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Hi All,

Last week I posted a question about how to do an inlay representative of neurons. This is just an update. I settled on using a casting resin called Alumilite. I routed out the pockets and just poured it in and it cured to a hard, white plastic. I used four different router bits, the smallest being 0.02" diameter to get the tapering of the axons. Here is the result:



I think it looks pretty good and my son (for whom I'm making this Terz guitar) is happy. Incidentally, with reference to the other post about whether or not to bind fretboards, I usually do. However this is one fretbooard I did not bind as my son felt it was more important, and I agree, that the neurons extend right to the edges of the board.

Thanks for looking,
Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Impressive work and nice creativity.

Awesome! I agree, binding would be a distraction on this one. Gotta know when to make exceptions like that

Awesome looking, Pat!

Very cool!

That is way cool. Well done!

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Good job, Pat. I'm glad you found the product that worked for you. Looks great.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

That has turned out really well. Agreed about the binding too.

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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.

Thanks for the nice comments folks.
Cheers,
Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

I really like that a lot. So why neurons? What's the story behind that?

Personally I don't like binding in most cases anyway. I like to see the fret tang nice and smooth on the side of the fretboard but then i like functional design.

Yeah, that is cool! My partners and I do some work for the Allen Institute for Brain Science. That group would love this!

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George :-)

Great looking guitar, well done!!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Thanks again. The back story is that my son does stem cell research at the Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. He knows a lot about neurons. He likes them and thinks everyone should have them.

Although I do bind most fret boards, I also do like the look of fret tangs fitting perfectly into the side of the fret board. I think it's kind of the same as open gear tuners. Mostly I use the enclosed Gotoh tuners but I do like the look of, and occasionally use open gear tuners.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

That does look really good.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That looks really great, Pat. Did you route the inlay by hand using a template or just freehand? I'm curious about the process.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
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Sweet...it turned out really well.

Whoa! As my chidren would say, "Sick!"

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Ah ok pretty cool. I know what you mean about open tuners, it's that functional design steam punk kind of thing.

I think the inlays look great, Pat! To stray a little, what kind wood is the top made of? Almost looks like a little blue or ambrosia staining in the swirl.

Alex

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

What Alex said.

The process was that I sent my son a pdf of the fret board and he sent it back with the neurons artwork. I'm not sure where he got that or how he arranged it. I do my inlays with a pantograph so I enlarged what my son sent me to three times actual size and traced that with the follower on the pantograph which made the dremel cut the pockets at actual size into the fret board. Using a pantograph to accurately replicate the artwork really wasn't necessary since the "inlay" was just a resin that was going to fill any pocket shape I made. I mainly used it just because I have it all set up and ready to go all the time so that was just the easiest thing to do. I started with a relatively large 3/32" router bit for the "bodies" of the neurons and worked my way down to a 1/50" router bit for the finest axons. Once the pockets were cut I just mixed up the resin, poured it in and there you go. It's actually a pretty easy way to do inlays.

The top is curly redwood, Alex. My son picked the set specifically because he love the black streaks in the wood. That's also the reason he opted for no rosette - he didn't want the black streaks going around the sound hole to be interrupted. Here's a picture of the whole top:


Cheers,
Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

What a cool idea! ...and you pulled it off!

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Love it !!!

Art and Science getting along again.
Can I grow some new neurons if I eat some Alumilite pills ?
Just Kidding

Thanks Pat! Keep us updated on this build - it looks like it's going to be a really interesting one!
I have some curly Sitka tops with similar grain and a bit of colour in the really curly parts. Maybe I shouldn't be afraid to use them.

Alex

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

Sweet!

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