First Build - "Lucifer"

[TerribleTim68]

Sometimes when I need a precise line to cut to on darker wood...I'll use an Xacto scalpel instead of a pencil. ... then rub chalk into the scratch.

That is brilliant Kevin! I have a marking knife too, just didn't think to use it. Thanks for that tip!

 

[postalflunkie]

For the darker woods I use a soapstone pencil I picked up by the welding equipment at HD, it leaves a nice clean fine white line.

 

[ArtGuy9516]

You could also use colored pencil on darker woods as well.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I got my "shop" straightened up a bit after our last outing. When we got back home, everything just kind of landed all over the place. it was a huge mess in there, so I finally made it a point to go straighten up. And, now that my YouTube Cross Channel Challenge piece is done for this month, I can get back to other projects.
Also, race season is now over too, so I should have some extra free time. For those interested in how the race went, the blog has a nice write up, as always.

So yeah, race season is done, my woodturning challenge is done, I need to get back to this project. Hopefully soon!

 

[RichterScale]

If I may, just a few suggestions:
-quit racing
-quit any and all other hobbies
-gut the trailer except for the bathroom
-"borrow" a bunch of tools from the shop and convert the trailer into a mobile shop. That way you can still work on basses even when you're camping.

Just a few minor adjustments to free up a little more bass building time.

 

[RichterScale]

After I cleaned up the basement and made my little 12x12 work area, I looked around and thought, "hmmm, yeah, I'm gonna need more room".
So, I went upstairs and threw my stepson out.

 

[postalflunkie]

After I cleaned up the basement and made my little 12x12 work area, I looked around and thought, "hmmm, yeah, I'm gonna need more room".
So, I went upstairs and threw my stepson out.

 

[boxerrider]

If I may, just a few suggestions:
-quit racing
-quit any and all other hobbies
-gut the trailer except for the bathroom
-"borrow" a bunch of tools from the shop and convert the trailer into a mobile shop. That way you can still work on basses even when you're camping.

Just a few minor adjustments to free up a little more bass building time.

We will, of course, expect a detailed thread documenting the trailer rebuild!

 

[RodRy]

Tim, maybe this will help you feel inspired to finish up ol' Scratch?

Or for anyone who is pondering, "what build should I do next?" and is looking for some inspiration, may I humbly suggest this video?


I find his presentation, approach to design, and resulting production to be really nice. Full disclosure, I have a degree in Industrial Design, so I freely admit my bias.

I'm already thinking of what to do for my first build...thanks Tim!

 

[RichterScale]

Saw that not long ago. Love that design and love his attitude, demeanor and ability to articulate his thought process without sounding arrogant.

 

[A9X]

Tim, maybe this will help you feel inspired to finish up ol' Scratch?

Or for anyone who is pondering, "what build should I do next?" and is looking for some inspiration, may I humbly suggest this video?


I find his presentation, approach to design, and resulting production to be really nice. Full disclosure, I have a degree in Industrial Design, so I freely admit my bias.

I'm already thinking of what to do for my first build...thanks Tim!

Thanks, I found that interesting, but my 35yo bass already sits perfectly on my lap and allows me to play it at my preferred, more vertical angle. For what he wanted in the classical seated playing position, I thought Klein and Strandberg and I can see some similarities between his final result and theirs. My one real criticism is that whilst he optimised the ergos for sitting, he didn't for standing and I would have positioned the upper horn a bit differently, but I'd need to strap it on to check.
Also should have used the headless designs

I like his design process and is articulate in explaining the what, why and how. Gonna take a look at some of his other videos too.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Okay, so here's the deal:

TL : DR - Nothing happened.

So, Friday after work I headed out to our race shop to meet the buyer for my Late Model (fancy racecar), this thing -

I literally built this car from the ground up. I traded some parts for the "center section" of a wrecked car a fellow racer had and was planning on just throwing away, so I started with just this -

And then, over a period of about a year, slowly built a car from there, installing a brand new front clip, building our own rear clip, building our own bumpers and nerf bars, hanging the body ourself. This thing was a labor of love, I built all of the bumpers and nerf bars to be fully bolt-on so that you can just unbolt them after a wreck and build a new one -

So after that, I wasn't really in the mood to do much all weekend. There was some grieving going on to say the least. I did manage to clean up my "shop" somewhat, and then instead of working on Lucifer I decided to build a hand plane till, because I need somewhere to store them and it also makes for a super cool YouTube backdrop. So yeah, nothing got done, aside from some progress on the plane till. I'm still kinda sad and not really motivated.

 

[ctmullins]

Cars are cool.

Hand-fabricated racecars doubly so.

Silver lining: You can take the knowledge you've gained and build another one; a better one; one that goes "one faster" - "... but this one goes to 69 ..."

 

[TerribleTim68]

"... but this one goes to 69 ..."

It had a sticker on the dash that said -

68
I owe you one!​

 

[RichterScale]

Tim, what would you charge to build me a car?
I'm lookin to shave a good 10-15 min off my 30 min commute to work.

 

[Rôckhewer]

There was some grieving going on to say the least.

Dude... bro... I feel your pain.
Now you got me all sad again about my chopper.
Thanks
Labor of love?... yeah... almost as much as my kids.
Took about 8 months to build. Was my daily ride for 10 years.
I sold it to buy tools ...to start this silly... "hey let's be a loothyer!... idea.

