Building is progressing.

I am very tired, words will be few and pics many. There are videos on the way, stay tuned :)

The pics are all out of order, and I really haven't got the energy to sort this. I am sure you can work out how this progresses.

This is my main interest - everything just sitting in place, but I will be gluing soon! Looking nice.

6 necks and 1 to-be neck.

The fretless was in to get a finger rest fitted.

7 bodies.

2 bass necks.

6 string musicman bass pickup. Weaponry.

6 string bass headstock planning.

8 string guitar headstock.

8 string guitar, parts and body set on to visualise.

New electric body design. I like this. See above.

8 string headstock design.

2 necks in progress (now nearly complete).

Laminating the top onto the hollow body.

The "f" hole - free hand sketch, then cut with a coping saw. Super pleased with this!

working on the 8 string headstock.

Working on chambering the hollow body - not complete here, all neat now.

Rear of 8 string.

Rough cutting the 8 string neck. Bandsaw.

Affixing the headstock wood. Doing measurements here, gluing uses 4+ clamps.

Now to get some sleep!

Blessings,

Mike

Videos from the workshop.

Here are a couple of videos from the past week or so.

A quick recording

Another music related instalment - but only to be succeeded by many building related instalments...

My friend Jeremy asked me to throw down a quick old style blues, like 1930's era so I wrote a head chart with some horns to simulate a small big band. I say simulate because I don't play reeds, so I used a marching baritone for bass trombone and tenor trombone sounds, flugel for top trom, 3 trumpets and melody doubled on cup muted trumpet and harmon mute (no stem). I haven't worked out my "drummer"... that all time favourite joke pops to mind:

What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine?

You only have to punch the rhythms in once on a drum machine!

There are too many... onwards...

The recording itself is OK - I am happy for what it is, but since I don't play the baritone horn often I find it hard to keep in tune, furthermore, this is basically the take of the 2nd read through. The playing is deliberately in an older style but I still need to shed the blues big time! Well, here she is; "Blues for Jeremy":

http://www.box.net/shared/8yr51b1fx4

I got to use my new Rode NT2A mic - really beautiful. Multi-pattern, high SPL capability, ultra low noise design, large capsule. On the trumpet it sounds super smooth if you roll off a little around 8k - there is a peak here, I roll off from about 6k onwards, and maybe 1/2dB boost across the 100-1000Khz range for a little more body. I am going to have some fun recording more with these - I will post about this later!

Should anyone want the chart, I can send a PDF if you like... you probably have no need :)

I am taking a day away from the guitars - I am seriously wrecked, so I will just make mistakes! Back to that tomorrow, and perhaps a post outlining my newest work. I am now building 7 instruments... lots to do!

Blessings,

Mike

A little playing

I realise that my blog is often about everything bar music. I suppose building guitars is related, but whatever. Over the past while I have...

In no particular order...

Recorded a couple of tunes for Rory O'Connor and Amy McGarrigle (links later):

My gear:

Recorded a CD with the KJJO (Ken Jordan Jazz Orchestra):

Played a 2 week production of Sweeney Todd at the Millside Theatre (I really miss this, I would have loved to have done another month. Loved every night!!) Peter Corry and Nuala McKeever as Sweeney and Mrs Lovett.

Sorry for stealing your photos, Kate, I was playing and didn't have time to snap any...

Actually I did... final show, standing ovation, sold out. Excellent!

Lovely building!

Recorded with Ricky Graham and John King "Signals Under Test":

I played with them on a couple of gigs, 1 in the Black Box:

KJJO Gig, Errigle Inn:

I have to start writing more music, making more time for that and trying to get an average of 1-2 hours of un-productive practice a day into 2 hours of solid grind. Linear patterns won't learn themselves. Fact.

Night!

New guitar/bass projects (lots of pics)

I finished 2 hand planes and I meant to update this a while back but here they are. A convex bladed one and a short block plane for smoothing:

I designed a new instrument a while back for either thin-line electrics (sort-of retro feel) or for a deep body chambered jazz guitar with a laminate top and an "f" hole like on old 335s or other archtops. I am super pleased with my plans - I really do like to draw. My design:

I trued up some Sepele and Tulipwood to build this from, here is the result (the Sepele (Mahogany) one will be a deep jazz guitar, the Tulipwood will be the thinline - both neck through, both with that Les Paul neck relief):

Here are the projects that I am working on, from left to right;

1) 8 string, 27" scale laminate through neck. Planned tuning of F# B E A D G B E or F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb - the longer scale should sustain this with heavy strings and still sound tight. Emg 45DC 6 string bass pickup being used - seem to be highly recommended by luthiers - active electronics. Ash body, Walnut top, Maple/Walnut laminate neck. Fingerboard not ordered yet.

