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Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
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Then cut the shape out of the offcut slice I cut a while back a mm or less oversize. And then just use a sanding block to gradually make my way round the recess until I get a clear but close fit:
As long as I can keep this flat - which means applying the finish to both sides each time - then this should hold well with magnets, and ditto the trussrod cover.
Fret ends rounded; headstock plate started being varnished.
I'm quite close to having few enough jobs left to be able to fit the list onto a piece of A4
Genius/glaringly obvious idea on getting the template!
I've got a back plate to redo after some iff routing, this idea has just solved it
Oh yeah, still looking great btw
I bought it way back in the day, read it, and most of it made little sense to my inexperienced (in all things woodworky) brain.
Maybe if I re-read it now, I'll understand a bit more!
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Presumably cut the hatch first, then make an outline on a routing template?
Trouble is, I have the major aversion to routing templates (it's an Andyjr1515 thing...) so I just find it easier to do it this way round. I suspect most builders regard my method as pretty bonkers
I decided, once the varnish had fully shrunk after a week's curing, that it did need flattening and then a couple of final coats applying. I won't repeat the detail, but this photo below is during the flattening with 1500 wet 'n dry used wet with a sanding block. While I'm happy with ridges that are following the grain lines, I'm trying to get rid of the ridges that are from accumulated brush strokes and other lumps, bumps and dust buggies but taking care not to get back down to the timber:
I then give one or two thin gloss coats - here I generally thin the varnish around 5% to ensure that it flows and flattens.
This process often takes a few goes. This is the first go - close but no cigar:
While it's a lot flatter than before and the lumps, bumps and dust buggies are sorted, the surface finish is a bit bobbly. So it is just a case of letting it cure a day, then repeating with a very light flattening (usually 2000-2500 grit) and another go...and this whole process as often as needed. Here, patience is your friend - you are only affecting that final couple of coats, so at least one time it's going to be OK
This is better - much flatter than before and decent surface quality that will gloss up nicely with a light polishing in a week or so when it's fully hardened:
But it's already hard enough to be worked on, so I can now carry on and finish the build
Today's job is going to be fitting the magnets to the control chamber hatch that has also been varnished:
And then it's the other dozen or so finishing jobs, final polish and done Probably by the end of the coming weekend.
Must chase up Matt and see how he's getting on with pickups for it
Didn't get round to the hatch magnets yesterday. Instead, I went for something much more scary! Fitting the stoptail.
Now this really is a measure 15 times, drill once. This - and the ToM bridge is even worse - has to be right.
I used my little drill press to drill the 11mm holes and then also used the drill press chuck to press them in:
I still have to drill the earth wire hole and fit the wire, so will be removing the lower bout insert soon (Tip about removing inserts/bushes, assuming they are open ended - get a bolt of the correct size, screw it in until it bottoms on the body wood at the bottom of the hole, use a spanner to carry on screwing and it will lift the insert gently out).
In terms of finding the insert hole from the control chamber with my earth-wire drill bit, I have a cunning plan. Just got to remember what that might have been
But, challenges aside, it's starting to look like a guitar:
Now that I have the stoptail and tuners in place, I can pop a spare 6th and 1st string on and position the bridge to make sure that it is lined up with the fretboard. Then the last really scary bit after checking the measurements, oh, probably 35 times? - drilling for the bridge inserts
Measure, then drill.
I can see how that'd be a good idea.
The yew really looks stunning. Somehow, putting the tailpiece on it makes it look like a guitar more than the shape, neck, and pickup cavities do.
For the latter, I wind the top E string saddle fully forward and place that at the scale length and then wind the bottom E fully back and ensure that there are a couple of mm adjustment possible behind the 'normal' offset of around 5mm. This way, if I have a cumulative build error of up to 1mm somewhere, it's still going to fully intonate.
And then same process - drill on the drill-press, press the inserts in and pop the bridge on the pegs to make sure it all fits as it should:
And finally, another mockup
Bit of decorating tomorrow, but might be able to either make a start on the fret levelling or maybe sort the control positions
That's another one ticked off the list. Just 11 things still to go
And another shout here for Chris Alsop Guitars - after levelling with my 1m aluminium beam, I used one of his whole raft of really usable and practical tools - this fret recrowning file:
It is a good radiused diamond file housed in such a usable handle! Easiest re-crown to date.
I did the normal marking the flats on the frets with a sharpie and then used Chris's file first on its own, then with 320 grit sandpaper wrapped over the file, then with 800 grit sandpaper,
and finally with 3200; 6000 & 12000 microweb cloth, again using the file as a radiused sanding block:
Then used a single-edged razor as a scraper to tidy up the fretboard.
It's come up nice:
While I can't do anything about the body shape, I do have the advantage of going for an edge mounted jack.
I'm sure there are lots of other ways of laying them out, but after lots of mockups, sticking the knobs and tip on with blu-tack, this one below passed my 'air guitar test' of ensuring I would never accidentally hit the switch while flailing my arms Pete Townsend style, but could still reach both or individual volumes quickly without hitting either the tones or the switch.
I tried with the switch position a little further forward but came to the conclusion that it is safer from accidental adjustment here. So it's still tight, but I think is going to work OK live:
Inside, I wanted to leave most of the chamber bottom thicker than the pot spindles to maximise the stability in that knotty area, so I just Forstner-cut some recesses for the pots and switch to allow good thread access the other side:
Once I've cut the jack hole, I'll tidy up the inside shape to make it look more like it was supposed to look like that