Official Luthiers Forum!

We all love building guitars, or we wouldn't do it, for sure, but I think we all agree that we love some parts of the process more than others. I love bending sides, scraping and planing with sharp tools, and I especially love shaping, gluing, carving tone bars and braces to tops and backs. I love puitting the box together.

But I really don't like cutting fret slots, and pore filling and finishing gives me a huge pain. How about you?

fretting is the part I could live without, but I like every other part of the build.

I used to hate making fret slots, until I bought a Proxxon Fet tablesaw. Now, I only hate sanding the guitar before finishing.

_________________
http://www.guitarrasdeconcierto.com
http://www.carlosjuanbusquiel.com
http://www.facebook.com/guitarrasCJB

Fitting the neck joint. Specially on classicals and flamencos where the surface is quite round. Less painfull on OMs and Dreadnoughts where the neckblock area is almost flat.

(Yes, I use a bolt-on neck joint for my classicals and flamencos, for those wondering...)

_________________
Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

To quote Tom Hanks character in "A League Of Their Own"... "The hard is what makes it great".

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

wood bindings, kinda like wood wrestling

Well me biggest pain was when me lost the tip of me left thumb at the table saw ripping neck blanks.

The others are minor like when the chisel slips when rabbiting and me gets to really feel just how sharp it is.

The other real hassle, although not a pain, is when the CA runs and me digits fuse together.


blessings

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Purcha$ing supplies

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

the part where you move from one city to another, then spend the next two summers ripping apart your home and rebuilding it, while two half finished guitars sit in the basement shop wondering what happened to the builder.

The step between " Picking the wood " and " Final set up" usally is the part that gives me grey hair !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Finishing/buffing
The buffer's death grip is a very literal pain...

Dealing with customers who really (don't) know what they want, and refuse to listen to your advice.

Trying to budget for the new tool, that I don't really need, but bought any way.

Bob

At this point in time. I would say finding a workspace.

_________________
Guns don't kill people, people kill people, and monkeys do too (if they have a gun)
-Eddie Izzard

For me, it's having to stop in the middle of a build while I round up more money to get me through the next step. And sharpening things.

_________________
David Morris

Boy. Had plenty of those folks.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Seriously, there's several areas where I've had trouble. It seems like I used to have to re bind every guitar 2 or 3 times, but I usually get the binding job I want now first time. The area that I have the most trouble with now is with neck heel shape. I don't have any problems actually shaping it, but they never seem to look right to me.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

The time between the instant that the buffer launches the guitar into the air, and the instant that it comes to a sudden stop on the floor. Seems like it takes several minutes.

Uncurling my fingers after a sanding session

for me, hand sawing every single part for the build...because I have no band saw or table saw...or any power saw..

I have spondyloarthritis. Pretty much the entire process causes me physical pain, but then again, so does ANYTHING I do. It doesn't interfere with the quality of my work, but sometimes it takes me longer than it might take someone else.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

I hate the part when the buyer picks it up.
Don't know why, but I do get attached to these things.
Maybe I if I build more than 1 or 2 a year it will be easier!

_________________
Say what you do, Do what you say.

I like the whole process,
when it goes good............
I would say finishing is my least favorite.

getting the money to buy the tools I need

Gluing in individual tentallones on classical builds!

(I'm cheating now and gluing in broken off segments of kerfed linings, a la Somogyi and others.)

Making sure the neck angle is right on Spanish heel builds before gluing on the back. Most recent one was dead on, but I never seem to believe it until the saddle is shaped and the 12th fret action is measured.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu