New Build Day.. London Plane DC

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RabsRabs Frets: 2602
in Making & Modding tFB Trader
Well its finally here..  Been a few years now since I did any building for many reasons..... But yesterday I went to the workshop and got the first bits done. I used to work in this place at a wood shop but this is my first time back, this time doing my own thing.

I do have a couple of other builds I started a year ago, then covid struck and I stopped again.. But ever since I first saw London Plane I have been dying to make a guitar from it.

This will be ALL London Plane too..

So I start with the body piece.
https://i.imgur.com/shgApVX.jpg

Cut it in half and straighten the edges and then thinckness from 55 to 40mm. Using a proper bandsaw is such a pleasure.
https://i.imgur.com/lnMj1wS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Dr8g5rP.jpg

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

And then glue
https://i.imgur.com/PhIMecy.jpg

While that was drying.. Time to bookmatch one amazing looking bit of wood...
https://i.imgur.com/hGdyq3A.jpg

First, square it all off
https://i.imgur.com/VQdyd2b.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/bGY5gVR.jpg

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

Then the fun part..  You must make sure that the ends are flat and square or this will go wonky. Draw a line down the middle and make a first cut which I pull back and then check is straight.. Then go for it.. You must not push to quick when doing this or again it WILL go wonky.
https://i.imgur.com/RMwEtsr.jpg

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

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

And.. Success  Boomatched spalted symmetrical goodness  :)
https://i.imgur.com/OSwn26K.jpg

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


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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    Then the neck...

    https://i.imgur.com/48VWP9s.jpg

    I draw my lines on it and over to the bandsaw.
    https://i.imgur.com/cPTo8uu.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/TcZWC6y.jpg

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

    https://i.imgur.com/KN7N1YK.jpg

    And then as I was only there for a few hours I just roughly cut the body
    https://i.imgur.com/YARuZkI.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/V8euM3A.jpg

    And thats all for today.. Have another session booked on Friday. So will report back then  :) 

    https://i.imgur.com/aJRgffY.jpg
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Yes! Yes! Yes! As Sally Albright would say. Following with interest
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • GrangousierGrangousier Frets: 2620
    That's lovely! Also following. I decided after a particularly horrible hayfever season this year that one day I'll have a guitar made out of Plane wood, just as an act of revenge, and it's nice that it turns out to be such a pretty wood, too. 
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    edited June 2021 tFB Trader
    That's lovely! Also following. I decided after a particularly horrible hayfever season this year that one day I'll have a guitar made out of Plane wood, just as an act of revenge, and it's nice that it turns out to be such a pretty wood, too. 
    Cheers and indeed..  And actually the story of this wood is somewhat controversial..

    The wood shop I used to work in specialises in English hardwoods. Apparently 5000 trees a year are taken down just in London alone.. And the councils, being councils had no idea what to do with them so they used to all get chipped and burned... Which is really sad since something like 90% of the wood available to buy over here is imported.. So he now gets the trees off the council and mills and seasons them and sells them to various types of makers..

    This wood specifically is from the trees that used to be outside Euston Station (yes I know HS2 boooooo). But again, if he had not taken them all of this amazing looking wood, would have been chipped... So as sad as HS2 is and what they are doing, at least the wood can be used for something else now.

    And out of interest. When you see the lacewood on the top that means its quarter sawn...  
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
    I wow'd your post, not for the beautiful wood, but for this ...



    Wow - that's some impressive cutting!!
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    TTony said:
    I wow'd your post, not for the beautiful wood, but for this ...



    Wow - that's some impressive cutting!!
    Cheers :)  I was told by several people there who really know their stuff, not to use the fence when doing this so thats how I always did it.  I did have a few go wrong in my time there  but its not really different to anything else.. Just need to do it a few times and have a good eye I guess for lining it up..

    HOWEVER I do have to say.. When you do this, how ever good you are its never going to be quite flat. So after you have to stick it through the thicknesser to flatten it again (if nothing else but to get rid of the saw marks). The problem with this is if you have to take too much off you will loose the bookmatching effect as most of it goes diagonally through the wood. In this case I did do it so well that I only needed to take 1mm of the tops to flatten them again. :)   If you look carefully at the picture of the bookmatched top, there are two. One is before I re-flattened and one after. You can see it lost a little of the bookmatching. Still amazing though.
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    Very quick update.. Just did the truss rod channel today so that tomorrow I can concentrate on getting the fretboard done.

    I surprised myself just how quickly I can do this now. A very simple method.. Clamp it in the workbench. Get a straight bit of wood I have and line it up. The router has a flat edge at the back of the base so will run along it. Then I just make sure its in line, clamp the wood, set the depth stop at 9mm and go for it.