2) (under the 8 string) 4 string semi-acoustic fretless bass. 34" scale, through neck. Tulipwood body, Ash top. Vintage bridge with brass saddles, Jazz bass pickups.

3) 4 string, 34" scale, neck through (maple). Music Man Kent Armstrong pickup. Active or passive.

4) 6 string bass, 34/35" scale, laminate through neck. Planned tuning of B E A D G C on standard guages. I have a Wilkinson 6 string Music Man pickup coming from the States for this :D Active or passive.

5) Thinline electric guitar, 24.75" scale. The neck relief is in contention due to the thinline design, it may end up being straight with a recessed bridge - I will plan when my parts arrive. PAF style pickups, wound with more wire for a bit of a hotter output, but ultimately a super versatile pickup.

6) Jazz guitar - deep body, through neck, chambered, Walnut top, PAF Jazz pickups with 12 individual adjustable pole pieces on each... maybe un-necessary, but sure they come recommended.

My dad found a very simple but AWESOME idea for a router jig which will level even bad planks, it is just a set of parallel guides, bars for the router to run on and a level bottom surface. It works VERY well, so I will do a post entirely on that, but here is it in use:

Maple:

Sepele (how beautiful is this wood!!!):

It leaves you with a super finish and a planar board:

Couple of shots of a couple of laminate necks that I am building:

I am levelling the neck out in this shot:

I am super pleased with the joints - tight :)

Here are the 6 neck blanks. 2 Maple, 2 Sepele Mahogany, 2 Maple/Walnut laminates:

I levelled out the 8 string body and prepared the laminate to create the laminate tops on this. Note that the design is old; the overall shape is ok but I am going to redesign it within its current size so that I don't have to build again - that would be pretty wasteful. Just a couple of curves I don't like. Can be totally sorted!

This is 1 of the 2 wings, both currently in the front room hardening in the warmth - wood glue is useless beneath 10*c.

That is all for now. I am expecting parts this week, so I can get on with cutting the necks to shape and get some things looking more like instruments!

God bless all :)

Mike

Convex hand plane - home build.

Short post - I am tired, medicated and tired. Did I just say that?

Ok..

I made a convex handplane to help me make carved top guitars which I plan to do. I cannot possibly justify spending £55 or more on a plane - I mean I could put that money to much better use, so I bought a £7 plane blade (35mm Stanley) and cut it to an approximate rounded tip (I drew a guide, but worked by eye a lot). I then cleaned this and bevelled a 30* blade on it with a grinder and finished off on the wet stone. I spent a good hour or 2 on the blade.

Next I fabricated the parts for the plane out of Ash, Oak and Rosewood. I had scraps of each of these from old projects or old furniture (hoping dad didn't have plans for that table...). There are plans online, just google it. I looked at them and much in the same way that I cook, I remembered a few key stats and went ahead with it.

The blade is set at 45*, the opposing side is also 45*, the plane blade bevel is 30* and the gap between the blade and the front of the plane (sorry, it must be called something better) should be between 1 and 3mm. I have mine set near 1mm because I plan only to take the smallest amounts of hardwoods off. For a smoothing plane or a block plane I suggest a little more, especially if you plan to work with softwoods because this gap ensures the cuttings go up and through the plane rather than falling under it causing the plane to slip and the cut to be very uneven. Just build one and see what I mean - you can easily modify it if it is too large or too small an opening. Probably easier to shim one which is too large though. Maybe worth erring on that side.

Some un-finished media below - I have since finished the plane with Tung oil. It has really lifted the colours of the woods. Rosewood is beautiful for the purple tone to it, really beautiful. Nice to work with as well, despite it smelling like circuit boards.

Here is a video of the plane:

A couple of pictures:

Just applied a coat of Tung oil:

Here is some of the timber for some new builds - not pictured - 10' of 12" wide tulipwood.

