Week 1 - Day 3 . . .

Today felt like it was going to be a good day as we drove towards our little commune of Montsalvat – most the after effects of my headache (probably a migraine) had dissipated and I was looking forward to a productive time in the workshop.  How wrong could I have been . . . this turned out to be a day from luthier hell!

On With the Job . . .

My first job of the day was to glue my back strips into place. These had been completed as yesterday’s last job.  Unfortunately I was not happy with their fit so I decided to make them all again – which I am very pleased it did as all the visible joins are perfect.  Fil reminded me of the technique of cutting each at a slight angle and just a little oversized so they slot nicely against the braces.  They were then glued into place and it was job done!

Back strip clamped into place

Back to the Sides . . .

This is where the story of today starts to get interesting!  I removed my sides from the CA mould to have a look at the job.  You may recall that I suspected that I had a bad crack in the wood at the tight curve of one of the sides – and this was confirmed in the cold light of day.  

The proposed solution was to use some Titebond waterproof glue (as the side needs to be wetted for further bending) and to clamp up the affected area for consideration once the glue was dry  . . . about an hour according to the instructions. 

Special Titebond for a special crack

Kerfing . . .

My next task was to cut out some kerfing blanks from some Queensland Maple for Fil and me.  It was quite a simple task of cutting some 150mm by 60mm strips on the band saw – and then sanding them down to 50mm on the sander.  We both then made our own kerfing from these strips by using a simple jig that Chris had made . . . what a brilliant idea!

Demonstrating the kerfing manufacture

How easy is that?

A quick bit of shaping

Profiling is important

The kerfing jig

That looks pretty easy

Back to the Sides (again) . . .

So I removed the slightly suspect sides from the clamps to have a good look at the damaged area.  At first glance it seemed OK and I started sanding it all back (in the direction of the grain).  After a little while I noticed that the split had opened up again – which was terminal for this piece of wood for me.  Chris may be able to make it into a wedge cutaway guitar . . . but that is another subject.

On to the New Sides . . .

All of this meant another trip to the woodshed to find another set of sides that would match my now completed back.  As previously mentioned, it is a bit of a treasure trove in the shed and eventually I selected another set of fiddle back Blackwood.  Actually, both Fil and I thought they were better than the original ones, so perhaps this was a moment of serendipity?

Pleased to be moving forward again, I headed back to my favourite thicknessing machine and spent about two hours bringing them down from about 6mm to 2mm.  Unless you have done this mindless task you have no idea how tedious and tiring it is . . . both pieces through, wind the tolerance down a tad, both pieces through.  Perhaps I had predicted such an event as I was able to listen to ABC Classic FM on my little Walkman while I while I converted some more Blackwood into atmospheric dust.

My friend the wood shed table

Getting excited about some fiddleback again

Just maybe they are better than the ones that broke?

Ready for cutting out

Ready to Bend Again . . .

Clearly Chris was becoming concerned about my (lack of) progress and perhaps my mental state of having to do all that thicknessing again – he had the ‘quick’ bending machine set up on the desk ready for immediate action.  

Everything seemed to go very well – thoroughly soaked one side with the hose outside and we immediately started the bending process.  The lesser curve went well without any obvious cracking sounds.  However, when we were manipulating the sharper curve there was the distinctive sound of splitting wood.  Chris and I looked at each other and decided to let it sit and cool before making an examination. 

Very wet and ready to bend

Slowly and carefully - so I have been told

Do the narrow waste last - and slowly

On to the Top . . .

Given these dramas, I am somewhat behind Fil in this build. However, the only area where I have zoomed head is the selection and gluing the top.  Chris and I spent some time in the wood shed (a place I am getting to know very well!) and eventually settled on a Bunya Pine top.  It has a lovely contrasting stripe down the middle somewhat reminiscent of Black Heart Sassafras.  Chris told me it would be the #1 top pair in his shed at the moment, so that was good enough for me.

The method of sanding and gluing the top is that same as we used for the back . . . sand the edges that are going to join and insert them into a simple jig that forces both sides together very tightly. 

How nice is that?

Sorting the edges

Back to the Sides (Yet Again!) . . .

It was time to have a look at what that crack in the wood sounded like . . . it was pretty much in two parts and ready to be pulled apart!  So that was somewhat disappointing after having spent at least four hours sanding two sets of sides that are no longer suitable for this guitar.

That clearly didn't work!

Back to the Wood Shed (Yet Again!) . . .

After a cup of tea, a little walk around the ground of Montsalvat and a moment or two of reflection, I again headed out to the wood shed to select my third set of sides!  I took the time to look at various guitars in Chris’ workshop and on his web site.  Apparently fiddleback Blackwood was not going to bend tight enough for a CA instrument, so I needed to find something else.

After about half an hour of digging, pulling out and placing various options against my completed back, I eventually selected a pair of Cooba sides.  This is a species quite closely related to Blackwood – and this pair respects the colours and striping of the now dominant Blackwood back. 

These look particularly nice

Back to the Thicknesser . . .

So my next job involved thicknessing my third set of sides for this build!  The task took nearly two hours of constant sanding – and as it happens, I am delighted with the patterns that have emerged.

After two hours you sort of get to love them

Lovely colours

That all looks like a good match

Fil’s Progress . . . 

Fil has zoomed ahead with his instrument while I was going in circles.  He cleaned up a lot of burn marks on both sides of the sides, glued his kerfing in place and spent some considerable time lining the body up in the mould (using sticks instead of expansion clamps).  The last job for the day was to actually glue his back to the sides – a very exciting moment!

Clamping the back - did you hear that crack??

All clamped up

Beer O’Clock . . .

I didn’t finish thicknessing my third set of sides until about 5:30pm.  By this time Chris was clearly ready to pull up stumps for the day . . . and so was I for that matter.  Instead of paying a King’s ransom for pint in some trendy pub, Fil and I met with our respectives at his flat in Little Collins Street for a 'swift half’ before heading home for a welcome shower and some rest!   

It was only here that Fil and I made a safe re-entry from our guitar making bubble into normal life and the things that matter . . . Suzi had been on some wonderful walks around Melbourne and sorted some music for us all to enjoy and Lorraine had been dealing with our domestic matters, like getting the stove sorted and various other things.