Monday, July 6th, 2009:

Yes, I know . . . . . I've been gone a long time, huh???!!! Sorry 'bout that!!!!

Well, other stuff this week got in the way of the building — I spent a couple of days removing an old kitchen faucet and installing a new one — for me, plumbing jobs ALWAYS take much, much longer than they probably should take!!! Then, there were lots of other things that came up along the way, and I just couldn't get back to this. But I'm thankfully back now, so here we go!!!

Sometime in this past week, I had, however, managed to make and glue in the tail block. My tail block is 3/4" thick and overhangs the top and back of the sides a tiny bit (for later sanding to the arch of the back and top). I first sanded the slight radius on the gluing surface of the block, as the tail end of the body is slightly radiused. Then I glued it on with a couple of cauls and Titebond.

  

 

NECK BLOCK:

Today I made the neck block (1-1/2" thick). It always takes me a little bit of thinking to determine exactly where to drill the holes for the two bolts, especially on this little size of a guitar. I ended up drilling the first hole (nearest the top — I think I have it upside down here in the photos, though) about 1-1/8" down, and then the second hole 1-1/4" down from there. The block is, like the tail block, slightly oversized, so that, when the kerfing is sanded to match the top and back radiuses (radii???), and the top and back are glued on, the final body depths (3-1/8" at the neck & 3-7/8" at the tail) will be correct.

To drill the bolt holes, first I drill about 1/2" down with a 3/4" Forstner bit. Then I drill in the center of that hole (the Forstner bit leaves a tiny pilot hole in the center) with a 11/32" drill bit. (The furniture bolts I use are 7/32" inch in diameter, and I want the hole 1/8" bigger, to give the bolt some leeway, for better adjustment when I fit the neck.)

After the holes are drilled, I sand a slight radius in the gluing surface of the block, to match the slight curve of the body at the neck end, just as I did with the tail block. Then I round the inner corners slightly on the belt sander.

 

 

 

  

INDEX:

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  1. Planning
  2. A Little Change in Plans...
  3. Back Braces
  4. Carving the Back Braces & Cutting the Top Braces
  5. The Rosette / Tapering the Fingerboard
  6. Bracing the Top
  7. Carving the Braces / Gluing the Soundhole Braces & Bridge Plate
  8. The Finished Top and Back!!! / Cutting and Bending the Sides
  9. Fixing Cupped Sides / Making Spreaders & Clamping Cauls
  10. Neck and Tail Blocks
  11. Sanding the Radius into the Sides / Gluing the Kerfing Strips / Side Reinforcements
  12. Fitting & Gluing the Back
  13. Fitting & Gluing the Top
  14. We Have a Soundbox Now!!!
  15. Bending and Routing for Bindings
  16. Gluing the End Wedge & Bindings
  17. Scraping the Bindings
  18. Beginning the Neck
  19. The Neck, Continued!!!
  20. The Neck, Day 3
  21. Peghead, Tuners, Dots, & Frets!!
  22. Peghead Inlay
  23. Backstrap & Gluing the Fingerboard
  24. Carving the Neck / A "Duh!" Moment / Side Dots / Preparing for Finish
  25. Pore-Filling and Sealing
  26. Spraying the Top Coats
  27. Finishing the Finish / Gluing on the Neck
  28. Gluing on the Bridge
  29. Set-Up / It's All Done!
         

GLUING THE NECK BLOCK:

Here I am gluing one side, so that the end of the side meets the centerline I've marked on the neck block. I've just found it easier to do it this way, than to try and wrestle with a slipping, sliding pair of sides at once. I hold the side to the line a little while, till the glue kind of sets a little. Then I clamp it up.

When that is dry, I will remove the clamps and do the same thing with the other side. Because the first side is set, it is easy to just butt the second side right up against it at the centerline. Then I know everything is centered up accurately. Previously, when I'd try to glue both sides at once, sometimes the whole thing would shift slightly, and it would be off-center. This way works better for me.

 

THE OTHER DISTRACTION:

Okay, now here's a little sample of something else that took me away from the guitar a bit this week . . . I went and bought myself the new iPhone!!! It's fast, has a 3-megapixel camera and video, too. SO....I spent a few days first researching it before I decided to buy it, and then a few days after that playing around with it (of course!).

Anyway, I decided it would be a perfect thing to take with me to the Healdsburg Guitar Festival this coming August 14-16!!! Click on the video below (taken with my new iPhone!):

Well, after making this video, I think, as far as using it at the Healdsburg Festival, the best thing would be to take the videos, then use the iPhone's capability to send it directly to my YouTube account. (If I want to put it on this page, I have to take my laptop computer along with me to format it for the webpage, and upload my webpage to the server, etc., a process that would be just too tedious and time-consuming while I'm up there.)

SO...the easiest thing would be for me to have a link to my YouTube channel, where all the videos I might take will be sent. (The only video I've put on YouTube so far is the "Easy Jointer" video.)

   

 

 

  

 

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