Thread: Quiet in here

I'm a busy boy sanding the inside back; I don't have any fingerprints left, but who cares? The back plate is smoooooooth!

With the week off work, I'll be settling in for some time in the workshop... Maybe work a bit on a drum sander as CB suggested but first things first.. CLEAN UP!!!

Ford announced yesterday that they'll put 600 jobs under the knife, and since I work in the car industry and Ford is our main customer... who knows, maybe it'll be an extended week off? Any room on that workshop-less platform, Martin?

Ok, here's one for you guys.. I'm pondering over the finish for my archtop (a long way off, but I like to think ahead). For a solid body, I'd try out the Nitro, but for an archtop I was thinking a couple of coats inside with Shellac and the outside; well, not so sure there... I've tried french polish once before and that (re: I) was a dismal failure, but I like the look and feel of FP. Somewhere I read about someone using aircraft "dope" to coat their guitar, but it wasn't a completed project so there was no finished comments on it, but it seemed a fair idea. Any suggestions on a good finish other than the Benedetto book suggestions?

John

I like french polish but it takes a warm workshop, patience, elbow grease, and a dab of linseed oil at the right time ... practice on something useful but not critical, like a blackbutt picture frame for mum for christmas ...

Hi, Cool forum. I have a question. How do people keep their tops and backs flat during the building process? Been raining here in Canberra for the past few days and the sudden humidity change has caused them to bend all over the place. I am not worried as I have been watching the plates move around while in storage and when temp and humidity return to normal they flatten out. But is there someway I should be storing them? Also when I have joined tops and backs, how do you guys keep them between work. With weights on tops to keep them flat?
Thanks for your help.
Dom

Ahhhhhh... got some speakers from the stereo down into the workshop now. I'm happily sanding away to the smooth sounds of Santana instead of the blare of an off-tune radio trying to sell me everything I don't need.

Dom: When I finish working on my back plate of a night, I usually clamp it down to an MDF frame with some el-cheapo F clamps from a local hardware. $3 for a pair... no strength in them, but great for holding stuff in position. I don't know if the plate would warp without clamping, but I'd rather not find out. My workshop is halfway under the cutting under my house, so it's pretty consistant for temperature and humidity all year round.

CB: My workshop isn't the warmest one around, but all the rest of your criteria I have plenty of. I'll try some more french polish at another stage and see how I go with that. As far as Mum goes for Christmas... Dad does woodwork too (and he's pretty damned good at it), so that cuts down my woodworking gifts to zero. I just give her one of my paintings and Dad does the framing

It's quiet because everyone is at Rocker's place having a good time!

P

martin, busy slaving over pythagoras and geometry this week (working out radius stuff) and jigs to make jigs to make rails for my router to make sanding dishes...its been fun but MDF dust is no much fun....

Malibu, I been looking at finishes even though I'm way far from that ...But I am going with FP because of fact that i think its one of the best sounding finishes and if done right looks good as well....I have no experience with it so i have stripped an old walnut liquer cabinet that i am going to practice on before trying it on a guitar....
I had a look on Ellis guitar site and i like the look of his oil finishes....I don't know much about that sort of finish but like the ease of application factor..

zenobia, I just bit the bullet and bought a de-humidifier recently ...My room is in the hills and in the shade under some trees and seems to sit around 65-70% most of the time without any control...so i tried an experiment with a 1500w oil heater which got the room down to 45% but would cost a fortune to have running all the time.....not to mention working in that heat....so my dehumidifier only about 300w picked it up on ebay hardly used for under $200....so i figure it will pay itself off in running cost savings and its got a humidistat so can keep the room at 45% constantly

Or the're home instead of surfing at work at the bosses expense

I find that as soon as you leave a flat thin piece of wood on, say, a table top, it twists. Why? Because one surface is exposed to dry or humid air and the other isn't. As long as you store wood flat with air circulating all around, it stays flat, because any humidity change affects the whole piece. Use thin battens between the sheets of wood. Clamping the wood to a frame might work, but according to my theory it's stressing the wood.

Originally Posted by zenobia

Hi, Cool forum. I have a question. How do people keep their tops and backs flat during the building process?

Heres how I control warping in my workshop:

1. humidity is controlled at 40-45%. My addiction to luthiery is serious so Ive lashed out on full climate control in the workshop. I have two hygrometers with which I monitor humidity.

2. When Im not working on a top or back or sides...they get stored with a sheet of MDF on top and then some bricks on top of that. To aviod damage to soft spruce tops put a shet of cardboard or cork between the MDF and the top.

A cheaper option than climate controling your workshop is to have a light box setup in which you store tops and backs..especially if theyre braced but not yet on the guitar. This can be as simple as a cardboard box with a 100 watt light bulb inside. Just watch the risk of fire with the latter. You can build yourself a plywood light box and have some sort of temp control with thermostat or fan if you want to get fancier. I've also seen people set up a cupboard as a controlled environment for storing tops.

If you cant afford a dehumidifier in your workshop then a heater can be used to but the reigns on humidity. During the winter months in Adelaide I have a ceramic panel heater going at night to take the load off the dehumidifier.

Your wood will return to original shape as humidity changes back to what it was but be aware that some woods are prone to cracking as they dry out. Its going from a humid to a dry environment that can kill a guitar.

If humidity is a bit variable in your workshop then leave off gluing in braces during periods of high humidity.

Cheers Martin