6/21/95 12:00 PM - 2:30 PM 2.5
Glued neck and end blocks to sides. Glued 2nd rosewood veneer to headpiece.
6/21/95 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM 0.75
Glued abalone inlays into soundhole rosette channel.
6/22/95 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM 0.75
Trimmed rosewood veneer on headpiece. Scraped glue from side seams.
6/22/95 10:25 AM - 10:51 AM 0.43
Sanded abalone purfling on soundhole.
6/22/95 10:53 AM - 11:21 AM 0.47
Set up back pieces and back inlay strip for gluing. Needed to go to Southern Lumber for hardwood strips to clamp it down.
6/22/95 12:30 PM - 1:03 PM 0.55
Glued in back inlay strip.
6/22/95 1:51 PM - 3:19 PM 1.47
Glued in kerfing on sides.
6/22/95 3:19 PM - 5:30 PM 2.18
Glued bottom X-brace to top. Glued side braces onto sides.
6/23/95 12:34 PM - 3:39 PM 3.08
Glued 2nd X-brace to top. Scraped back strip and cut out back, using coping saw. Cracked the back, so had to glue the crack first before finishing the cutting. Glued 2 back braces on (#2 and #4 braces).
6/23/95 4:50 PM - 6:48 PM 1.98
Sanded insides of sides. Sanded kerfing down level. Glued fingerboard brace and 4 side braces on top.
6/24/95 8:43 AM - 4:20 PM 7.61
Glued #1 and #3 back braces on back. Made a clamping caul for the soundhole braces. Glued top flat brace and 3 soundhole braces on top. Scalloped and sanded all braces put on top so far. Sanded inside surface of top. Glued 2 tone bars onto top. Cut and glued back reinforcement strip.
Sanded inside of back. Sanded back braces.
6/25/95 12:02 PM - 1:32 PM 1.5
Scalloped and sanded the 2 tone bars on top. Made and glued in the label onto the back. Cut the ends of the back reinforcement strip to the edges of the neck and end blocks.
Marked where braces meet edges. Cut out notches for brace ends. Did back notches first, then when I fit top on (with sides toggled out), it was smaller. So I decided to keep the side assembly in the mold without the toggle bolts pushing the sides out. Started to cut the top brace notches into the sides, then cut myself with the chisel, and decided to quit for the day. Need to redo the back notches after I do the top.
6/26/95 9:35 AM - 1:09 PM 3.56
Redid the notches for both the top and the back braces. Made sure each fit. Glued the X-brace reinforcement patch on. Glued the back onto the sides.
Routed out the slots for the abalone hexagon inlays in the fingerboard.
6/26/95 6:53 PM - 7:46 PM 0.88
Glued abalone hexagon inlays into fingerboard with epoxy.
6/27/95 10:17 AM - 11:30 AM 1.21
Sanded down hexagon inlays on fingerboard. Glued top to sides (used 2 1/4" dowel pins to secure the top to the neck block).
6/27/95 11:37 AM - 12:15 PM 0.63
Drilled tuner holes into headstock. (Went to Mom's to use drill press.)
6/28/95 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM 1.75
Trimmed the overhang of the top and back. (Used chisel, disk sander, palm sander.)
Cut out binding and purfling channels. Cut out channel for endpin wedge. Glued in the wedge. Epoxied (with rosewood dust) various gouges in the body.
6/29/95 8:33 AM - 1:24 PM 4.85
Scraped down epoxy fills. Trimmed end wedge flush with binding channels. Glued in binding (with Duco cement).
6/29/95 3:58 PM - 4:55 PM 0.94
Cut and glued binding to fingerboard edges.
7/2/95 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM 4
Scraped binding flush. Also worked on regluing the binding on fingerboard (used superglue this time).
7/3/95 10:15 AM - 12:10 PM 1.92
Started inlaying abalone in top.
7/3/95 12:51 PM - 5:00 PM 4.15
Finished inlaying the abalone in the top.
7/4/95 9:15 AM - 11:15 AM 2
Sanded abalone purfling flush. (Used Dremel sanding wheel and then 120 Makita palm sander.)
Cut out dovetail hole in body. Had to patch white binding with 2 vertical strips of BWB purfling (to make it symmetrical), because I had gouged the binding a bit with the Dremel router as I was using it to cut out the dovetail hole.
7/5/95 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM 5
Started fitting the neck. (Got the neck flush to the body.)
7/6/95 9:45 AM - 12:00 PM 2.25
Continued working on dovetail fitting.
7/6/95 1:41 PM - 4:20 PM 2.64
Finished fitting the neck. Shaped the neck near the heel end even with the fingerboard edge. Glued the truss rod into the neck. Also had to trim down the fingerboard binding, reglue some fingerboard binding, and epoxy some gouges on the fingerboard.
