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Hi All, I am building a Blackwood dreadnought. Thought I'd post the progress here and am happy for comments/criticisms/questions etc
Back and sides: NSW Blackwood
Soundboard: King Billy Pine
Neck: QLD Maple
Fretboard: Mulga
Bridge: Mulga
Bindings: Gidgee


Blackwood bookmatched pieces joined



Mulga Fretboard shaped to a 12inch radius



King Billy Pine soundboard (it is really similar to Western Red Cedar)



Sides

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

I see you only build with all native Australian woods. I always wanted to do a strictly north American build myself. Finding an alternative wood for the bridge and fingerboard that equals rosewood is hard to do in America....Mike

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Hi Mike, yes I am sticking to local (Australian) woods at the moment. We are blessed to have a huge variety of timbers that are suitable as tonewoods etc There may well be a North American timber suitable but it may be unusual. There may be some luthiers here that know of something? Hope you find something.

here's some updates

Back bracing done (QLD Maple)


I like this NSW Blackwood it has a great tone so far.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Can't help thinking about a steel string guitar maker whose actual name is "Martin Taylor"! A couple of the biggest names in guitar making. Please don't tell me that your middle name is "Gibson"!

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I was thinking along the same line...



That looks like it's going to be a nice looking instrument!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

haha, yes, I cant help my birth name but it does seem I was destined to end up making guitars! And my middle name isn't guitar related (although it would be fun to change it).

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Please tell me that you have a daughter named Stella! That would be awesome, plus, its a lovely name!

Alex

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

an update, been busy with real work so its been a bit slow but sides and bindings have been bent in my home made side bender.

I made my bender with just parts I could get from my local hardware and I have no welding skills so had to come up with a way of clamping down. It works well.





Gidgee bindings are really nice. The observant out there may notice that I bend 5 bindings. It must be the old scout in me that makes sure I am ready for small disasters. Much easier to do it now rather than just setting up for one binding later.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

A few more pics for this build. The body is now closed!

Back curve planed into the sides.


End strip roughed in.


Glueing back to sides


Back trimmed


King Billy Pine soundboard pieces joined


Making the rosette. Blackwood and Paua Shell Rosette


Soundboard bracing done


Box joined up


Gidgee bindings done

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Nice looking work. Your bindings look gapless!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Thanks Tony but the operative word here is "looks" haha I do try to get no gaps but I find that on the back around the upper bout there is always the risk of a tiny gap. I am using Gidgee for these bindings and Gidgee is really hard. I found when using Jarrah (also hard but not as hard as the Gidgee) I was able to pull the bindings in to have no gaps.

If I do find any gaps I make up a sawdust (of the binding timber) and CA glue mix to fill the gaps. That seems to work pretty well. So far on this on I have only found one tiny gap on the back so all good.

Just done the scarf joint for the neck. Nice and tight join.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Nice build you got going there. Please tell me your headstock has "Martin Taylor" spelled out....then show it to us!!!!

Your scarf joint appears to be different from the way I do it. I glue the short offcut to the underside of the shaft, but now you have me wondering whether I'm doing it the wrong way. Would appreciate opinions of others on this technique.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

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Under Compensated Nut!

Others will respond I’m sure, but I think the generally preferred way is to have the scarf joint up on the head plate. This would allow you to cover more of the joint if you prefer. From a strength point of view it may also be preferable to have the joint located here as well. Seems like I do recall a recent build (may have been Trevor’s) where he placed the joint on the neck because he was limited by the length of the piece of wood he had available to make the neck. My preference is to place it on the headpiece, but have to admit I’ve done one with it on the neck side. I did this by accident, but I’ve saved the neck and plan on using it, because it is by far the lightest neck I’ve made (Spanish cedar), and I’d already carved the heel before I noticed where the joint was. I’m thinking there would be more stress on the joint for a steel string at this location than on a classical, but maybe the engineers will weigh in here.
Marty

Well, almost finished. The Blackwood is coming up really nice.

