New 4 String NT with full top and bottom cover build

[mikebpeters]

Well, despite incredible amounts of competing priorities I got a bit done on this build.

I got my fingerboard templates done, complete with complimentary flourish.



and I even got as far as clamping the neck side piece in place when I realized that the bearing on my router bit was in poor repair and I dare not risk using it. I checked all my other bits but of course they all use a different sort of bearing so here I will wait till I get can either get another bearing or another bit.

[pilotjones]

Looks like it will be nice. I like when people take advantage of this area, which can be done artfully, as well as the usual "plain fast and cheap."

Once you rout it, how are you going to carve to get the sharp interior corner?

[mikebpeters]

Given the radius of the design 80% should (emphasis on should) be a simple router cut, but the sharp interior corner I am anticipating using files, sand paper and a few various xacto type knives, with many, many trial fittings. This scares me more than any other aspect of this build that I have envisioned so far, but I hope that if I can pull it off that it will look stunning and be unique. It will allow a glimpse of the lams in the neck from the front, and will do it in a way consistent with the side of the headstock and bottom of the body.

No bit today, so now it will have to wait at least until Tuesday. Sigh. Some days it feels like one step forward and two steps back.

[mikebpeters]

I got some more done on my neck tonight. I was pleasantly shocked at how little needed xacto type touch up on the sharp break in my flourish.

I got a template of the female side of the flourish started. I will need this for the top sheet.



I did a bit more highly targetted precision sanding after this and got the joint looking quite good. As I worked I would take my fingerboard template and test it frequently to see what needed just one more titch taken off here or there.



This is what it looked like when I started to get close. I would look it as I figured where I needed to take the next few molecules from. A few iterations after this I got it to a point that I am happy with.

I have run out of time tonight, but next is time to align the new template on my topsheet and see if I can get that to fit as well as my two templates do.

[mikebpeters]

Since last report I got thinking that I could do even better than what I had on the fit for the 'neck pocket' where the top cover would fit around the bottom of my fingerboard and flourish so I made two more templates.



the second one wasn't much of an improvement, but the third one certainly was so I got brave and cut it out



then double sided taped it to my cover sheet template and routed it.



after finessing it with a variety of implements it looks really nice



It is already to the sort of standard my Warwick LTD is at as near as I can tell, so I am guessing after a bit of wet sanding it will look even better.

For the first time I have been able to see the effect that I am looking for, by laying down my fingerboard template on top of the neck, with the top sheet finally in place you can see just the oval of my flourish. The top sheet isn't sitting fully down as I have to do just a bit more routing, and the fingerboard template is much thicker than the real fingerboard will be so the dimensions are off, but I think I am happy that what I am attempting here is worth pursing. I am kind of committed at this point anyway so I will see where this path leads.

[mikebpeters]

When i routed this part of the neck down i left it a bit proud intentionally to give me room to sand. i started using my sander but then all of a sudden remembered a set of cabinet scrapers that i bought a number of months ago. I got them out and they sure work well.

Nice small curls coming off



Plus new tool day for me



This may prove useful for knobs and maybe even pickup covers

[mikebpeters]

Today I learned a few cool things

#1 Having a nice blade on my saw makes a WORLD of difference



#2 Saw's cut square if the blades are squared off - not off by a degree or two like mine was



#3 Jigs work better if they sit square on the table saw deck. I installed a spacer under mine to let it slide better - which it does, but it also produced the effect of letting it 'teeter-totter' a degree or two. Of course, Murphy's law means that these errors were cumulative, not counterbalancing. End result a decidedly not square scarf cut. Grrrrr.



All in all, no big deal - thats exactly why I left an extra 1/4 inch - just in case, so a few minutes in my router jig and all is well



Now the joint is all glued up and I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.



The whole blank is thick enough for a neck through so I sliced the headstock down so I don't have as much finishing work when the time comes. Plus, I will use the offcut for the front and back sides of each of my pickup covers I think. I will at least try that out and see how it looks.

Progress was languishing for a bit but seems to have picked up a bit of speed as some of my other household chores seem to be getting caught up

[charlie monroe]

Wow. This is going to be beautiful upon completion. No idea how I had missed this thread up until now.

Excellent ideas, I like the personal touches you are putting on this piece. I also admire the way you are taking your education in stride. Great work!

[mikebpeters]

Thanks for the kind words

[mikebpeters]

I finally finished up the routes in the neck for the truss rod and CF rods and learned a ton of lessons.

I have already noted these thoughts in my challenge thread but will repeat them here as this is where I learned them, and the other thread is just where I first applied them.

