Okay, so here is how it started:



Planed down to approximate size:



Center (carved area) glued up:



Clean off the glue and do a little layout:



More to come. And thanks, Mike. I'm kind of afraid to put a hard finish on it for maintenance reasons, but still undecided. (Too many years seeing what happens to varnish on boats, I guess.)

Cheers,
(and thanks Brad for indulging me on this completely non Fender project.)


Gridlok

Nice stuff, Grid'.

Yup. 'have done some of the usual, furniture finishing, refinishing, molding, trim, shelves and a few cabinets. Nothing as exotic as a scratch carved door, tho. Great looking door.

'Gotta urge to try carving a Tiki or two....

I had to get a center point for my circle jig without messing up the surface, so I attatched a square of plywood with double sided "Tessa" tape.



From there I began routing.



I'm sure there are a thousand woodworking sites I could have posted this on but frankly, I find musicians, especially other guitar players, more fun.

Gridlok

I'm snowed in and lovin this thread........... Mike

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Some time ago, 'had this wild idea to do a carved-face solidbody guitar. Maybe like a Tele style kit or Squier git with some decent haedware added.

Indolence has to date saved this picker from taking on said project.

So that left me with something that looked like this.



Many hours of carving, (not by me), and even more hours sanding, (by me, sadly), result in the centerpiece of the door.



The next step is to make a door out of that block of wood.

Gridlok

Hey Mike it happens so rarely here that we think it's kind of fun to get snowed in!!

Now I just add the styles and the upper and lower rail. None of the cedar has a profile, by the way. The look had to be very square through the two openings for the glass panels. It's all held together with "biscuits" using a Freud "biscuit" or "plate" joiner.



Remove the excess glue....and you got it. Start Sanding!



Gridlok

Hi Gridlok: again, very cool!

So is that where it is up to right now? Will you show us when you put a finish on, please? Even better, when you have that door hung in place?

And when are you going to do a carved guitar body? That would be the build thread to end 'em all round here!

Respect - C

_________________

I worked with wood for years designing and fabricating speciality seating,furnituer and equipment for physically disabled kids.One year before Christmas I tried my hand at making toy guns and boats for my nephews and friends kids and they turned out looking quite better than I had expected but I was using the equipment from work in my spare time.I have gradually built up a fair amount of woodworking tools for my home workshop and hope to get back into it this year.If my work turns out 1/10 as good as Gridlocks I will consider it an astounding success.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Gosh thanks guitslinger! Ceri, it's a little further along than that.



Yes, that's me. Sorry about the dour look. I thought I was smiling but it looks more like Clint Eastwood asking, "The question you have to ask yourself is, do you feel lucky?)

Yesterday I routed the let-ins for the two glass panels and then cut the stop for them. I know it seems fairly simple, but let me tell you - a very painstaking task!




I am on my way to the shop now to bring it home. It is going to be my front door in case I hadn't mentioned that. I am waiting for the hardware to come from California. I couldn't find anything locally that I was in love with and, after all, this IS a labour of love. I also have to order the glass and while I'm waiting, do some stain samples.

Anyone have any experience staining yellow cedar? It's quite different from the more common red cedar.

As for the guitar body...I think I will wait and see how the tone of the door is.
Cheers, Gridlok

Very nice work. Your right. I have to make cabinet doors all the time,one light up to nine light at times. The rabbet on the back, unless back routed first(counter clockwise) is always an operation that can go south real fast. I've done tons but always hold my breath.... Your work is top notch..........Mike

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Stellar stuff. And a very nice read!

Go get 'em, Clint!

-Nutter

Hey here was a good one! I'm thinking...why don't I just take the style, instead of the whole door, to fit, mortise and hang? So I did! That is why, in this pic, you see a hinge mortise in a door that hasn't really been fit. Yikes! What am I thinking? Well the jamb is theoretically square, (checked with a framing square). Not the most "perfect" way to check, but both jamb and existing door seemed pretty darn square and the new door is within 1/8", soooooooo. (Gridlok crosses fingers.)



This is so crazy, it just might work!

Gridlok

Oh and Mike, I know just what you mean about backrouting, (although I don't think I have ever heard that word), That was definitely the way to go with this stuff, and brand new bits as well. Knocking out the corners is always the pain though, isn't it? One of the guys asked me why I didn't try an Olfa knife in the corners. I told him, "Because my chisels are about 4 times sharper than an Olfa knife", (hopefully in a good Clint voice) This cedar is still a teensy bit wet and can have a tendancy to tear.

Backrouting..very common here in Oklahoma....

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

All you ever wanted to know about yellow cedar.

http://www.naturallywood.com/uploadedFi ... -Cedar.pdf

Good article actually, for any "chippies" out there.

Gridlok