September 30, 2006
Today I started creating an outside mold. Kinkead, and most of the folks on OLF use an outside mold. So I cut up 8 pieces of MDF per the Kinkead book. 4 pieces of MDF will create 1 half of the mold. So here's a pic before glue up. I used Titebond II for glue up. I spread the glue on each face with a foam staining brush. I need to get one of those roller things that Norm uses. After glue up, I put my quick release clamps to use. Titebond II says that it has to set for at least 30 minutes. So, after thirty minutes, I removed all the clamps, put the mold in the floor and put a Sun Sparc Station 20 on it for weight. I repeated the process to glue up the mirroredhalf of the mold. At this point I set the clamped up mold on top of the old computer. Then put a couple of bricks on it for weight. I let the mold set overnight.
At this point, I had not made my Lexan template of the body. While the glue was curing on the mold halves I thought I would cut out the Lexan template. I repeated the process for creating the template I did at the beginning, with one exception. Instead of cutting out the template on the bandsaw, I decided to try using a jigsaw to cut out the template. BIG mistake! The jigsaw ended up melting the Lexan. And the part of the Lexan that didn't melt shattered. Oh yeah, that was my last sheet of Lexan. I'll try again tomorrow.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Template continued...
I like to keep my brain busy while watching TV. So, while watching the Falcons do the best they could to lose to the Saints, I decided to draw out one more guitar body. I dug around on the internet and found some dimensions for the length, upper/lower bout, and waist of a Gibson Advanced Jumbo (AJ) question #3. The re-issue AJ is one of my favorite guitars (I wish I owned one). I love the way it sounds and plays. So, I thought why not base my guitar on the AJ dimensions. I used the length and the other dimensions I found from various net sources for the AJ. I used the ratio for the vertical location of the bouts and waist that I had calculated for previous attempts. Following the process described above I drew out a half template on construction paper, then traced that and created a full body cutout. The full body cutout I ended up with came out really nice. I am going to make a dread!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Template Layout
Today I started following the process laid out in the Cumpiano book. I gathered my measuring instruments, a large piece of construction paper, a piece of Lexan and got started. Cumpiano suggests making the template out of MDF, plywood, thin aluminum, or even cardboard. I saw a website (probably OLF) where someone had used Lexan/Plexiglass because they could see through it. I thought that was a great idea and decided that would be the material I use for my template.
1. I marked off the vertical length of the body.
2. I measured the height of the waist at 6 7/8" and marked it on the vertical.
3. I measured the horizontal of the waist at 4 7/8" and marked it.
4. Now it was time to mark the upper bout. Cumpiano provides a horizontal measurement for the upper and lower bouts but not a vertical one. So I had to guess. And that leads to question #1.
5. I guessed at 3" for the vertical of the upper bout. I based this measurement off my $160 Alvarez dread. And I then marked the 5 7/8" horizontal.
6. I guessed at 14 1/4" for the vertical of the lower bout. I based this measurement on the Alvarez too. And I then marked the horizontal at 8".
7. Now it's time for the curves. But then, Cumpiano threw me a curve. He says basically to "freehand" the curves. Wow, really? Ok, I guess I can do that. And that leads to question #2.
So after an hour, literally, of trying to freehand beautiful guitar curves I grab the Alvarez and try to get an idea of how the curves should look. I spend the next two hours refining the curves out and getting them just perfect, or so I thought (tha is called foreshadowing). I was ready to create my template. So I grabbed a piece of clear Lexan that I had picked up from the Borg and placed it over my drawing. I took a decent size nail and sharpened it to a fine point with a sander. Then, I traced around my drawing etching the Lexan with the nail. This was easy to do because, well, the Lexan is clear! I took the Lexan over to the bandsaw to cut out my shape. This is where lesson learned #1 happened. I finally got the Lexan template cut out and cleaned up Tip #1. I grabbed my newly constructed template and ran upstairs to show my lovely wife (hereafter known as "Chicky"). Remember that previous foreshadowing? She looked at it for a minute. Said it was nice, then she said "Hold it up to the Alvarez". That is where my "freehand" mistakes were glaring. Chicky suggested that I create a full size drawing on a piece of construction paper so we could see the whole shape Tip #2. Once, I had the full shape of the guitar I started wondering about Cumpiano's dimension for the waist. I decided I may have to change the waist measurement for myself. After much comparison it turned out that my lower bout was too high, and my upper bout was too low. I measured the Alvarez length, and the verticals of the upper, waist, and lower bout. I computed the ratio of the Alvarez and the drawing I had constructed. For the upper bout I was about a 1/4" off. For the lower bout almost a full inch! Time to rethink this and go back to the drawing board. Using my newly calculated ratios I redrew the guitar. Chicky and I agree it was much better...
1. I marked off the vertical length of the body.
2. I measured the height of the waist at 6 7/8" and marked it on the vertical.
3. I measured the horizontal of the waist at 4 7/8" and marked it.
4. Now it was time to mark the upper bout. Cumpiano provides a horizontal measurement for the upper and lower bouts but not a vertical one. So I had to guess. And that leads to question #1.
5. I guessed at 3" for the vertical of the upper bout. I based this measurement off my $160 Alvarez dread. And I then marked the 5 7/8" horizontal.
6. I guessed at 14 1/4" for the vertical of the lower bout. I based this measurement on the Alvarez too. And I then marked the horizontal at 8".
7. Now it's time for the curves. But then, Cumpiano threw me a curve. He says basically to "freehand" the curves. Wow, really? Ok, I guess I can do that. And that leads to question #2.
So after an hour, literally, of trying to freehand beautiful guitar curves I grab the Alvarez and try to get an idea of how the curves should look. I spend the next two hours refining the curves out and getting them just perfect, or so I thought (tha is called foreshadowing). I was ready to create my template. So I grabbed a piece of clear Lexan that I had picked up from the Borg and placed it over my drawing. I took a decent size nail and sharpened it to a fine point with a sander. Then, I traced around my drawing etching the Lexan with the nail. This was easy to do because, well, the Lexan is clear! I took the Lexan over to the bandsaw to cut out my shape. This is where lesson learned #1 happened. I finally got the Lexan template cut out and cleaned up Tip #1. I grabbed my newly constructed template and ran upstairs to show my lovely wife (hereafter known as "Chicky"). Remember that previous foreshadowing? She looked at it for a minute. Said it was nice, then she said "Hold it up to the Alvarez". That is where my "freehand" mistakes were glaring. Chicky suggested that I create a full size drawing on a piece of construction paper so we could see the whole shape Tip #2. Once, I had the full shape of the guitar I started wondering about Cumpiano's dimension for the waist. I decided I may have to change the waist measurement for myself. After much comparison it turned out that my lower bout was too high, and my upper bout was too low. I measured the Alvarez length, and the verticals of the upper, waist, and lower bout. I computed the ratio of the Alvarez and the drawing I had constructed. For the upper bout I was about a 1/4" off. For the lower bout almost a full inch! Time to rethink this and go back to the drawing board. Using my newly calculated ratios I redrew the guitar. Chicky and I agree it was much better...
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