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First build bass for my daughter

#41
2lim said:
Looking up how to "skew" your plane while planing. This will get you the same result as buying an angled blade plane.

I still uses handplanes for furniture making, and that is how I deal with hard/figured woods.

Simon
Click to expand...

Thanks Simon, I looked it up but can't find anything. If you do find it, please share!

My idea is to make a japanese-like wooden plane, I've worked with those and they seem very comfortable to me. I've got a few old blades that used to be in old wooden planes, and the idea is to bring them back to life. I'm ashamed to confess that the one plane mentioned in the OP has not been finished... some misscalculations in the throat angle made me put it aside. I've got a bit more experience now so hope to finish this one.
 
#42
Today I had some small advance. I started radius sanding the fretboard, though I still have some more sanding to do.

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Not a lot more done really. Before I started sanding, I sawed the fretslots a bit deeper, and I'll have to check their deepness once more I think.

I also did some progress in routing the neck for the neck joint, and once I'm done with that I'll have to make a template for the neck pocket and route that out.

This is going so slowly!!! :( :help:
 
#43
Yes... this bass hasn't even been finished yet and it's already baptized... :hiding:

I don't think this has happened to anyone before... my daughter peed on the neck... yep...

she had an "accident" while walking down the stairs at our home, this is a metal staircase with openings between each step. The neck was resting on a desk below the stairs... and my daughter's "accident" dripped down through the steps and right onto the fretboard! :eek:
I was not too happy with that... But hey, if she ever decides to join a punk rock band, I guess there's no better bass for punk than one that has been peed on! :D
she's only 3 mind you...
There is not much progress on the bass itself... routed the neck pocket and neck joint, though still need to work on it to fit perfectly:

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#45
Thanks Mauricio!

The neck joint is almost done, though it still needs to be perfected. It's pretty tight though.

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There's a noticeable gap that I need to work on:

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and looking at this picture it seems the curve at the end of the fretboard is off center... i should measure it... it might just be the angle of the photograph. there's a visible gap that I need to work on here as well.

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#46
Interesting neck joint. I have been thinking about the same type of design, but any other dovetail neck joints I have seen (Fodera and Zon) leave some of the neck material under the entire width of the fingerboard. I wasn't sure that doing it this way would be strong enough.
 
#47
fretless_guy said:
Interesting neck joint. I have been thinking about the same type of design, but any other dovetail neck joints I have seen (Fodera and Zon) leave some of the neck material under the entire width of the fingerboard. I wasn't sure that doing it this way would be strong enough.
Click to expand...

I hope it is :hiding:

My teacher does this type of neckjoint in his guitars and it works for him, in regards to not leaving neck material under the entire width of the fingerboard.
To be honest, this joint is also sort of the result of a couple of mistakes I've made.
The body is now meeting the neck at the 18th fret, when I originally planned them to meet at the 21st. the neck ended up being narrower to what I expected due to some miscalculations, so that is why the joint is sarting at that fret.

By the way, afaik this is not a dovetail joint, since the sides of the neck pocket are parallel to each other in a 90 degrees angle to to the bottom of the neck pocket. For it to be a dovetail the walls of the neck pocket should have a smaller angle, so the neck would only be able to be slid into the neck pocket from the neck side and not from the top of the body.
 
#49
Still fighting trying to get a perfect neck joint... I'm close to acceptable though.
I've been trying to come up with inlay designs, choice is golden mother of pearl.
12th fret, something like this:

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or this:

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I might try to make a circle/oval out of copper (and the inside in golden mother of pearl). the space is too small though, don't know if I'll manage. the rest of the markers might be those petal-like thingies, and I'm toying with the idea of not placing all of them identically, but have them facing different directions. 24th fret might be petals as well, space is too tight for a circular figure I think.

I also like the idea of not all the "petals" being perfectly identical, and keep their sort of random shape. I'm trying to have a friend draw them out so that they are all equal though, and maybe compare and see what I like best.

I'd love to hear any comments if you have them.
 
#52
I've finally settled for the inlays, and have been working on them.

got copies of what i wanted to do on paper, and then cut the design, glued the paper on the mother of pearl, and start cutting.

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They are far from perfect, though. Today I've spent some time sanding these little pieces... most still need some work, and I'll have to recut a few as well. But I'll get there, I hope.

Kind of, sort of getting there: (like I said, still a lot work to be done)

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I've also glued the walnut on the headstock matching the body:

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#54
Dear jmorbita!

Tonight, I've just went through and reviewed all of your posts on this heirloom build for your daughter!

I am sorry that I do not post more, however, I am sincerely impressed with your patience and attention to detail in your work! This instrument is going to be stunning!

I am amazed by your ability to do the inlay work that you are showing us! It is beautiful!

Your work is wonderful, and I cannot wait to see the finished product!!!
 
#55
trayner1 said:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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lol! I expect to borrow the bass quite often though...

LedBelli Bass said:
Dear jmorbita!

Tonight, I've just went through and reviewed all of your posts on this heirloom build for your daughter!

I am sorry that I do not post more, however, I am sincerely impressed with your patience and attention to detail in your work! This instrument is going to be stunning!

I am amazed by your ability to do the inlay work that you are showing us! It is beautiful!

Your work is wonderful, and I cannot wait to see the finished product!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Cleve! it means a lot coming from you!

In all honesty, cutting the inlays was not as difficult as I thought it would be, I think focusing and good light help a lot. still have a long way to go.
When I started I broke about 3 of those thin blades, but when I got the hung of it all went a lot smoother. Given that it's my first time at it, I think I still have a lot of room for improvement.
 
#58
floydman said:
I love your wood selections and that wooden hand plane- nice stanleys too! Your design also looks gorgeous, that is truly going to be a nice gift for your daughter.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I got lucky with the wood I think, using what I had at hand, and I think it turned out great.

Today I've been working some more on the inlays, I think they're done, maybe just a bit more sanding on a couple of the pieces, and next week I'll be trying to actually inlay them.

Today mostly worked on the oval of the inlay. First, drill a hole in the mother of pearl:

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thread the saw, and start going at it

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all the inside is gone now:

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so now I started filing and sanding the inside to make it as perfect as I could.
After that, I draw the outside of the oval again, taking the inside as reference.

cut on the outside and i got this:

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filed away, and it's done.

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Close up picture shows a lot more imperfections than real life, I don't think I'll work on it any longer, it actually looks really good I think.
Mock up:

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I'm not really sure how I'll be able to inlay the smaller pieces, I'll try to leave the fingerboard's wood inside the oval, but if it can't be done then I'll take it all off and fill it in with ebony dust, which might actually look quite good.

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well, thank you all for looking and for everyone's comments!
 

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