David R's OMFS sides getting bent out of shape :)

Here is a wonderfully figured set of Cocobolo for David Rs OMFS. They bent like butter.. I just love Coco!

Nice Butt! ;-)

0-12 Body is done!

Here she is! A little dry, no shellac so the color is less intense. It is completely in the white right now. The body is all done, the neck is roughed out and will be my focus for the next week. I hope to have this one in finish with in the next two weeks.
The bindings are Brazilian rosewood with a b/w/b side purflings and the top has a Koa/b/w/b purfling scheme.
This is also the first guitar that I have used what I call my petite binding scheme on, They are .180 tall, instead of the .250 that I have always used. Its a bit more difficult to execute because there is less room for error with the petite bindings.
But I do think its worth the extra effort, I think this will add a nice touch to my guitars.

0-12 Purflings

Here is a close up of the binding/purfling scheme that I used for the 0-12. From the binding in, Brazilian rosewood/koa/b/w/b/Top. I used a very petite b/w/b as I felt it was needed to keep the appointments to a minimum.

Coming along!

The 0-12 now has binding! On the back anyways :)
Tomorrow the top binding and purflings will be installed and this little guy will be ready for finish! Ill be working on the neck next week.

0-12 in the Ugly Duckling Stage

This weekend saw the 0-12 get closed up. Its starting to look like a guitar!
This is also what I call the Ugly Duckling Stage. The binding ledges have been cut and today it will get Brazilian Rosewood bindings installed to match the Rosette, bridge and fretboard.

Thanks for looking!

New Brazilian Rosewood set just in!

I haven't posted in a while, the Holidays have kept me busy (outside) of the shop. With that said, I did manage to get hold of a great set of Brazilian rosewood. This will soon be stickered and stacked for future use.

NEW Tonewood!

The UPS man, oh how I love it when he pulls in my drive way :-) He delivered this long awaited set of Macassar Ebony yesterday. I have wanted a stunning set like this for a long time! Now I have it stickered and waiting to be made into a guitar!

Somewhat boring process of lining the rims.

Here is the somewhat boring process of lining the rims. For this guitar I have chose to use standard triangle liners for the top to side joint. These liners came from a High Grade Sitka Piano sound board that was over 100 years old. I got them from a good friend Rob Busto of Paragon guitars.

The images show three different views of the liners being glued up, then the rim setting on the top. Enjoy!

More Rosettes!

Another rosette just completed.
This is a highly figured Koa Rosette inlaid in to an LS Redwood Top. It is for Paul Fs OMFS. We were going to do another outside ring, similar to the 0-12 rosette but decided it looked great with out. Anyways, same process as the coco rosette detailed below. One element of my guitars that I always strive for is the "understated" In doing this I try to keep the feature of the rosette, in this case its the Koa center, under .200 wide. Any thicker and it starts to look fat in my opinion.

Detour -- Right -- for redwood :)

If you've been following the building notes of the 0-12 you know that I wanted to put
a nice Italian top on it. I have since changed my mind, After all its my guitar so I can do that :-)

With my propensity toward redwood, I pulled a real nice set of "Carter TB Redwood" from the wood shelve and went to work. This guitar will be completely adorned with Brazilian rosewood appointments. I selected a nice chocolate brown piece for the rosette as well as the pyramid bridge. Below are a few pictures that show how its coming. Thanks as always for looking!

Making a rosette..

This weekend I installed a book matched Cocobolo rosette in to the Italian top for the O-12.

Here is how I did it :)

First process is to measure and cut the wood ring.


Here the ring has been cut out of the rosette blank, which was made from off cuts from the back.



Next I route a channel to inlay the cocobolo ring into. After routing the channel is sealed with shellac to prevent the coco from leaching into the open end grain of the top.



Next I test fit the ring. Just right, leaving enough room for the purflings.



Here the channel has been cut, the ring fit, and now I am dry fitting the b/w/b purfling strips.



After everything has been fit I flood the rosette with CA, or cyanoacrylic glue, better know as Super Glue :)





Next the rosette is run under the thickness sander to level it with the top, and here it is completed.



Thanks for looking!

David R's Cocobolo back is done!

David R's Cocobolo back is done and ready for the sides. Next is the rosette. You ready Dave!

ITS HERE!

The Cyclone came today! Guess I know what ill be doing this weekend!
Hey, Todd and Bernie! Got any plans tomorrow evening :)

Kidding of course..

More on shaping back braces.

In this pictorial I will show how I shape the back braces for my acoustic guitars. This example is once again Mike Crixell's LS Redwood/Flamed Koa OMFS. In this image I have taped a steel ruler over the center reinforcement strip as to not damage it as I slide the plane along the length of the brace. I start by marking the center of the brace with a pencil, then holding the plane at an angle I shave the edge of the brace until I reach the center mark. Then I do the opposite side the same way.

Here you can see the bottom of the plane and the triangular profile of the brace after its been shaped.

Here the braces have all been shape, and the ends scalloped. All that is left is some fine sanding and the back is complete

Below are a few more images of Mikes Guitar and The Little Italian Cocobolo.

Mike Crixells back, braced and ready for shaping.

Here is a little sequence of pictures that show how I brace a back. The first image shows
the center reinforcement strip being cut to accept a brace.







Here I am testing fitting a brace -- Perfect :)

Now all the braces are glued in place and clamped using the go-bar deck.






Finally after about 25 minutes I clean up the squeezout. The back will stay in the go-bar deck until the next day. It could come out as soon as 1 hour, but since I don't have to hurry it I will leave it until tomorrow.
Thanks for looking!

My Paradise

My paradise

Not a lot to say about this picture, other than this is my place, this is where id rather be than any where else in the world. Peaceful, quite (most of the time), a perfect environment for building guitars. I think the pictures says it all.

Tooling up!

Ready to make sawdust! The two new Dust making machines, a Grizzly edge sander and a Grizzly spindle sander are now powered up and tied in to the dust collection system. Some would say that these machines are " rotator cuff savers" as they help immensely in some of the very repetitive sanding motions that are involved in guitar making.

Heavenly Koa!

I was pulling some wood last night for a few guitars and came across this set, so I decide to run it through the sander and clean up one side a little. This is one seriously pretty set of Koa. I am trying to decide if I should do a dreadnought or an OMFS Cutaway.

Mike Crixells Koa back

Here is a super nice set of Koa that will eventually become a OM Fingerstylist with a cutaway. Mike wants all BRW appointments, and a top purfling of Koa. Here is the back, the back strip was just installed and scraped flush.

Cyclone dust collector on the way!

Not a lot of guitar work was done this weekend, that's not to say that I didn't spend all weekend in the shop.
I have headed my way a new Penn State Industries Cyclone dust collection system, and in preparation for it I plumbed my entire shop with hoses running to every power tool I own. Right now my little 1 horse Jet dust collector is hanging in there but its a little to much for it. I should have my Penn unit installed next week and that will just about rid my home of saw dust. My wife will be thrilled :-)

On the guitars, I joined and thinned the Italian spruce top for the Little O im building. This top is fantastic, it has a nice light bearclaw to it, and its very stiff, with a rich overtone filled tap. More later.

Full Frontal view

A picture from a friend

A past client of mine sent me this image today. I love getting stuff like this, and thought id share.
Thanks Tom!

Lance

Here they are together.

This picture shows a more natural color for both the top and back. I think there a match made in Heaven.

Bear claw Italian Spruce top for the O

Here is the top I will be using for the Martin O style guitar. It displays some nice bear claw down the center, and is milky white and very stiff.