MIMF

The only down side to a bolt-on I can think of is the weight of hardware on a lightly built instrument. It seems to make a difference in the sound of Classicals, but on a steel string not so much. If you're using furniture bolts with cross dowel nuts be sure to put the nuts in the heel vertically w...

Barry Daniels wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 12:36 pm Nice. Feel free to ask questions if you get hung up on something.

Thanks.

Right now I'm trying to decide between a tapered dovetail and a bolted mortice & tenon to join the neck to the head block. I'm sure both methods have their pros and cons.

This is my first guitar, but not my first stringed instrument having built a cello a few years back. Not sure how much of what I learned from that will apply to building a guitar, but i guess I'll find out. I picked up a back and side set about six years ago because it was too cool to pass up and am...

Today was mould day. I used three layers of 3/4" plywood with over center latches and dowel pins for alignment. Turnbuckles were used on the clamping blocks. Now it's time to break out the bending iron and bend up some sides.

Darrel Friesen wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 6:01 pm Good stuff Tom. Beautiful wood. Eager to see progress posts.

Thanks. I put a few hours in on it today and made the radial rosette out of left over wood from the back. It's held together now with CA glue, but will be glued into the soundboard with Titebond.

Well, it's been six years but I finally found the time to start this build. I got the top and bottom cut out and am busy building the mould. I plan to use a bending iron that I made for a cello that I built to bend the sides. This Brazillian hickory is a lot more dense than the maple sides on a cell...

Very nice! Especially the look of the satin oil finish. I've used Tru-Oil on gunstocks before and the nice thing about it is it can be re-applied as needed, so you don't need to worry about wear.

Tom

I've been spending a lot of time North lately, but I did find time to cook the varnish. The object of varnishing a cello or any similar stringed instrument, is to seal the wood so the finish doesn't soak in, stain it to get a consistent color and apply multiple very thin coats of colored and clear v...

Thanks Steve, I'm North for a couple weeks, so the cello is on hold, but I did find time to cook the varnish before I left. It turned out well, but was a pretty scary process working with melted pitch and 600° oil. Do you have pics of your bass project? I've seen some pretty impressive relief carvin...

Thanks guys, it's been a fun project.

I learned a lot of new skills from it and have a new pile a wood for an acoustic guitar that I'm ready to apply them to.

Tom

I've been delinquent in keeping up with my progress, so it's catch up time. The carving on the scroll is complete and it just needs to be finish scraped. The entire instrument will require that, so when all of the construction is done, I'll scrape everything just before varnish to keep it clean. The...

The cello is getting close to making sound and if I wasn't heading North for the week that would happen in a day or two. All that is left is to shape the fingerboard and fit the bridge. Of course there is still varnish to cook, but that will be more of a chemistry experiment than an instrument build...

It was a little scary purchasing it from Brazil through Facebook, but the wood finally arrived. Turns out they have a representative in Miami and that was where it was located. He was a little put out that the people in Brazil actually sold it to me because he was the only one on site and doesn't no...

The mortise is cut to attach the neck, but I decided to wait until all the carving was finished. I've seen it done both ways, but it seems like it would be a lot easier to do with the neck unattached. Most of the carved features are at least roughed in, but I still need to carve the backside of the ...

Barry Daniels wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 4:04 pm Tom, you can edit your post by clicking on the pencil icon at the top.

The edit function is apparently short lived, because the pencil icon no longer appears. It's even gone on the post I created today.

Tom

Looks like I'm not allowed to edit my own post, so I'm reposting it to correct some errors with the pics. I'm also adding a pic of the bass bar installation. I reached a milestone in the project and got the body closed up. It was a shame to cover up the work that went on inside, but it's good to see...

I'm in the middle of building a new shop and have done all the research on the different lighting options available. My current shop has T8 fluorescents set up to provide about 150 lumens per square foot at 4200K, which is a decent color and amount of light for benchwork, machining, woodworking, etc...

I reached a milestone in the project and got the body closed up. It was a shame to cover up the work that went on inside, but it's good to see the hard part done. The thing emits a nice clear tone when tapped on the back, so it seems to be working as it should. I also got started on the neck by sawi...

JC Whitney wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 3:19 pm That back set you posted was out of this world. Happy building (and don't forget to post your results).

Thanks. I'm currently up to my elbows with a cello project and once that is finished, my son wants me to build him an electric guitar. My acoustic is next in line.

Tom

Thank you for the Facebook tip, i did reach an actual human and was able to order the wood. They sound like very nice people, more into building guitars than maintaining websites. They are currently offering Brazilian Rosewood backs and sides, which was tempting, but I stuck with the hickory.

Tom