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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:55 pm
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OK, several things. First: hello Maggs, welcome to the Forum! :D (Tell her, Kozy...)

Next: this is a very funny photo! I love his hands (all right, paws) daintily folded. Er, but I don't want to think about what you're up to with your left hand, Mr BigHair. What a cool looking cat - what was on TV?:
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Andybighair wrote:
Worth mentioning at this point that the Danish smells better than the Tung oil....smell is important right? And just in case your wondering....they both taste the same..:shock: ...(Just kidding...the Danish tastes way better, that's why Ceri uses it on his kitchen worktops :wink: )

Whoa - hold on there! Have you properly considered all the options? What about:
Image
If Randel plans to use the guitar for sushi then listen to the manufacturer's blurb about this oil:
Chestnut wrote:
Formulated to give you a non-tainting food safe finish for your wooden projects and turnings. Platters, cheese boards, fruit bowls, chopping and bread boards, Stratocasters and anything that is in close contact with food. Based on medicinal grade liquid paraffin, this crystal clear oil gives a durable moisture resistant neutral finish that will not impart a smell and will have minimal influence on the colour of your chosen timber when correctly applied.

Ideal! (It actually does sound reasonable, doesn't it...?) I can recommend fabulously expensive pattern welded Japanese sushi knives to go with it too, if that would help. :D

Next:
Twelvebar wrote:
I'll have to dig around, but I seem to remember seeing a project where someone actually made a guitar out of an old cutting board somewhere.

Wait, wait! I want to do that one and have it pencilled in for, ooo, about 2014. I was chatting with Forum user Cvilleira about a composite bamboo based timber after he posted a link to someone using it to build a Telecaster type body. We did some searching and found the material used for chopping boards. Often with various laminated type patterns but also one or two examples in single pieces big and thick enough to build guitar bodies from. That's a future Ceri-build - the Bamboo Strat, with suitable visual presentation. :D

Twelvebar wrote:
hopefully i can remember it and steal some pictures to post here.

Uh, I think it may have been on the Telecaster Forum, if memory serves.

That's all. Carry on, men! :D

Cheers - C


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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 9:58 am
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Howdy!

Finishing Test- Concluded


Our test pieces have now received 9 coats in total. The last three coats were pure oil and have been drying out for 48 hrs since the last application.

Image

Now to show the shine of the finish a bit better I took a couple if shots with the flash on

Danish Oil

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Tung Oil

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The Danish Oil looks, smells and tastes better, but is also much easier to apply than the Tung oil which was harder to work with on the pure coats. The test has confirmed it. I'm going with the Danish oil.

And that folks, is how easy it is to apply an oil finish to your guitar body. A Piece of pee!!!

Twelvebar wrote:
which gives the better buzz? That's the real question!!!

After ingesting quite a lot of the Chestnut Oil Ceri recommended I can now confirm, that bar snake oil, Danish is the crack of the oil world :D

A Lack of Bridge Placement

Now I did say Id' give you a post on bridge placement but to be honest I've been quietly crapping it thinking I might fudge it and have had to call in the experts to look over a few things. I'll get a post together for you guys tomorrow.

To shamelessly stall for time here's what I've been up to.

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As you can see above I've made a hole for the trem claw ground wire and below, another for the input jack.

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Its important to protect the body against any knocks that may happen when using the drill at the these angles so a nice thick cloth or towel will do the job.

You can also see in the above pic my markings for the trem placement. Again I need a bit more time to put a post together for more on that.

I also have made a bit more more room in the input jack cavity as in my experience things can get a bit tight in there. Unfortunately all the pic's I took of that are pants so I'll show that tomorrow

More to come!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:07 am
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This is taking shape Andy! Very cool!!!! Love the oil finish!

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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:39 am
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Andybighair wrote:
Image

That is a very cool photo! The reflection is so bright it almost looks like the ciggy paper packet is a neon sign! 8)

Andybighair wrote:
...have had to call in the experts to look over a few things.

Dunno who that's meant to be. You're the biggest expert on this thread, far as I can see. Cripes - do you know Trev Wilkinson personally? Can I be introduced, please? :D

Looking fab! Carry on... - C


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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:45 am
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Quote:
Now I did say Id' give you a post on bridge placement but to be honest I've been quietly crapping it thinking I might fudge it and have had to call in the experts to look over a few things. I'll get a post together for you guys tomorrow


Andy, you're the cats pyjamas bro, you could strap a curling iron to a railroad sleeper and make it the perfect bridge ;).

