When dry the whole assembly is sanded and tidied up.
The back is now glued on using Titebond glue.
While the back glue is drying I route the neck for the 2-way truss-rod.
And then for the two carbon fibre rods that go each side of the truss-rod.
The carbon fibre rods are glued in using Titebond glue.
Then a mahogany filler strip is made to cover the top of the truss rod. The truss-rod doesn't need a filler strip to function but I like the completed surface to the neck that it gives.
The filler strip is glued with Titebond glue and clamped to dry.
With the back glued, next cross grain reinforcement strips are made for the back join. These are made from the back offcuts and are glued using cyanocrylate glue. This leaves minimal squeeze-out marks.
At last the top can be glued on and the box closed - perhaps the 13th is an appropriate day!! I use Titebond glue. The top has a few washcoats of shellac on so that when the brown tape is carefully removed, it doesn't pull out any of the top fibres.
This view shows the side sound port.
14th- 21st June 2006:
I've been a bit lazy in posting but busy in the workshop so here goes. When the top is dry, the tape is removed and the top and back are trimmed level with the sides using my binding jig.
The binding is then taped together and bent to shape in the Fox Bender. I am using curly koa binding with an integral black/koa/black side purfling.
The binding channels are then cut on the top and back using my binding jig.
The channels are checked for fit and the bindings taped in "dry" to ensure they fit properly and are trimmed to size with the joints appropriately "butted". This process is repeated until the fit is perfect. This uses lots of tape but is worth the end result.
Next the bindings are removed and the end-graft channel routed out. The end-graft is two pieces of the binding with a piece of Kingwood in the centre. The Kingwood matches the theme of rosette, peghead veneers, fingerboatd and bridge.
After a dry run to check everything fits, the end-graft is glued in using Titebond and held in place with brown tape - I love this stuff, it has loads of uses!
When dry, the end graft is scraped level with the sides, and then using the binding jig, the top and bottom of the end-graft are routed to the depth of the binding minus the side purfling. The exposed purflings are then mitred and the top and back bindings have their purflings trimmed and mitred to fit the end-graft.
The top bindings are then glued in using Titebond making sure that there are no gaps between them and the top or sides. Normally I use top and back purfling, but I want to go for a more simple look on this instrument and am not using any.
The front cavity for the adjustable neck joint is then routed out. More details can be found about this process on the adjustable neck joint page.
Then the back bindings are glued on and taped. I use a clamp from front to back to ensure that the binding is secure at the front joint where they meet.
Back to the neck. The headstock veneer has the end that sits against the nut sanded to the right angle, and then is kept in the correct position using small pegs and holes drilled through. The veneer is Kingwood.
The veneer is glued using Titebond glue and clamped up.
When the glue is dry, the headstock shape is mrked out.
The peg-head is cut and sanded to the correct shape and then the baclk of the peg-head is shaped for the volute using the belt sander.
The back veneer - also Kingwood - is bent to fit the volute on the hot-pipe and rough cut to shape.
This is then glued with Titebond and clamped.
When dry, this is trimmed to the final shape with a flush-bearing guide router bit.
The stacked heel is built up layer by layer, pinned to keep the centre laminations aligned and then glued up using hot hide glue.
The tenon is cut on the bandsaw and the heel positioned on the neck.
The stacked heel is positioned using dowels and glued up using hot hide glue.
The nut end of the fingerboard is squared and the fingerboard marked out with a centre line, taper, and at the 16th fret where the neck meets the body. The taper marks allow for the koa binding that will be put on later. The fingerboard is Kingwood and was very kindly given to me by Russell Rose of Avandel Guitars.
The fret positions are then marked out.
Here are the fret positions marked.
The taper is cut on the bandsaw and then planed to the correct size.
Next the fret slots are cut using a saw with the correct kerf for the fretwire.
Using my laminate trimmer on my circle cutting jig, the end of the fretboard is routed for where it meets the soundhole.
Again, allowance for the width of the koa binding has to be made.
The koa binding is bent on the hot pipe and then glued on to the fingerboard using Titebond glue and brown tape.
The top of the fret slots are chamfered with a triangular needle file to hep prevent chipping of the fretboard if they are removed for a re-fret at a later stage of the instruments life.
The side bindings of koa are then glued on using Titebond glue and brown tape. The fretboard is slightly higher than the binding so that when the fretboard is radiused, the binding stays at its maximum height at the edges.
Here is the bound fretboard resting on the guitar body to show how it will fit.
