Well, I don't know about y'all, but I learned the iron thang from Grant!
E
Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Haven't been posting, but have been busy in the shop. Finished cutting the binding ledges and bent some walnut binding on my new bending iron...
It's a $5 curling iron from the local grocery store. One with a 'high heat' setting. I also tried the supersoft on 2 of the bindings and regular water spritz on the other 2. Let the supersoft soak in for a day, and I could definitely feel them go plastic as I bent them. Much faster than the water, but they bent almost too fast causing me to break one. In the end I think it was a toss-up. But I will try it again I'm sure.
Glued the binding on using binding tape.
Leaving a trough just wide enough for the abalone sandwiched between 2 strips of purfling.
Ready for installing the abalone purfling...
Raymond
It's a $5 curling iron from the local grocery store. One with a 'high heat' setting. I also tried the supersoft on 2 of the bindings and regular water spritz on the other 2. Let the supersoft soak in for a day, and I could definitely feel them go plastic as I bent them. Much faster than the water, but they bent almost too fast causing me to break one. In the end I think it was a toss-up. But I will try it again I'm sure.
Glued the binding on using binding tape.
Leaving a trough just wide enough for the abalone sandwiched between 2 strips of purfling.
Ready for installing the abalone purfling...
Raymond
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Installing the abalone purfling...
First I removed all the pieces from the cardboard. They're glued on, and I probably could do it easier if I soaked the whole thing in water to remove all the pieces and the glue residue at the same time, but instead I sit by the TV and take the pieces off one at a time and fit them around the edge. With no b/w/b purfling on either side it's easy to find where the curve fits.
Once I have a rough layout of what fits where, I remove them all and lay them out in order starting from the bottom and working up both sides.
I center the first piece at the bottom so the purfling joint is in the middle of a piece of abalone. I use blue masking tape to hold the purfling in the trough while I fit the abalone in-between. Last time the fit was a little tight and I had to do quite a bit of filing and prodding to fit the pieces... This time it was a little loose so the pieces went in real easy and quick. My bends are sharper than the pre-shaped pieces so at the cutaway and waist I had to break the pieces to get them to fit the curve. When I tried to use a tool to break them last time a couple shattered beyond use, so now I just break them by hand and didn't have any trouble. I left the tape on a couple of spots that didn't seem to want to stay in place, and then flooded the abalone with CA. A light coat of thin CA, followed by a heavy coat of thick CA. After several minutes I took the tape off and added another coat of thick.
The trough was a little looser than I would have liked, but I don't think there will be any gaps to fill. We'll see what it looks like after scraping and sanding flush.
Raymond
First I removed all the pieces from the cardboard. They're glued on, and I probably could do it easier if I soaked the whole thing in water to remove all the pieces and the glue residue at the same time, but instead I sit by the TV and take the pieces off one at a time and fit them around the edge. With no b/w/b purfling on either side it's easy to find where the curve fits.
Once I have a rough layout of what fits where, I remove them all and lay them out in order starting from the bottom and working up both sides.
I center the first piece at the bottom so the purfling joint is in the middle of a piece of abalone. I use blue masking tape to hold the purfling in the trough while I fit the abalone in-between. Last time the fit was a little tight and I had to do quite a bit of filing and prodding to fit the pieces... This time it was a little loose so the pieces went in real easy and quick. My bends are sharper than the pre-shaped pieces so at the cutaway and waist I had to break the pieces to get them to fit the curve. When I tried to use a tool to break them last time a couple shattered beyond use, so now I just break them by hand and didn't have any trouble. I left the tape on a couple of spots that didn't seem to want to stay in place, and then flooded the abalone with CA. A light coat of thin CA, followed by a heavy coat of thick CA. After several minutes I took the tape off and added another coat of thick.
The trough was a little looser than I would have liked, but I don't think there will be any gaps to fill. We'll see what it looks like after scraping and sanding flush.
Raymond
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
- Eben
- Chairman Emeritus
- Posts: 6152
- Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:58 am
- Include Off Topic: Yes
- Location: Lummi Bay, WA
- Contact:
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Whoa, Dude!
That's some serious bling factor!
E
That's some serious bling factor!
E
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Yeah, Debbie is a friend who is paying me to build her a guitar, because she liked the way my maple cutaway looked. She isn't a player (yet), and she liked the abalone rosette. Since that is really what she is paying for I decided to go blingy on this one. Wait until you see the bridge and pickguard...
Raymond
Raymond
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
- MrZ
- Posts: 125
- Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:24 pm
- Include Off Topic: Yes
- Location: Fort Worth Great State Texas
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Hey Ray,
that guitar looks so nice, i never did purfling with any shels but maybe some day.Wow, man.
Zdenko
that guitar looks so nice, i never did purfling with any shels but maybe some day.Wow, man.
Zdenko
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Just a couple of pictures after scraping the binding...
I've started working on the neck, but haven't taken any pictures yet...
Raymond
I've started working on the neck, but haven't taken any pictures yet...
Raymond
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
- Joe Sustaire
- Moderator
- Posts: 2640
- Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:41 pm
- Include Off Topic: Yes
- Location: Talihina, Oklahoma
Re: Curly Maple Cutaway for Debbie
Man, that is great looking Ray!
Joe
Joe
"I tell you we are here on earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you any different!"
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut