 and mainly just sits in the corner destroying soundhole cutouts.....

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

hahah... Cool story.

I need to make up a little bed for my kid in the corner!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Didn't do any work on guitars

Did get the roof shingled on an 8' x 20' shed addition to the shop. May be a future home for the compressor and dust collector. Main need right now is for equipment storage.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I drove down to Owingsville, Kentucky and gave my #2 to the friend that I built it for. Here it is.



And yesterday on the way home, I stopped by Brock's house. Nice fella!

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

#3 (of 3) parlor box together.



Will get that green purfling on tomorrow.

Haans
How do you make green purfling?

And the sound hole on your parlor looks a lot bigger than one on my Antes plans parlor. What does a bigger sound hole do for the sound?

Dan in Minneapolis

Well, Dan, you ARE only a couple miles away...
As to the green purf, see here...

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=28885

Lol!! Don't I agree! I built harp mold and bending shapes and waist cauls, made extensive use of my router table, pattern bits, oscillating sander, and band saw. Only the sander had DC capability. MDF is useful but messy. Used my leaf blower many times to blow out the garage. When it was done, I noticed the OUTSIDES of my garage doors were coated in MDF dust! Ugh!! Gonna take weeks to get rid of all the dust.

Hope you had a good respirator on!

This is why I just use a hot pipe and a drawing. That, and a heating blanket+steel slats is a hefty lump of cash.

Fair enough. But the dust and cost issue are non-recurring. So then u r free to bend as often as u like, as fast as u can... Just like with a heat pipe. My hat is off to you! That is hot and demanding work, though I'm sure it gets better with practice. I still use a heat pipe for purfling and rosette work... Not aware of a better way.

I made some triangular kerfing and bent the sides on the first of two Weissenborn style guitars.





What a messy bench... I should get to that...
These are great posts, I love when they come up!
It feels good to be able to contribute!

Best Regards,
_Mike

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_Mike Tracz
MCT Guitars
https://www.instagram.com/mustcreatethings/
https://www.youtube.com/mustcreatethings

Mike:
Are you bending both sides at once?
Are you using a blanket or light bulbs for heat or is that a holding jig?

If you think that your bench is messy you would scream at mine.

Those sides look good.

Bob

That is not even close to a messy bench

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"