Andyjr1515 Q1 '20 Challenge. A real one ;)

Andyjr1515

PeteC said:

looking fabulous,  and a real players instrument 

Thanks!  I hope so

Andyjr1515

1/64" plywood - one of the marvels of the 20th/21st century world.  I have no idea how they make it and when it was first developed (I suspect a long, long time ago - early 20th century?) but I've used this for decades.  And now it finds good use in guitar and bass building: 

 

Ideal to provide stability to my brittle wenge: 

 

 

The headstock board is also cut ready to glue to the headstock, although I might add a couple of swifts before I prepare the headstock and glue it.

 

 

Tom's special cutout will be filed once it's glued and once I have hold of the tuners he's ordered to position them properly.  Once done, it should look pretty similar to the Mk 1 version below:

TTony

Andyjr1515 said:

Sorry Andy, I've really not been concentrating much on the M&M section for a few days (can't think why!) so missed a lot of your updates.

Looking like another quality build, and a refreshingly interesting design too, to add to your portfolio.  Why is it that bassists are so more open to interesting designs than guitarists??

Re the pickup rings - I was thinking about 3D printing some.  Although they'd obviously not look like wood (though they wouldn't *have* to look like black plastic either!), it would allow more interesting shapes/designs and the material should be strong enough to allow reasonably thin pieces too.  Might be something I look into further if I'm going to have time on my hands!

Andyjr1515

Never a problem @TTony   Always appreciate you dropping in, however frequently or infrequently

Yes - I'm pretty sure that I've seen someone 3D printing pickup rings on one of the other forums.  Ideal thing, to be honest because you need a decent amount of precision, stiffness, strength and thinness.

Andyjr1515

A quintet of swifts cut out of my last bit of MoP… 

 

 

Two for the 12th fret:

 

Glued in with epoxy mixed with fretboard sanding dust:

 

 

And three for the headstock:

Andyjr1515

And cleaned up, here's how it's looking.  Really starting to look like a bass:

 

 

The pickup rings will end up the same shade as the headstock.  I might use the magical Osmo Polyx Raw so that they both stay the shade the unfinished rings look above rather than the darker effect that a standard finish gives on the headstock.  Both should then retain that slight reddish tinge of the fretboard rather than the slightly blacker look of standard finished wenge.

So next jobs are going to be sanding and finishing.  I can also do the fretwork, fit the Dunlop inset straplock fittings and other similar small jobs but then it's a bit of a waiting game until Tom's US order from Hipshot comes through for the bridge blocks and the tuners.

TTony

It feels like that didn't take long at all ...

Andyjr1515

One of the smaller jobs is to secure the jack housing.

I'm using these teeny 2.5mm inserts and machine screws.  The inserts are fine threaded but the recess should be taking the bulk of the strain.  If there is any issue when I try it out with a jack it is no problem to fit larger screws and wider-threaded inserts.

For added security, they are screwed into a cyano-gelled hole:

And fitted:

Andyjr1515

What I like about these kind of projects is that there is a 'how to best do this' moment around every corner.

I'm now onto tidying up the small reshape around the end of the neck pocket and taking off the original finish ready to refinish after I've done the various plug fills, etc.

And here's the thing.  One of the absolute charms of the body is that it is NOT even.  So, interestingly, the approach has to be "DON'T use a sanding block"

So yes - any transit scratches or maker errors (that they themselves, if they had spotted them, would have sorted) can come off, but anything that is a result of the carving method itself should ideally be left in place  

You can see an example here on the top horn:

 

Those dints - which normally would be sanded smooth - should ideally be left there.  So I will sand the old varnish away in the dips with fine sandpaper over my finger, but not use a block which would flatten the dips.

The two exceptions are the area where the bridge elements will be going and the bottom of the neck pocket at the back... 

...which needs to be flat for a full seating of the neck plate.  But those dips and digs you can see towards the tailstock, will be cleaned up but left as dips and digs.

This afternoon, I will cut a plug to close the hole drilled to get the cable runs sorted.  Originally, I was going to use a fretboard dot, but I had to widen the hole a touch to allow the two 4-core pickup cables to run through from the rear pickup chamber to the jack chamber.  Besides, I think a colour-compatible wood plug would look better

Andyjr1515

I've spent quite a bit of time getting the neck pocket right.  Quite tricky as the wood is of uneven thickness either side of the pocket and is wavy!  As such, getting a router to produce a nice flat surface at the right angle was a bit of a challenge!

In the end, I finished it all off by the time honoured method of using school chalk to identify the high spots as mechanics do on metal joints with Engineers Blue.

The added challenge is the brittleness of the wood - if the chisels aren't razor sharp, any cut will ding off a chip, particularly on the edges.  The result of this was a couple of chips at the edges of the fretboard end where it partially sinks into the top.  With things like this, it is a case of either hide it or flaunt it!  

