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xoxoxoBruce 01-17-2019 11:52 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Maybe 6" Q-tips would help.

lumberjim 01-18-2019 01:54 AM

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1690acf07c.jpg

I need to go from the big pool to the oval with the output jack, and from the big pool back to the pocket on the rear to ground the bridge and claw.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f2a22e1d7b.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d5133e2609.jpg


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3819d688c5.jpg

The pots:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1d14b4ae86.jpg
I had to Un solder the output jack so I can run the wires through the holes I just drilled.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d4aea85428.jpg
I made sure to mark the black wire post with a sharpie
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...60cdf70b0e.jpg
And then put it back on the board it came on until it gets installed. I can't remember if I ordered a jack face plate.

Gravdigr 01-18-2019 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumberjim (Post 1023456)
...perfectly perpendicularly.

Say that 5 times.

Straight. Straight. Straight. Straight. Straight.:p:

Do ya have a ballpark idea of time invested so far?

lumberjim 01-18-2019 12:03 PM

Nope! Nor money spent. I said I would do that, but I was lying.

Shame. I'd be mildly interested to know.


Actually, most of the equipment is going to serve for years to come, so adding up what's actually going to be part of the guitar isn't going to be all that much.

If I had to guess on time spent hands on I'd say 30-40 hours. But waaay more than that spent watching videos and reading forums in preparation. I wonder, if I had everything I need in parts, and not counting time for glue and paint/stain to dry, if I could do one in a week.

Speaking of paint....I'm going to paint it at some point. The wood isn't pretty enough to stain it.

I've been thinking turquoise the whole time, but haven't bought the paint yet.

glatt 01-18-2019 12:18 PM

See, if you assign the cost of all that equipment to the guitar, it will be a very expensive guitar. But then all that equipment is a windfall. It's like it's free or something.

lumberjim 01-18-2019 03:02 PM

And I probably wouldn't have bought the tools and machines if I weren't building a guitar. So, I should sell the guitar for the cost of its actual parts, and claim the cost of the equipment as a loss on my taxes. Genius!

Happy Monkey 01-18-2019 03:23 PM

Sorry, unless you incorporate, last year's tax reform took that option away.

Not that you could have claimed more than what you sold the guitar for, as long as it was over 2% of your AGI, under the old rules.

lumberjim 01-18-2019 03:56 PM

Thanks, Captain Obvious. I'll just cancel the meeting I had scheduled with my accountant.

Happy Monkey 01-18-2019 04:10 PM

Heh, your post reminded me that TurboTax always asked about "hobby income", and I got curious what it entailed. I was a bit surprised to learn that the deduction had been eliminated recently. I wonder if TurboTax is going to remove that question...

The second sentence started more flippant, but got super-lawyery through several edits, as I realized several times that I had misinterpretd the link...

lumberjim 01-20-2019 01:48 PM

Well, my fret install lesson got canceled today. I had a feeling. He's having some relationship issues and is too upset to think straight, hasn't slept etc. I know what that's like, so I'm bummed, but I feel for him. We'll try for Weds.

So I've got some free time. Remember how I forgot to use a clamping caul on the fret board? I had an idea for how to make one.

It needs to be roughly neck length and width. That's easy. What's tricky is getting the inverted radius on one surface. I was using the table saw to rip and cut the 2x4 to size, and thought.... What if I put the blade way down to where only 1/8"or so is cutting, and ran the board across sideways? I do enjoy misusing tools, and if I can hold it in a straight line as I work it across....

So, I have those rail clamps from routing the truss rod slot.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2983b6b173.jpg

Lining it up was tricky

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f588f56a6e.jpg

I used a very thin slice of 2x4 from a previous cut to find where the blade stopped cutting, and to protect the clamp.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...672b8a2628.jpg

I ran it through, spun it around and ran it through again. Came out better than I thought it would.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5d37b2305f.jpg

And happens to be just about 7.25" radius
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f863a83bab.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...959e26cf6d.jpg

lumberjim 01-20-2019 01:52 PM

Wood burning kit to label it
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...94c0776120.jpg

And tried n true oil to seal it.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dba80c0989.jpg

I could sell these.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...304821d737.jpg

Oh, and last night I made a thing to hold the frets while I work
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7d00a37bb8.jpg

xoxoxoBruce 01-20-2019 07:22 PM

Very good thinking. :thumb:
Also a reminder the blade doesn't discriminate against body parts coming at it from any angle.

lumberjim 01-21-2019 12:05 AM

Measure twice, cut once, think of three ways you could cut your finger off before you start.

Gravdigr 01-21-2019 10:34 AM

Never jack off a chainsaw.

lumberjim 01-23-2019 04:41 PM

So I'm here at Pete's right now. Got here about noon. As soon as he saw my neck, the plan for today changed.

