And so it begins...... AND ENDS!!

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

:lol: Dryers are great for clothes and less great for clamping things together. Just bought the damn things at Walmart last weekend..... you get a hundred of them for just a few bucks!! :wink:

 

[killdeer43]

Re: And so it begins......

Loving the process documentary....keep it going. :wink:

Joe

 

[poser]

Re: And so it begins......

Is the cardboard to catch any glue that happens to drip? Or is there some larger purpose?

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

The cardboard is doubled and glued together and cut in the final shape of the guitar. Then two of those "forms" are glued together with 2" spacer blocks to make a form for the final guitar shape. The sides are brought in tight to the form and the final shape is created. I hope I explained this to where it makes sense. Once the back of the guitar goes on it shouldn't be needed any more......

 

[killdeer43]

Re: And so it begins......

The board underneath, with the slots in it....is that part of the kit?

Joe

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

Nope, Joe, that's a board (Home Depot) that's cut a bit bigger than the outline of the guitar and then slots are cut at regular intervals so that clamps can be put through to clamp the top and the back on...... you'll see those soon enough!! The guitar kit comes only with parts that make the guitar. No tools whatsoever. Although you can buy the kit with a "tool package" from Martin but it costs about $220 more. The clamp set that you'll see soon that go through that bottom board came from Stewart-MacDonald and are pretty guitar specific, I think. The clothespins, as mentioned, came from Walmart and can be used for all KINDS of stuff..... :wink:

 

[killdeer43]

Re: And so it begins......

The clothespins, as mentioned, came from Walmart and can be used for all KINDS of stuff..... :wink:

Yeah, you could use them as....clothespins! :shock: :lol:

Loving this project Tom, so thanks for including us in the fun, however vicarious it might be.

Joe

 

[jte]

Re: And so it begins......

Several years ago a friend of mine got one of those kits. It started him down the path to making his own guitars, and wonderful ones they are too.

http://www.thomas-guitars.com/index.html

John

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

Golly John, that guy sure makes some beautiful guitars!!!

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

Today the bookmatched back pieces got glued together with the decorative trim strip (which doesn't show up well in this picture) and the inside back reinforced with the reinforcing strip thingie...... :roll: (I know.... real technical jargon I'm throwing out here.... )

 

[roughdiamond]

Re: And so it begins......

Great thread! I'm really enjoying this whole forum - best I've come across with down to earth friendly helping folk..good stuff

 

[killdeer43]

Re: And so it begins......

the reinforcing strip thingie...... :roll:

:lol:
My favorite so far!
But seriously folks, this little project seems to be rolling along quite well. The back looks great.

Waiting for more,
Joe

 

[taabru45]

Re: And so it begins......

This is excellent Tom... Maybe a silly question but does he play? Leo Fendet didn't although he eventually learned how to tune a guitar. :shock: Steffan

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

He knows how to play and is a decent guitar player. He's a way better guitar player than me, he's just out of practice. I'm sure he'll play this one..... if he doesn't launch into another project right away..... :wink:

 

[poser]

Re: And so it begins......

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post these photos. It looks like a fun project and it's almost tempting me to buy a kit too..

But if I know myself, I'd probably get distracted part way through and never quite get it done. :roll:

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

More progress happens on the weekends, but here's the back with the final brace glued and clamped. The back is taking on it's slightly arched shape.

 

[killdeer43]

Re: And so it begins......

Love it....thanks, Tom. :wink:

Joe

 

[poser]

Re: And so it begins......

Neat. Were the braces precut with the little space for the back brace?

 

[taabru45]

Re: And so it begins......

Love it....thanks, Tom. :wink:

Joe

+1. Great stuff.

 

[davismanLV]

Re: And so it begins......

Hey Poser, the braces came precut and shaped like this, however the notch for the "reinforcing strip thingie" had to be cut. The soundhole rosette is starting to happen now. More to follow......