Tittleating Tops To Take Test Tatistics (S implied)

Rosewood sides for Earth guitar,
cut to rough size



Test apparatus for tops



Spent the day in the shop yesterday (Thursday, 3/8/12) gathering acoustic data on top blanks.  I'll add the measurement data and keep a record as I inlay rosettes, thickness, brace and prepare tops for installation.  Not sure yet if my data correspond to Brian's but since I'm unable to get furthur information from him at this point, I'll fly by the seat of my pants.  Data should be useful in the long run in any case.  Above are pics of the testing setup which feeds data for a spectrum of the resonances of the top generated by a sweep of frequencies fed directly to the top via a coil and rare earth magnet.  Essentially, this makes a speaker out of the top.  Then the response is fed back to the computer and the Visual analyzer program via the microphone.

The top picture is the rough cutouts of  the rosewood sides of the Earth guitar along with my shop helper. I have some cutoffs from these pieces, which I've played around with a bit with some shellac and some filler.  I'm going to supply them to Kevin for his take on how best to finish them to bring out the beauty of the rosewood and provide a durable finish.  I still may french polish the top, but it depends on what Kevin comes up with,  After a short vacation to Florida with Ruth, the flamenco for my niece and the EI rosewood classical will be completed as I continue to prepare for the receipt of the Earth rosettes.  Options for the design of the armrest for Laura on the flamenco will be searched for and posted for her approval.  Keep and eye on this site.

All for now, g'day. 

Potpourri day in the shop

The rosewood for the back and selected top wood choices for C's guitar

The rosewood.  Must choose position of cutout for the back,
I'm inclined to include more figure like toward the bottom of the pic.

All kinds of stuff in the shop today.  Worked on straightening the rosewood for the sides of C's guitar.  Boy does it smell nice when it's worked, and I can't smell very well.  I also need to position where the back will be cut out of the rosewood to give it the best figure on the back.  See pic.  Started to prepare the big Grizzly sander for thinning the top wood sets which are candidates for the top of this guitar.  The choice will depend on the test results as I go through the steps of thinning and testing.  Not much more than that can be done on the top until the rosettes arrive.  Then the rosette can be inlaid, the soundhole cut and the bracing begun.  Because of the status of these projects, I feel safe in taking a bit of a hiatus for a week or so and go to Florida with Ruth.  Above are some pics taken today.

Had a good afternoon in the shop.  I cleaned up an old tool box and one of the tools in it and started doing some prep work on the rosewood for C's guitar.  Pictures below.  I scaped the rosewood with a sharp bench scraper to smooth the surface and then wiped it down with mineral spirits to "sort of" bring out the color and grain.  The picture does not do it justice, believe me   The wood has a bell-like ring to it and is going to make an absolutely awesom instrument.  Wood testing for the top will proceed apace, until I find THE right wood for this guitar.  Sometime soon, I'm going to visit Dick Wisner and look through his stash of guiitar wood.  It's mostly cedar, but I haven't ruled that out if it's the best choice sound wise.  After all, guitars are all about the sound.  But no question, this guitar WILL be awesome looking, too.

Pics:  The descriptions are in the captions:

That's all for tonight.

Old toolbox

And one of the tools rescued from it

One of the side pieces for C's guitar.  Scraped with a sharp cabinet scraper and wiped with mineral spirits to bring out the grain.  Still nothing like what the finished wood will be.

Missing photos

 

Quick preview 1

Quick preview 2



The back preview

Here are some shots of L's guitar just dry fitted loosely together.  Everything will go back into the dry cabinet until we get a suitable day for the glue up (warm and dry, if there is such a thing in IN).  I use hot hide glue, which is a natural material from animal hides and hooves, etc.  basically the same as knox gelatine.  This is extremely strong, and completely reversible if one ever needs to take a joint apart.  BTW, that's not the fretboard that will be used, just one I had lying about.

In the meantime:  Out comes the rosewood for the back and sides of C's guitar.  Thinning by hand plane to provide a flat side to each piece before the wood is  sanded to near thickness and cut to size for the 1/2 parts of the bookmatched back and sides.  This is where my awsome Burns sharpening system comes into play.  Sharp tools are the key and then selecting the plane with the best angle for the grain of the rosewood.  Also from these peices, which are generously large, there will be enough wood for the headplate(s) and for the armrest on L's guitar.  This should be really attractive and acoustically ideal.

Off to the shop>>>>>>>

Assembly on the horizon

Good progress on L's guitar today.  Fitted the neck and tested the fit of the ribs into the spanish heel.  Routed the heel to make room for the top to fit.  Made the butt block and shaped it.  I've pretty much decided that the bindings will be rosewood with a white laminate, the back strip, which was inliad some time ago is white-rosewood-white.  I plan on making the headstock plate from the piece of Brazilian I have.  It will be a symetrical figured plate, perhaps with a light colored veneer under it.  The bridge will be Brazilian as well.  With the neck, top and sides fitted and the back just laid on, it's beginning to look like a guitar.  Some pics if I can get them to load.  Will beging to thin and shape the Brazilian for C's guitar while I run through my checklist to make sure that I'm ready for the glue-up on L's guitar.

It's weird!  I can see the pictures I took today on the camera's disk, but when I try to view on the computer, they're missing.  I'll try a direct hookup via a cable.  Otherwise, I'll post them later.

Bye for now.

New Design

I hope you like the new design.  I sure would enjoy some feedback on any aspect of this Blog.

Leap Day

fitting the linings

almost ready for glue-up

Leap day turned out warm and sunny, but windy.  The guitar-making skills are returning and I accomplished a bit in the shop.  The ribs for L's guitar were trimmed to size and the linings were fitted and tentellones were cut up, and the butt block was made and fitted.  A glue-up of the top, sides and neck is not far off.  These pics show the top and sides in the mold. 

 I aching to get my hands on the rosewood that's to be used for C's guitar.  It's been quietly aclimatizing in my wood cabinet.  I'm anxious to see how it feels and smells and how difficult or easy it is to work with.  I was looking at the piece of Brazilian I'll be using to make bridges with and it rings like a bell.  It is very dense wood and this piece is highly figured depending on which way I cut it. 

I will begin work on the fretboards for all three guitars, but during my visit with my first guitar teacher, he mentioned that he had some very old, very black ebony fret board blanks.  I have some as well, but I may talk to him about acquiring some of these along with some other guitar wood that he has stashed.  This will take a trip to South Bend, but I look forward to another visit with him anyway.  The top material he has is very old, mostly cedar, I think and the back and side sets are Indian Rosewood.

More work today..see ya later.