New Tools/Some progress

Today some tools came! It only takes stew-mac 2 days to deliver to my house, its amazing. I also got the f-holes sanded to final shape and started to sand the top to thickness. Theres still a fair amount of work to do until just the top is done. Pictures:::

Just have to sand out some valleys and the top will be ready to thickness and bind the f-holes.


Brand new Sloan Bending Iron. I'll use this to bend the sides to conform to a mold


Lots of spool clamps and a precision straight edge.
Total = 310$

After some time off..

So I just got back from vacation with literally my entire family. It was awesome and i already miss you guys! (mostly ethan and his incredible shoulder kissing abilities). But anyway, during this vacation i came across a large sum of money. Unfortunately it wasnt in the form of pirate's gold or anything but it was still pretty sweet. This being said i had the oppurtunity to buy some tools that i would otherwise have to save up for. I just ordered them the other night so i'll have a few pictures up of them when they get here. Today i got a little work done, thanks to my new orbital sander! Heres some pics.


Here's the view from the roof of the house we stayed in on vacation.


New Dewalt orbital sander. =D

rough cut the f-holes just for fun.

Homemade Calipers + F-holes

So i made some calipers to check the thickness of the top. Since the really nice ones cost 100+ i decided to make my own. I also chose what type of f-hole to use. I went with the standard shape and i'll bind that with Black/White/Black plastic strips. (as soon as that stuff gets here)

ange got a picture of me smiling, darn.

i slide the top in between the two wooden dowels, and on the top of the one stick is measurements equivalent the to the gap between to the two dowels.

that last picture is of the measurement stick on the calipers. Measures in 16ths of an inch.

Top Cont'd

Tops just about done, started carving out the inside today. Just a little more sanding, and i'll be on to cutting the f-holes. after the f-holes are cut i brace the top and start on the back. Heres some pictures.
1: flamed maple back ready to be cut and carved. 2: outside of the top, just about done. 3: inside of the top, roughly carved 4: where i spend 5-8 hours on my days off. (notice the wawa hat i keep on the wall as motivation to one day do something i love, and NOT make hoagies for unsatisfied customers.)

New Toy!

I got a new spindle sander today, AWESOME! Im getting near to having almost everything i'll need for guitar building. I still have to buy a bending iron, and a lot more clamps. Here's some pictures. My top is almost done on the outside.

:-D

Lots of Progress, but still not done

Alright so today a few toys came in the mail. (finger plane, scraper, and 2 cam clamps). the finger plane really helped me get into the contours of the body and really clean things up. I spent about 4 or 5 hours today carving away with this tiny thing. Im pretty sure i'll have a huge blister or two, and im also pretty sure typing wont be as bad once my hand un-cramps. Needless to say it's loborious work, but its enjoyable and i like to see how the arch is taking shape. Here's a few pictures of the guitar and the new plane and scraper.


from far away it looks almost complete, but theres still plenty or planing and sanding to do.

Slowly but surely

I worked for a couple of hours today just scrapin away at the top. it is definitely starting to look more and more like an archtop witch is really motivating.



the holes help act as a guide as to how deep to carve. as you can see i still have plenty of work to do still. then i get to do it all over again for the back.

Carving the Top

Heres a picture of progress on the top

lots of work to do..

Can It Be?! A New Post?!

Hello everyone (or whoever actually reads this),

tonight i finally started gluing some wood together for my first build outside of school. Me and my dad glued together the top and back wedges. after this i'll need to carve both the inside and out to exact measurements. I took pictures but dont have the adapter so i'll upload them later. Heres a picture of what it will hopefully look like when its done.

the one on the left most likely. a few subtle differences but mostly like that.

Alright i give in

So i've been getting complaints about not writing in my blog anymore..alright alright. I took some pictures of some projects im currently working on, be it for a customer or myself.

On a non-guitar related note, everyone will be going out to utah pretty soon to visit the family. I cant wait, that should be a lot of fun.

1st: banjo for a customer getting its frets cleaned. 2nd: My old sg thats getting completely re-done, i actually just ripped the frets out today. 3rd: a picture i found from our "graduation ceremony" down in atlanta.

Tuesday/Wednesday

The past two days have been pretty hectic. I finally just got my guitar buffed and set up today, which was pretty exciting to finally be able to play it. My acoustic is coming along, i got the fingerboard glued on and should be able to finish it tomorrow and be able to start french polishing the next day. I have more pictures!

Shes almost done!

Work!Work!Work!

Its crunch time! i finally got my neck glued in, and im doing a lot of small tedious work to finish up my electric. I'll get more pictures up soon!

Sunday

Today we had off alllll day. It gets pretty boring when you dont go to the shop, and i decided i need a hair cut. Because its sunday everything was closed, so i had john work his magic...i got me a mohawk!!

p.s. Dont worry mom i'll cut it off eventually!!

Fri/Sat.

So its officially crunch time, everyone is really hustling to get their guitar perfect for graduation. The last coat of clear went onto my guitar today, and the top was glued onto the back and sides of my acoustic. Next week ill make the cuts for the neck joint, glue on the bridge and fingerboard and it'll be practically done. Pictures...

1st: the electric with the last coat of clear. 2nd: top glued onto the back and sides of the guitar. 3rd: ebony bridge i made. 4th: braces glued onto the top with the go bar deck. 5th: top braces

Wednesday/Thursday

wednesday and today have been two kind of slow days. my acoustic was coming along pretty good, but i had to put a not so awesome rosette in my acoustics top. Also, i found some small cracks, and really rough patches in the back and sides, but i think it'll be ok.Here are some pictuers...

Tuesday!

Today i got a lot done! Lets see, I, made my top braces for the acoustic, glued on my back braces, got another few more clear coats on my electric, got a veneer glued onto my acoustic headstock, and got my top for my acoustic all glued up. Its almost crunch time, so there will be a lot of work ahead of us for the next two weeks. Here are some pictuers..
1st: back braces glued up in the go bar deck. 2nd: me and jon rockin out. 3rd: top braces. 4th: top for the acoustic being glued.

Monday

Today we had our first electronics wiring class. It was pretty interesting, and we got to wire up a pickguard to learn a few basics. The rest of the day we got to work on our builds and i got some more finishing touches done on the electric.

1st: Pickguard all wired up. 2nd: last color coat on my electric! 3rd: first of many braces to go on the back of my acoustic. I also got all my pickups and made a pickup ring out of maple!

Saturday!/Sunday

Saturday we got to work on our builds all day as usual, i got a lot done, including the first coat of color on my electric. We are doing a very subtle and natural looking burst, im really pleased with how its coming out. I also got my neck glued up for my acoustic, and the rest of the kerfing put on the sides, and even the braces that go on the back. Sunday is our day off so everyone usually just hangs out around the house, some people go to the shop for a few hours, but i like to enjoy my day off and not wear myself out.