7/7/95 9:31 AM - 1:45 PM 4.23
Cut the truss rod channel in the top. Filled the truss rod channel top with epoxy. Cut heel and glued white plastic heelcap on heel. Scraped the epoxy that had filled the gouges on fingerboard and sanded fingerboard. Scraped the fingerboard binding clean. Glued in side dots in fingerboard binding.
Started fretting-- ran into problems. Frets did not go in smoothly - cut the tang too long, and they pushed the binding out, so had to try to re-do. Hammering dented the frets, also. Pulled out some wood as I tried to redo some frets, so have an imperfect fingerboard surface now. Decided to order a new fingerboard, binding, dots, and side dots from Martin, so sent a fax to them today. Hate to give up the hexagon inlays, but Martin doesn't sell them in the catalogue, so ordered MOP dots.
7/11/95 2:25 PM - 4:30 PM 2.07
The abalone pieces came today. Cut out a K and an M -- block letters. Went to Mom's and cut out the abalone dots (had gotten a set of leather center hole punches at Tandy) with the drill press.
7/12/95 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM 5
Scribed the outline for the K and M on the headstock. Routed out the slots for the K and M -- had to go to OSH to get a bolt to fix the router attachment (it wasn't holding the depth adjustment part tightly). Epoxied in the K and M. Slightly chamfered the fret slots on the new fingerboard (from Stew Mac, it came today by FedEx), in preparation for starting to work on this fingerboard.
7/12/95 3:08 PM - 8:00 PM 4.86
Used the disc sander to shape the fingerboard to its tapered form (1-11/16"-2-1/8" with bindings). Took stuff to Mom's to use drill press -drilled holes for the abalone dots, epoxied in the abalone dots -- had to enlarge the holes a bit (3/16" hole enlarged to 7/32" to make 3/16" dots fit, etc.) to make the dots fit. Also tried out the fret-pressing caul on the drill press --- it worked great! Dismantled the drill press to bring it to my house; Mom helped me bring it over.
7/16/95 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM 2
Routed the binding ledge for the headstock binding. Glued the headstock binding in (thin black, thick white) with Duco.
7/17/95 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM 1
Did the grain-raising and sanding of the body. (150 grit, then raised grain, then 220, then raised grain again, then 220) Then rounded the edges of the binding with Exacto knife and sandpaper.
Glued the neck in. Cut the abalone hexagons out of the ruined fingerboard -- used jigsaw first, then disc sander. Was able to save most of the hexes. When Martin fingerboard comes, will put those in. Then will choose which fingerboard to use (Stew Mac's or Martin's).
7/24/95 9:55 AM - 2:35 PM 4.67
Got new fingerboard (from Martin) today. Drilled 13/64" holes for 3/16" pearl dots (had to go to OSH first to get the drill bit). Glued dots in. Liked my own fingerboard (with abalone dots) better, so I glued the binding Martin sent me onto my first fingerboard. Mitered the corners. Glued with Duco. Sanded the pearl dots on the Martin fingerboard down, in case I decide to use it later.
7/25/95 8:30 AM - 1:55 PM 5.42
Scraped binding down on fingerboard. Cut the frets individually for each fret slot. Made a fret holder to keep the frets in order. Glued the frets in using the fret clamping caul in the drill press. Had to reglue some of the binding at the tongue end of the fingerboard; glued those frets in before I reglued the binding. Trimmed the fret ends flush to the binding.
7/26/95 9:16 AM - 2:14 PM 4.96
Filed ends of frets flush, then beveled them. Drilled and put in side dots (used drill press). Glued fingerboard to the neck. (Work interrupted a bit when Josie and Elizabeth came over to drop off Chip.)
7/27/95 7:35 AM - 8:10 AM 0.58
Removed the clamps (9) from the neck. One of the abalone dots was sitting below the surface of the fingerboard, so I dug most of the old dot out with the smallest micro chisel I have (ordered from Stewart MacDonald's - very handy!) and superglued a new one in. Then filed the new one level with the fingerboard surface.
7/28/95 12:26 PM - 4:45 PM 4.31
Shaped neck. Cut nut slot. Shaped nut. Sanded neck with 120 grit, then wet it to raise grain. Resanded body with 220 grit. Taped top and top binding, in preparation for filling the pores.
Taped back inlay strip. Sanded neck with 220, then rewet to raise grain again. Mixed analine dye for neck. Sanded neck again with 220. Dyed neck with analine dye.
Removed tape & wax paper from top (forgot I had to seal it first). Taped fingerboard. Sealed guitar with 2 light coats of 3 parts alcohol to 5 parts shellac.
7/29/95 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM 3
Taped up the top. Filled the pores - 1st coat heavy, then a light 2nd coat. (Used some Formby's Wiping Stain to color the paste filler.)
7/30/95 11:10 AM - 2:52 PM 3.7
Got most of the binding scraped, using exacto knives and scraper.
7/30/95 3:15 PM - 4:25 PM 1.17
Continued scraping binding.
