Official Luthiers Forum!

Just to say Flets plans in "Making Master Guitars" by Courtnall actually have those lower braces tucked into the tailblock, no taper at that end. Can't get much stiffer than that!

Fletas also often used cedar as topwood too apparently

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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.

That is quite interesting, thanks! I guess Fleta has been experimenting with this. The typical Fleta copy out there seems to be more "normal", here is an example:

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Build log

I measured the thickness of the top, and it's somewhere between .100" and .110"

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Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Philip, you should be in the ballpark with that thickness.
J.S. Bogdanovic book "Classical Guitar Making" suggests 0.090 to 0.095 for stiff cedar.

_________________
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.

I had to steam the sides twice, because the first time there too much spring back, but they seem to have turned out ok.


Today I glued the kerfing on the first side in preparation for gluing it to the soundboard:










I also glued together the two halves of the back....








and inlayed the backstrip:




And I slotted the fretboard:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

What is the side thickness, they look very thick to me. You don't need more than 2mm for a "normal" design.

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Build log

I asked the people who processed the wood for me to sand the sides to .080" and they came back slightly over that, but it's pretty close.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Tomorrow I'll brace the back and glue it to the sides. On my first two guitars I made the mistake of bracing the back days or weeks before gluing it to the sides, and they lost all their arch.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Looking good Phillip
Nice to follow your progress

_________________
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.

Gluing on the cross grain strip:






Gluing on braces:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

I like your "low tech" approach to the build, and that is not a put down in any way.
You are obviously finding materials and a way to do things by thinking for yourself rather than with a wallet.
I admire that - looking forward to seeing more of your build. (And hearing it?)

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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.

That's looking really nice, looks a little overbraced, but only you, with the wood in hand, can be certain about that. I like the colour scheme with the darker top and maple sides, that will make a pleasing contrast.

Did you feather the centre of the closing braces before gluing on the back? If not, be careful in the future as any brace not tucked and not feathered to nothing, including the centre of the closing braces, can be dislodged easily if knocked. Also, there are many multi-piece tops around that don't have the cleats added to the seams, did you allow for their mass when bracing?

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Don't worry, no offense taken. I'm starting out low tech, and adding tools and technology as I go. Poverty is the mother of invention.

I'll see about posting a sound clip when I'm done. I've tried to record some with my camera, and it doesn't sound too bad.





Thanks for the input! I didn't know braces could be knocked off like that. No, I didn't feather the closing braces, but I will on the next one.

I used 5 braces on the back instead of 4, because the maple I used for the back was flat sawn, and showed a marked tendency to curl up like a potato chip. But I did use thinner stock for the braces (1/4" instead of 5/16").

The top is thinner than my first classical, and the braces are a little slimmer, so I think the extra mass is accounted for. We'll see. The tap tone sounds good, but then I'm not sure what to look for.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Routed the binding channels and installed the inlay strip on the end:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Now that the box is closed, I've noticed that this one is much louder than my previous two. That seems like a good thing. Right?

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

I wouldn't complain about it being louder certainly - what woods did you use for previous builds?

_________________
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.

I used recycled piano soundboards for the tops, and osage orange for the backs and sides.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

So far, binding is my least favorite part of the whole process, but I did learn a few things on my first two projects, so it's going easier on this one.

I bought a Dewalt palm router/laminate trimmer, which so far seems to be more controllable than my full size router.






I'm using walnut for the binding. I cut up a bunch of strips, taped them together, and bent them in my bender. They came out with some kinks, so I have to tweak them on my pipe bender to get them to fit right.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Scraped the binding flush on the back, and glued the bindings on the soundboard side:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Can't wait to see it with the tape off the top binding. Tease!

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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.

Here you go:









The binding came out pretty well. Only a few small gaps. Nothing a little Bondo can't fix.



Just kidding!

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Looking good!
I would suggest filling any small binding gaps with Walnut dust and CA but you probably knew that.
It will be far less obvious than either Maple or Cedar when finally finished and binding width/depth will appear even - guess how I know that.

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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.

Some shots showing the fit of the neck. It's better than my last one. Just a little "flossing" should make it perfect.










Here's a little tool I made today. It's for pressing frets.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Today I flossed the neck/body joint. To see what it was like before, there's pics in a previous post. Here it is now:










I also tapered the neck shaft a little:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com