Updates (nopicturessorry)

so over spring break (last week - it was fantastic, thanks for asking) I got pretty much done...

I finished bracing the back and glued on the back (using ropes and clamps this time instead of weights)
I routed the back binding channel - I've decided to use wood binding instead of the typical plastic - I'm using some eastern walnut from some trees on our farm that blew over in an icestorm a couple of weeks ago, its nice looking wood - alot less of a chocolate walnut color as more of a lighter color with a slight reddish tint.
I finished the neck and drilled a hole for the truss rod access

Its all coming together and hopefully I'll be able to finish it before the summer (the day after graduation I'm going to start on a 3-4 week hike on the Appalachian trail)

Neck

I brought everything to school, I go to a public residential highschool for Science and Math so up until now I have had to work on the guitar on breaks and the occasional weekend.

Recently I've been carving the neck with a spokeshave in my dorm room and I've almost reached a shape I like. Hopefully soon I'll radius the fretboard so I can glue it on.

I've got exams next week and then I should have alot of time to work on it in the break after exams...

Progress

Over break I...

Cut fretslots/tapered fretboard
Finished scalloping the braces
Installed neckblock/mortised and tenoned the neck joint
Started carving the back of the neck

Bracing (Cont'd)

I finished bracing the top today, and started roughing in the scalloping of the braces. Scalloping the braces makes the top more flexible and thus the guitar is louder.

So from here I need to....
Carve nexk ~ 2 hrs
Install frets ~ 3 hrs
Profile sides ~ 2 hrs
attach top to sides to back ~ 3 hrs
Install tuners ~ .5 hrs
Make the bridge ~ 3 hrs
Install binding ~ 1.5
Attach neck ~ 1.5 hrs
install bridge ~ .5 hrs
Sand ~ 4 hrs
Finish ~ 4 hrs
-----------------------------------------
Total ~ 25 hrs

Luckily I have a 3 day weekend coming up so I should get pretty far and hopefully I'll have this most of the way done soon.

Sides, Neck, and Back

So I got alot done...

I cut the sides to length and glued on the endblock. The sides look pretty good, the shape is like the bastard child of a Dreadnought and a Grand Symphony

I tapered the neck, cut the headstock profile (the top has a sinusoidal profile....yeah I'm a nerd)

I finished bracing the back, and started scalloping the braces. Scalloping the braces on the top or back lightens the guitar and allows the top/back to resonate more readily and thus louder and brings out the midtones and the higher frequencies.

P.S. I decided that my next project is going to be a mandola. For a while in the 1920's, Mandolin orchestras were popular. The four instruments in the mandolin family are the mandolin (as we know it today), the mandola (tuned the same as a viola), the octave mandolin (tuned an octave below the mandolin) and the mandocello (tuned the same as a cello.) That build will have to wait until I finish this guitar, but it shouldn't be too difficult so I'm hoping sometime before the end of the school year...I'll probably rent an apartment and get an internship/job somewhere this summer (then its off to college...)

Bending the sides

I finally bent the sides. It was easier than I expected, just time consuming...It took me a while to get the hang of it, but after that it was pretty straight-forward. I soaked the wood for about 25 minutes, and then slowly bent the sides over a section of pipe with a 300 watt lightbulb inside (to heat up the pipe.)

It takes a while (about 30 seconds) for the wood to become pliable but then it bends pretty easily. There were a couple areas with grain tearout but nothing that won't get sanded off.

In other news, I started bracing the back

Pictures below....