Thread: #1 Acoustic Build

More minor progress today.

Made up some kerfed linings on the bandsaw. Nothing too exciting but they easily conformed to the mold shape so I'm happy.

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I'm currently preparing to get the shed concrete floor painted and insulate and line the walls. I think I'll do it one half at a time as I really don't want to have to move everything out of there...

Hi Steve, it's good to see them just bend and take the shape isn't it .

are you going clamp them with clothes pegs ?

I hope your lining and insulation goes quick for you, I would be paying for as much young help as you can, I did my shed six years back, #### I turned it into a big job,it,s a 7 x 5 and I sprayed the sarking "I think its called " the foil, with contact to hold the insulation in place,then nailed up 8mm hoop ply, its air tight , exept for the roller door gap,It was worth it, for winter and summer it made a big difference, cheers Rob

G'day Rob, I used the clothes pegs when gluing up the ukulele and didn't really think they worked too great. Also noticed you made some modifications when using them on your current build. I had decided not to use them again so I just grabbed a box of spring clamps from McJings for two bucks each last time I got over that way.

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No further work on the shed lining just yet. I'll probably go with the 12mm non-structural ply from bunnings on the walls and am still convincing myself to replace the roller door with a couple of swinging doors. I got a tin of concrete paint to do the floor but realised that I won't be able to do half at a time as I'll have to get everything out of there before I start splashing acid around to etch the floor...

Anyhow, good conditions in Sydney this week with the shed maintaining about 50% RH so I thought I'd get some work done on the guitar. Nothing weather critical at the moment, just jointed and glued up the soundboard as I had a little spare time.

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I need to get my sander dialled in so that I can bring the sides down to size and start the bending process. Looking forward to that bit.

Originally Posted by stevemc32

G'day Rob, I used the clothes pegs when gluing up the ukulele and didn't really think they worked too great.

I haven't had much success with clothes pegs. Spring clamps are the best thing to use for linings. I buy 'em whenever they have bag specials of the suckers at Blunderings or Mitre10

They are good those bags of clamps, I got one a little while ago and I think it was about 9 bucks for 20 plastic spring clamps of different sizes. Good value.

I also bought a blister pack of quick clamps some time ago, I think the brand was Craftright. They ended up in the bin about and hour after I'd unpacked them...

My favourites are the metal ones with red plastic sheathing on the jaws....they sell them at Mitre10 in Adelaide. I use the two smaller sizes.

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

My favourites are the metal ones with red plastic sheathing on the jaws....they sell them at Mitre10 in Adelaide. I use the two smaller sizes.

i picked up 20 or so of the smaller ones at the markets for 5 or 8bux a while back

Geez, that's a good price for the metal ones. I always seem to be working on the weekends when local markets are on...

Next question concerns router bits for rosette and inlay work. Do I really need to spend 20 bucks each on the special downcut bits from Stewmac or will these end mill bits on ebay do the same job?

2.00mm (.0787") micro two flute endmills

Got impatient waiting to hear if anyone had success with the endmills so I just ordered some. Got 10 in different sizes from 0.5mm to 3.0mm for $50 AUD delivered. Hope they are useful.

Also put in a decent order to Stewmac for tuning machines, fretwire, nut and saddle blanks and a few tools. Probably shouldn't make Stewmac orders on a Friday night after a few beers...

I've decided not to use the Rosewood back and sides for this first one. Seemed like a better idea to stick to the well quartersawn stuff that I've got for #1 and then think about the other stock later. This is a set that I got from Dorrigo Woodworks and I first jointed and glued up the back halves. I followed this by jointing the sides on the tablesaw then sanding them down to final thickness at 120 grit. Gotta say once those sides were sanded back I really saw the beauty in the Blackwood, it's very impressive. The little drum sander is pretty good too.

I've marked out the sides for trimming down and once that's done they'll be ready for bending.

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Hi steve , Iv'e never used down cut bits , I only buy the up cut ones for furniture ,to take out the waste on dovetails , from the pictures stew mac shows it looks like they give a neater finish for the neck inlays ,no fur ,but it all gets sanded off any way ,looks like what you got is a bargain ,I may do the same,

The blackwood looks good ,when I cooked mine up gave off a wierd smell, A nice smell, smelt a bit like a roast meal, lol ,and I could smell it on my hands for ages.

What kind of drum sander do you have ? I have been looking at them this week on the net and am keen to know more about them,and how well they work and last

cheers Rob

Originally Posted by auscab

What kind of drum sander do you have ? I have been looking at them this week on the net and am keen to know more about them,and how well they work and last

I've got the Jet 10/20 sander. If I had a bit more space I probably would have bought the cheaper 16 inch Carbatec sander but I just couldn't fit it in the shed unfortunately.

It worked great on the sides today but when I used it earlier to do the speaker cabinet panels (greater than 10 inches) it was grooving the panels at the end of the drum. This was after I had spent a couple of hours trying to set it up.

I plan to spend a bit more time on it to try and level the drum before I commit either the soundboard or back panel to it. I'm sure I'll get it sorted out sooner or later, just haven't been successful yet...

Can't comment on how long it will last as I've only had it for a couple of months but it sure is a handy tool. Worked great for sizing the amplifier inlay strips and the guitar sides today. I found a small rolling cupboard at the last council clean up, lopped 10 inches off it's length and reassembled it for a perfect fit. Even got myself some extra storage area.

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Definitely a recommended workshop machine.

I'm looking forward to the roast dinner Blackwood smell, hopefully give it a go tomorrow.

those lil spiral bits you got look good!
iv been using endmill burr thingos... they fuzz a little but it doesnt matter since i score around the inlay piece, the fuzz breaks off at the score line and gets blown away.
and inlaying takes practice... not too easy

I saw the endmill burrs on ebay as well but immediately thought they would fuzz up the edge of the channels being routed. Good to know they are also useful.

Had a great time bending the sides today and looks to have been successful. I was disappointed not to get any roast dinner smell out of them but still good fun. They will sit in the molds till tomorrow afternoon and I'll then check if they need any further bending.

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Cut the neck and tail blocks and shaped them up. Final job for today was sorting out the drum sander and sanding down the back panel. It came up quite well so I thought I'd run the soundboard through as well to clean it up a little prior to working on the rosette.

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Next up is to trim and glue up the sides and blocks, followed by cutting some braces for the back panel and waiting for the right conditions to brace it up.

The sides came out of the molds and seemed quite stable so time to trim them up and glue them together using the neck and tail blocks. All went well.

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Next up the neck blank had a quick run over the jointer and thicky to square it up nicely. Marked out the headstock angle cut and ran it through the bandsaw freehand. Probably should have made up a little jig for this but it wasn't a serious problem, just a little extra work with the block plane and a light finish on the belt sander to get it ready for gluing.

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Looks like some showery weather on the way with the humidity rising. I collected the insulation for the shed today so I really do need to start getting everything out of there to paint the floor and install the wool.