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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:53 am
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Ceri, I'm sorry, but for me, this is a much more interesting thread. There are people who just do it every day, and they are equipped to do so.

I don't see ANYTHING wrong with what you've done so far, and you're someone who's doing it on your patio with limited tools.

The people on this forum are rooting and cheering for you for a reason. And it's not so much because you do this sort of thing every day in a custom shop. The whole story behind this one, the friendship between you and Nikki, the back patio building.. When are you having a BBQ while you're at it by the way. I wanna see a FAT steak too damnit!!

This thread gives more of a personal sense of hanging out in the backyard working on a project, that's why I like it. How many of us do that with our friends from time to time knowing full well that we only know half of what we're doing! Hahaha.. That thought process from point A-B can be quite comedic as well as scientific. And well, just plain fun.

I have pics of stuff I've done in shops, but seriously, BORING!!! It's obvious the other guy does it for a living. I wanna see the garage stuff. The hobbyist projects are much more fun. This one especially.

By the way, the whole grain-matched cover-plates thing on the Firebird. It can't be done unless you re-saw the piece before starting with the body. It was re-sawn beforehand, and cut out later. It's something that's done in cabinetry as well.

You're really doing a good job with this. It's nice that you're humble, but you really are a better woodworker than you give yourself credit for. Can't wait to see the end result.

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:24 am
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Shredd

I'd wait till March at least before expecting a barbecue picture. I bet its bloody freezing down in the southwest of England at the moment. I dunno what that potion he had in that mug was though. Its quite unnerving.

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Far too near Cornwall and tales of witches for me to ever chance tasting it.

I completely agree with you. Anyone with an apprenticeship and a workshop full of specialist tools could do this. The whole ethos of one mans battle against the destruction wreaked by another, in his quest to make a perfect guitar. Adds a flavour to this that professional builders just cant muster.

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:55 am
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I still think this would make for a great YouTube video. :idea:

Great work, Ceri, my gut feeling is that so many are watching this, but not even commenting...maybe you should add "don't try this at home". :wink:

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:15 pm
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nikininja wrote:
I dunno what that potion he had in that mug was though. Its quite unnerving.

Well that is just outrageously cheeky - how dare you, sir! :lol: :lol: :lol:

It does look pretty horrid, doesn't it - but not as horrid as it tasted. As someone who has been told by his doctor to watch his cholesterol I always keep an eye open for low fat/low cholesterol foodstuffs. That is a low fat coffee creamer I was trying. Suffice to say - once was enough. Ew...

And thank you to everyone yet again for your comments. Really, I don't know where to look... :oops: :D

Anyroadup: what a frustrating day I've been having. But we'll get to that shortly. First, one of the many things I envy that Australian builder for is that he appears to have enough cramps for every job. I never have enough!!!

And that is going to be more serious when trying to glue this top on. The recommended item for that job is known as a spool clamp, sold by luthiers' suppliers. Or made by Ceri...
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What I did was take some 25x45mm / 2x1" (approx) wood and glue cork to one surface. Then I used a hole saw to cut out circular pieces and simultaneously put a shaft hole in the middle. Man, that was boring work! But not as boring as the next bit: tidying them up with sand paper and curving that edge over nicely (for no practical reason at all - it's just that's how the big boys do 'em). I tried doing it on a sanding drum but in the end I found my fingers were more accurate:
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In fact, I've been doing a few of these a day for a week or two, and now I've got around 30 (including a few smaller ones at the back):
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Stew-Mac sells those for $20-25 per half dozen (depending on size). So that's around $120 worth of spool clamps you're looking at there - for the cost of a bit of wood and some coach bolts. Oh dear: I'm so homespun... :?

