Glen-L.com

Here are some latest shots. I have to wait now for some other wood pieces to show up as I was to lazy to make them so I purchased what I needed to get me going. If one bought all the parts and pieces for a real nice guitar you could end up just spending a GRAND on parts and ya still have to put it together. That is when you don't want to have errors....The fixture I had made from a .500 slab of aluminum and I made a template for the machine shop and he done a real nice job of bending the material to the template. I then had him make a waist piece to clamp the center section down. I paid $250 for this way back yonder but I bet todays market would get him $750 for it. Neck is Honduras Mahogany and so are the end blocks. A guy up in NH area went out of business back in the 70's so I paid him $2 apiece for the blanks and bought 40 of them, all he had at the time. I have used a lot of them but still got a few left for these type of jobs. Normally I only use 3 clamps on the side bending fixture but due to my mixup I had to use many more to work the sides around and rebend as you can see in the photo. Oh well bet I will be carefull next one.

_________________
Dreams are free, Reality cost money.

The bracing and lining woods showed up today so got some gluing done. I also just about got the neck carved out real good but I think it needs to be slimmed down some as yet but I will get that as I go along. Got the linings in for the top and back and then made up the curves on the back arch and got them glued in place. Next will be getting the top bracing glued in place then I can start assembling the box parts.

_________________
Dreams are free, Reality cost money.

Beautiful work so far! It aint a mistake if it can be fixed, right? I wouldn't discount the tone of zebrawood, either. There are some that are claiming it is the heir to Brazilian Rosewood. I just finished (last night) Black Beauty, a zebrawood/sitka (floppy sitka, too) OM sized guitar that has tremndous depth to it for a small body, very excited to hand this to the new owner. It has me very excited to try another guitar or two out of that wood.

Tell us a little more about the epoxy treatment....where did you read about this, and what is the purpose? I can see a benefit with zebrawood, it can splinter easily along grain lines, and the splits go forever, but were there other reasons for this treatment? Curious, I have wood for two more zebrawood guitars, and may try this. Keep up the good work!

_________________
Ken Hundley
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com

So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan

Hi Ken
LMI, Luthiers Mercantile Inc. They are located in Calif have been in business for many years. In their finish system material I pulled up the LSM Water Based Lacquer and under there was a bit about some of the guys using a wash coat of epoxy to fill the pores of the wood. I put on one thin coat of fast set epoxy thinned down with acetone by 30%. I used 30ml of epoxy, 6-7ml of fast set hardner and about 15 ml of acetone and stirred it up good so that it was blended and then used a throw away chip brush 2" one to put the epoxy on. It setup pretty fast but I let it dry over night and then sanded with wet/dry 150 grit with orbital sander and water and man it came out slick so I am sure at least 90% of the pores are filled good. I think once I get the back glued on I am going to give it a wash coat of LSM water based Lacquer on the inside and see how this turns out. Nothing like an experimental guitar and doing something new. I would bet it would work great for rosewood as that stuff is full of pores. The guys who were doing this admitted they were doing two or three coats and being careful not to sand thru to the wood again. So I am sure the final coats can be thin, lacquer, and buff out great.

I seen a program on TV the other night about rare woods and of course Rosewood is one of them and along with Ebony. They were saying that importing these items will not be around to much longer. Yikes....

_________________
Dreams are free, Reality cost money.

Ah, I understand....I do use epoxy as a pore filler, but not until the guitar is ready for finishing. I thought this was almost a pre-build treatment of the wood. I use System 3, which can be tough to use the first time or two, it has an odd ratio that is not 2 to 1, and if you don't get it right, it doesn't harden at all. Since you only use about a tablespoon full on the whole guitar, I started measuring with a mail scale....solved the problem. Once I have the right mass ratio, I mix in some silica to give more solids, and prevent shrinkage.

So I treat the back, sides, neck, and headplate this way, but this is usually just before putting on the laquer. I spoon it on, then use a bondo spreader to squeegee it into the pores, running 45 degrees to the grain. IT's amazing how far so little epoxy spreads. I also always sand down to wood, so that only the pores have the epoxy. You can do it either way, but its too easy to sand through in a spot or two, and then it never matches. Easier to scrape it all off and do a quick final sand, leaving a perfectly smooth surface with level pores. I usually do two applications, though with wenge or mahogany, sometimes I need to do three...they are so porous. I think you will be very happy with this type of pore fill. You can see the pores, yet they are full and level. The fact that you can see them gives more of a visual texture to the wood, allowing you to see into the pores for an almost 3D effect. Many of the paste type pore fillers that are somewhat color-matched seem very flat and uni-dimensional to me, and not to my taste.

LMI is a great company, with great products and great service as well. Anyway, like I said....lookin great so far.

_________________
Ken Hundley
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com

So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan

I never heard of this until I read the article on LMI. I suppose you have the nerve to do it and make it come out right. I may give it a shot once I get the guitar assembled and see what happens. I just finished my top this morning and then gave it a coat of the Water Based Laquer on the inside. I traced the linings on the edge and left those bare for the glue to get a good grip when attaching it to the body. I never done this before but have read about other builders doing it so hope it works okay.

_________________
Dreams are free, Reality cost money.

I didn't get it right the first, second, or third time, but finally figured it out. As many of you know from the boats, scraping uncured epoxy just plain sucks. Scraping cured epoxy is hard enough, but as I said, I finally figured it out.

I have not coated the inside of my guitars. I have seen it done, but have never really bought into it...there are millions of guitars out there without it that sound pretty darn good, so I figured why use more materials? Those that do, however, swear by it....guess it shows there's more than one way to skin that cat. I'll be interested in your take on it when it's complete.

I neglected to mention I like the inlay on the fingerboard, and I love the bookmatched head plate...hadn't thought of doing it that way.

Interesting that, in this forum, I haven't seen a mariner-themed guitar....at least some anchor/ships wheel themes....I'll have to put it on the list.

_________________
Ken Hundley
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com

So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan

Had my wife take a snap of me with my guitars so hope this doesn't scare you guys to bad!!!

_________________
Dreams are free, Reality cost money.

Ken, Gaffrig24 built a dulcimer that has sailboats for the sound holes.

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Alright! Looks good too, and so do your guitars, Jimmy!

Here's the one I finished for my sister:

_________________
Ken Hundley
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com

So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan

Man Jimmy, you got some serious talent sir! Great thread guys, the rest of you lot!
Now this is the real shot too. Now bring the String Bass out and play us a tune.

Nice looking guitar Ken but am curious as to what the hole is on the upper bout?? Also what are you using for final finish?? Do you have a buffing machine?? I never had a buffer but did use some wool buffers in drill motors that seemed to work okay. My old ones are now shot so will have to acquire some new ones to give it a go again.
Jimmy

Hey Oyster, thanks for the nice comments. I won't show you the uglies on them that happen here and there. Guess it is like boat building, you can hide some of them and only you know were the rest of them are....hehehehe...
Jimmy

_________________
Dreams are free, Reality cost money.

Jimmy-
great shot of you and your boxes!
...need the YouTube video now! so we can hear the performance
-Billy

_________________
(insert witty phrase here)
Billy's Belle Isle website

Awesome!! Everyone!!!

Roberta

_________________
Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

We are going to have to open up a all category of all of you with special talents

_________________
Dave

My Riviera build - the Midnight Cry Project

Video of Midnight in Action
Blog

Few things in the world measure up to the thrill and satisfaction of boating in a boat that you built.