Week 2 - Day 7

Being summer in Oz there is always the potential for some friggin’ hot weather – and today was one of those days where that potential was realised.  It started off relatively mild and became hotter for the entire day – to the point that Chris closed the workshop and we all went home early at about 3:45pm.  Mind you, there was another reason I became rather heated as a calamity occurred as I was planing down my sides!  More later – but I am wondering if the Ancient Order of Luthiers has been in touch with Chris and he has been set the task to see how well I can cope with catastrophes as part of the fit and proper person test!

We had to wait about fifteen minutes or so to get into the workshop as Chris didn’t have his key!  He fell for the old trick of lending his vehicle to someone else – along with the workshop key!  Still, it was quite pleasant sitting outside having a bit of a yak.

Shaping Braces . . .

My first job for the day was to shape the sound hole braces.  So I took off the clamps and worked with a chisel and sandpaper for about half an hour or so.  Getting the right shape is a tad harder than completing the other braces because access is restricted by the presence of other braces nearby – and of course you don’t want to damage the completed ones with the chisel.  I invented a couple of protective methods using other pieces of offcuts on which to run the chisel blade.

Before . . .

After - can you spot the difference?

Cleaning Up the Back . . .

Next I moved to my back.  I wasn’t happy with a couple of the joins of the large braces which would be visible if you poked your nose inside the guitar (like luthiers do!).  This job involved mixing up some Queensland Maple sanding dust, sprinkling it in the errant joints and then putting in the smallest amount of Super Glue.  Once dry I tidied it all up with the judicious use of sandpaper and the back of a chisel.  Job done.

Making progress

That's better

Slowly getting there

Brace Out the Body . . .

It sounds serious and it probably is.  This task involved doing a final ‘fitting’ of the guitar’s shape to the mould by inserting some lengths of wood to hold the body in place.  Masking tape is put on brace ends of the end to protect the body.  In my case, it also involved using the hot pipe to release some pressure in certain sections of the sides – and then quickly clamping them in place.

Of course, this process sometimes changed the internal dimensions of the guitar and I had to make new braces – which only takes a minute or two.

Looking for a better fit

Some braces added

Close - but some more hot pipe work required

Done

Alternative Bracing . . .

Expandable screw braces are available from luthier suppliers (at great expense!).  I found a ‘make you own’ screw brace in the drawee – a turnbuckle that had been modified to do the bracing.  I reckon I might make some of these.

I reckon I can make these

Other Workshopers . . .

All the available benches in Chris’ workshop are nearly always full – there was only one spare today.  The other day Michael came in, but I had forgotten to take a photo.  He is building a special OO (small Gibson shape) from plans.  And today’s new entrant (for us) was Sam who is building a CA shape like mine.  He is getting close to finishing as he finished shaping his neck and installed his frets.

Sam shaping his neck

Michael working on his OO

Big Moment . . .

Bob finished his guitar today!  As it was getting close to being strung for the first time you could feel the excitement building in the workshop.  Bob was looking pretty serious as this was going to be a moment of truth – and when he finally picked it up and made the first noises we spontaneously burst out in applause.  Well done Bob!!

The only dram he has was that his headstock (the bit and the end of the neck) was his own design and it would not fit into the standard case for a CA.  This was a minor problem has he took a case the next size up and it fitted like a glove.

Well done Bob!

Disaster . . .

Talk about roller coaster emotions!   Chris had just mentioned that my guitar body is going to come together really quickly as I’ve nearly completed all the bits.  My next job involved planing the bottom of my sides to respect the curved shape that I am going to eventually install.  Everything was marked up and away I went – for about fifteen minutes.  I was just beginning to think this is fun as the plane was doing a wonderful job when it happened – a bloody great chuck of side came flying out of the side!!  Apparently the plane had just caught a grain and lifted it.  

After my saying a word that rhymes with truck quite a few times, we all gathered around for a look.  We were optimistically thinking I could glue it back into place – but after about a minute Chris looked at me and said ‘back to the wood shed for some new sides’.  Bugger!!

This looked like a simple enough job

Bugger!!

Back to My Sides . . .

After a little while searching the supply of Coobar sides we found a pair very similar to the ones I had just destroyed – and of course it was back to my favourite thicknesser to thin my fourth set of sides down from about 6mm to 2mm.  It really wasn’t the right temperature for doing such a tedious and dusty job – but I eventually got there.

My fourth set of sides!

That lovely machine again

Ready to bend

On Yet Another Bender . . . 

Another of my favourite jobs – again!  Once I had decided which way around I wanted the sides to align and face I went outside gave one a very good soaking.  Wetting the wood gives a good indication of what it will look like when the finished instrument is eventually oiled.  So into the bending machine they went one at a time and they were immediately clamped into rough shape using the CA mould. 

That's a nice pattern

Slowly does it

No cracking yet!

Just about there

One done

Both done

Small Victories . . .

While digging around the wood shed it did find a piece of wood that I might use for my headstock – some featured Coobar (the same as my sides).  However, another alternative is to use a pieces of my now destroyed sides – just because I can!

And I managed to save the neck and tail blocks – so that will save me making another set for these new sides.

Face plate - maybe?

Good save - neck and tail braces

Fil’s Progress . . .

Fil spent most of his day shaping is Gidgi fretboard.  He reckons this stuff has the consistency of granite and a 38 degree day wasn’t the right time to spend more than two hours sanding the damned thing to the right shape.  

 

I'll come back to this

Early Finish . . .

Chris closed the workshop due to the heat and the fire risk at his property in Yarra Glen.  So we all packed up and went home.  On the way out we stopped and had a chat with Sam putting on all of his motor cycling clobber.  I am a biker and Fil took it very seriously a few years ago (his attention span is somewhat limited!), so we all had yet another thing in common -Although Fil and I were pleased to get into an air conditioned car rather than getting all hot and sweaty on a day like day!

Sam about to get hot

A Few Beers . . .

I saw 40 degrees on the thermometer in the car on the way back into the city – so the only sensible to do was to have a few beers.  And I didn’t really trust myself to be polite while being ripped off for another seven quid pint, so we came to my place and had a couple of stubbies instead.  What a day!!