Finished Pics! impmann's Alembic-esque Electric

TTony

Andyjr1515 said:

impmann said:

Oh mate that's looking incredible!!!

  So far so good!  Customer still happy...

He is on lots of drugs though


Thats an impressive grain pattern on the top half of the back.  Luverlee.

impmann

TTony said:

Andyjr1515 said:

impmann said:

Oh mate that's looking incredible!!!

  So far so good!  Customer still happy...

He is on lots of drugs though

All of them prescription ones. :-)

Andyjr1515

And to the fretboard.  While body and neck carving are my favourite tasks in a build, radiusing a fretboard - especially an ebony one - is right at the top of my least favourite ones. 

In the end, of the multipicity of methods I've seen of the 'best way to do it' I've settled on the method below.  Now - as always - I detail below what works for me.  This is not necessarily the best way of doing it and I'm certainly not saying this is how you should do it. 

However, if you are thinking of doing your first radiusing job, then I'll try and point out the problems I'm trying to avoid - there is nothing more disheartening than putting a shed load of effort into an expensive piece of wood and ending up with something you can't use

Things I found out the hard way:

• You have to do certain basic things to ensure the sanding is even, side to side and along the length

• The upper frets area, if it is a pre-tapered fretboard, is wider than the nut end and takes much more sanding to reach the same degree of radius
• You need some way of guiding the block to help maintain the evenness of the sanding and to allow you to be able to put your full effort into pushing the sanding block rather than pushing and positioning it
• There is a tendency to curve off the ends.  If the fretboard blank comes with excess either end, leave it on until the board has been radiussed.

This is how I personally try to avoid some of the above pitfalls:

I stick the fretboard to the bench with decent double-sided tape (Crimson Guitars' tip of two pieces of masking tape and cyano also works well) and, carefully positioned to ensure the fretboard at both ends is central to the sanding block, I clamp a guide straight edge for the block to run against.
I also mark the fretboard across the width and length with chalk:


When sanding, using my full effort on the block to sand, with the guide plank ensuring the block is always positioned OK, I check frequently to see if the sanding wear is even across the width and length - ideally the chalk remaining should be in the middle and of an equal width along the length of the board.

Here you can see two issues - I'm sanding harder on one side of the board and also I'm already starting to round off the end!:


My corrective action here will be to add a bit more pressure to the side nearest the guide and to ease off pressure of the whole block as I get to the ends.  The nice thing about the chalk is that you can see exactly how much and where to make these adjustments.
The sanding pattern on the block is a second way of seeing this uneven pressure:


The other thing I do is collect the ebony dust - I will be using this mixed with resin to fill any gaps in inlay routs, etc.


Plenty more to do - I usually put aside a day for this and class it as my exercise sorted for the week
 

Andyjr1515

This is the point where it starts getting tiresome:


The closer the sanding line gets to the middle, the more area you are actually sanding so, although there is only approx 1/3 of area still to do, this is less than 1/2 way done!

Now, hopefully, you can see why the chalk marks are important.  The good news is that the sanding is pretty even over the width.  Over the length, however, the middle is getting over sanded and there is a thinner 'flat spot' at the 2nd/3rd fret position.  This will mean that, even when the basic radius is there, I will have to carry of sanding the whole board until the flat spot has gone...

Did I mention that I don't like this part of building a guitar?

impmann

So asking for a 7.5in rad right now may be met with some 'choice words'? ;-)

Btw the package hasn't arrived yet this end...

Andyjr1515

impmann said:

So asking for a 7.5in rad right now may be met with some 'choice words'? ;-)

Btw the package hasn't arrived yet this end...

Absolutely

I think in the end I missed the last post - it should be with you when you get home.

Andyjr1515

Andyjr1515 said:

I think in the end I missed the last post - it should be with you when you get home.

...or tomorrow if you are already home

impmann

Andyjr1515 said:

Andyjr1515 said:

I think in the end I missed the last post - it should be with you when you get home.

...or tomorrow if you are already home

Mate, I'm home for at least another 2 weeks due to the pneumonia... possibly more!

Andyjr1515

impmann said:

Andyjr1515 said:

Andyjr1515 said:

I think in the end I missed the last post - it should be with you when you get home.

...or tomorrow if you are already home

Mate, I'm home for at least another 2 weeks due to the pneumonia... possibly more!

In that case, it'll be with you tomorrow!

...oh, and dying of pneumonia is definitely outside the terms of the contract - so sincerely get well soon

impmann

I'll do my best!! ;-)

Andyjr1515

And the fretboard is radiused!!!   At last.

While the radius block is still out and everything in the workshop - including me - is covered in ebony dust, this is a good time for me to sort the fretmarkers.

@impmann and I discussed doing some oval inlays like the originals but the ovals are actually trade-marked!  I wonder if Cort know (or care) because at least one of their models uses them...

Anyway, we've got a better plan even than that   Swifts.  And yes, I know what you're thinking but we're going for a much more subtle take on bird inlays that you-know-who

Just 12th...

It's actually easier, of course, if you inlaying shapes, to rout the fretboard while it's still flat.  However, with the width of my swifts wings there is always a danger of the radiusing sanding away the tips, so I do it after radiusing.

Having cut out the shapes with a jewellers' saw, I carefully routed the curved fretboard:


And then added dots for the others - 5 mm for the 1st and 3rd and 6mm for the rest.  These are in place before gluing and sanding:

paulnb57

Very nice Andy!

Legionreturns

That looks fab! That's got me thinking...

Andyjr1515

paulnb57 said:

Very nice Andy!

Legionreturns said:

That looks fab! That's got me thinking...

Thanks

I did this first on the Mouradian tribute bass I did last year.  I thought it added an elegance to it:

Andyjr1515

With inlays epoxied and sanded, I couldn't resist a quick mockup.  The fretboard is still oversize by a couple of mm each side, but you get the general impression:

paulnb57

Nice!

Andyjr1515

paulnb57 said:

Nice!

Thanks, Paul

Roland

Andy, how do you do the forearm chamfer, and get a level finish when the three woods have difference strengths and densities?

stickyfiddle

This is fantastic (no surprise really!). But it has me wondering if I want to commission a Rick Turner Model 1-style build purely so I can see the build thread..!

Andyjr1515

Roland said:

Andy, how do you do the forearm chamfer, and get a level finish when the three woods have difference strengths and densities?

It's easier than it looks at first sight, @Roland. ; As long as you are following the curve round, whether it's a plane or scraper or sanding block round the outline of the body, the three pieces can't really do anything other than produce a nice smooth curve.

Do you remember some of my earlier veneering tips and tricks where you are sanding the join?  It's the same principle - I'll try to find some shots...