7/31/95 9:30 AM - 12:33 PM 3.05
Finished scraping and sanding binding.
8/2/95 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM 0.75
Put on a couple of thin coats of 1-lb cut shellac (2 parts alcohol to 1 part shellac) on entire guitar.
8/3/95 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM 0.25
DOING THE BODY FIRST (SEPARATE FROM NECK): 1st coat of sanding sealer (thinned 1/2 and 1/2 with lacquer thinner).
8/3/95 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM 0.25
2nd coat of sanding sealer.
8/3/95 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM 0.25
3rd coat of sanding sealer.
8/3/95 1:00 PM - 1:20 PM 0.33
4th coat of sanding sealer.
8/4/95 8:17 AM - 11:30 AM 3.21
Sanded and leveled the sanding sealer coats. Used 220, then 320, then 400, then 600, then the white abrasive pad.
8/4/95 11:40 AM - 11:55 AM 0.25
Sprayed 1st coat of lacquer (1 part lacquer to 1 part thinner) on body.
8/4/95 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM 0.25
2nd coat of lacquer.
8/4/95 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM 0.25
3rd coat of lacquer
8/5/95 9:13 AM - 10:15 AM 1.03
Leveled down 1st 3 lacquer coats with green ScotchBrite pad first, then white pad.
8/5/95 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM 0.25
Sprayed 4th coat of lacquer.
8/5/95 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM 0.25
Sprayed 5th coat of lacquer.
8/5/95 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM 0.25
Tried spraying a heavier lacquer mixture (2 parts lacquer to 1 part thinner) for the 6th coat - didn't flow on very well.
8/5/95 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM 0.25
Sprayed 7th coat of lacquer - this time with 1 part lacquer, 1 part thinner again. Adjusted nozzle so it sprayed heavier - worked better at creating a "wet coat" (all my other coats were fairly dry).
8/6/95 10:49 AM - 12:50 PM 2.01
Leveled down (with green ScotchBrite and gray ScotchBrite) the lacquer on the soundbox. Covered soundbox with plastic trash bag, so only neck was showing. FINISHING THE NECK: Sprayed 1st coat of sanding sealer (1 part sealer to 1 part lacquer).
8/6/95 1:30 PM - 1:40 PM 0.17
Sprayed 2nd coat of sanding sealer.
8/6/95 2:50 PM - 3:00 PM 0.17
Sprayed 3rd coat of sanding sealer.
8/6/95 3:50 PM - 4:00 PM 0.17
4th coat of sanding sealer.
8/7/95 8:20 AM - 10:00 AM 1.66
Leveled down the sanding sealer on the neck. Sprayed 1st coat of lacquer on neck.
8/7/95 11:15 AM - 11:20 AM 0.08
Sprayed 2nd coat of lacquer on neck.
8/7/95 12:05 PM - 12:10 PM 0.08
3rd coat of lacquer on neck.
8/7/95 1:10 PM - 1:15 PM 0.08
4th coat of lacquer on neck.
8/8/95 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM 0.5
Removed plastic trash bag covering soundbox. Put final coat coat of lacquer on entire guitar.
8/15/95 9:45 AM - 2:30 PM 4.75
Wet-sanded the guitar with grey Scotchbrite pads (first used green). Used rubbing compound, then polishing compound, then Meguiar 7.
8/15/95 3:45 PM - 7:00 PM 3.25
Measured for the bridge location. Used stripper to remove finish from bridge location. Cleaned up binding edges on fingerboard. Put lemon oil on fingerboard. Made caul for top of bridge, with sandpaper on bottom. Glued bridge to soundbox (with 3 clamps).
8/16/95 8:23 AM - 2:00 PM 5.6
Rubbed down the entire guitar again - wasn't satisfied with yesterday's results (not a "mirror-like" surface). Turned out I hadn't leveled it down (especially the back, since the coats hadn't flowed on very smoothly) enough. Just took more "elbow grease."
8/16/95 3:42 PM - 8:00 PM 4.29
Put in tuner pegs. Had to go to OSH first to get a manual countersink, because the tuner bushings wouldn't reach all the way to the back (because of the extra rosewood veneer piece). Reamed the front of the tuner peg holes, so the washer would be a bit lower. Drilled the hole for the end pin and put the end pin in. Drilled the bridge pin holes, using 11/64" bit. Cut bridge pin slots. Hammered in the fret ends. Put lemon oil on bridge and fingerboard.
8/17/95 10:06 AM - 6:00 PM 7.89
Dressed the frets. Fit saddle (5/32" high). Cut slots in nut - first trimmed nut to 1/16" above fret height. Used this method: putting capo between 2nd and 3rd frets, then cutting nut slot until the string just clears the 1st fret. Cut G-string fret too low, so I put superglue in slot, and recut it. Put strings on. Put pickguard on. FINISHED!!!!! NO BUZZING PROBLEMS THIS TIME!!!