Skeletons

Its my favorite time of year! 

Caved our first pumpkin last night and got it on the porch! 

        Looking forward to all of the upcoming holidays! But first lets look back at this week in the shop! 

Spent Mondays repairs class working on a head stock/ neck break, setting up a 1994 40th Anniversary Stratocaster,  and checking the nut on my custom electric build from last year. 

        The head stock break assignment was to take one of our old scarf joint neck mock ups, step on it to simulate a head stock crack from a fall or other damage, then glue the crack up with as little evidence left behind as possible. When i did the stepping part on the mock up i grabbed from the box it snapped badly a bit further down the neck from the head stock than most. It was a fairly clean break and without a fingerboard to stiffen it the neck broke in two completely. After cleaning up the pieces a bit I tried dry clamping them to see how well they would mend. Upon inspection i decided that it would need a caul to apply even clamping pressure across the entire break. I made a custom fit caul from a re usable plastic substance from a luthier supplier. The stuff comes in small beads, The beads are softened in water and form a pliable substance that is molded to whatever shape is needed. The form hardens as it cools back to a stiff plastic mold. the mold can then be used as a caul for clamping then re melted and molded to any shape needed. Cool stuff, and if i remember ill get the name on here! After all the extra prep work the repair came out great! just a small line where the crack was! 

        The set up and nut repair were just some standard work that needed doing. Good practice for busy shop time in the future! 

        CAD class was especially rewarding this week! I now have a finished blueprint for my next custom guitar! The guitar is modeled after a Martin HD28 VS. It is a big bodied, slope shoulder dreadnought, with a slightly wider neck, slotted peg head and few of my own custom modifications. The guitar will be my first custom order and I am working closely with the customer to give him exactly what he wants. Keep a lookout for Aaron Paul Custom Lutherie! 

        Speaking of custom lutherie, the mandolin build is still moving along nicely! This week I finished the ribs to give the mandolin a skeleton. The ribs are attached to the neck, tail, and corner blocks and will provide the structure for the top, back and neck. 

        After the ribs are glued and dried, the top half of the inside mold is removed. The lower portion of the mold is left in place until later. A small brad nail is placed in the neck and tail block through the body template. this ensures that everything will line up when the top is placed on the pins. The pins then serve to hold the top in place on the rib structure while the scroll area is finish shaped together and the top is brought to within 1/32" from final outside dimensions. 

        The next step is to install the kerfing around the top inside edge of the ribs, and carve away the inside of the top arch! In a few weeks it will be a dish! 

        Next week there wont be much to report as we have a short week at school, but tune in in two weeks for the next installment!