WIP - Making of the mini-guitars begins

WezV

come on then, get some more pics up

Ravenous

Yup, we wanna see cute short-scale guitars.

These are going to be great - lucky kids.

Want to adopt a new 50 year old son? He'll buy you beer!

Kalimna

Thanks for the comments folks - I'll get some more up now.....
 
To start with, here was a 30-minute project to appease elder boy for a further 30 minutes

https://i.imgur.com/Ekg6IQ5.jpg

A sortof double-neck-Rickenbacker shape in leftover horse chestnut and some other wood.

Adam

Kalimna

With the neck pockets cut and the body outlines trimmed with the bearing guided cutter, it is time to rout the control and pickup cavities and roundover/shape the bodies.

My process is to re-draw the centre line and bridge plate, then add in the pickup positions by eye using a template I'd made (which then doubles as a router template - I havent taken a photo of this template, but it has centrelines drawn on it both up/down and front/back to allow accurate positioning), following this approximate positions of controls and scratchplate. The top horn of the Jaguar body has the 5-way pickup selector - which comes back to bite a little later on.
Following that. roundover the edges with a bearing guided radius cutter and lastly shaping of chamfers. Then sanding.

So, the Jaguar body

https://i.imgur.com/gdQinGG.jpg

A close up of the front of the selector-switch slot. I planned to mount the switch directly under the front face of the body, which means cutting a slot and two screw holes. I used a dremel and narrow cutter for the slot (not too happy with this method, I need to find a better way) with a straight edge piece of ply for the guide. As the horse chestnut is fairly soft wood I flooded it a few times with thin cyanoacrylate,hence the messy look. This will all go when sanded, and covered with a solid colour amyway.

https://i.imgur.com/coXhU6w.jpg

And from the back, here is the access cavitiy. The two templates next to the body are for routing the cavity cover and cover recess. The recess template hasnt quite been finished - I needed to make it thicker to accomodate the bearing cutters I have, hence the thicker ply screwed on and yet to be hollowed. The access cavity itself was simply a slot routed with a bearing guided cutter and straight edge, widened a little for the 5-way switch.

https://i.imgur.com/P8HeO3E.jpg

Pickup cavities routed and cable channel drilled using a long 6mm drill bit by hand - it's just possible to see the hole at the bottom of the bridge pickup cavity. Rather than rout using a template, I used a forstner bit in a pillar drill as the cavity will be covered by the scratchplate.

https://i.imgur.com/63SNEDc.jpg

Same idea,  but scratchplate mounted switch for the strat body. Looks messy, but will all clear up with sandpaper.

https://i.imgur.com/dmOXAjs.jpg

One of the things it is quite useful to do is to make test cuts before doing so on the body - takes a little longer, but much less likely to make a mistake on the actual guitar. Here is a test on a random offcut from another project (sweet chestnut this time) to check for correct forstner bit for the jack socket channel.

https://i.imgur.com/pSloOF3.jpg

Right, that's a big enough post for now - more later   Again, comments/criticisms welcome......

Adam

Kalimna

Right then, time for a little carving - below is an array of rasps of varying grain and shape from Auriou or Liogier. I also used some flat and round microplanes - whichever particular tool seems to work best with the wood at any one time. Rasping wood is a therapeutic process, I find, with the eventual shape more of a direction than a destination. One of the nice things about the more expensive hand-cut rasps is that you can adjust, to some extent, the heavyness of the cut depending on how much pressure is applied. Although the horse chestnut is a relatively soft wood, I have found it to be a little 'fluffy' when rasping, which makes it slightly more difficult to achieve a smooth finish.

This is the for the belly-carve on the rear of the jaguar. I start off drawing an approximate curved line on the rear to aim for, and a corresponding straight line along the side for depth. After that it is a matter of hogging away until you're happy with the shape. Final contouring is completed with sandpaper, normally starting at P120, but P80 if particularly deep rasp marks need removing.

https://i.imgur.com/oBttHc7.jpg

Here is the rear of the strat body with initial curved line drawn on to give you an idea. I have begun carving a facet on the edge which can just be made out. You may also notice a very soft bark inclusion on the edge. I thought I had avoided this when glueing up the blanks and marking out, but apparently not. However, much soaking with thin cyanoacrylate is the answer, and I figured that most of it would be carved away anyway. It can just be made out underneath the finish, and I suspect over time this will become more evident. But there is little else I felt I could do with it at this stage.