"looks like a wood shop neck"

Huh.

"ok, grab that vise and change it to that one. Now put your neck in right there by the heel. Don't go past that line. Take the neck at the 1st fret down to. 98" and like 1.1" at the 12th."

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f43c8fc914.jpg
Check!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...facf7355ba.jpg
And Check!

" ok, now take that rasp and cut it down flat in between"

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...60a3e0b19b.jpg
Also check!

"draw the center line again and scribble with a pencil all over the area between it and half way to the fret board"

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...eace06ce04.jpg
Ok
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...93790e4a54.jpg
Now what?

"Round it over"

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8dd59f12be.jpg
Did that.

lumberjim 01-23-2019 05:31 PM



And more fine shaping after that. I keep getting interrupted by his other customers coming and going, but having a lot of fun.

On to fretting finally now...

I cut off lengths of fret for the odd number frets and set them in the porcupine I made.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ca4588608b.jpg

Then use these pliers to over radius them.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...084fe0a9c6.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...149348f102.jpg
So they are curved just a bit more than the fret board.

We had some killer BBQ for lunch
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9ed4b8175d.jpg

glatt 01-23-2019 07:52 PM

That's so cool that you can do that there.

fargon 01-23-2019 08:06 PM

What did you have?

lumberjim 01-23-2019 09:04 PM

It is So cool. And I'm welcome back anytime.!

The best way of inserting the frets into the slots is with a press. I have a bit that fits into my drill press and holds these little brass cauls that have radiuses. Radii? Pete has a machine that does just that.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ea74d4c10d.jpg

Oh, here's Pete:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...05d0daeaf6.jpg

My neck is pretty chunky though, so I struggled with that.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...aa45b0de70.jpg

I finished them the old fashioned way. Hammer time.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c075d25065.jpg

Then trim the ends. Which is why we did every other. So you can get the clippers in there.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...418ac31365.jpg
Voila
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...197e0aeb5d.jpg

xoxoxoBruce 01-23-2019 11:18 PM

No, no voila, how are you going to finish the ends of the frets so they don't shred your hand, and not cut into the wood?

lumberjim 01-24-2019 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fargon (Post 1023961)
What did you have?

Chicken platter. It was proper.

I could live in that town.

lumberjim 01-24-2019 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 1023970)
No, no voila, how are you going to finish the ends of the frets so they don't shred your hand, and not cut into the wood?

I'm going to file them by hand, and then I'm going to spend hours leveling and polishing them.

I'll show you

lumberjim 01-25-2019 12:34 AM

I dinged my fret board it seems.

Far edge near the fret on the left.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...df00b6c64b.jpg

I know some magic though. And I have that new burn in kit.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...661f60d70d.jpg

It's a little oven that you heat knives up in. I ordered 2 knives, but one was back ordered. Really? Cuz you heat one while you work with one.




Wet the area around the dent, and let the water soak in a bit. Apply heat directly to the spot. I've seen guys use a soldering iron to do this, but you have to keep a wet cloth over the work with them. The knife is clean, and cooler so you don't have to worry about burning the wood unless you try to.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f729759e16.jpg

The knife :

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...26a5515f51.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...63a3191a52.jpg

After the heat gun, I touched it up with super fine sanding sticks.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0c3ac25849.jpg

Pretty frigging gone. You can see a slight discoloration if you know where to look, but no dent at all.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...11ea9c3f64.jpg

xoxoxoBruce 01-25-2019 01:36 AM

Steam is a powerful force.

glatt 01-25-2019 07:11 AM

nicely done

Clodfobble 01-25-2019 07:24 AM

Wow, that's impressive.

Griff 01-25-2019 09:21 AM

Sweet!

Gravdigr 01-25-2019 11:23 AM

Kinda/sorta similar to the way ya take a ding out of a cue stick.

Do a lot of bends right there, and you'll have the rest scraped away in no time.

Good job.

lumberjim 01-25-2019 01:06 PM

Yeah, I put a few more in this moring while inserting the rest of the frets. I had to stop with 3 to go cuz I needed a nap before work today. Plus, I'm having a hard time keeping it still. I've ordered a sand bag for this job, but that's not coming until Monday. I'll improvise something tonight to finish.

The sand bag deadens the hammer blow so the board doesn't bounce back. I think I have sand somewhere....

Flint 01-25-2019 01:12 PM

wow, cool.

lumberjim 01-25-2019 10:41 PM

Tonight, I fixed 2 issues. First, the pick guard. Because of the problem I had with the neck length, the pick guard was too far up in relation to the neck pocket. So I had to trim that back.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...52c94853dc.jpg
That was then

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4039d8b356.jpg
This is now. Looks weird.


But!

