Acoustic Guitar Buildalong.

[bobbysocks]

Nice! a man can never have too many good tools. i am probably going to be going over this thread from beginning to end....this is my newest rescue project.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Looks like just about everything that can go wrong with a guitar happened on that one. And I though building one from almost scratch was intimidating. At least you have something to keep you busy and out of trouble for a while.

P.S. In the upper right corner of the guitar (lower bout) it looks like someone used expanding foam glue to reattach the top to the kerfing?

 

[bobbysocks]

no, it was just some cushion foam that got stuck in there somehow. though who knows. it looks like someone tried to fix it before then got mad and really tried to do it in. all things considered it isnt as bad as it looks. think i can get away with a new soundboard and top bracing....new kerfing and bindings to too.

 

[bobbysocks]

after further inspection the back was cracked too bad in too many places for me to try to salvage. it looked like just the clear coat was crazed/cracked but it was the wood itself. i will scavenge bracing, the neck, and a few other parts for futher projects....too bad.

 

[Bucksnort101]

That's too bad, but just in case have you checked out the Stewart Mcdonald web-site, they have a section for how to repairs. I'm sure I saw a tutorial on fixing cracks, just depends n how bad they are.

On to my build. Finally made up a binding bending jig (say that 10 times really fast) and bent a test binding. I'm going to let it dry overnight in the jig and see if it turns out. If so I'll post some pics over the weekend.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Well, the bending went well. I finally decided to make my bending jig out of a 1" thick piece of foam insulation board instead of wood. Cutting was a little iffy with just a sharp knife. Learned later that a hot knife cuts better and provides a smoother edge.

First pic is the foam board, traced the outline of the guitar onto the board then cut out the shape.

View attachment 28379

 

[Bucksnort101]

In the next picture you can see where I cut a groove along the edge of the template to the depth and width of the piece of wooden binding I'm am going to bend. Also you can see a pump spray bottle filled with warm water to spray the wood with, a little hobby iron used for shrinking R/C airplane covering in case I need a little heat to help bend around curves, and lastly the piece of binding wood.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Next I cut a bunch of short lengths of binding tape so they are ready to go and then taped the rear straight edge of the binding to the form. Sprayed the first edge to be bend with a little warm water and bent the wood around the corner and taped down. Did the same the rest of the way down the form, sprayed a little water, bend the wood along the form and taped down. Made sure that the wood stayed nice and tight to the bottom and side edges of the groove in the form to keep it relatively flat and square.
Pretty simple, did not require a lot of water and the wood bent very well without the used of the iron.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Let this dry and set overnight and then the moment of truth, removing the tape. Looks good, held the correct shape for the most part. It was expected that the wood would spring back a little, but it will bend back again when it is glued to the guitar.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Next I've got some sanding to do on the main body of the Guitar to get rid of water stains from when the sides were bent, then routing the channels in the body for purflings and bindings.
I've got a special tool for cutting these channels that I need to mount to my trim router, but am not sure I can make it work yet? You'll find out how that goes in a day or two.

 

[Marcel]

Ah, good progress, buck