Thread: Progress...

Thanks Ray... No, I'll probably go without pickups. I have an electric (el-cheapo) that I use now without an amp, mainly because I can't be bothered hooking up, hence the acoustic.
Besides, the dog howls with fear everytime that 90W amp thumps into life!

I haven't given up on sticky tape... I just couldn't get the hang of 7 pieces of veneer, glue and sticky tape all together! I thought there might have been a better way for me to handle, but I like Martin's way with the twine. I might give that a go on the next one ( ???!!)
Were you using plastic binding, or wood veneer with the hairdryer? I contemplated bending with my heatshrink gun, but opted for the bending iron and a light spray of water.

Originally Posted by Malibu

I take it that the Z-poxy is water clear?

It makes sense to sand back to bare wood after a fill with epoxy, because it doesn't make sense to leave it as a base coat. Seems to me to make the french polish redundant!

Yes Z-poxy is clear.

I sand back to wood mainly because I was having problems getting a level ridge free layer of zpoxy on the guitar. Z poxy can in fact be used as a finish if a few coats are applied and then sanded lightly to get a smooth finish. Leaving a coat of Z poxy on the instrument also pops the grain and can markedly darken down the colour if that is desired.

More work on the neck the last few days...
Queensland maple veneer on the back of the head stock, ebony on the front. I've got the truss rod in, ready for the fingerboard to go on and trimmed, then shaped. The binding is done on the head stock and the fingerboard.
I did my first piece of inlay yesterday/today... here's the result, and I'm pretty happy with it

When I took the router bits out of the packet, I thought how small 1.25mm bits looked. Until I got it in the Dremel and lined up to do the routing... then they looked about the size of a canon!!

There's still a bit of white marker paint to pick out, but that's a job for later...

Great work on the inlay there Malibu. Where did you get the Dremel bits from? Are they special inlay bits from LMI/Stewmac?

If youve got some it'd be nice to see some pics of the inlay actually going in.

Cheers Martin

Thanks Martin
The bits are called "carbide rotary files" (I think!) and I picked up 50 x .0937" and 10 x .0492" from e-bay in America for (US)30 bucks delivered. They work a treat and are cheap as chips! Originaly used for drilling/routing fibreglass for printed circuit boards on CNC machinary, they go through timber like butter
I'd like to pick up some smaller ones for the sharp corners when I see them again.
Sorry, I don't have any pics of the process, but I'm going to do the tail piece soon so I'll remember to get a step-by-step photo session happening and maybe post them in a new thread (if any one would like to read about it.. I'm a looong way from being an expert!! )

Only a bit of work on the neck lately.
The fingerboard is glued on and the binding is complete. I cut the excess off the sides of the neck tonight with a coping saw and did the 12th fret inlay, this time glued in with epoxy mixed with ebony dust. It's curing now and I'll see how it turns out after some dinner and a bit of a relax
During the week I made up a fret bending jig out of aluminium and some unbrako's. Two fixed runners with a slotted runner above, mounted on a swing arm, to take the fret wire. There's a thread to push the swing arm down and force the fret wire to bend as I push it through the runners. It seems to work pretty well, and makes a nice smooth radius in the fret wire
After all the hours on this project, I've managed to get through without losing any blood until tonight when the scroll saw decided to attack for no good reason! Those blades may be small, but those teeth are gnarly!
Next job? Shape the neck and smooth it all off...

Gee Malibu, you're firing on all cylinders! Haven't you got kids or a wife or something to keep you busy? I come home, pick up my scroll and put it down again. then make dinner for the kids then clean the bath then ... AAAAAAAAARGH!

Naaaah, no kids, no mrs... but I've got a sick dog; does that count?

Is that the stewmac fret bender in the pic above??

It's not a stewmac bender (I didn't even know they had one until I looked just now!).
Mine's similar, but it's just a home-made job based on a picture I saw on internet somewhere. The stewmac one looks pretty nifty with bearings and a handle. Mine's only drilled out aluminium rollers and I just push the wire through by hand.
Here's a photo of the back

i almost bought fret bender from stewmac in today's order but dang it US$98 is pretttyu steep for what it is so i reckon i can build one like yours....

hehe...
I thought the same thing about the price. It's probably worth it if you do heaps of fret bending, but for me, this one does fine
I was thinking some slugs from a 25mm hole saw through wood will probably do just as well as the aluminium

Hey, I was thinking about buying the fret wire bender. But I did not have the patience to wait so I thought about it and decided to make one.
This not wholly my idea as I saw something similar somewhere on the net.
I tried different sizes but found you need a tightish curve to account for spring back.
First I cut out an accurate 6inch circle from 3/4 ply. Next I took the dremal with a base and cut a slot all the way around the centre of the edge using a fine grinding wheel that came with the kit. Bit of smoke but it worked. It is wide enought for the tang of the fret wire.
To bend the wire i simply insert the tang and hold it in the slot and roll the disk across the bench top and the wire comes out nicely curved to fit my 12 inch radius fret boards.
Simple.
Dom

Yeehaaa!
I couldn't resist this photo session!
I spent the morning cutting the mortice for the neck joint... 1/4mm at a time, finaly I got to the right size, a test fit and in went the neck...
Ta-dah! A guitar is born!