Latest in progress from AHG

[Opsimath]

This guitar is going to be absolutely beautiful. I admire your skills, and your tool collection!

 

[AcornHouse]

Foot is done with saw, rasp, file, and paper.

 

[davismanLV]

Is the foot like a neck block?

 

[AcornHouse]

Is the foot like a neck block?

Yes, it’s the part on the inside of the guitar, while the heel is the part on the outside, and together they look like…well, see pic above.

 

[AcornHouse]

Swing and a miss!
I’d ordered some Rubner tuners (my go to for quality, appearance, and price) and had been told they were waiting on new stock from Germany and it would be about 4 weeks. I can live with that. Then I was surprised to get an email saying they’d been shipped. Got the package today.



Very nice. Except I’d ordered brushed brass with ebony buttons, not brushed nickel and ivoroid buttons. So, I’ll still need to wait another 3 weeks for the ones we want, at which time these’ll go back.

 

[Default]

It will give you time to route out a place for the Floyd Rose.

 

[GAD]

It will give you time to route out a place for the Floyd Rose.

I’m listening…

 

[Nuuska]

I had a look at Rubner tuners @ Musikhaus Thomann

They range from 27€ to 429€

Low end does not surprise me at all - some makers sell sets for half of that.
But the top-end . . . what is so spectacular that justifies 429€ ?

I'm eager to learn

 

[davismanLV]

Waverly makes fairly high end tuners that run from under $100 up to $375 and more. Most of the super expensive ones have something unique like snakewood tuner knobs, which sets them apart a bit. Doesn't make them work any better but it's usually to do with the knobs, like the "black pearl" ones. So maybe to do with the metals and woods used. Gold plated?? Not sure.

 

[AcornHouse]

I had a look at Rubner tuners @ Musikhaus Thomann

They range from 27€ to 429€

Low end does not surprise me at all - some makers sell sets for half of that.
But the top-end . . . what is so spectacular that justifies 429€ ?

I'm eager to learn

As they go up in price, you start to see more hand engraving, rather than machine programmed. Also more design work, hand finishing, etc. And the type of rollers: Rubner has done some work there beyond just a plastic post. Also how they are constructed, whether they are stamped, how the posts are attached for the screw mech., etc.
Have a look at Rogers tuning machines if you want to see REALLY high end. https://www.rodgers-tuning-machines.com/

 

[Nuuska]

Ha-Ha - I very quickly managed to find a set that goes over 1200USD - that would be something on my Carmelo Gonzales

Like most products - the price/quality-curve is exponential - and for most people there is a point where extra finesses are no more worth extra money. In my case w guitar tuners that point is somewhere around 120-150€ - with my limited knoledge the technical point is achieved at about 80-100€ - rest is for pretty things - I'm definitively ready to put SOME extra money in if the guitar looks prettier.

Of course if I had means to buy a 50 000€ guitar the price of 2000€ set of tuners would be peanuts.

 

[AcornHouse]

And here is Rubner’s website for their various offerings and technical details.

RubnerTuners.com

Rubner tuning machines for classical guitar, mandolin & ukulele.

www.rubnertuners.com

 

[AcornHouse]

In the past I did the bulk of the heel shaping with rasp, file, and sandpaper. Dealing with the typical steel string heel shape and materials (maple, mahogany), this makes a lot of sense. Plus you don’t have the Spanish heel’s foot part in the way. So when I made my first classical, I pretty much continued with my usual methods.

But with this one, I turned to the more typical techniques of edged tools: chisel and knife. After sharpening and honing, these two removed the bulk of the material, and working with the Spanish cedar this makes the most sense. Far more control and able to do very finessed cuts, as long as you work with the grain of the wood. The file only made an appearance to work on the junction between the heel and the neck, where the grain is counter to what the knife can handle. (The rasp never left the rack.) Then some sandpaper for final blending.

 

[GGJaguar]

A lot of skill and patience going into that heel. Nice!

 

[AcornHouse]

For any that have Instagram, here is a link to a short video showing the paring chisel in action. You’ll want to have the sound turned on and you can hear the resonance of the wood.

Christopher Kenney on Instagram: "Sharpened chisel, nice clean cuts."

2 likes, 0 comments - acornhouseguitars on September 1, 2022: "Sharpened chisel, nice clean cuts."

www.instagram.com

 

[Default]

I was able to see the video. Inspiring!

 

[Nuuska]

The picture in post #82 shows foot done. I suppose that the part inside the body has to be thinned to enable top fitting under fretboard ?

 

[AcornHouse]

The picture in post #82 shows foot done. I suppose that the part inside the body has to be thinned to enable top fitting under fretboard ?

Yes, I will be chiseling out a shelf the thickness of the soundboard.

 

[SFIV1967]

Is the foot like a neck block?

Yes, it’s the part on the inside of the guitar, while the heel is the part on the outside, and together they look like…well, see pic above.

Chris, I hope you don't mind if I add this info about the Spanish Heel which was an invention of Antonio Torres.

The Spanish Heel: What It Is and Its Benefits

The Spanish heel is a system of guitar making and as you can tell, it’s characteristic in Spain and applied to all Spanish guitars that are manufactured here. The Spanish heel system it’s a simple …

blog.guitarfromspain.com

Ralf

 

[JohnW63]

Now I get it! I had never seen shots of just how a Spanish heel worked.