Jelly Cupboard and Guitar update

Well I finally decided it was time to finish the jelly cupboard.  I am almost there.  I have the main body painted the door painted and need to get the final pieces of the door cut and will have it all done.  We decided at this time we are just going to put chicken wire on the door.  I will post pics once that is done.  I used milk paint and am pretty pleased with it. 

I used white milk paint for the inside and green on the outside.  I also stained the top instead of painting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay now for the guitar.  I have let this thing mess with my head way to much and made a ton of mistakes that I probably wouldn’t have if this had been furniture.  I think I will be able to salvage it and make something of a playable guitar out of it.  I have learned a ton and it has allowed me to get over my guitar making jitters.  I will hopefully get this thing done soon.

But for now here is a picture of it in its current state

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a Great Day!

Technorati Tags: Guitar,Jelly Cupboard

Hooligan Guitar Build

Okay well I finally had some more time to spend on the guitar this week.  I the neck blank glued up.  Sadly the wood moved while clamping and I have some changes to make to get everything lined back up.  Unfortunately I am at a stopping point until all my hardware comes in and then I get to route the truss rod channel, cut the neck out and start getting the neck pocket routed out.  Then it will really start to look like a guitar.  I’m super excited like a kid on Christmas only Christmas is like a week away but I know what I am getting and mom and dad told me I can’t have any of it until then. 

Oh well.  I am pretty surprised at how I am taking messing up on this build.  I am somewhat of a perfectionist but my ultimate goal for this build was to have a playable guitar.  That’s my main focus.  I would love a good finish but that’s secondary.  As long as the thing plays and I am having fun that’s what is important. 

Here are a couple of pics of the neck build.

Here is the neck glued up. 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see where I goofed up.  You can see the angle goes slightly off from side to side. 

Fortunately I can fix it.  I just need adjust the fret board placement and figure out how to get the nut set in there.

 

 

 

Laying out the centerline and fret board outlines.  I need to layout the neck profile on there and then wait for the truss rod so I can get that taken care of. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a Great Day!

Technorati Tags: guitar,hooligan,eguitarplans.com

Hooligan Guitar Build Day 2

I was able to take some more time in the shop tonight and get the body cut from the blank.

I did have to spend some time with the hand plane bringing the blank flat.  I am super happy with the joint.  You can’t really tell where the joint is unless you look REALLY close.  I really love my hand planes.  It is a great work out.  I got everything nice and flat and to the thickness I wanted.  I was really worried about the weight when I picked up the blank but as I cut chunks off of it thing began  to really lighten up.  I think once I take a chunk out for the electronics on the back that will help even more.  I’m debating some comfort contours.  I’ll have to think about it some more. 

Here is the the blank all glued up with the cut out of the guitar from the plans.  If I had not mentioned before this guitar design is from Chris over at http://www.eguitarplans.com he has some great plans.  I have two of them and will be purchasing several more.  He has at least 3 or 4 other guitars that I want to build. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the blank after some progress on the band saw.  I took off big chunks around the outside of the guitar body.  This made it a little easier to cut in the curves.

 

 

 

 

 

Here the blank is at the final rough cut.  There are lines that I will sand to on the plan.  To do this I am using the spindle sander that my brother got for me.  I love that thing.  I can’t wait to build more guitars and I haven’t even finished this one. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the body sanded to shape and size.  I am extremely happy with the way it is turning out so far.  I think it is going to look awesome.  I am thinking that it is going to get painted.  There are just a few small blemishes that I don’t really want to show through, so now I need to figure out what color I want.  Anyone have any ideas?

Have a Great Day!

 

Technorati Tags: Guitar Build,Guitar,Hooligan,eguitarplans.com,woodworking

Guitar Build: Day 1

Well I finally broke down and started the guitar build.  I took a baby step.  I got the body blank glued up.  The board was 2” thick and the guitar will end up being 1 3/4” thick, so I spent quite a bit of time planning it down in the power planer.

Here is one side of the the body.  It is going to be a 2 piece Mahogany Body.  It is great looking wood.  I am still not sure if I am going to paint it or do some kind of tint on it.  I guess I will see once I get the body cut out and sanded.  It has good enough grain that I think it will look good but it might just get painted.  Who knows.  Some of you might be wondering what the half triangle is.  It’s a carry over from building furniture it helps me orient the piece, which in this doesn’t really matter as it’s a two piece glue up and I had pretty much oriented the grain like I wanted it anyway.  It’s just habit. 

 

Here is the first pass through the planer.  On the side what you can’t see are some markings that show me what direction I wanted the faces to be and what ends I jointed.   

 

 

 

 

Here is the blank all glued up.  I will let it dry over the next 24 hours.  Once the blank is dry I will hand plane it down to the final thickness.  I left it slightly thicker than it needed to be so that I could hand plane it down even as my planer is only a 12” and this blank is 16" wide.  Hopefully I did a good job and the seam will not be overly obvious. 

I’m glad I finally took the step and started the build.  I have a long way to go and a lot to do.  Once I have the blank cut out I will start on the neck blank and get that going.  I have lots of parts to order over the next little while.  I figure it will probably a couple of months to build this.  I want to take my time and do this as best I can. 

 

I hope you will follow along as I build my first guitar. 

Have a Great Day!

 

Technorati Tags: Woodworking Wednesdays,Guitar,First Guitar,Electric Guitar