https://i.imgur.com/YNQcf9H.jpg

A close up of the soft spot, with extension of the facet and clearer edge line to aim for.

https://i.imgur.com/CH7cRxd.jpg

The following two images show the completed bodies with front and back carves, sanded all over to P320 in advance of spraying. I spent a lot of time working through the grits, and going back when I found scratches I had missed. The area around the horns I found to be the hardest to achieve a good finish. My trusty Makita 1/4 sheet palm sander was used where possible, as was Mirka's Abranet abrasive. Due to the matt finish and my photography skills, it is hard to make out all the carving, but the two bodies feel rather lovely to the touch.

https://i.imgur.com/SFuSadz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bIACVYS.jpg

Now comes the spraying stage. Having never done this before, I approached Mr ManchesterGuitarTech, Steve, for both product and advice. His help has been invaluable, and the spray cans have produced a lovely finish with minimal orange peel.
My 'spraybooth' setup is my unheated/non-air-filtered garage workshop. I screwed a piece of ply to each neck pocket and hung the bodies from the garage door frame with makeshift hooks. I could easily take each body down, spray and rehang to dry.
The spray schedule for the black Strat was 3 coats of 3 passes of sealer, 3 coats of 3 passes black followed by 3 coats of 3 passes of clear coat. I didn't de-nib between coats and the nitro self-levelled very well. I did spray a little heavily once or twice and a couple of runs appeared. These were sanded out (to bare wood) and re-sprayed. As a 'backup' I had stained the body with black spirit stain (which I quite like the look of for a future build).

White sealer and clear over black stain

https://i.imgur.com/nKVWsGZ.jpg

Black nitro going on - beginning to look properly black now

https://i.imgur.com/PuXlazu.jpg

Silver baselayer for the candy apple red (applied as transparent red over the silver)

https://i.imgur.com/XXJ7FKR.jpg

Both guitars receiving clear coats

https://i.imgur.com/R2UMpvj.jpg

And finally both guitars hanging up in a cupboard in the house to cure prior to polishing.

https://i.imgur.com/soHtDBu.jpg

Next post will include fretting and polishing of the body

Thanks for reading again,
Adam

Kalimna

As promised, fretting the neck. I can't remember which type of wire I am using, but it came from StewMac. I made a fretwire bender similar to those from StewMac, but from birch plywood. It works, but isn't great. I am sure there are more efficient ways of completing this aspect, but I cut each length of fretwire and keep in a holder. Then insert all the frets, then trim the ends and finally bevel the ends. I will wait until the neck is attached before doing the fret job.
I find installing the frets not too irksome - tap one end in, tap the other, tap the centre and then tap all along the fret until the hammer taps sound 'solid' rather than 'hollow'. I then run a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate in to secure the frets. Perhaps I dont need to, but I find it reassuring.
I did encounter a slight problem with the slots in that I had forgotten to account for the fretboard radius when checking the slot depth. I had to re-saw all the slots to allow the frets to seat properly. Not a job I found straightforward in a radiused and carved neck that was tricky to clamp still. I was particularly concerned about widening the slot too much. Hopefully, however, I dont think it has been a problem.
On with the photo's. First up, the workbench. Note important items - brass/plastic fretting hammer, flush cutting fretwire snips, fretwires in holder, bright light, support block made of sanded cork block, mug of tea, McVities Digestives.

https://i.imgur.com/KMDPWa2.jpg

Halfway through the ebony neck (for the Strat). This photo gives a good indication of the level of sheen on  the ebony, several frets seated and one in the process of being hammered in - note the slightly tighter radius of the fretwire. In the background is my version of the fretwire bender.

https://i.imgur.com/3fiCjWY.jpg

Both necks fully fretted, frets trimmerd and headstock veneers glued on. Note the artwork provided by my boys under the pretense of making something for Nana for christmas. One is a pheasant, the other a Star Wars scene. Veneer still to be trimmed.

https://i.imgur.com/ZCmzPGq.jpg

And to bring this WIP up to where it currently stands, here are a few photo's of the strat body being flatted and polished. I had left the bodies curing for a little over a week in a cupboard, opening daily, and the nitro smell effectively gone. Kitchen table, stripey towel to rest upon, and wet-n-dry paper starting at P800 up to P2500 with Micro-Mesh pads for the edges amd tight horn curves. I used a dense foam pad as the sanding block, and water with a couple of drops dishwashing liquid.
This went a lot better than I was expecting. The initial flatting with P800 went quicker than I thought it would, however I think I proceeded through the grits a little too quickly as there are several fine scratches left after polishing with Rothko n Frost liquid compounds. All hand sanded/polished. 

