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Posts tagged rosewood
Bailey custom acoustic from 40,000 year old Kauri-p5
May 30th
…Finishing…
Read Part1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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- The fretboard is masked up
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- Close-up of masking on neck heel
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- The neck ready for spraying
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- …the first coat sinks into the grain as is dries, which is why rubbing and flatting are necessary
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- The neck is sprayed with 5 coats rubbing between coats and flatting before the last
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- The soundhole is masked
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- A stick is attached to hold while spraying the body
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- A sealer coat has been applied….
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- …the body is masked where the neck touches the body and under the bridge
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- The area where the neck touches the body is masked
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- The first gloss coat has been applied
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- The body will get 5 build coats then a finishing coat after ‘flatting’
Sandy had originally asked for an oiled finish but this guitar is so special I thought it deserved to be given the full gloss treatment. I only use nitrocellulose lacquer for my instruments as I believe it looks and sounds better than anything else that is available.
The rosewood used for the back and sides of the body has quite large open pores so first the grain was filled. Natural filler was coloured until it matched the body and then applied with a plastic scraper. The excess is removed quickly with a clean scraper before sanding.
I masked the sound hole and then a coat of sealer was sprayed. After this the body was masked where the neck and bridge will be attached. These will be glued so a good wood to wood contact is required. The sealer coat is easy to remove and prevents the masking tape from ripping the delicate fibres of the soundboard when the tape is removed later.
Next five coats of gloss was applied over two days with plenty of time in between for drying and the surface was rubbed with a scotchbrite pad each time between coats.
After three days rest the surface was sanded flat with 400g before applying the last finish coat. Now it will hang for as long as possible before polishing….It has to be finished for Sandy to take with him on his move to New Zealand so I will have to check the diary!
Bailey custom acoustic from 40,000 year old Kauri-p3
May 11th
Working on the neck
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- The body with its ancient kauri soundboard is pretty much finished, now its time to concentrate on the neck
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- The headstock is clamped to the bench while the neck is hand carved
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- I carve the main part of the neck first, the heel and blend into the headstock will be tidied up later
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- A wider shot of the work bench with neck carving tools laid out
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- Carving the heel with a chisel
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- The neck is rough carved, it will be sanded later
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- The neck is mounted onto the body
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- Rear view of the neck mounted to the body
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- The guitar is strapped into the string tension simulator for levelling the fretboard
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- The offset position marker dots are marked out and 3mm holes are drilled for the inlays
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- Mother of pearl 3mm dots glued in then sanded flush. The neck is then removed for fretting
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- The frets are pre-bent and cut slightly longer than needed
After the neck was carved, I strapped it into the string tension simulator. This simply holds the guitar firm while pushing up on the back of the headstock and pulling down over the nut area. The amount of pressure is adjustable, which enables me to ‘dial in’ the stresses on the neck as if the strings were on and tuned to pitch. This greatly improves accuracy and removes any guess work from the equation. With the fretboard level the neck was removed for fretting to avoid damaging the ancient kauri soundboard.
Well it is starting to look like a guitar…I still need to put the frets and the side dots. I will also glue on a rosewood heel cap, made using an off-cut from the back. It needs the obligatory Bailey logo, then the neck can be sanded and the guitar will be ready for a finish.
Bailey custom acoustic from 40,000 year old Kauri
Apr 14th
…Amazing honour bestowed upon us!…
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- mahogany and rosewood neck laminates
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- Rosewood back
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- ‘Ancient Kauri’ soundboard
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- spalted maple rosette
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- cutting the rosette
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- gluing the rosette
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- planing the headstock
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- The angled headstock
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- rosewood sides
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- The sound hole is cut
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- routing the truss rod slot
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- scalloped bracing
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- gluing the heel block
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- gluing the sides
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- centre-seam reinforcement diamonds
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- Three piece rosewood back
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- inscription
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- ‘The Southern Cross’
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- ‘closing the box’
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- sealing the body of the guitar by gluing the back on
Sandy turned up about five weeks ago to tell us he was moving to New Zealand and he had some wood he wanted me to make into a guitar for him before he leaves. He has been on the course twice and then went on to build several more very nice guitars at home for friends and family, so I’m pleased that he wants one of mine. It’s always an honour to make someone a guitar but this one even more so, as he supplied some extra special wood he had collected over the years during his guitar making adventures.
The soundboard is 40,000 years old (!) Ancient NZ Kauri- he explained how trees had fallen into peat bogs and been preserved…just….waiting to be dug up turned into a guitar! It is the only piece I have ever seen, so I will need to be extra careful. It is quite soft and light, like cedar or spruce, but I will be able to tell more when I have worked it some more. It is quartersawn, golden in colour with a faint ripple, has a great ‘tap tone’ and should make a great soundboard. It is a rare priviledge to be making it into a guitar.
The rest of the guitar body is rosewood as supplied by Sandy. The back was not quite wide enough for the shape he wanted (bootlegger) so we decided to make a three piece back. Two glue lines means two centre-seam reinforcement strips as you can see in the picture..
As if that wasn’t enough he also gave me a side-bending jig and a pile of wood that he didn’t want to take with him, so BIG THANKS for that as well!
The ‘box’ is complete and ready for binding and I’ve already started the neck so I think I am over half way there with the wood work- hope you enjoy the pics…
Custom Build – Set neck, Single cut, Flamed Cap- P3
Oct 2nd
….Got the fretboard glued on and working on the body…..
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- The fretboard is cut to length
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- I laid out the inlays to see how they looked
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- The truss rod fillet is planed flat
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- Glue is applied to the fretboard
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- The fretboard is clamped in place
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- The holes are drilled for the controls
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- The control cavities have been routed
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- Cutting out the body shape on the bandsaw
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- The body ready to have the neck fitted
It’s been a very busy week…..I am working on several custom builds at the moment apart from this one. We also had three gigs this week instead of the usual two. Still, making good progress….
As you can see from the pictures I have made the fretboard and glued it on, but I couldn’t resist laying out the inlays to see how they looked first.
While the glue was drying I did some work on the body.
The pickup holes and control cavities were routed first then I cut out the profile. The body is now ready for the neck to be fitted into it.
Next I will finish the neck and fit it to the body……..