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

    https://i.imgur.com/soWxHPe.jpg
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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    Great to see you back at it @Rabs and such a great looking bit o Wud 
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    DrBob said:
    Great to see you back at it @Rabs and such a great looking bit o Wud 
    Cheers.. Yes its great to be back at it again.. Been too long and now working in a proper workshop makes so much difference. And yes, London Plane is a beautiful wood.... Its got a nice hardness too.. Not too dense but no way soft..  I will be chambering it out to keep the weight down.
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  • earwighoneyearwighoney Frets: 3489
    Good to have you back Rabs.

    I've seen a few acoustic guitar makers use London Plane, I think Faith used it for a few high end models, but for whatever reason it and maple often seem to be the ugly ducklings in the acoustic guitar side of things.
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  • CorvusCorvus Frets: 2924
    tFB Trader
    Very nice Rabs, lovely bits of wood there too.
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    Thank you both. Its great to be back at it. Even though its kind of a part time thing at the moment.. Kind of building myself back up a bit... But its also nice when I am making these that these are just builds I want to make and theres no rush... Today was one of those bits and bob type days.. Only got a few bits done. Its one of the things about working in a shared workshop, you have to make sure you dont get distracted talking to people all day, kind of happened today but again I was only there for 3.5 hours...So yeah, not such an interesting update today. 

    I also realised last night I dont have a bridge yet for this build and decided to go all out and am getting a schaller 3D 6 bridge that looks like this if you dont know
    Schaller 3D-6 Guitar Bridge Roller Saddles
    I was just a bit bored of TOMs, wraparounds and the standard hardtail (like a non trem strat or tele)... They arent cheap but I wanted this build to be special.... Got some Gotoh tuners on the way too. Used to use Schaller tuners but the last few years the quality of them has seemed to have slipped and they have got more expensive too (probably due to brexit)... Gotoh are kind of what Schaller were a few years ago.

    Started with the two ebony boards. Got them to the right size (43-56mm).. 
    https://i.imgur.com/7BfeecY.jpg

    Marked them all up, so they are ready for their inlays.
    https://i.imgur.com/purbKvY.jpg

    Also prepared and glued some wings on the headstock to make it wide enough.
    https://i.imgur.com/4EMDnS5.jpg

    You can also see here next to the clamped neck a mahogany neck which I cut to shape. I do actually have three builds going on.. The others I will report on some other time
    https://i.imgur.com/eP6FGha.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/gl9X0Qj.jpg

    Then I also had the mahogany body with me which I needed to get down to 40mm (from 45) as it is going to have a flamed maple cap. Man the tear out on this one.. 
    https://i.imgur.com/njMIKip.jpg

    Cleaned that up
    https://i.imgur.com/DUiCXm4.jpg

    And then lastly I started working on how to do these odd oval shaped inlays I have (not sure which build will get them yet).. I didnt have all my bits on me and the ones at the workshop are a bit rubbish so I will do those maybe Monday at home.. Tried to do it freehand with my dremel tool but it didnt really work that well.
    https://i.imgur.com/F1ph1ni.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/wazV01V.jpg

    And that was it really for today. As said, just one of those nothingy days where you only get bits done. But it happens.. Also I kind of need the bridge for the next stages anyway which should arrive Tuesday. So hopefully one day on the weekend I will glue a fretboard and then get back to it next week when the hardware arrives.

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  • normula1normula1 Frets: 639
    edited June 2021
    I realise they were just markups, but the crosses at the twelfth fret would look great as inlays
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    By the way... What do you guys reckon on this?

    As has been mentioned (and seen in some pics above) I am also doing what will be an all black walnut DC... I did these mock ups ages ago and cant decide if I want to use an Ebony or Rosewood board.. It will be getting black hardware too (but a wrap around bridge)..

    Which do you think looks better?

    https://i.imgur.com/tCy6LAQ.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/p5RAqme.jpg
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6914
    tFB Trader
    Ebony for me
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Black for colour. 
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
    Black Walnut varies so much, I think it’s hard to say until you see the actual piece of wood, and decide on how it’ll be finished.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • RabsRabs Frets: 2602
    tFB Trader
    TTony said:
    Black Walnut varies so much, I think it’s hard to say until you see the actual piece of wood, and decide on how it’ll be finished.
    Its the one you can see in this picture.. It will be fairly dark
    https://i.imgur.com/4EMDnS5.jpg

    This is a finished example from the same batch
    https://i.imgur.com/EvIXDgz.jpg
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  • normula1normula1 Frets: 639
    Ebony for me
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
    I’d say Ebony then.  Better to have a clear contrast than a near-miss clash of colours.

    :)

    Love the Walnut!
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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