Thread: Archtop #2

Great post. I've been threatening to make an archtop for a while, but haven't gotten around to it.

Its on the shortlist.

Hi all,

Started on the top over the past few days. This is a AA spruce top from Stew Mac that almost went back for replacement because it was so badly cupped. This is a wedge set but I won't use them again because it has been a pain in the ass and very time consuming job to get them joined.

To get the bottom of the wedges flat I joined them together with some double sided sticky and fed them through the drum sander very carefully. Eventually I managed to get the bottom, or the inside of the top flat so I could then plane a 90% edge on both plates ready for joining. That worked and the top is now joined and ready to cut out the shape ready for carving. Here are a few pictures as usual: Thanks for looking:




Cheers
Alan

I haven't used wedges yet. Nice joiner plane !

G'day Bill,

Yes I was lucky enough to buy that HNTplane at our local Jet shop here in Townsville. I got a block plane at the same time as he was having a big sale and they where almost half price. Just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. The jointer plane is a joy to use but you have to keep it razor sharp. I haven't used the little wooden block plane yet as I have a stanley that is tuned nicely and does the job for me.

Here is the top cut to shape ready for carving:

Cheers
Alan

Beautiful work as always Alan. Really admire ur work!

This is a great looking build, I really like archtops and can't wait to it finished.

Thanks Floody and Jabbot for your comments.

My next job is to use the safety planer and carefully go around the edge about 50mm in and take it down to a uniform 5mm thick. Be very careful with these planers as they can get very hungry and make a mess real quick. Once that is done I then go around the inner edge with my block plane to form a rough arch. When I have it about right it is time for the templates and create the long arch first. Then it is a matter of taking off material with the palm plane and the rasp till I have the arch as per the templates. I am about half way there in the pictures.


Cheers
Alan

Awesome!! U make it look easy lol

Thanks Floody!

I ment to talk about the top in the last post as this European Spruce top is very different to the previous Lutz archtop top set I carved. The Euro spruce is soft and very easy to carve but it is no where near as stiff as the Lutz. This means I will go with a thicker top using the Euro and will probably have to brace it a bit heavier as well. My first two small body guitars where Sitka tops and one top was very stiff and the other was very soft. Both guitars turned out a nice tones but I had to thickness and brace the tops very differently. It was great experience as they where my first efforts at building an acoustic guitar.

Cheers

Alan

Nice work Alan.

Do you have any problems using the safety planer on a drill press with slow rpm's? I've read that you need high rpm's for it to work properly.

G'day Blackstar,

Yes you are right, a higher speed would be ideal for the safety planer to work better. I find it ok if you go very little increments at a time. If you try and take too much off like say 2 or 3 mm you are looking for trouble and make a mess of the top.

Thanks for your interest.

Cheers

Alan

Originally Posted by ozziebluesman

G'day Blackstar,

Yes you are right, a higher speed would be ideal for the safety planer to work better. I find it ok if you go very little increments at a time. If you try and take too much off like say 2 or 3 mm you are looking for trouble and make a mess of the top.

Thanks for your interest.

Cheers

Alan

Beautiful workmanship as always Alan.
regards Bob

The top carve has progressed and I am ready to start on the inside carve. As started the European Spruce is soft so my aim now is to reach a uniform 6 mm thickness and then fine tune from there. Here are a few pics of the progress and thanks for looking.


Cheers
Alan

Hello again to you all.

Over this weekend I set up the drill press to drill the pilot holes on the underside of the top to give me a carving depth. As already stated the European spruce top is very soft so I have only taken the top thickness to 8mm and feeling the flex of the top at 8mm I reckon a uniform 6 mm will about do it. It needs to be a little thicker say 7mm where the bridge will be located between the F holes.

So today I used the Palm plane and roughed out the inside of the top. So far, so good and it is developing a nice deep tap tone. Although this top is soft I have the feeling it is going to sound good with good bass response. The Kauri back and sides has a nice tap tone and I expect this guitar to sound nice and mellow. My previous Archtop is a very bright instrument.

Here are a few progress pics and thanks for looking in.




Cheers
Al