The Luthier Community

Gotta get me a thesaurus and find some other words for "way cool" and "awesome."

Dennis

Wow! That bark rosette is just beautiful. This is really an intriguing build, Grant. Hope it works as well as you think it might.

with the template your using for the inlay and that routing setup you're using - are you having to clean that up afterwards to get it the right size or does it get far enough into the corners to be ready to inlay?

I've done my routing channels with a dremel free-hand, but have been looking for a way to get detail from a template. The full size router bits all seem to be too large for that application.

Can this build get any better? So many details on this are sweet.The continuity in design is inspiring.

First of all, thanks to everybody for the kind words and encouragement. I am operating on a general concept and the details sort of emerge as I get to them, so I also experience lots of fun and excitement as I go along. Kind of a laid back process where I don't worry too much about how things are going to happen because there will always be a way to make something work.....but I guess that is how I approach most things.

chrism wrote:with the template your using for the inlay and that routing setup you're using - are you having to clean that up afterwards to get it the right size or does it get far enough into the corners to be ready to inlay?

I've done my routing channels with a dremel free-hand, but have been looking for a way to get detail from a template. The full size router bits all seem to be too large for that application.

Chris, where I need sharp corners, I always have to clean up a bit. All of this is done with a really small dental type burr that is not much more than 1mm in diameter, but no matter how small, there still are slightly rounded corners. On my peghead inlay, since I cut each one by hand, there is some variation, so a little cleanup here and there is common. I don't consider any of this as a problem because these are, after all, hand made, so I consider "going with the flow" as just a natural part of the process.....and the music, well, she don't care

G

Moving on, I need to start putting the box together. I will use my usual method of working without a mold on a building board, but for this one I am going to glue on the side braces first. I already have the top linings cut to length and glued to the sides.

The side braces will be 5/16" by 5/32" ebony which will add good crossgrain stiffness to the sides. Here are the side braces for one side

Note that I have filed in a "waist" where the brace will cross the openings and the butterfly keys.

I am clamping them very securely to take out any irregularities in the sides


Note the heavy hardwood cauls that should ensure that the sides get glued flat.

I realize that I will need to trim these braces a bit before I glue in the back linings, but the ability to more easily clean up in the side openings outweighs that small inconvieniance.

The glue is about dry on the second side, so hopefully I can get the sides glued to the top yet today.

thanks for looking.

G

Well, I got the sides glued to the top. This one went easier and fit perfectly to the lines. I love those laminated linings, Thanks Colin

First side being glued (I do them one at at ime)



And after letting that dry for an hour or so, glued the second side



Now things are gonna slow down a bit because I don't have the back braced. And I need to cut some new bracing strips because I am gonna change my back bracing a bit....still the same double X bracing and still laminated, but put together differently. Hope it works

G

Wow, this is such a fantastic build project! First of all I am amazed that the wood didn't give up the ghost whilst being bent and secondly this is an incredibly original concept!