Still caution is number 1 priority, and with a bridge block'o'wood like the one you have, you really can't afford to make mistakes so I believe you when you say you need someone to double check it.

You'll get it sorted asap, and I look forward to the next installment

Dan

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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:46 am
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Dang ceri beat me to it :p

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:20 am
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Howdy!

Thanks peeps!

Sorry this Update is a day late but I spent longer than was expected yesterday working with a singer and a producer on some of the tunes I wrote a few years back. Its turning into an interesting project. If anything comes of it I'll let you all know.

Bridge Placement

Eeeek!!

Well the experts have confirmed that my measurements and methods are sound but despite that I still had a couple of mishaps. Here's how it went down.

I'm using a Wilkinson WVP two point trem.

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And here is the installation diagram.

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Now I couldn't find a great deal of info on how to install a two point trem and the best instructions by far are to be found here:

How to install a Two Point Trem by Ceri

Ceri has provided us with everything we need to do in great detail. Its Bloody Marvellous! Your not going to find better info than that anywhere else :D

I followed his instructions to the letter and started by making at test piece to mount the posts so we can measure the distance from saddle to post centre.

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As you can see the treble side post hole is off centre. This is due to the poor accuracy my cheapy drill jig provides so when we come to drill the post holes for real, it will be free hand (Eeeek). But the posts are sited exactly 56mm apart and its good enough for us to take our measurements. I made it 7.5mm which is the same as Ceri's.

I then clamped the neck in place even though it sits tightly in the neck pocket. Its worth mentioning here that due to the Oil finish I can get away with having a tight neck to body joint with out risk of the finish cracking later.

With the neck in place we use a straight edge to mark out where both sides of the neck come in relation to the bridge position. Then we measure 25.5 inches from the fret board side of the nut slot down to the bridge.

From the two outer neck lines we can check our body centreline with the neck centreline and see how close there are. I am well chuffed with how that aspect has worked out as they are a near perfect match.

Now we can minus our post to saddle measurement of 7.5mm off the scale length towards the neck and mark it out. From that line and the neck centreline we can mark out the 56mm post width. After all that we end up with something looking like this.

Image

So far, so good. Now I need to grow a pair and make some holes but before I butcher my body I did a bit of practice on the inlay off cut.

Image

And I'm glad I did as this for two reasons. 1) it confirmed that for these posts we need to use a 10mm dill bit as the posts fit very tightly and a 9.5 would have been too small. 2) I have got to be careful not to drill passed the post depth as I don't really want to go all the way through in to the trem spring cavity which [Ahem...] I may have routed a little too deep.

As you can see a couple of the test drill did just that. I had to apply a reasonable amount of pressure when drilling as the maple is quite tough and I need to commit so the dill doesn't go astray and we end up with an oval post hole.

Of course, being a big hairy idiot, I still went straight though on the bass side post hole

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Not that this is a problem as I was going to have to cover the inlay join in there any way.

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So out with the back template, the veneers, and a Stanley blade to make a little screen for my big hairy mistake.....

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We can hide the first mistake but for the second, there is nowhere to hide

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The above pic shows the issue as being much worse than it really is. As you can see the treble side post hole is slightly higher that it should be.

Oh Bugger....

Despite it looking like more in the pic it is infact only just 0.5mm off the centre mark towards the neck which is an error we are going to have to wait and see if it gimps this build. Randel the Cat seems to think it will be fine based on the following...

I've installed the posts and bridge to see where the strings fall and am very pleased to say that they sit very nicely with equal distances from the edge of the fretboard. The saddles sit bang on the 25.5 scale length line which is very important for later on when we set the intonation. There's also no issues with the topside bridge cavity effecting trem movement either way.

So I'm going to be very British and....

Image

I'm goin to run with the post holes as they are and crack on with the grain filling.

Now we've seen how to go about grain filling so while I'm doing that I'll also be dealing with a new issue we're goin to cover over the next few posts.

Making a Pickguard

My pickguard arrived the other day and as you can see its lacking some of the features that are usually standard on most.

Image

It doesn't really have many practical uses in its current form...but Randel the Cat seems to like it.

