| I knifed the position of the frets onto the fret board, being very careful to get the positioning correct. The fingerboard blank hasn't been tapered yet so I can use a square to ensure my lines are parallel. |
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| I made some test cuts with different saws to see how wide a kerf they made - my Adria tenon saw made the perfect slot for the frets I want to fit. So after a quick test its time to cut them. |
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| I clamped a squared-up block of wood next to each marked line and carefully sawed a kerf in each, making sure the saw is held vertical. |
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| And that's another tricky job done! |
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| Next I marked out the taper of the finger board - its 44.5mm wide at the nut end and 55.5mm wide at the body end. I then planed down to these lines - nice and slow so I don't tear-out the grain of the ebony. |
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| I purchased some cream binding to wrap the finger board. This was cut to length and out came the superglue.... |
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| A quick cleanup with a cabinet scraper and the binding is complete. I need to fit the inlays and camber the fingerboard before I fret it, so I'll set this aside while I await a delivery. |
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| Next I carved the chamfers onto the body, a job I was eagerly awaiting. Mark out the lines onto the top, back and sides of the body.... |
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| And get stuck in with the rasps... |
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| keeping your eye on both lines as you work. |
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| Clean up with files, scraper and sandpaper and it's done. I'll do some final shaping after the neck is glued in so I can blend it in to the body. |
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| And she finally looks like a guitar!! |
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| I screwed the template for the headstock in place (putting the screws where the tuner holes will be drilled later) so I could trim it to shape with the (you've guessed it!) router. |
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| Taking careful fine cuts its trimmed to size - I left the extreme top corners to finish by hand as they always chip off with the router. |
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| The inlays have arrived so its back to the
fingerboard. I've made a cambered block (12 inch radius) to sand the board to the correct radius after I've fitted the inlays. |
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| I put a dab of superglue on the rear of each
inlay and set them in place. Once the glue had set I marked around
each inlay with a scalpel. Then carefully prise each inlay free and number them in order. |
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| I removed the majority of the waste using a 3mm cutter in my mill, although you could do this freehand using a router. |
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| Then each recess is trimmed using a selection of chisels and gouges. |
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| A nice fit - I checked the inlays on my Les Paul and noticed that Gibson use a huge amount of filler around them. I aim to beat that! |
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| Before I glue in the inlays I wanted to pin
the fingerboard in the correct position on the neck. With the FB
clamped in place I drilled two 3mm holes into the neck through the
recesses. Make sure these are off-centre so you don't hit the truss
rod! I was going to glue two metal pins in place but they weren't a tight enough fit so I turned up some maple dowel to suit. |
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| Here is one of the two dowels glued in place - not much, but enough to make sure the fingerboard won't slip during glue-up. |
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| Next the inlays were glued in place with some thick superglue. |
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| I filed the inlays flush before starting work cambering the fingerboard. |
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| I planed the beginnings of a camber onto the board and then used my long cambered sanding block with 80 grit sandpaper to do the rest. |
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| I then went through the grits - 120, 180 and steel wool to finish. Looking pretty darn good! |
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| So on with some glue, plenty of clamps and a couple of cauls to ensure even clamping pressure. |
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| A quick cleanup with a spoke shave and the neck looks good. |
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| I dyed a piece of maple veneer with black dye to face the headstock. Try not to get dye all over your hands, face and clothes - DAMHIKT! |
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| Using the headstock template as a caul glue on the veneer. Trim flush when the glue is dry using a knife and file. |
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| More parts have arrived - I need to shape the neck and then I can glue it up! |
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