Once the neck is on, I don't think it looks so weird.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...430e8f88ab.jpg

PhatPix 01-25-2019 10:42 PM

Why skipping every other fret?

lumberjim 01-25-2019 10:52 PM

So that when you trim the ends of the frets, the nippers fit in there. Thinking ahead. That's key. Benefiting from Pete's experience here.

xoxoxoBruce 01-25-2019 11:09 PM

1 Attachment(s)
You just need a tightrope walker. ;)

lumberjim 01-26-2019 12:17 AM

Oh. The other problem was that the control cavity was too shallow for the 3 Way pickup switch. This guitar is 1 3/4" thick. The switch is 1 3/8" tall.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...104b5f3b5a.jpg

The ferris wheel looking thing in back.

I had stopped at 7/8" deep for the cavities. So I got to try out my new plunge router.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5ab0ae30ae.jpg
It has cool depth stop features, but no light.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4f12df798b.jpg
I needed another half inch under where the switch goes. The pickups and knob pots should be ok. We'll see. But I only routed the area where the switch goes for now.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6fc73e187b.jpg
Fits in there nice now.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9d93cc0eb7.jpg

These controls are by a company called 920D. They recreate iconic sounds by artists. This one is the Jimi Hendrix 60's set up. His original sound as wired by so and so. They have a pencil drawing of the design, presumably drawn by the guy who set his guitars up back then.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8be07ee42d.jpg

I can hear Jimi

xoxoxoBruce 01-26-2019 11:25 AM

If you redesigned that wheel to mount horizontal so the guitar could be made thinner, you could become a legend in yet another field.

lumberjim 01-26-2019 11:27 AM

I'm thinking maybe I'll chisel a slope off of the now high part of the control cavity instead of having that ledge there. I'm going to be lining that cavity with copper to insulate the cavity and that ledge would be tricky to do. Or maybe use the router with an angled cone type bit to get that nice and clean.....

lumberjim 01-26-2019 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 1024209)
If you redesigned that wheel to mount horizontal so the guitar could be made thinner, you could become a legend in yet another field.

I could edge mount it in a separate cavity....

Undertoad 01-26-2019 11:50 AM

Quote:

I could edge mount it in a separate cavity....
things that sound dirty but aren't

lumberjim 01-26-2019 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 1024209)
If you redesigned that wheel to mount horizontal so the guitar could be made thinner, you could become a legend in yet another field.

This has my wheels turning...

If I tipped it on its side, bent the post, and cut a semi circle slot in a pick guard, I could put that up by my thumb in a place that makes it easier to switch it. If I was careful, I could even put it on the back of the neck up above the nut. I wonder if longer wires would create more feedback...

lumberjim 01-27-2019 09:38 AM

Sand bags came and I finished the frets.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8156113b1c.jpg

Finished installing them that is. I need to dress the fret ends then level and shape them. I just got this tape caddie and 3 rolls of stew Mac orange tape in 3 sizes. The blue is just regular painting tape. So I have 1/4" - 1" for taping the fret board between the frets. About 1/4 of the way through taping, I remembered a trick I saw. You run a strip of tape along the length of the neck so that the protective tape lies over it on the end. This aids in removal afterwards.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5b344372ed.jpg

You can see about 6 frets up the tape ends are above the horizontal piece.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0f3663ee08.jpg

All taped up:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8f15e15a97.jpg

This is a fret dressing file
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...eb586b8ce5.jpg

You can see that the edges are smooth if you look close
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...95445b00de.jpg

I'm not sure I did things in the right order here. What I'm doing is rounding over the ends of each fret so they aren't sharp on the ends where your fingers wrap around. Next time I think I'll go at the edges with a flat file to bring them flush with the edge of the neck before taping. It felt smooth when I was done but then when the tape came off, it's still a bit scratchy. I'm going to have to revisit that. Do it right, or do it twice.

lumberjim 01-27-2019 09:53 AM

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2f83b0434a.jpgHere's why the edges of the file are smooth:



Here we are


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...718810c12e.jpg

Now, hammering the frets in leaves some texture in the frets themselves. I guess this is why using the press is the preferred method. To shape the tops of the frets, I have this file:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e93d1006b6.jpg

On this one, the flats are smooth but the edges have 2 different shaped files for contouring the fret tops.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...523ac987a6.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ae8d4c627f.jpg
One flatter and wider.