So. Now we move indoors because I need the corner of a nice heavy table for this. Here's my sycamore top awaiting bending, and in front my bending iron, clamped to the dining table. It has a thermostat which can set how hot the upright metal part becomes:
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In this next pic you can see I've got a sort of bendy metal strap with handles at either end, designed for the purpose. The idea is we can bend acoustic guitar (or violin) sides by wetting them and holding them against the bending iron, which turns the moisture into steam and drives it into the fibres of the wood, so softening them, while we apply pressure and bend it to our required shape. The metal strap confines the steam, concentrating it where we want it. As the wood cools it sets in the new shape:
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So my plan was to do that on my guitar top, bending it along the pencil line you can just see in that picture to neatly match the forearm contour on the Strat.

Sounds good? It didn't work.

I can bend narrower lengths of the same wood to the required angle without a problem. Here's one of my test strips:
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But try as I might I could not get that top to bend nicely. The problem I guess is that the bending iron is just not quite long enough to do the whole length of that forearm contour at one go. I thought I could turn it back and forth to do either end of the curve but it didn't work that way. It was cooling and setting at one end while I was trying to bend the other.

In the end I was just putting irregular kinks into the wood and it was soon going to be spoiled. So I got very irritated and also humiliated at the idea of PROVING to Mr Shredd6 that I'm not a carpenter, and felt desperate measures were called for.

I boiled up a pan of water and whacked the wood over it with the lid to confine the steam around that end of the top. This is NOT how they do it at Tom Anderson Guitars:
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And yet. Quite soon that wood became all rubbery and bendy, so in some haste I flung it onto the body and clamped it down to try and mould it to the curve of the contour:
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You can see I'd pre-cut a clamping caul in the shape of the forearm contour, and lined my carpenter's clamps with neoprene so that they would grip at that 20 degree angle (can you see how the jaws of the wooden clamp on the left are opened at a steep angle?).

On the advice of my boat building friend I am going to leave that clamped up overnight, so that the fibres of the wood can really settle into their new shape. If it has worked at all, that is...

Pretty desperate stuff, huh?

Cheers - C


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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:32 pm
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Did the cat voice an opinion?? :lol:


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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:52 pm
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chriske wrote:
Did the cat voice an opinion?? :lol:


Yes. She'd just read the recent posts on this thread and she said;

"Well Ceri, seems you're now carrying the flag for the Amateur Builder. Better make this a really unprofessional episode!"

So I did. :oops:

Cheers - C

PS Keep an eye open. Those cats always manage to slip their way into my building threads... :wink:


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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:54 pm
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Awesome Ceri!

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:57 pm
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Hollis Prince wrote:
Awesome Ceri!


:lol: Thank you. Ya gotta admit, there ain't anywhere else on the internet you can find a guy boiling a guitar top on the stove! :lol:

Gotta take that extra step, here at the home of the Stratocaster. :D

Tomorrow we'll see if it worked. Bedtime where I live:

G'night all - C


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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:10 pm
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I remember telling my dad one day "A mechanic's only as good as his tools," trying to justify my latest guitar purchase. Him, being a mechanic, quickly replied, "That's only true if that mechanic lacks imagination." I must say, that's a good bit of improvisation there, hope it works out ^^

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:59 pm
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I'm beginnng to think that the more pressure Ceri is under the more creative and capable he becomes. I dont think there is any obstacle that he wont overcome. :wink:

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:57 pm
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Hello all,

i just started reading this thread and its amazing. your work is amazing Ceri. i got to the end and was upset that there wasn't more for me to look at yet! oh well that will give me something to look forward to tomorrow.


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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:01 pm
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Thank you! :D


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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:11 pm
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Dude the "Cericaster" is looking GOOD. I must also mention that your problem solving and "adapt, improvise, overcome" attitude is very cool. 8)

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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:32 pm
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I wonder if you could use a steamer / cleaning wand to help get the wood soft enough to bend? Are you glueing the top down now or just shaping it at this point?

Looking forward to tomorrows post.

Thanks!


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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:33 am
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I was thinking.

Would it work to soak the wood then use a regular clothes iron?

When do we get the final verdict on the top?

Is the Blue Badger (great 12th fret logo btw) going to leave us on a cliff hanger? He is a master of suspense after all.

I'm strongly considering abusing something else for him to put right.

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