Chris and Sam were in the workshop when we arrived and it seemed as if they had met a little earlier. The weather was looking to be quite pleasant for the day – a slightly warmish 26 degrees and plenty of sunshine. This of course suited Sam perfectly as he was aiming to oil his guitar a little later.
Getting Started . . .
Arriving here every day is pretty much like going to the office, but with a much more interesting task and outcome. We go through out little routines – banter with the others, give some shi!t and take some in return, put our lunch in the fridge, boil the kettle and then spend a few minutes admiring the job we left on the bench last night while getting our heads around the first task for the day. So I was delighted that my guitar was exactly as I had left it last night . . . without exception.
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| Waiting for me on the bench |
Getting Busy . . .
Today was always going to be the day that I ‘notched’ my sides to install my back. Most normal people won’t have any idea what means. Fundamentally, I needed to cut some slots in the side of the guitar to fit the back braces and the back of the guitar fits snugly to the back. Sounds easy, right? I didn’t say this involves putting on and taking off the back about fifteen times – each time very precisely!
Back Lug . . .
The first bit of the process involved gluing in place a piece of waste wood to act as a marker to the neck end of the back when fitting the back. It needs to meet the body EXACTLY in both planes – so some masking tape and pencil lines are put in place to assist.
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| Installing the lug |
Making Everything Exact . . .
The next task involved getting the straight edge and aligned it EXACTLY down the middle of the guitar – did I say EXACTLY? The important objective here is to maintain an EXACTLY symmetrical guitar body shape. If the distances between the sides and the centre line are not the same then some adjustment is required with the braces. Luckily, mine was pretty much perfect from the outset!
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| Not quite right yet |
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| Almost impossible to see from underneath |
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| That's looking pretty good |
Fitting the Back . . .
Now this bit is very difficult as the back braces protrude beyond the margin of the now kerf lined guitar shape. Only having two arms and two hands, I found this task very challenging – and of course having ‘old eyes’ doesn’t really help either.
Anyway, I eventually got it right and put some marks on the outside of the sides that needed to be notched. This meant taking the Japanese hand saw and other abrasive tools such as a chisel and files to my beautifully and loving prepared sides!
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| Trial fitting |
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| This happened last week - but it will disappear when the bindings are installed |
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| The other side |
Sam’s Big Moment . . .
Apart from chatting up a lady who works a Montsalvat and comes to the workshop from time to time, Sam got his guitar to the point of oiling today. This is a huge moment for everyone in the workshop because the depth of patterns that emerge as soon as the oil is applied is simply amazing – and Sam’s guitar was certainly no exception. The Fiddle Back Blackwood back is stunning – well done Sam! And I’m am sure it will impress someone else as well!!
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| Starting on the front |
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| Just have a look at those sides |
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| Now that takes the cake! |
Many Tries . . .
Needless to say it took many attempts to notch, fit, notch, fit . . . and so on! We eventually made it all the way down to the required clamped position before get really serious and gluing it all together.
The hardest part about gluing parts like this is that the glue starts to go off before everything is in its final precise position. And of course you need to be careful put the right amount of glue to hold the joint while minimising the ‘squeeze out’. Naturally the 6” ruler (let’s talk about units of measure another time) to clear away any excess.
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| Notching the sides - Japanese had saw |
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| Chisel |
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| Files |
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| Making progess |
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| Good way to control the chisel and reduce chipping |
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| On to the next one |
One More ‘Pre-Glue’ Check . . .
Just to be sure about everything, I clamped down the back once more. I went over every notch and cut and was reasonably satisfied that the back would clamp down securely AND things would look neat from the inside.
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| A few more goes with the chisel required - and a little off each brace with sand paper |
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| One last test |
Minor Setback . . .
I had a bit of a challenging making the back go down neatly against the neck block. This is of course critical from a strength point of view – and it can be seen by other nosey luthiers having a Squizzy at the guitar’s innards! The only solution was to get an 80 grit sanding block and get the 4 degree angle back into shape – which I did by measuring the changes that I had made.
The
Big Moment . . .
Now
it was time to glue and clamp the back and sides together – which presumably
means I can start referring to it as a guitar!
This process didn’t take too long – and I reckon I used every clamp in
the workshop! And in the end there was
nothing to do but wait for the glue to set.
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| I tried to use every clamp in the workshop! |
Back Strips . . .
My next task involve completing the back strips – the bits of wood that run vertically along the length of the back of the guitar (see – I am starting to call it that now!). Of course I wanted the ones that will be visible to sticky beak luthiers (and my other examiner!) to be as close to perfect as possible. I had cleverly been saving a piece just for this job and I lovingly started preparing it to slot into place. Guess what – I cut it too short!!
So my next half hour was spent manufacturing two pieces of back strip to respect the same dimensions as those pieces already in place. I eventually got it right after a few dodgy attempts. And a note to self – be sure to make all the back strips from the one piece of wood and save the two end ones for later installation.
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| Back strips in place |
Chris’ Guitar . . .
During the day Chris went home to get a beautiful Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle guitar he made last year – which he described as the best one he has ever made. And it is just stunning. Unfortunately he was separated from the instrument for ten days while travelling home from Canada last year and some errant storage (humidity) caused a crack in the back. Today was the first time he has been able to look at it – and spend time repairing the crack.
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| What a stunner |
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| Put with Sam's guitar for a photo op |
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| What a lovely sight |
Side Strips . . .
The last job of the day was to start the manufacture of little side strips that slot between the top and bottom kerf lining and are glued to the side of the guitar. They probably have a more technical name and I will change this when I find out. I was curious about their purpose and asked Chris – they provide additional strength to the side of the guitar and act as a stopping point for a crack if the guitar is damaged or splits for some reason.
The process of making these involves cutting some pieces of Queensland Maple xmm by xmm, cleaning them up and then rounding two adjacent corners with sandpaper. The round edge will become the top of the strip. Next, measure the approximate length required and cut the piece of Queensland Maple accordingly and mark a bevelled edge. Without any further information, I look a look at some other guitars under construction on the shelves and marked 15mm back from each end to create the bevel.
I thought about using a plane to create the bevels but realised the belt sander would be much quicker. It was and did a marvellous job as well. I will finish making the side strips in the morning and then glue them to the sides of the guitar.
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| Starting the side strips |
Fil’s Progress . . .
Fil’s guitar is taking shape very rapidly. He managed to get his fretboard glued down, installed his ‘bling’ (the Filibert logo on the head stock), shaped the heal and generally cleaned everything up. He has also purchased a Oz Tonewood Pack from Chris and spent some time selecting the back and sides and gathering other bits and pieces ready for the journey home in about a month.
A Few Moments of Reflection . . .
Building a guitar is very pleasurable thing to do and it requires a lot of concentration and precision. As Fil said in the car on the way home, it is important to not get so focussed on the one technical task in front of you so as the big picture gets lost – and then you start making stupid mistakes. The best approach is to stand back and think about the whole process and instrument before finally committing and cutting or gluing something. And what a lovely way to spend a Thursday afternoon banging and chipping away in this wonderful workshop with a view.
Sunday . . .
Fil and I have reserved two benches for Sunday so he can finalise his guitar completely before he and Suzi get on with the rest of his holiday. This works out well and means he will finish his guitar in the allocated two weeks (12 days). I will also be able to continue my instrument before we get ready to head overseas.
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