Latest in progress from AHG

[LeFinPepere]

No, they wouldn’t have had this size of a router plane. They’d use a gramil (or marking gauge) and a chisel. Very exacting and laborious. Basically, scribe the line at the bottom of the binding with the gramil and chisel down to it.

I think a gramil is "un trusquin" in French. Primitive but clever tool. I remember going through gramil&chisel, it felt like playing with Nitroglycerin! The inner curves was where s*** happened, in my case!

 

[AcornHouse]

One of the challenges of building a classical with a Spanish heel, is cutting the binding channel behind the neck. Even my 1/8” chisel was too thick. As I was gearing up for the job, I realized I already had the right tool for the job. Went out to the lathe area and grabbed my Henry Taylor ultra thin parting tool. Honed it up, and perfect!

Just the right size, and cut the maple in two quick mallet taps. I spent more time honing the tool than it took for the job. You can see my trusty binding scrap slots in just right.

 

[GAD]

Every step seems more anxiety-inducing than the last!

 

[AcornHouse]

Every step seems more anxiety-inducing than the last!

Nah, careful, controlled, check thrice is the order of the day. But, it’s in control of my own hands. The router is the worst of it, since it can do the most harm in the least amount of time. It works well, but demands respect, and attention to setup. A loose screw can cause a bearing to slip; a moment’s inattention keeping the base flat; the threads holding the bit in or the router to the base loosen and you cut gets gradually lower and lower before you are aware of it. It’s the worry that you missed something.

Everything now is on me. I’ve done it enough times that I can handle it (or know where to hide the bodies ).

 

[GAD]

Nah, careful, controlled, check thrice is the order of the day. But, it’s in control of my own hands. The router is the worst of it, since it can do the most harm in the least amount of time. It works well, but demands respect, and attention to setup. A loose screw can cause a bearing to slip; a moment’s inattention keeping the base flat; the threads holding the bit in or the router to the base loosen and you cut gets gradually lower and lower before you are aware of it. It’s the worry that you missed something.

Everything now is on me. I’ve done it enough times that I can handle it (or know where to hide the bodies ).

I think there are a fair number of us watching from afar with a fair bit of anxiety watching after the fact!

 

[AcornHouse]

First section in.

 

[Opsimath]

First section in.

Hooray!

 

[AcornHouse]

Top is completely bound, with everything tucking neatly in their neck pockets.

 

[GGJaguar]

Are those special luthiery eyeglasses or just plain ol' readers?

 

[AcornHouse]

Are those special luthiery eyeglasses or just plain ol' readers?

Bifokes.

 

[JohnW63]

Yep. I couldn't never build an acoustic guitar. As much as I'd like to work with wood like a fine furniture maker, I always seem to miss a little bit somewhere and things end up like normal " home owner " quality work.

 

[AcornHouse]

Was away most of today, so didn’t have much time (or energy) to do more than plane and sand the top flush. Sides are still a little proud and dried gluey.

 

[chazmo]

The binding looks beautiful, Chris. Looks like you took a little, tiny, just-a-fraction influence from Guild using the B/W binding highlight! Awesome!

 

[AcornHouse]

The binding looks beautiful, Chris. Looks like you took a little, tiny, just-a-fraction influence from Guild using the B/W binding highlight! Awesome!

Not really a Guild exclusive. I have a few strips of W-B(lue)-W and W-G(reen)-W that I picked up on sale a number of years ago, but haven’t found the right guitar for them yet.

 

[AcornHouse]

I did a little scraping on the side to check how it would clean up.

 

[davismanLV]

One of the most difficult things is letting people know that glue runout will happen occasionally. But PLEASE don't wipe with a wet anything. Let it dry.... chip it off. The End. Chris this is such an educational post.... makes my way earlier one seem like such an amateur attempt!!! Honestly, that trial by router was the WORST PART of the whole deal. Thanks for taking us on this journey!! I'm learning....

 

[AcornHouse]

To see a short clip of the scraping process, here a link to my Instagram post (I don’t think it will stream in here.).

Christopher Kenney on Instagram: "Scraping flush. #guitarbuilding #guitarbuilder #guitarmaker #guitarmaking #whatsonyourbench #luthier #luthiery #lutherie #tools #scraper #flamencoguitar @stewmac_guitar"

6 likes, 0 comments - acornhouseguitarsOctober 11, 2022 on : "Scraping flush. #guitarbuilding #guitarbuilder #guitarmaker #guitarmaking #whatsonyourbench #luthier #luthiery #lutherie #tools #scraper ..."

www.instagram.com

 

[AcornHouse]

And, with the back binding on, another day of scraping awaits. I went with no purfling on the back, which is fairly typical, traditionally. It also allows for full curls, and ties in with the simple center strip. Requires a little extra care in the rout since you can’t use purfling to camouflage any flaws.
The other big challenge on the back was getting both ends to meet up perfectly at the tail stock, AND at the neck. No hiding one end under a fingerboard. Under the finish, it should look seamless unless you get real close. (That’s one difference with wood vs. plastic bindings. Those you can use one long piece with no seam.)

 

[jp]

Beautiful craftsmanship, Chris! Very impressive.

 

[AcornHouse]

Tried something new (to me) for the heel cap. Figured out a method that should work every time and lines things up perfectly. Just needs some fine tuning/cleanup.