Each pass down the channel introduces another opportunity for error. I look forward to feedback, but my conclusion was one pass to full depth worked far better, cleaner, tighter and resulted in perfect routes, as opposed to my 'railroad track ie ironing' routes - I took 4 or 5 passes.

Clamping was pretty good, but should be a hair tighter.

It is important to know exactly how far to run the routes, ie, EXACTLY where to start and stop.

It is likely better to take a bit off a CF rod than to try to make a route align perfectly, and 'stretch' the hole.

It is better to start a pass at an end. I usually tilt my router a bit so that it isn't buried in wood when it starts up and then 'tilt it in' How do most people do this?

At the end of a pass it is better to turn off the router and let the motor spin down before lifting the router out of the hole and risk a ding in the wall.

Routing before gluing the headstock keeps everything nice and flat and easy to move around and clamp. This wasn't bad, but the other neck was notably easier.

While my lessons cost me a little and I am glad that ultimately this bit wont show, it is nothing for which I feel shame



Now for the exciting part! I glued on the core of the wings and my pieces of wood are starting to look distinctly more bassish.

[mikebpeters]

Some nights, even after a couple of hours it seems like there is absolutely nothing to show for my efforts . . . tonight was not one of those nights. Despite having a fight with the bandsaw to convince the blade to stay on my blocks of wood now show a peculiar similarity to a bass!!!!



Of course I had to lay out the top piece



And I had to put a fretboard down tool.

[mikebpeters]

Got a bit more done,

Started by tacking in a thin strip of wood to fill the part of the neck that I carved away so that the top can sit there.



Then I ran it through the drum sander to get it flush with the rest of the neck.



Then I flipped it over and ran it through a few more passes to clean it up perfectly.



And here we go, all ready for its first laminate of the dividing trio.



No pic of this as everyone has seen body lams in clamps a billion times by now. That strip I tacked in is still in place to help with the clamping/glueing process.

[mikebpeters]

but I haven't been neglecting my shop - entirely at least.

From where I left off I laminated on 3 layers of veneers one at a time. Anigre/Bubinga/Anigre. My goodness but Anigre splinters out easily. When my current batch is gone I won't ever get any more. It looks nice and I bought it to be a light coloured accent layer, but it quite simply isn't worth the hassle.



Next step was to figure out where the control cavity would sit.



Then hog it out



And use my router with the template and a template bit to cut it out properly.



Next was to cut out the continuos control cavity cover.





In honesty, I wasn't happy with the tolerances once I was done cleaning up the edges so I took the opportunity to implement a concept that I had anyway and I glued on the 3 veneers that I had used between the top and bottom sheets and the basswood in the middle.


\

Here is a closer shot of the 3 layers (again, one at a time) around the edge of the control cover.



Soon I get to glue the back piece onto the body!

[mikebpeters]

It may very well look like progress has ground to a halt, but in truth it has been progressing, but merely at a snails pace.

I have been agonizing over how to do my pickup covers. One of the few things that I knew for sure was that I didn't want factory plastic covers. Beyond that I have toyed with many ideas.

I finally settled on recreating the standard Fender shape that would fit in a standard Fender route.

Here is where those routes will go (Standard Fender Jazz placement).



And a bit closer.



Once settled I had to figure out how I wanted to do that. I began by picking an offcut from the neck and cutting out the center bit of my lam.

I then glued complimentary wings on it from off cuts from the top sheet, and the end pieces I decided to switch it up a bit with so I used bubinga from the neck.



Next, I took a piece of tulip wood, not for any particular reason other than I like it and turned it down to the same radius as the mounting screw brackets on a Fender cover and then cut off appropriate length pieces, cut them in half and now I have the mounts.





They fit perfectly in my templates.



Next two steps are to cut out the pieces from the topsheet so that I can use them as the grain matched tops on the covers. I will surround them with my dividing veneers just like I did here on my control cavity cover.





I then need to route the body, glue on the cover sheet and glue the mounts to the pickup covers and then I can move on to shaping the body. I have to admit that I am looking forward to that more than any step that I foresee as it has the biggest visible change and makes lumber look like a bass.

[mikebpeters]

Today was a day for more lessons, but these ones were positive reinforcement for a change

In the past when I have changed scroll saw blades I have just put them in and not thought a lot about it, and apparently I have just gotten lucky. The last time I used my saw it bucked and vibrated my piece something terrible and it made me think. As I pondered why it may have been so I came to two realizations. First, my tension wasn't high enough and it let the blade wander a bit, but secondly the blade was on upside down so it was cutting on the upstroke, pulling the wood up and away from a firm base (no pun intended). No wonder it chattered and vibrated so much.