Image

More soon! :D

Enjoy!

Andy & Randel that Cat

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:00 am
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Andy I've made a few pickguards. It's really not difficult at all.

Ever thought of making wooden ones? They are very tricky, your cutting tools need to be razor sharp. Beveling the edges is labourious too. With plastic all I used was a stanley knife, a drill, some files and sandpaper.


As for trempost holes, I have one personal rule. (I only ever do em freehand. I never use a pillar drill, never found one that gives good access without spending a fortune).
That is, pilot hole, pilot hole, pilot hole. For a 10mm hole I go 1.5/2mm, 5/6mm, 7/8mm. Time consuming but buys you loads of manouvering space. It also stops you using excessive pressure with the drill hand. I tape off the drillbit at the desired depth I want.

.5mm won't make any difference on the treble side. You've 7mm (atleast) of saddle movement to play with.

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:20 am
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Hi Nick,

Top tips man. That's going in the note book along with Ceri's trem notes. I worried way too much about doing it as it was what really fudged the last strat i made. The strings on that one didn't sit on the board very well with the bass E wanting to slip off. I agree it should be fine.

On the pickguard, would you not use your new router table for such a task?

I thought about layering up the veneers and using them to make a guard but finally settled on the 3 ply plastic. I reckon the black is visually going to set everything else off nicely.

Thanks :D

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:46 am
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Sadly my router skills are not up to the same standards as my handtool skills. Bit of a peeve cos basically, I'm a lazy so'n'so.

I don't see why a good rounding over bit couldn't be used for the edge profile. I'd be cautious with a plastic guard though. Very easy to melt the plastic.

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:14 am
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Andybighair wrote:
Image

The above pic shows the issue as being much worse than it really is.

Uh-hu? For sure I'm damned if I'd have spotted it without being told. I suspect it is a case of a miniature error seeming much larger than it really is in the eye of its creator.

I wouldn't sweat that for a second: well within the tollerances of the bridge. Anyhow, with that type of bridge there is scope for filing the knife edges a little on the bass side to bring it perfectly into alignment if you really wanted - but you absolutely don't need to on this one. Leave well alone - it's completely fine! :D

Ah, the terrors of handheld drills... I'd hoped that the drill holding thingie earlier on this thread was the solution to the fact most normal shop drill presses don't have a throat big enough to reach across to the middle of a guitar body for drilling bridge screw holes. Beginning to look like that ain't the case.

So a bigger and much more expensive drill press than the one I have at present goes back onto my to-buy list. Rats - it's a very long list! :lol:

Anyway. Nice work altogether, Andy. :D :D :D

And thank you for the utterly undeserved compliments - which sent me back for a quick look only to realise how much better I could have written that other post if I'd seriously thought anyone was going to be refering to it for information... :oops:

Now then. Would you describe Randel as the highly territorial type of cat? He certainly seems to need to sit everything to express his control of the situation, doesn't he? 8)

Lastly. And most importantly. What happened to beer on this thread? Please don't think I'm giving you the finger, but I feel you deserve one of these after all your exertions:
Image

Chin-chin - C


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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:25 am
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Hehehe!

Thanks Ceri,

Ooops, forgot to add the beer. Oh well, to make up for it i've made a cocktail for you to try out....

Image

Let me know what you think.:D

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:33 am
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Andybighair wrote:
Image


Holy crap - so you're going to make a BLOODY-bloody mary? I think you might need a larger glass.

Stand back, ladies and gentlemen. Give the fella room...

Cheers - C


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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:44 am
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Every time I see Andy's avatar right beside his nickname, I ask myself when did I start posting about building guitars! I know how to build guitars?! Why didn't anyone tell me that before?! Someone must change his avatar! It's you or me Andy! You or me! :D 8) Just kidding!
But, I do wish I could build my dream guitar like that! Keep up the good work! It looks great!

Goran

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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:22 pm
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Good work by my estimation Andy!

As far as the post holes go, looks like you have it solved 8) . The veneer in the spring cavity looks great too!

Going back to when I drilled the screw holes for the vintage bridge on Frank, I got out of that deal without drilling through the spring cavity, only to pound a dowel clean through prior to the redrill.

Didn't feature that boo-boo in my thread considering I was kinda :oops:

Enjoying watching -- Keep up the great work!


K

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