Okay, thanks! Duh... for some reason I was fixated on post adjustment, but that's obviously still easily doable.
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Double Bass Resuming a build that was set aside years ago.
- Thread starter 1st Bass
- Start date
Okay, thanks! Duh... for some reason I was fixated on post adjustment, but that's obviously still easily doable.
I decided to do at least the purfling weave on each end before closing the box, as I thought it would be easier...and I am sure it was. but I truncated the weaves where the next segment would actually go out around the bouts.
There is one on each end...this is the lower end, the upper one is nearly identical, but a mirror-image, upside down.
When I had the two weaves complete, I was getting tired, and the glue was still wet, so I set the plate aside to give it time to dry:
Then I used a gouge and small finger plane to reduce the purfling to the surface-level, and a scraper to smooth it so it fairs into the plate. This is the upper weave. You can see how the rest of the purfling will tie into the weave.
Finally, today...(FI-nally!) I got the corpus closed. And that was it, for today.
But having it closed allows me to get started on all the work preparing the bass for the finishing process.
There is one on each end...this is the lower end, the upper one is nearly identical, but a mirror-image, upside down.
When I had the two weaves complete, I was getting tired, and the glue was still wet, so I set the plate aside to give it time to dry:
Then I used a gouge and small finger plane to reduce the purfling to the surface-level, and a scraper to smooth it so it fairs into the plate. This is the upper weave. You can see how the rest of the purfling will tie into the weave.
Finally, today...(FI-nally!) I got the corpus closed. And that was it, for today.
But having it closed allows me to get started on all the work preparing the bass for the finishing process.
I corrected the overhang all around, and the edge-thickness, then tried to get the purfling slot cut out all the way around, but my hands got too tired to complete the job, so... tomorrow, I hope.
The back purfling is installed, but the glue is still wet, so I will have to wait for it to dry before trimming the purfling flush with the plate and starting the edge channel.
Thanks, Don!
I bought the purfling strips several years ago, from International Violin Co., and I think it was "all wood" purfling, but I can't recall for certain. It is quite brittle, and splinters easily, so I suspect it actually is all wood. What kind of wood? No idea, though I have often read that poplar is commonly used.
I know people who make their own purfling, but I have always bought it in ready-made strips, about 30" long. (I don't braid my own shoe laces, either...)
I bought the purfling strips several years ago, from International Violin Co., and I think it was "all wood" purfling, but I can't recall for certain. It is quite brittle, and splinters easily, so I suspect it actually is all wood. What kind of wood? No idea, though I have often read that poplar is commonly used.
I know people who make their own purfling, but I have always bought it in ready-made strips, about 30" long. (I don't braid my own shoe laces, either...)
Shoe laces??? No more for me, i can barely bend my back and knees to slip my shoes on anymore. 
I respect anyone who goes into purfling, especially as methodically as you're doing it. It's looking great!
I respect anyone who goes into purfling, especially as methodically as you're doing it. It's looking great!
Thanks, Don!
I can still bend and tie my shoes... I prefer these goretex laces because they seem to last forever... but I'm not enough of a "DIY guy" to make them myself... and I have never tried to make purfling, either.
I would like to try making varnish from Douglas fir resin, though. I have heard that it works well, and I have lots of Douglas fir trees. Too busy, so far, so I buy that as well, and have been using spirit varnish for the last twelve years or so, anyway.
I can still bend and tie my shoes... I prefer these goretex laces because they seem to last forever... but I'm not enough of a "DIY guy" to make them myself... and I have never tried to make purfling, either.
I would like to try making varnish from Douglas fir resin, though. I have heard that it works well, and I have lots of Douglas fir trees. Too busy, so far, so I buy that as well, and have been using spirit varnish for the last twelve years or so, anyway.
I've never tried anything like making fir varnish... But we've recently started treating ourselves to real maple syrup for the first time. That is actually a special treat. My understanding is you can use it direct from the tree, although what we're eating has evidently been heated and filtered. It's good tho!
IIRC, it takes 32 quarts of raw maple sap, boiled down, to make one quart of rather thin maple syrup,... and yes, it is good!
Working on the edge-contours, now. I hope to have them completed today.
Thanks, Louis! I surely hope it sounds as good as it looks!
I applied the mineral ground today. Next step is sealer.
It looks terrible right now, but the chalk-white ground will disappear entirely with the application of the sealer.
It looks terrible right now, but the chalk-white ground will disappear entirely with the application of the sealer.
Okeedoke! The next step never ceases to amaze me, as, like magic, the gypsum ugliness gives way to the beauty of the wood!
Here is the bass, still in its gypsum flat-white dreariness, in the varnishing fixture, and ready for the sealer:
And the sealing begins! First the front plate:
Then the side...
Then the back...
And so on, until...it's done!
Once the sealer is dry, I can begin varnishing. But this by itself is always a major transformation, in my mind.
Here is the bass, still in its gypsum flat-white dreariness, in the varnishing fixture, and ready for the sealer:
And the sealing begins! First the front plate:
Then the side...
Then the back...
And so on, until...it's done!
Once the sealer is dry, I can begin varnishing. But this by itself is always a major transformation, in my mind.
I rubbed it down with alcohol this morning, and then applied a coat of yellow varnish.
