Going to build a new "old" guitar

[dgimcmillan]

I’m really looking forward to following this!

Are you sticking to the original bracing patterns, or will you modernize them for more structural support?

Ian

[whitespruce]

I’m really looking forward to following this!

Are you sticking to the original bracing patterns, or will you modernize them for more structural support?

Ian

We will try to do everything as exact to original as we can

g

[Fred Blom]

This is already fun to watch!

[Eben]

Coolness! Something like 20 years ago I worked on one from this era it was a pretty fascinating little guitar, so this will be fun to watch indeed!

[whitespruce]

Nothing too exciting today. Did get the sides bent.

IMG_7450.JPG

Other than that, spent part of the day trying to learn how to sharpen and use gravers. Will need to do a bunch of engraving on brass for the plates on the tuners. Any tips would be appreciated.

g

[Pat Foster]

<snip>

Other than that, spent part of the day trying to learn how to sharpen and use gravers. Will need to do a bunch of engraving on brass for the plates on the tuners. Any tips would be appreciated.

g

Powerful magnifier!

[Jason]

If magnification is what you need, the pros use stereo microscopes. I use a stereo microscope for watchmaking and electronics. With the right setup, you can get light magnification (3.5X) with about 8" working distance (the space between what you're working on, and the bottom of the scope). Plenty for the workpiece and tools. These sorts can go up to 180X, and you'd be surprised what all they come in handy for. I recently had to use it to fix my glasses (if you get the right eyepieces, you can use them without glasses), and I've used it to fix skipping grooves in vinyl records. When 3yo gets old enough, we'll do all sorts of fun microscopy things. I want to say I've seen models similar to mine in the neighborhood of $200 (I wish that's all I paid for mine!), and I can get you a link if that's of interest. Might be too much money for what you have in mind, but it'd definitely the right tool for the job.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Really cool stuff here! Jason, that gear making video was depressingly inspiring.
And Grant—holy cow—even doing your own engraving! These kinds of posts show me what a slug I really am. This will be fascinating to watch. From the comfort of my sofa…

Steve