Official Luthiers Forum!

With humility I put this one up, knowing so many REALLY good luthiers will see it.
Top: Torrefied Sitka
Back and Sides : Wenge
Binding : Walnut / Abalone / BWB
Rosette: Walnut / Abalone
Neck: Mahogany
Headstock : Ebony
Fingerboard and Bridge : Ebony
Fingerboard Inlay : Abalone (purchased not cut)
Finish will be EM6000 (first laquer job)
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To be honest I wanted a little something different so I went this direction. I’ve NEVER done an inlay like this before, and it shows, nor have I done abalone (zipflex for me) appointments. But I’m gaining that experience now and I’m loving the process! I THINK this is build 8 for me.













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Lookin’ good!


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Aaron Craig

Still lots of little holes to fill in on that fretboard. Thankfully it’s ebony


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Very nice work with the inlay. How many hours investment are we seeing in that? The whole thing is coming together very nicely.

Thank you . As I say it isn’t perfect, and that bothers me, but I think I can fill those little gaps pretty easily.
As far as time goes? I ordered the cut out from DePaul so I didn’t spend weeks cutting it out! Doing the actual inlay probably took... oh 6-8 hours I’m guessing. That said it definitely isn’t something I’m great at.


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Very nice! Your work looks so clean and crisp, But you really shouldn't be drinking grain alcohol while working. Rum is easier on the mind.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

That'll be a nice looking guitar. How easy/hard was it to bend the wenge sides? I don't remember if you use a bending machine or a hot pipe.

How are you going to cut the inlay where it crosses the fret slots?

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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

What is the thickness of your bridge plate?

It looks really fantastic! But I was thinking the same thing as Ed, that bridge plate looks might thick.

Inlaying a rosette like that with no purfs around the outside is no easy task and that looks pretty clean to me.

Ed, I installed it at .120”



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Thank you.
I was very surprised at how clean it actually turned out to be honest


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Hope my BP isn’t going to hinder something by being too thick... it’s just what I’ve used thus far


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I guess it’s like any other brace. Taller just = stiffer and more dampening to the sound board / less transference or energy


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.12 is not unheard of for a bridge plate. I've been pushing .08 lately.

It's also a good idea to taper the edges of the plate to zero. Not where you have it butted up to the X but the front and back. Big stress riser there. Many many guitars have been built just like what you are doing there, so don't worry about it. My standard plate for the first 20 guitars was cutoff material from what ever sides I was using at .9 or roughly 3/32nd what ever the sides were.

Just something to think of on your next one.

Yeah, .12 is likely a bit more robust than necessary, wouldn't worry about it this round, but next time maybe take it down some. I do rosewood at .09 and maple at .100

be sure to add side splints ive had issues with wenge cracking.

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Do you remember the side thickness?


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The wenge bent really easily with no popping sounds thankfully. I bend on a machine at 260F. The only issue is that the wenge was kinda springy and didn’t want to “stay” in that shape long.

As far as the inlay over the slots go, I ordered some refret saws yesterday to help with that. I also have some very small tapered dremmel bits I can use.


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Hmm. W a closed box ... I suppose I could use fabric like the old Martin way, but getting it perfectly strait may be a challenge. Thanks for the heads up


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Looking good! I like those planes you have.

Side splints should really be let into the linings from top to bottom. Otherwise you might get cracks right at the end of the splints, it's happened on one of my guitars so I learned the hard way. Talking about stress risers again, the ends of the splint create one. If you taper off the splint to zero that would probably suffice.

FWIW i just so happen to be finishing up a wenge/sitka 000 right now. I bent the sides at .12 which is really thick. I found the wenge to bend pretty easily.

As for filling it? Good Gawd that stuff is porous... I used CA! And quite frankly it's the best filler I have ever used to date. It took 3 quick applications and it was done. I also believe that the CA will act as a crack prevention safety measure. It sinks in real good to the wood fibers and after all it's glue.

Agreed this stuff is like the Grand Canyon. I was considering silver tip epoxy fill which I think would act like the ca glue.
I have done a piece fill w 2p10 before. I’m undecided on how to pore fill this one so far... but it has been weighing on my mind since I started.

I


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Binding close to flush on top and back. Still some clean up.




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Sides still need to be scraped and such. But overall a good binding job
Well, at least for me haha


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Going with a new ULTRA THIN neck profile????



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