I managed to maintain a manly composure... as I helped the buyer load it on his trailer....and watched that sexy beast go away.
Once inside?... I wept. I Cried,... blubbering snot ... the whole works . I didn't anticipate I'd be so sad.

Now I'm flipping through build pics too.
Gonna continue with your derail.
Share... &...commiserate

 

[TerribleTim68]

Rock, that's beautiful! Great job on the details too, the saddle bag cover, epic!

..I managed to maintain a manly composure... as I helped the buyer load it on his trailer....and watched that sexy beast go away....

Yeah, Pops laughed at me because once it was on his trailer and he was getting in his truck, I pulled the shop door down so I didn't have to watch. I just couldn't do it.

 

[RodRy]

Rock, that's beautiful! Great job on the details too, the saddle bag cover, epic!

Yeah, Pops laughed at me because once it was on his trailer and he was getting in his truck, I pulled the shop door down so I didn't have to watch. I just couldn't do it.

No worries, give yourself some time to grieve and work through it. Then you'll be ready to tackle other challenges and move ahead.

I have a 96 Saturn that I bought new and I have way too much sentimental value in that car for anyone to consider it sensible. But it's a car I love, and I don't care who knows it.

I feel your pain.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Okay this needs to get back on track!

So Where Are We?
Let's revel in this shot of it all pre-assembled first (yes I've posted this before, but it's been like two months since I touched this build or something) -

Then let's get to work! I still needed to drill the screw holes for the pups. I had some concerns about plunging an electric drill into the face of those pup covers, so I broke out the mega old egg beater hand drill -

I like tools that move slow. Added bonuses; it's rather quiet, it's kind of relaxing and it's a bit therapeutic. If you've never worked with old hand tools, try it, you might like it.
After that I took it all apart and put all the hardware away -

Nothing Like Re-carving A Neck!
For those who remember, I left off at a point where I got it all preassembled and realized my neck was not really a baseball bat, but more like a softball bat. Back to the neck carving! I had shaved down the center to a point where I was happy with it, but the shoulders were still fat. I held on to this quick little clamping jig I made when I carved it the first time, so I threw it back on there. Clamp the jig to the bench, then clamp Lucifer to the jig -

Back at it with the shinto to round over those shoulders on each side, then come back over that with a finer file to smooth that out some. I had to do some work to my heel carve because after bringing the neck down to a realistic, playable thickness the heel had a funky lump in it. Go figure. No worries, I got this. Break out the Dremel with that Saber bit and carve away, then move to the RoS with some 150 grit on it and a 1" thick foam pad and smooth that out. No pick of that tho, sorry.

DID SOMEONE SAY GLO-IN-THE-DARK?!?!?!?
okay, if you've read this thread you might recall my attempt at using gun sight paint as glo-in-the-dark fret markers. We're not putting fret markers on the face of the fretboard, only on the side of the neck. I don't look at the face of the board when playing, so why disrupt the beautiful wood grain? Okay, so the gun sight paint didn't work at all. Plus, I dropped the bottle and it shattered all over my garage floor, so I no longer have any. So, I ordered up some Luminlay from the Amazonians. Let's get Lucifer in the bench end vice -

Then redrill my holes -

Then grab my weapon of choice, Starbond Medium and Accelerator -

I chose the medium because I wanted to make sure my holes were full with no gaps and I had concerns about the thin running all over my neck wood grain and that would not be cool man, not cool. Drop of CA in the hole, stick the stick in, hit it with the accelerator -

I chose to cut it with a pair of side cutters (dykes for you old timers), then move on to the next hole -

Just continue that method all the way down -

When I got to the last hole I was left with this much Luminlay -

Barely made it, whew!
Okay, we gotta test this out, right? Shine a flash light on it for a bit (I have a nice 20v DeWalt that really puts out some light) then kill the lights -

Hard to get a good pic with my shaky hands, but I think you get the point. Seriously, I couldn't be more happy with it.

Where Does That Leave Us?
Well, the neck is carved. The side dots are installed. I still need to route a pocket for the battery box. I still need to route the control cavity cover recess. I still need to drill a hole for the barrel jack. I'm not done shaping the nut yet. Those are the last of the major operations that I can see. From there it's a lot of sanding, then some more sanding and when I get done with that there's a bit more sanding. Eventually I can think about finish, but I'll need to do some sanding first. I think I need to go back and do some more work on them fret ends, clean that up and smooth them out a bit more. I also want to go back and open up my wiring hole from the pup cavities to the control cavity. Currently it's kind of tight with all those wires trying to fit in there together. I could use a bit larger hole.
But, I think we're getting there. I just need to find my motivation and focus and just get this thing done. I've been way too busy with woodturning projects, the racecar and nursing my fear of messing this thing up at this point in the build. If you never finish it nobody can say you did a crappy job. The down side is, you also can't play it. I gotta focus on getting this thing done.

 

[Flying B]

Do it man! I think everyone encounters a build-stall on their first go, mine sat in a cupboard for a good year before I dug it out again and finished it.

I've got some luminlay to use on my current build. I've been nervous about using cutters to trim it, I was worried about squishing or deforming it, but it looks like you didn't have that problem?