So far, I have only attacked the black Strat body - I thought it would be better to start with a straightforward colour if mistakes were to be made, rather than the more complex metallic. I did have a small amount of sandthrough on the lower edge, and I think in future I will just avoid sanding the rounded edges completely. However, I just left it rather than re-spray and be setback another week.

Initial sanding. You can see the partially dull area and where I haven't sanded yet

https://i.imgur.com/6rwPult.jpg

Getting duller. I think I'm still on the P800, but might have jumped to P1200 here.

https://i.imgur.com/tCupiMx.jpg

After the various grits and mesh pads, looking shiny after the R&K compounds. I am not entirely happy with the result, but rather than risk more sand-through, I may just leave it and accept the learning points.

https://i.imgur.com/TofX07y.jpg

And the back

https://i.imgur.com/KJ2PeTP.jpg

Here is a YT link to the finished item. The dull area will be covered by the scratchplate, but you can see where there is still a little haze/scratchyness. 



This is where I am at, so once more, thanks for lasting this long through some rambling posts. As a parting shot, here is evidence of not paying enough attention to the closeness of fingers and cutting tools - I was in the middle of a glue-up or something else I couldnt put down, hence the drips.....

https://i.imgur.com/buB6B5n.jpg

Adam

sawyer

Amazing! Very impressed. Keep it coming:)

paulnb57

Nice work!

Kalimna

Rightyo, given that the two guitars are to be handed over monday morning, this will be the last WIP post before a couple of photo's with the guitars slung around two small childrens' necks.... Apologies again for the wordy post, but hopefully it will be of use/interest to other folk building.

The progress from sprayed and polished bodies to complete guitars has been slow, and frought with problems - only some of which have been resolved. I will probably post on a separate thread a 'what went well/what went badly' commentary, but for now here is a brief rundown on how things have played out so far.

First up, the gluing of the neck. The necks both sat a little loose in their respective pockets, you could slip a sheet of thickish paper between the neck side and pocket - not huge, but enough to allow the neck to wiggle a touch. I couldnt come up with a quick and easy workaround, so figured I would rely on the fairly large glue surface area on the base,  good joint on one side and not much of one on the other. I used a couple of small nails as locating pins to prevent wiggle under clamping. The waste was removed with a handsaw, and as the cut surfaces would be covered by pickup + scratchplate, I wasn't too bothered about the finish. You may also notice a discolouration on the side. I finished the neck in PolyX oil but wanted to leave bare wood for the Titebond.

https://i.imgur.com/oPQw51C.jpg

Necks all clamped up with cauls spreading the pressure. I used cork blocks underneath to protect the nitro finish. 12 hrs overnight and the clamps came off. Another 12 hours or so to let the glue cure and I worked some more on the bodies.

https://i.imgur.com/NaTostH.jpg

Laying out the bridge position. As the centreline had been obliterated with the nitrocellulose, a little de-tacked masking tape and a light pencil touch drew in a new one. As you can see here, I had originaly intended to route all wiring through drilled channels between various pockets. Eventually I realised the ridiculous layer of complexity this would add to the soldering process, and took a bloody-big-drill (AKA forstner bit) to the body. A terrifying thing to do to a nearly-finished guitar, on a pillar drill.

https://i.imgur.com/9LljamZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CPaGiS3.jpg

Checking out the bridge grounding wire. Unlike the bridge-post-stud approach in my previous build, this bridge is simply screwed into the body, with no obvious place to attach the ground wire. So a vertical hole was drilled to meet up with a horizontal hole (long drill bit through neck pocket prior to neck attachment) and a multi-strand wire passed. The end of the wire was fanned out underneath the bridge and held in place with the pressure from the bridge screws. 
As an aside, I finessed the base of the bridge plate on some flat abrasive to improve the contact area between it and the body.

https://i.imgur.com/d5tlI2h.jpg

Now on to my absolute least favourite part of the build - flattening/recrowning the frets. This has proved a particular problem as the truss-rod seems to be unexpectedly hard to adjust. Very tight when turning the adjustment nut. I suspect a little glue creeping onto the screw-threads might be part of the problem, as is a too-tightly-clamped-fillet-on-top-of-the-rod during insertion. Either way, neck trued-up, fingerboard protected with blue tape, frets Sharpied, levelled with thick glass-and-wet'n'dry, recrowned and check with the 4-sided fret-rocker. Ah yes, the old chase-the-high-spots-all-over-the-fricking-board game. Finally polished up to Autosol. 
The workboard is a MacGyvered thing with unused carpet underneath the body, and adjustable neck supports. Stretchy cord to keep the guitar in place. Relatively self-explanatory.

https://i.imgur.com/0iJIu20.jpg

next post.... The Scratchplate.....