So I opted to flaunt it.  I tried a number of options with some black grained veneer cut out with scissors from straight infill:

 

To an angled infill, with the grain matching that of the headstock (it will be wenge and so will match both the headstock and the pickup rings). 

 

To an angled infill, with the grain direction matching the pickup rings: 

 

Difficult to see on these shots, but in real life this last one looked the best.  

So sharpened the chisels again, honed them, tested them with the 'remove the hair off the back of your arm' test and cut the shallow chamber for the 2mm wenge to fit into.  Cut some matching wenge and glued it in:

 

 

So the body is now ready to start finishing.  And while I'm doing that, I'll do the final tweaks on the neck profile and sort the trussrod cover (a smallish one in matching wenge) and then it's just a case of waiting for the hardware from Tom's supplier

And then to the next project - which I'm really looking forward to

MattNovak

Enviable skills on display here! I may have missed what finish you are going for, I assume some flavour of natural?

also... next project teaser?

Andyjr1515

MattNovak said:

Enviable skills on display here! I may have missed what finish you are going for, I assume some flavour of natural?

also... next project teaser?

I will be trying to pretty much match the look of the original finish:


I will probably use one of the Osmo products although haven't fully decided which one.  Maybe the thinner 1101 (from memory) one.

Teaser?  Well, it is going have 6 strings, it involves the letters G and S, although not necessarily in that order, and some lovely, lovely bookmatched Yew 

LastMantra

That's a proper work of art. 

Andyjr1515

Thanks, folks

TTony

Andyjr1515 said:

And then to the next project - which I'm really looking forward to

So am I!

Andyjr1515

My normal warning -  I will always describe what I do but for you never to assume this is how it's supposed to be done  

The refinishing of the body has started.  I will be doing a variation of @WezV 's excellent Tru-oil slurry and buff method, but using the thinner version of the Osmo ranges, their 1101, instead of Tru-oil.

Other than their full gloss - which personally I don't like - many of the Osmo products are a guitar/bass builder's godsend.  Low odour, wipeable, great finish.  There are apparently some issues with thicker coats (it's a hardwax so can sometimes remain dintable with your thumbnail) but applied thinly, I personally find it an excellent finish.

 

So, other than some kitchen roll to wipe-down, this is my finishing kit:

 

For the initial coats, I put a generous amount of the Osmo on with a brush as the wet and use (proper woodworkers cover your eyes), yes, 120 grit emery cloth in a wet 'n dry sanding approach.  For a softer wood I would probably use 240 grit, but this particular wood is very hard.  

The slurry of finish mixed with wood dust effectively fills any pores and small voids (but remember that I am not trying here to end up with a flat, flawless finish).  I finish by sanding the slurry along the grain to remove any swirl marks.

And then I wipe it all off, again (in this case) wiping along the grain.  If I was looking for a smoother finish, I would wipe off across the grain to leave the maximum amount of slurry filling the grain lines.

After the first coat, it looks like this: 

 

I will leave this a full day before the second coat.  This first one will have soaked into the surface and pores of the wood and I want it to have chance to fully dry before I add another coat.

Tomorrow, I will repeat the process, but slurrying with a finer grade (probably around 240 but maybe as far as 400 - I'll see how the wood responds) and again wiping off the excess but leaving it to soak in.

Friday, I will decide whether to slurry and buff, or just apply a couple of very thin coats with the fan-brush.

And for the enquiring minds amongst you, why is handle of the fan brush (Hobby Craft Artists section) cut short?  Because I've decanted a cm or so of Osmo into a jam jar to use and can pop the brush in there after each coat and close the lid so it doesn't need to be cleaned or dried before its next use (because trust me, that's where many of the dust buggies come from). 

While this is drying, it seems to be an ideal time to do the final sanding of the neck! 

Andyjr1515

Probably got as far as I can go at this stage.  Other than applying the finish to the neck maple (which will darken and amber it a touch) and fitting the trussrod cover, this is now pretty much just waiting for the hardware.

The neck has been tidied up: 

 

 

And the Osmo has come up nicely.  Just one more slurry and wipe with 400 grit and then two more very thin applications wiped on with kitchen roll has given just the level of sheen I was after: 

   

The pickup rings will be properly lined up when the final install is ready to be done but this sort of gives the vibe:

 

 

It's not over until, etc, etc, but I'm really pleased with how this has turned out so far  

MattNovak

Looks great Andy; the fanned frets combined with the geometric shapes on the pillow are making my eyes go funny  

Andyjr1515

MattNovak said:

the fanned frets combined with the geometric shapes on the pillow are making my eyes go funny  

Yup - you know what they say, "If all else fails - DAZZLE them.  Then run like hell while they are still blinking!"