You run this over the frets to cut down to the lowest point left by the hammer blows. The steam trick won't work here, lol.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...039be50d70.jpg

This took a while
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...46a9911218.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7b1a70e787.jpg

lumberjim 01-27-2019 09:59 AM

Tape comes off
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dd13061607.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...22f5f4b93c.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...346284091a.jpg

Looks good... https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f53d19f96.jpg

Until you hold it just right under a light

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c87ccd0adb.jpg

See how the reflection dips in places?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f96a181043.jpg
That tells me I have work to do. About 2/3 of the way up especially

xoxoxoBruce 01-27-2019 10:13 AM

Tape holder, files, sandbags... you're gonna need a bigger boat. :haha:

lumberjim 01-27-2019 10:25 AM

Yeah, I'm already mentally eyeing the Harley side of the garage. Also thinking about a propane heater. My hands were numb last night.

xoxoxoBruce 01-27-2019 10:31 AM

Cold hands are bad, they make mistakes, and worse they get hurt. :(

lumberjim 01-27-2019 01:49 PM

This morning I got back after the fret ends. Filed each end of the 22 frets very carefully with the file, then sanded along the side of the neck using the 80 grit then 120 affixed to my leveling bar.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1b40772b5c.jpg
That's the blue thing in the background

Looks and feels much much better
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...44b57e71fc.jpg

Then I recrowned the ends. That little arrow shape is what I'm after.

Next I need to make sure the neck is flat.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6d5d254e4c.jpg

This little LED light helps. These things are awesome. $10 for a six pack. They stick in anywhere. I've got 2 mounted under the head of the drill press, and keep one handy fit things like this.


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cf077ed1a0.jpg

Not flat :

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d3463c6699.jpg

Twist the truss rod nut :

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3198312175.jpg

Now it's flat
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bcf0d84ec4.jpg

Next part is fun

PhatPix 01-27-2019 02:30 PM

Gotta shelter yer Putt.
Beginning to see some of why they get $325 and up for fret replacement.

Gravdigr 01-27-2019 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhatPix (Post 1024288)
Gotta shelter yer Putt.

...the hell?

lumberjim 01-27-2019 07:13 PM

He's refering to my Harley. It's covered in saw dust.

Next thing was leveling frets.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9ef9172cfd.jpg
Take a sharpie and color each fret. The metal thing is just me being careful.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e8f9e36208.jpg

Now the leveling beam comes out. This is its intended use. It's one of the first tools I bought for this hobby, and I've misused it several times before now. To good results each.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c3647a27ae.jpg

First couple passes are just to identify low frets.

I had 3 particularly low frets.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d487b14fef.jpg
These 3. #'s 8, 11 and 12.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...63df8407bf.jpg

These two were borderline replacement low. In hindsight, it would have saved me a lot of time if I had just pulled them and replaced them.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9f07431ee6.jpg

lumberjim 01-27-2019 08:28 PM

But I did eventually reach them. Left me with some wide flat frets in other places.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dc6389dac9.jpg

After the beam, I went with 220 grit on a 12" radius block, then 320 on a 16.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9142c0342c.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1390760463.jpg

The 12th was, at the end, left a C hair low.

But they're 99.4% level.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1ba9735d13.jpg

That light line test went better.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...75e7b9a314.jpg

Not perfect, but there's more to do yet.

Similar technique to the leveling job here. Red marker on the fret... You can see how flat it got.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0ab895abe9.jpg

I used the same files to shave the sides of the frets back and round them back to make the red line thin and in the middle.

lumberjim 01-27-2019 09:38 PM

Just to give you an idea of how long that took, here's one of the 22.



It's a fret rocker, not a thread rocker



There were 3 left.

Then I polished them

These are fret rubbers.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7bb456ec13.jpg
Basically erasers with grit. 200 to 8000

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9b47626814.jpg

After sanding lightly with 320 and 400 paper, I went through each with half a dozen or so strokes.

My belly will explain




After they are nice and shiny, I applied a very modest amount of this stuff :

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4069d71b53.jpg

Immediate improvement in appearance



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0257418218.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e0a469fb13.jpg

And the light test?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6e561de725.jpg
Laser straight

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c365286351.jpg

Griff 01-28-2019 06:25 AM

I admire the precision man.

glatt 01-28-2019 08:19 AM

It's really looking sweet.

Happy Monkey 01-28-2019 10:40 AM

Very nice. I'd comment more, but I know absolutely nothing about guitars, except the big part is usually at the bottom.

xoxoxoBruce 01-28-2019 10:48 AM

When you show it to people just accept the hosannas and accolades, don't try to explain the coulda, shoulda, wouldas, unless they've built one. :yesnod:

Undertoad 01-28-2019 10:51 AM

It makes me think of all the shortcuts the manufacturers are taking. I could see automating some of this but certainly not all of it.

lumberjim 01-28-2019 11:37 AM

Thanks! I need to poke the tuner peg holes in that and figure out the nut, then it's done!


Weds I'm going to get more into the body and hardware installation. Then figure out finish. This full time job shit is getting inconvenient.

xoxoxoBruce 01-28-2019 12:11 PM

Very inconvenient. :lol2:

Gravdigr 01-28-2019 02:17 PM

Jobs are work.:bolt:


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