Neck hand shaped. I think this is my favourite bit of the build. Carving the neck with a spokeshave and files is so manual but so rewarding.



I love the Stewmac dovetail routing jig.



Neck joined to body



Does everyone make their own bridges? I do because I like to use Mulga wood. It's an Australian timber that is great for bridges, fretboards etc.



Truss rod installed. I cover it with masking tape to make sure no glue gets in.



Fretboard being glued on.



Frets done



If you don't want your bridge coming off, try this. I scratch up the soundboard and the bridge before applying the glue. If you have to remove the bridge later you still can.



And when the oil goes on we really see what this guitar will look like.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Beautiful Martin!! What's the 'oil' you are using?

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Thank You and Best To All

Hi Larry, I use Rustin's Danish Oil. 6 coats (light rub back with 0000 grade steel wool in between coats) and then 2 coats of U-Beaut wax. This is at the 2nd coat.

and thanks!

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Thanks Filippo,

I just did some research on Titebond (that Franklin International, the makers of Titebond did) and they say that their testing says what you say. So, smooth joins from me from now on! I was relying in the person that taught me and he has been building for 30 years so I bowed to his experience. That's why I love these forums, I get to hear from people with so much more experience.

Martin

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Gorgeous build Martin! Your Mulga bridge and fingerboard looks a LOT like some mesquite that I have drying at the moment. Mesquite is an acacia (as I see Mulga is) that grows wild here in the American southwest like a giant weed, but is trained into big fat old trees in cities for landscaping - it's not unusual to see trunks around town about 2' wide and sometimes up to 3' and wider, but you have to be quick to get big, long, straight pieces, as it's a favorite for people to use for barbecuing and also for expensive furniture. I scored a couple of long, straight, medium-width pieces a couple of months ago that I am really excited about *trying* for fingerboard/bridges. VERY similar color to what i see in your pictures.
Can you say a bit more about how easy/hard Mulga is to work, and maybe if it requires any sort of special treatment? Do you put any finish on it or leave it bare?

Here's my mesquite


Here's a photo of some fresh-cut Mulga I found that to my eye looks very similar:

That oil finish looks great! Did you pore fill? Can you get a gloss finish or is it only satin? I might try it on mine.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Hi Charlie,
I am by no means an expert but for what it's worth, Mulga is an extremely hard wood with a tight grain. I get my Mulga from http://www.loggerheads.com.au. They kiln dry it so it is ready to use. On the bridge I oil it with the rest of the guitar but with the fretboard I just use lemon oil. It comes up great.

Hi Larry,
I didn't do any pore filling but I am sure it would make an even smoother finish. The final finish I use is a wax polish. I normally just polish by hand which gives a satin finish but it can be buffed to a shinier finish. I am going for a more natural(?) finish.

Took the guitar outside into the sun.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Wow! So you rub the oil on with a rag? Looks really great!

Hi Beth,

Yes, I use cotton rags to rub on the oil. I find I get a really smooth finish with it. And I don't use too much oil for each coat. The only potential problem with Danish Oil is when you are finished. You have to hang the cloths out to dry outside. Danish Oil can spontaneously combust if left in a rag tightly scrunched up and with all the combustible material in my worskshop I don't want to take any risks.

I then finish the guitar with 2 coats of U-Beaut wax which really hardens up and provides a good protective finish. The other benefit is that if any repairs need to occur in the future you can just refinish the area needed without having to refinsh the whole guitar.

Thanks for the compliment by the way!

Martin

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Martin, I looked at Rustin's web site and they talk about their Danish Oil product producing the satin finish (as you described), and said to use the Teak Oil if you want a gloss finish. I wonder if the Teak would look as beautiful as the Danish Oil. Apparently these oils have some hardeners in them, and I'm wondering if it's like Tru-Oil which I've used on ukes and which has a resin hardener in it.
How does your finish hold up with body chemistry and rough handling, if you don't mind my asking?

Ouch, where's my sunglasses!
Nice...

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.