Bocote Guitar Build

[Fret440]

Last two of the bridge.

 

[Fret440]

Not much today. I have my parents in town for our daughter's Christening. The picture is of the back with the braces laid out. I've got them turned on edge so I can check the radius I planed into the bottoms of the braces. Guitar backs have two radii. One goes horizontally left to right. The second will go vertically from neck to butt. I'll adjust the second radius when I go to glue the back to the rims. The purpose of the radii is to add some stiffness to the back. This moves the fundamental pitch of the back up just a little. The fundamental pitch of the back should be between one-half step above the fundamental for the top, and four half-steps above. I did get the braces glued, but then didn't get to take a photo before having to get back with family. Once the glue sets I'll be ready to carve braces and be one step closer to closing the box! Maybe more tomorrow.

Jacob




Still to come in this thread (teaser):
Brace shaping
Side bending on a pipe
Dentalones and glue up
Linings (kerfed or otherwise)
Neck shaping
End graft
Binding/purfling
Fretting
Set up
Shellac finish
I'm probably leaving something out ...

 

[Fret440]

Well, Friday night I got to work a little on the sides. I worked on thicknessing so that I can bend them. I got one thicknessed and still have the other to do. Since it's really the same as thicknessing the back or top, I didn't take a photo of it. I did, however, set up my pipe and mold to show what it will look like when I get the time to bend the sides. Got to be ready! Saturday, I spent (8am - 10pm) at a guitar festival (West Texas Guitar Festival). So I wasn't able to do more yesterday, and today was decidedly for family. :)

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

Once you have the sides thicknessed, mark a line for the waist on the inside face of the sides. At this point I have already tapered the sides, it takes some of the work out later. When bending, be careful to support the piece with your hands or some spring steel. I usually start at the waist, then to the upper bought and lastly the lower bought. Check your progress as you go to match the profile off your mold. Go slow and let the wood tell you when it's ready to bend. If you force it, you'll break it. If you start on the hot pipe and it's not moving in a few minutes, let it all cool down for a day (to return to stable) and thin the wood a little more, you can always add some support to the inside of the instrument.

Jacob

 

[ironman123]

Man I have to admire you for having such patience, love for what you do and the means to do it your way. My hat is off to you. Keep up the good and quality work of hand made custom guitars.

Ray

 

[hobbit-hut]

I'm curious about that pipe bender. I need one of those what you got there ? What you got there, something you made or ?

 

[Fret440]

I'm curious about that pipe bender. I need one of those what you got there ? What you got there, something you made or ?

Hobbit-hut, I made this from parts I picked up from a thrift store. I think I spent about $5 in total. It's a 2 1/4" pipe, long enough to screw down. I put an electric charcoal starter (you could use any heating element like are used in hot pads, electric griddles, hotplates, and whatnot). I've seen people use 100+ watt light bulbs, too... Though I think it would take longer to heat. It's recommended to put some sort of timer and a dimmer switch on there to keep it from burning the shop down. That's on my to do list, but since space is at a premium in my shop and the pipe is mobile, I have to unplug it when I've done the bending anyway.

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

Man I have to admire you for having such patience, love for what you do and the means to do it your way. My hat is off to you. Keep up the good and quality work of hand made custom guitars.

Ray

I'm sure it's more that I'm too stubborn more than anything else. When my wife and I moved out here to West Texas, she told me, "People out here do, or die trying."

Jacob

 

[hobbit-hut]

Hobbit-hut, I made this from parts I picked up from a thrift store. I think I spent about $5 in total. It's a 2 1/4" pipe, long enough to screw down. I put an electric charcoal starter (you could use any heating element like are used in hot pads, electric griddles, hotplates, and whatnot). I've seen people use 100+ watt light bulbs, too... Though I think it would take longer to heat. It's recommended to put some sort of timer and a dimmer switch on there to keep it from burning the shop down. That's on my to do list, but since space is at a premium in my shop and the pipe is mobile, I have to unplug it when I've done the bending anyway.

Jacob

Thanks Jacob, I seen one where they use a torch but I didn't like that idea because I'm sure I would have burned myself with hot gas coming out the other end. I like yours much better.

 

[Blueglass]

My dad uses a torch for bending violin sides just smaller pipe diameter. Never heard of him having a problem. I have tried it repeatedly I have the worst time bending the sides for those. I think I could do guitar sides though, not as severe of curves. Was curly maple naturally and would crack on the curls.

 

[Fret440]

My dad uses a torch for bending violin sides just smaller pipe diameter. Never heard of him having a problem. I have tried it repeatedly I have the worst time bending the sides for those. I think I could do guitar sides though, not as severe of curves. Was curly maple naturally and would crack on the curls.

With the curly maple, you should err on the dry side. Get the pipe hot and spritz the maple right before you bend.

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

It's amazing the progress I can make with the kids going wacko.

Finally got to "finish" bending that first side. I hope to work more on the other one tomorrow. There is still a little bit of this side that I may go back and work on a little more, but for all intents and purposes, it's bent. I had to bend in shifts because it would relax enough to bend a little and then I couldn't get more out of it. So I bent a little, call it a day, bent a little more. Now that it's bent, I'll leave it in the mold for a few days to fully stabilize before I start gluing and working on the body.

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

Well, both sides are bent now. Now, I'll be making the end block and some wedges for the neck joint. As the end block is essentially a rectangle, I probably won't show how to make that. Also, the wedges, probably won't show that. So, when I get to the point of finding the centerline and gluing all that together, we'll get more pictures.

(Went out of town for a few days and now I'm catching back up. Happy spring break or something.)

Jacob

 

[woodintyuuu]

Jacob your wood pile is taking shape

 

[Fret440]

Here are some pictures showing how to make the kerfed lining and tentalones. I use the kerfed lining to attach the back to the sides because it's easy to clamp. I use the tentalones to attach the top so as not to introduce any extra tension. Photo 1 is cutting the kerfs. Number 2 is cutting the excess from the kerfs for the tentalones. Third is splitting the rectangles. And last is perfect tentalones.

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

Here's a shot of how the neck joint will go together. Also, I've trimmed the sides in the mold and can now glue the end block and neck. With them in place, I'm ready to glue the top... Just have to finish cutting the tentalones and shape the braces.

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

Here's some shots of shaping the braces. I do this with a wide chisel, but you could use a real small plane. I also glued up the end block and fit the neck. When the top was ready, I glued the top to the neck and end block, being careful to line up the center line on both the neck and end block. Starting in on gluing the tentalones.

Jacob

 

[woodtickgreg]

Really starting to take shape now!

 

[Fret440]

Really starting to take shape now!

Yeah, I was beginning to wonder!

Jacob

 

[Fret440]

Here's another shot as I get ready to fit the back to the body. The top is attached. I'll be taking a block plane and working the taper of the sides down to meet the heelblock at the neck. It's very easy to get one side narrower than the other so, go slow and try to take the same amount from both sides. (An easier way would be to use a sanding dish, but that's a bit more expensive in the long run and without a router a little difficult to get right.) The back is prepped and ready. I still have some more sanding on the braces for the top as I do some tap tuning (voodoo) to get to the pitches I'm looking for.

Jacob