This time around I mounted the blade teeth facing down, and tightened up the tension a bit and it worked like a charm and made it easy to stay inside a pencil width.



I purposely cut 'inside' the final resting place of the pickup all the way around because as I mentioned I am going to run my 3 layers of veneers around the perimeter of the pickup which will give me some room to finesse the fit perfectly.

I spent a bunch of time with some sandpaper and got the neck pickup fit.



I ran out of ambition to fit the bridge pickup but I had to carry on with the mockups . . . just because.



I haven't thinned or fit the tops yet, nor have I routed the the pickup routes in the body so the pickups aren't sitting under the covers, but the look is kind of right.



I was even tempted to lay some strings down but I know they would have curled and spoiled the image so I will have to settle for this for today.

[mikebpeters]

Because the poles stand proud of the tops of the pickups and I don't want exposed poles for this build I need to cover them.



I could have left the sides of the covers taller but I chose to recess the top instead.

I put a little bit in my router, set it up to take a tiny pass and ran the two covers through.



Now they sit nicely



I didn't mind running the inset all the way end to end because now I'm putting the veneers on.



This will take a bunch of short little steps to sand down the excess from the step before and then glue on the next pair.

I have purposely left the wings off the pickups until after I have done all this to make sanding a bit easier when I finally do glue the tops onto the bodies of the pickup covers.

[mikebpeters]

Wow, it really has been four months since my last post here! Its not like I have been neglecting my shop, its just that making pens sort of totally took over. Since that last post I have made and sold over 100 pens.

Shameless plug:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PensdotInk

I have to admit that there is just something most satisfying about emerging from my shop after an hour or two with a pen or two or three to show for my progress. I don't know about you guys, but after a few hours of working on my bass I may or may not have something readily visible, let alone tangible to show.

Anyway, I digress. Despite not working on it, my bass sat on the bench next to my lathe all this time and I have been continuously thinking about it.

I have also been lurking here nearly every day seeing what you guys are all up to.

In the days just before Christmas I began yet another bass (4) but only as far as laminating the neck and resawing the birdseye maple that will make the top pieces, but that will eventually be the subject of another post. It is a bass for my brother that will be Christmas presents for a number of years so I needed something to show him Christmas morning.

I continue to digress.

This bass has been a fabulous learning opportunity and I have seen many things I will do again, and a few I wont.

My pickup covers, while great in concept haven't been executed perfectly, although they are pretty good. I finally got the 'ears' glued on.



and then the wire routing slot in the basswood core routed and the top sheet glued on. Not like you all haven't seen tons of pics of things in clamps



doesn't look that much different glued in, than it did just sitting there.



But here is where the fun starts, double sided taping and clamping the template on . . .



and then routing. In mere minutes it has done more for the look of the bass than many, many of the last hours. Almost like the pen thing again



I am delighted with the way that the veneers turned out. Subtle, yet distinct.



Before the dust settled (almost literally) I sanded out the forearm and belly relief, and then wetted the whole thing down with mineral spirits to get a better sense of how it will look eventually.



Same sort of thing on the front side.



Here is a better look at what I was trying to acheive in showing off the neck beam, in the flourish at the bottom (might be too in your face - I need to think about this for future builds - comments welcome) and in the sides of the pickup covers, and then in the flourish at the base of the fret board. This isn't the real fret board so the flourish only half exists there, but enough to get the picture.



No promises on when the next update will come. I have a custom order for 20 pens, but I am stoked so it won't be 4 months again. Not sure whether I will fine tune the body, begin work on the headstock, or carve the neck next. Anybody have any suggestions? I don't think it should matter but I have been known to be wrong before.

Oh, happy new year all!

[mizedog]

This is awesome and very tastefully designed. Keep going! I want to lust after the finished product.


Glad to see the progress.

[mikebpeters]

Hi, thanks for your comments.

Today was almost time to implement new plans.

I glued and clamped the wings to the headstock.



And when I took it out of the clamps I cleaned it up some.



Then I got out the off cuts from the top and bottom pieces from the body that I had planned all along on using for the top and bottom of the headstock respectively.

Uh oh, big enough, but only if the grain goes the wrong way!!! $%$&# grrr



But then, in a flash of inspiration I recalled that I had another piece of bookmatched Redwood with some really cool bird's eye in it.

This will do nicely indeed!