My Winter building plans

[whitespruce]

Last year, I spent more time in the shop than I had been. This Winter, I plan on doing the same, but am starting earlier.

I am currently in the process of finishing up 4 guitars, so will need something else to keep me busy. Over the years, I have sorta started several guitars. This past week I started rounding up all of the odd prepped parts around the shop. I have 5 sets of nicely bent sides and 8 or 10 joined tops, most with rosettes installed. I have one braced back and several joined and thicknessed, a half dozen bandsawed out neck blanks, and a half dozen or so slotted fingerboards and drilled out bridge blanks. Also a number of back and side sets thicknessed and with the sides profiled ready for bending.

Laying out all this stuff and adding the missing components here and there, it comes up to about a dozen guitars.

So thats gonna be my goal....to get all this stuff made into guitars by next Summer. With the head start on many of the parts, it should be doable. I plan to do things in stages. For example, the next month is when I can best control my shop humidity, so I will brace all the tops first. Then work on the missing parts for all the guitars. When I have all the components ready, I will start assembly.

I will post a list of the guitars and photos of the piles of parts in the next few weeks.

So anybody else care to participate in a building binge??

G

[Dennis Leahy]

So anybody else care to participate in a building binge??

G

Wow, a dozen by summer would be really impressive!

For me, one guitar would be a binge. But I am ready to dip my toe in the water again. I guess I'm about to find out if that beautiful "Swamp Zebrano" really has outrageously bad runout or if that is a drying defect that is outside the side pattern. :~)

Dennis

[JasonMoe]

I hope to only make 2 or 3. I really need to take the stress off and get back into fly-fishing and fly-tying. Even some painting of my favorite fishing holes while my hands still work. I want to make a Bass Acoustic for a school classmate of mine. I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a couple months ago, and it's been really a pain in the ace. Alot of changes. Anyway, getting a dozen guitars done sounds like a great challenge. I know you can do it if you have enough clamps and space.

[howie123]

Well I'm hoping santa brings me lots of wood next month, but in reality I'll probably have to buy it myself! I have ten book matched tops in stock that have been here a little over a year in rough form and I'm toying with the idea of using some of my sapele as a top wood which would be a first for me, like you I already have some parts made already such as 4 sets of ribs bent, a couple of necks, a few more neck blanks, all of the backs are jointed and cut to shape and left a little oversized, one of which is braced, 2 other tops jointed , sanded and rosettes installed, and 3 other guitars boxed up waiting for bridges, fretboards and some time to get them finished, not to mention 2 soprano ukes and probably half a dozen electrics in various stages of completion..... will I get them all done ? hopefully but if not I will get as many completed as can . Other projects currently underway include making a thickness sander....most of the parts are there now, and my new bending iron which i will have assmbled by tonight, which no doubt will mean I'll have at least another set of ribs bent by tomorrow. Humidity has been an absolute killer this year with an average of 93% and my dehumidifier couldn't get it any lower than 60%... so I'll need a newer more efficient dehumidifier too. Hopefully now were getting the first frost of the year the relative humidity will drop to a managable level and I'll get a load of tops built and braced. To be honest I'd never considered making all the tops when the humidity was low ..... but it certainly makes sense to me now. Ah and I found a spruce wedge set I'd forgotten about so maybe I'll make a start on my first jazzer!
In the mean time I'm off out to the plumbers merchants for some bits n bobs to get my radiator working in the bedroom as waking up in frost is not my idea of fun .....

[michael]

I've got a beginners question for anyone out there: Can you safely join a top when the humidity is high? I'm in S.F. and we have been getting rain off and on for the last week(s) I don't see the humidity dropping anytime soon and I would like to get moving on the classical build I'm doing. Any info would be appreciated.
Mike

[whitespruce]

I've got a beginners question for anyone out there: Can you safely join a top when the humidity is high? I'm in S.F. and we have been getting rain off and on for the last week(s) I don't see the humidity dropping anytime soon and I would like to get moving on the classical build I'm doing. Any info would be appreciated.
Mike

Mike, Joining tops or backs in higher humidity is not a problem. Gluing on bracing is, since you are gluing pieces with long grain across the grain of the top or back. Changes in dimension of wood with changing moisture contents is quite significant (varying with the wood species) across the grain, while changes with the grain are almost nothing.

Now, there are ways around the problem if you can't keep the humidity of your shop down. I have given tops about 15 to 20 minutes with a hair drier and then glued on a brace or 2, and it can get you by (though it makes the anally compulsive folks have a fit). Some folks keep their "in progress" tops and backs in a small closet or cabinet with a 100 watt light bulb on all the time, and it can keep the moisture content of the parts at a reasonable level.

There are builders who insist that the relative humidity must be at 45% and vary no more than 1 or 2% either way. I personally think that is overkill. My shop always cools down at night, so the relative humidity goes up accordingly. It is typically around 60% or a tad higher in the morning. After I get the temp up to where it is safe to use glue (60 degrees or so), it is usually below 50%, which I consider acceptable. If my temp gets close to 70, the humidity typically falls into the upper 30% or so. I don't worry because the wood does not change that fast.

I try not to glue braces when the humidity is much above 50% or lower than about 35%. Any other gluing is not a problem. even gluing tops and backs to rims is not actually a problem unless the humidity is at extremes (like above 60% or below 30%). And a bit on the dry side when gluing braces is less of a problem than a bit on the wet side.

That's my take on the situation, and I have not had any problems.

G

[michael]

Grant, thanks for your advice. Here in S.F. we have average humidity of about 65% but during the winter months it can be100% for days on end.In recent years it's been better, but back in the 70s I re-call it seemed like it started raining after Thanksgiving and didn't stop until spring! I'm on my 5th guitar now, and on my first (in 2010) I knew less than I do now and never gave a thought to humidity. I built a classical and glued the thing together while it was raining ( I thought it would be a good way to spend a rainy day, working in the shop!) It didn't seem to hurt the guitar in anyway, it"s still together and no cracks. How fast does the moisture content change in a top? If I made a light box to keep my wood in, would it need to stay in the box for a few days or longer to reduce the humidity? Then return it to the box after gluing together or putting on braces. Are there any simple(cheap) ways to tell what the relative humidity is in a given area? My drafty/cold garage would be difficult to regulate, but a box would be do-able.
Thanks Again, Mike

[Dennis Leahy]

Great day with Grant today! Got lots done. Details soon... :~)

Dennis