Archtop #2

[ozziebluesman]

Hello to you all.

I've started another Archtop build so thought I would share the journey with you again.

This archtop is being built for a good friend of mine. The guitar will have Queenesland Kauri back and sides with ebony fingerboard, headplates and pickguard. Aaron wants a metal tailpiece and a vintage, retro look. The top is Lutz spruce and it displays beautiful silking. This guitar will be a simple design with no binding. The neck is a five piece laminate of Queensland Maple and blackwood.

From my research it is a good idea to laminate a neck blank to give it plenty of time to move and settle. I had enough material to build two so I did about six months ago. I am going to use two carbon fibre rods in this neck as well as a truss rod.

The back blank has been joined and the shape is cut ready for carving. The Queensland Kauri is going to be very easy to carve.

The side have been profiled and bent up. All good with no drama's, splits or cracks. The Kauri bends very easily too.

Here are a few pics of the build so far.








Thanks for looking

Cheers

Alan

[floody_85]

Looking good Alan! I love watching your builds take shape

[kiwigeo]

You make it look so easy.

Do you have any pics of the 5 piece neck glue up? Do you use any pins or cauls to hold the pieces steady while glue sets?

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Floody: Glad you are going to enjoy the build mate.

G'day Martin: No pins or cauls used. To laminate the neck I lay them up on two pipe clamps as in the picture below. I actually glued up the two blanks in this session. Some grease proof paper underneath the job and then liberal amounts of titebond was applied. I lightly tighten the pipe clamps to hold the necks in place and then apply as many clamps as would fit also lighty clamped. Make sure all is lined up then tighten the pipe clamps up first and then tighten the others. The blank is oversize so when dry I use the belt sander and shape it to the right dimensions. The ears for the headstock where glued on in a seperate glue up.

Yesterday I made the neck block and tail block then glued them in. This guitar is going to have a bolt on neck so the tenon was pre-cut in the neck block and holes drilled on the drill press.


Thanks again for your interest
Cheers
Alan

[kiwigeo]

Thanks Alan.

[ozziebluesman]

Today the linings are glued in along with the side supports. Just need to level the top and back with the sanding stick. Rims almost ready.

Cheers
Alan

[old_picker]

this is wonderful to watch
i get so little time these days for building - i spend most of my workshop time servicing, repairing and modding commercial guitars -

would love to tackle this type of project

[ozziebluesman]

Here some more progress for you Ray, hope you enjoy....

To start the back carve I use a block plane and work my way round the shape coming in about 70mm and taking it down to about 10mm thick on the edge. Doing this makes it easier to use the safety planer. Using the saftey planer in the drill press I take it down to a uniform 6 mm all the way around the edge. The saftey planer can be a very hungry devil so be careful and take small passes at a time. Very easy to make a big mess in a hurry with this tool.

Once the edges are down to a uniforn 6mm I go around the inside edge with the block plane and create a rough arch. This is a time comsuming and it has taken me all day to get to this stage. Damn hot work today!

Some more pics for you all:






Thanks for looking and hopefully more action tomorrow.

Cheers

Alan

[Ball Peen]

Looking really good Alan. Keep'em coming.

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Bill.

Today I have used some wood rasps to take all the edges down to meet the 6mm thickness outer edge of the guitar back. I will use templates from now on to form the correct arch.

This back set is not book matched but they are both straight grained and where easy enough to match up. Both halves have some character and they will be a deep honey colour under finish.

Here is a picture:



Thanks for looking

Cheers

Alan

[ozziebluesman]

Ok, two four hour sessions with the rasp and the Ibex palm plane and I'm starting to get somewhere near where I want the arch to be. There is still more fine work needed with the rasp and I will do this by feel and eye. The arch is close to the template and close enough for me. The template from the Benedetto book is to suit a back blank 25mm thick. My Queensland Kauri blank was only 20 mm thick so the arch is not as pronounced as per Benedetto's plan.

Here are some more pics for you:





Thanks again for looking

Cheers

Alan

[Ball Peen]

Hi Alan, it will interesting to hear if you think the 5mm makes a lot of difference.Good progress. It's hard enough making the pattern conform to a 25mm back , second guessing a 20mm back must be a little hairy!

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Bill,

I had the same problem when I carved the first archtop a the back bank was on 22 mm. I have spoken to a few who build these instruments and they said that the height of the arch in the Benedetto book was not all that necessary. I used the top arch for the back which is not as pronounced as the back in his book!

Cheers

Alan

[ozziebluesman]

Started on the inside carve today using the drill press to drill some holes first so as to give me a carving depth. Note the dowel stop under the drill bit set at 6mm. I will take it down roughly and then refine later using a depth guage. Managed to get a blister this afternoon so gave up for the day. More tomorrow! Here are a few pictures:



More to come.......

Cheers

Alan

[ozziebluesman]

Some good work carried out today. The back thickness is a uniform 7mm thick and ready for the palm sander to sand down the surface. It already has a very nice tap tone and I think I will be happy with a final 6mm thickness for this back. According to the Benedetto book he takes his backs down to a uniform 4.5 to 5mm but he is using maple most of the time and that timber is very hard. The Kauri is softer and more closer to a softwood than a hard wood so I will leave it a little thicker. As I say the tap tone at the moment is big with nice sustain.

Here is a picture:


Cheers

Alan