Thanks for reading

Kalimna

Last post before the finished article. Phew! Again, please comment/criticise as appropriate. Queries/critique welcomed in fact.

So, one of the major problems I faced was making the scratchplate. Unfortunately, I hadnt the foresight to work from a template for either the pickup cavity routing, so a lot of back-and-forward with makeshift reverse-engineered templates ensued. In the end I had to forstner-bit a lot of the pickup cavities to let the pickups fit both the scratchplate holes and the body holes. Overall, I am quite pleased with the end result, though the pickup-hole edges and edges around the bridge could do with neatening up. Also, I am not entirely happy with the curve behind and underneath the bridge on the red guitar. I may revisit with a new scratchplate, as the cavity underneath precludes any real change with what I have done so far.

To start with, unusually, here are the finished items. They still have the masking tape over the protective film and pencil marks from layout, but are essentially complete.

https://i.imgur.com/1FO2vfn.jpg

Here we have a pickup-hole template I made from birch ply. You can just see the end of two drill bits poking through, which were used to accurately locate the template. Process (once template made - itself an hour or two's work) was to use the template to mark the position of the height adjusment screw holes either side of the pickup onto the scratchplate material. I used a brad-point drill bit for this. Then, remove template and drill holes. Using the two drill bits as shown, I replaced the template, to be secured with a little double-sided tape. Then remove the drill bits, hog away most of scratchplate material with forstner bit, then tidy up the edges with straight mini-router bit in a Dremel, using the shank as a guide to run against the template. Again, much easier to do than to explain.

https://i.imgur.com/rJ77697.jpg

Dremel in position. Doing this, I discovered that scratchplate material utterly reeks when being cut or abraded.

https://i.imgur.com/dkHfunN.jpg

Once the holes were completed, it was onto the bridge and neck cutout. The neck was especially awkward due to the thin strip between neck pickup and fretboard end. Ingenious use of extra bits of wood in the bench clamp supported these thin sections.
The shaping/edge smoothing was completed with a variety of rasps and worked-through-the-grits abrasive.

https://i.imgur.com/RBUSGeq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2FJHRNB.jpg

Onto the wiring.

https://i.imgur.com/x89CLPG.jpg

With the scratchplates shaped, I installed the pickup switch, pickups and control pots. You will notice a complete lack of copper shielding. I pondered this for some time, and came to the conclusion it wouldnt be necessary for these particular guitars, plus I didn't really have the time to do it properly. I can always revisit later.
To save a little space, I used 4-conductor wiring to take the 'hot' leads from the 3 pickups to the selector switch, using the 4th conductor to return the 'selected' signal to the control pots. Having previously had problems soldering all the ground connections to the pot casings, this time I elected to solder a bare ground wire between the two pots, and then solder the grounds to this wire. Much easier. Not the neatest wiring or soldering you will ever see, but it seems to work.
You may also notice a tropical fish capacitor (47nF, value as recommended by ICBM). This was not a mojo-old-skool-tone choice, rather I had been given some of these capacitors and figured I would use them here for no reason beyond I like the colour!
Pickups courtesy of Oil City.

https://i.imgur.com/pd3t4pn.jpg

Finally, an in-action shot of Sebastian and daddies' '89 Custom. Plus wifey in the background, blurred Isaac and new 633 in the corner.......

https://i.imgur.com/cTIHjm2.jpg

Once more, thanks for looking, and I look forward to any comments,

Adam.

p.s. Happy Christmas!

Plukky

Congratulations on finishing on time!
i like the message on the inside of the scratch plate. 

Kalimna

Cheers - it was a close one

paulnb57

Lovely gifts for the Imps, well done, they look fab!

Teyeplayer

Seriously cool thing to do. Those are the gifts your kids will treasure and reminisce about in 20 years time.

Merry Christmas, I hope your hard work has gone down well!

Andyjr1515

Great thread and, from the sound of it, great result

Any finished pics now there's no chance of the Christmas surprise being spoilt?

Kalimna

Thanks for the comments Now that the WIP has finished, I'll start a new thread with some new photo's.
Cheers,
Adam