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Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=36982		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
I can't seem to find a thread for this guitar so that leads me to believe I never made one.
So here is a quick thread on this guitar. It is my second walnut and cedar dread and #7 to be completed. I should have it done by labor day. I am moving slow as can be on this one. Not sure why.
Here are pics:
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Top getting some braces:
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Gotta make sure your lap joint is tight:
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Bridge plate and finger braces going on:
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I need to make a rosette. This box elder burl looks promising!!
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Yes. It will do nicely!!
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Some back braces all shaped up:
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This is a very sophisticated clamping system I developed for clamping odd shapes. I call it a "rice clamp" and I use it when I...well...when I feel like it.:D I am gluing in a veneer inside the box for a side port.
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More to come soon.
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
After I had the box closed I had to decide on bindings. I had some choices on hand:
Wenge?
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Plain mahogany?
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Rosewood?
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This other wood?
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No. Those wont do. I chose curly mahogany. It's either from Cuba or Honduras. I really can't remember but I can check later if it's important to anyone to know right away.
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Once I bent it and stuck it on the box with an adhesive liquid of some sort, it looked like this:
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Next I needed to add some lacquer. That looked a little like this:
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And the soundboard:
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And here is a pic of the rosette that I forgot to post:
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Thanks for looking!

Tony
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Image

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Neck, meet box. Box, meet neck. Talk amongst yourselves.
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Next up is scraping off the finish under the fret board extension and the bridge. I have already drilled the holes for the bridge location.
This finish gave me a lot of problems. I sanded through several times and then sanded through the additional coats I put on to repair the original sand throughs. The neck is finished with Wipe on Poly. The back strap is Macassar Ebony. The poly and the mac ebony did not get along so the poly was not drying. I had to sand off the finish to seal it with shellac and then begin coating again. All in all, it was the worst finishing experience I have had. I suppose I have been lucky in the past! Hopefully all of my finish woes are behind me and I can keep moving forward.

Thanks for looking.

Tony
Author:  meddlingfool [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Looking real fine!
Author:  Alex Kleon [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Looks great, Tony! The mystery mahogany bindings are sweet next to the claro. Did you use the box elder before? It looks very familiar - kinda deja-view. :D

Alex
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Thanks Alex. and meddlingfool. I never used the box elder on another guitar but this particular box has been another thread before. One of the "What's on your Bench" threads a while back when I had just closed the boxes.
Maybe it was back in February or March. Anyway, this thing is slowly coming together and hopefully it will be done by the end of summer. Or sooner.
Author:  cphanna [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Yo, Tony,
Normally, dreads don't do much for me visually, but yours is a knockout! I'm especially impressed by your choices for accent woods. The rosette and bindings compliment the other woods so nicely, and each other, too.
Well done!
Patrick
Author:  jayluthier [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Nice work. I suspect that your "mystery mahogany" bindings are actually Koa. I've cut and used a lot of Koa for bindings and the grain pattern is identical. Looks great what ever it is though.
Author:  Chris Ensor [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Oh no Tony! It looks like you have some AWFUL ghosting going on on that back.

Attachment:
walnut.jpg


laughing6-hehe
Author:  WendyW [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
That looks great Tony and I like your choice for binding, it nicely accents the walnut. Can you please tell me more about your rice clamp for gluing veneer inside the sides. Does that really work well? If so, what an ingenious solution to what I consider to be a pain in the ...
Wendy
Author:  dzsmith [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Holy Moly,
That is a beautiful work of art!
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
AWW!! Chris you went and spoiled the secret to my success!! My garage is actually haunted by the ghosts of luthiers past and they help guide my hands and choices when I build. I guess it was just a matter of time before the secret got out. Now you all know.

It is not koa. It was very light compared to the koa I have handled and the pores were MUCH bigger. But you're right, whatever it is, I like it and I am not concerned. I bought it in the classifieds so if I still have the PM I exchanged with the seller, I can figure out what it is.

Wendy,
Yes. The rice clamp works. When you clamp a joint, you are creating artificial gravity in a sense, by increasing the pressure on the glue joint. I am doing the same thing here but with rice. This bag weighed about 9 lbs so I added the clamps to increase the pressure. A flat board on top of the Uncle Ben's with clamps on that would be great. I just clamped the bag. I ended up not adding a port on this guitar but since I am not completely finished, I still could!

I don't know about it being a work of art, but it's alright. I really like the combo of the binding against the walnut. It came out better than I expected.
Thanks for the kind words! I always appreciate the encouragement.

Tony
Author:  CharlieT [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Lookin' good, Tony!
Author:  alan stassforth [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Really nice, Tony.
I like that streaky top.
[:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:]
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Thanks guys! I like wood that looks like wood, ya know?
Author:  Colin North [ Tue Jul 03, 2012 6:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Looks real tasty Tony!
Author:  Shaw [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 2:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Tony awesome looking guitar. I have been thinking a Claro walnut and cedar J-45 build based on the Michael Collins plans. I was thinking curly maple binding but that curly mahogany? is amazing looking...Mike
Author:  Joe Sallis [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 4:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
looks like one of the most beautiful guitars I've seen in a long time. The combination of woods is lush.
How do you drill the bridge pin holes before the neck is on the body?
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:48 am ]
Post subject:  Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Listen to Filippo. He is obviously "in the know" on this.
I had the neck on, located the bridge, drilled and then took the neck off to complete the buffing. Plus it's easier to work on the box to remove the finish under the bridge if you don't have the neck on. I can then sit on my couch to work. Even my working environment is lush. Ha!!
Author:  meddlingfool [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 9:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Be wary! Too much couch lush leads to tush lush...
Author:  TonyKarol [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Great top Tony .. Mario sent me some of that choc-vanilla cedar for the stash ... my personal harp is being made from that, it looks very cool.
Author:  PoppaWoodie [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Beautiful work as always, Tony! Love that rosette, and your use of tops with lots of colour variation! Looks fantastic!
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:40 am ]
Post subject:  Claro walnut and cedar dreadnought
Thanks a lot guys! You are making me think I know what I'm doing!
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