Left to right: Ash, American Maple, Sepele Mahogany, 2x Walnut.

Cyclone Dust Extractor - Home Build #1

Considering that I am planning to make a few instruments (or at least a good amount of dust) this year, I have decided to invest in some dust extraction. I cannot justify the cash required for a large machine, so I decided to buy a powerful chip extractor and build a cyclone filter system which should filter down to 2-4 micron particles of dust - the chip extractor alone would only extract down to 12-14 microns, so MDF and all fine dust goes through and is still in the air.

The chip extractor is induction motor powered, and is an impeller design which kicks out 1000 cubic metres/hour (573CFM). This is pretty good for my purposes - 400CFM is recommended for bandsawing, and similar for bench-sawing. These are about the most demanding.

It is recommended not to reduce below 35mm on these systems otherwise the impeller just generates drag. I am using 100mm for most of the work and for the smaller tools I am reducing to 40mm or thereabouts.

I looked at a few cyclone home builds online - a google will turn up lots of these in all wonderful various sizes and designs. Ok, some are pretty terrible designs, but hey - you have to give it to people trying.

Here are 2 links:

http://www.sydneywoodturners.com.au/site/articles/machinery/extractor2/cyclone.html

http://www.codesmiths.com/shed/workshop/cyclones.htm

The first shows a simple design which is pretty functional and effective, the second is fine for hoover-based stuff, though it will never handle more than light dust. there are a bunch of very cool builds showing sheet metal construction in much larger scales - I can't find this right now. Anyway, the principle is simple, so I started into it the same way I like to bake and cook - with no plans - just an idea of what I want the end product to be. Ok, I planned a little, but all in my head last night.

My cyclone chamber (top) is a Tesco bin. The dust will fall into the green water tank which was un-used in the garden. I cut tops out of some left-over chip-board - it won't get wet (hopefully) so even this terrible "wood" will do the job, plus it is re-using old materials which I like to do.

In the top chamber there is 1 turn of a screw - I made this by chopping up the old lid from the water tank. There is 4" drainpipe which will attach to some flexible aluminium tubing (for extractor fans) - this goes to the tool. All secured up well, gripfilled to within an inch of it's life :) It is worth noting how VERY weak the bin is - polyprop I think, but very very thin - it shatters very easily - I cut the most of my holes with a poker I heated in the fire... couldn't find dad's soldering iron (ok I could, but I didn't have the heart to wreck it, or my own for that matter!).

Down the centre goes the pipe leading to the chip extractor - this is mounted in the lid:

The whole top section will be sealed and will lift apart at the top of the green tank, here is the top plate of the green tank with a hole cut for the cyclone bin part - no trammel bar work here folks - traced a rough circle and winged it with the jigsaw. Does fine - it isn't a piston head or a guitar!

Here is this lid attached (grip-filled) to the cyclone part:

This is how it looks with it all bolted and glued together minus the top plate with hose. I have used expanding foam to fill any gaps around the drainpipe.

Here is a show looking into it with that foam starting to expand. It is awesome stuff.

Ok, not much to say - I will complete this tomorrow and hope that the extractor comes soon - looking forward to a dust free experience :)

Back to the show tomorrow night - last week was really successful, so here is to another fun run!

God bless,

Mike

Wear gloves

So today I decided to put the 5/8" blade on the saw before I did some warm-ups before playing Sweeney Todd. I really wanted to see how it ran... how impetuous! Anyway, the blades are coiled and I know they can spring and since the blade was 5/8th it will have quite a spring, so I decided to hold the blade tighter to stop it surprising me. Without gloves. This is what you get for being stupid:

A lot of blood involved, but it isn't as bad as it looks - all super-glued back together. Gloves from now on... Incidentally, not only does the blade cut person really well, but I cut a 1mm laminate from a 2" piece of rosewood - just some scrap from an old table. Like butter. Nice.

In the next few weeks I will have the workshop cleaned and I will be going to buy the following timbers:

Walnut, Ash, Maple, Mahogany and maybe some Tulipwood.

Instrument wise you can expect:

Archtop electric - aimed at jazz players

8 string electric - probably going to suit rock playing

6, 5 and 4 string basses, maybe a couple of fretless basses

Cannae wait!

Mike