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Yesterday I worked on the Rosewood fretboard, got it inlaid. Turned out that the new binding cutter I bought wouldn't do the fretboard because the bearing was too far down from the cutters so today I just cut both on the router table and stuck the bindings on with CA. I started with a thick gel type with a slow setting time so I could get the inner edge of the mitre exactly in the right place then used a thin CA to do the rest, horrible stuff, gets everywhere, made a right mess of my finger nailsAfter that I scraped the bindings flush and sanded the faces through to 3000 grit which looks very good. The Mother of Pearl is stunning and no filler used at all, feeling a little smug about that LOL
I finished off the day by putting a thin coat of Lemon oil on the faces, will give a couple more before fretting them
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That faux rosewood has a better looking grain than most of the real ones you see these days!
I'm going to stick my neck on the block here but I think that it is better than Rosewood for fretboards in every way from a makers point of view. In time those Mother of Pearl inlays would rise above the fretboard as the Rosewood shrunk, I would think/expect there to be no shrinkage here at allThat faux rosewood has a better looking grain than most of the real ones you see these days!
So today's thrilling update, I know you're not sleeping nights wondering what will happen next 
First job this morning was to drill the switch and control pot holes, I did this perpendicular to the surface rather than to the back so the knobs don't look cock eyed. I looked at some Les Paul guitars in PMT Cardiff last weekend to see how they were drilled, strangely some were vertical and some where in line with the contours, it was the ones high on the wall that were angled so in hindsight they would have been customs as they cost an arm and a leg..
Next was to sand the body contours and make them look less like I attacked them with an axe, after that I did the sides and the back but only to 80 grit until the binding is in and all other work done then I'll take it down to 240 or 320 grit depending on how it looks. No need to go further than that on wood, the marks will never show even at 240 with clear lacquer, the problem with going finer is that the grits start removing soft wood rather than the harder and ripples start to appear, it's quite hard to stop that and to be honest there isn't any real advantage to do so on your average timber like Oak, Mahogany, Ash etc.
The last job of the day was to check the necks for flat and yes they were, excellent news so a couple of wipes with the plane and then I sanded the headstock and glued the headstock veneers on, after an hour in clamps I trimmed the veneer flush and being the daft bat I am I stuck the bits together to have a first look at what they were going to look like. I won't comment on that, make your own mind up. The top of the neck body isn't flush thith the top of the body yet, I need to trim the bottom of the tenon but I'm leaving that until shaping time
First job this morning was to drill the switch and control pot holes, I did this perpendicular to the surface rather than to the back so the knobs don't look cock eyed. I looked at some Les Paul guitars in PMT Cardiff last weekend to see how they were drilled, strangely some were vertical and some where in line with the contours, it was the ones high on the wall that were angled so in hindsight they would have been customs as they cost an arm and a leg..
Next was to sand the body contours and make them look less like I attacked them with an axe, after that I did the sides and the back but only to 80 grit until the binding is in and all other work done then I'll take it down to 240 or 320 grit depending on how it looks. No need to go further than that on wood, the marks will never show even at 240 with clear lacquer, the problem with going finer is that the grits start removing soft wood rather than the harder and ripples start to appear, it's quite hard to stop that and to be honest there isn't any real advantage to do so on your average timber like Oak, Mahogany, Ash etc.
The last job of the day was to check the necks for flat and yes they were, excellent news so a couple of wipes with the plane and then I sanded the headstock and glued the headstock veneers on, after an hour in clamps I trimmed the veneer flush and being the daft bat I am I stuck the bits together to have a first look at what they were going to look like. I won't comment on that, make your own mind up. The top of the neck body isn't flush thith the top of the body yet, I need to trim the bottom of the tenon but I'm leaving that until shaping time
Thank you
I don't know if you can see the glue lines that gave me a fright earlier in the build have now gone after a sanding. They have now been christened "Larry lines" after your comment about the clamps So unlike me it's time for a preview of what's coming up, the headstock design. After some discussion with my friends in the Thunderbird club we shortlisted down to two designs (thank you all for your help with that, it was very fruitful) from which I chose the one below.
I have always made my basses under the name "Dragon" because I'm Welsh but I was told it made them sound like a cheap Chinese copy of a BC Rich made for school kids to pretend to play metal in their bedrooms, so maybe a rebranding to the Welsh word for Dragon which is "Ddraig". Either that or at @Bruce Johnson's suggestion I rename to "Daft Bat" which is a strong possibility. The design will be a Welsh dragon in white Mother of Pearl with the brand name Ddraig either in Paua or Abalone. I haven't got any Paua yet but I've ordered some and should be with me by the end of the week with luck.
I have always made my basses under the name "Dragon" because I'm Welsh but I was told it made them sound like a cheap Chinese copy of a BC Rich made for school kids to pretend to play metal in their bedrooms, so maybe a rebranding to the Welsh word for Dragon which is "Ddraig". Either that or at @Bruce Johnson's suggestion I rename to "Daft Bat" which is a strong possibility. The design will be a Welsh dragon in white Mother of Pearl with the brand name Ddraig either in Paua or Abalone. I haven't got any Paua yet but I've ordered some and should be with me by the end of the week with luck.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
I guess there is no chance for a "doghair" finish on one of those?
Woof Woof?
Woof Woof?
Thank you
Hahaha... so sorry about the clamp comment. I was joking as I had thought that the number you were using was overkill so I was joking with the, "I think it needs more clamps." quip.
Did I give a "winky" on that comment? Apologies if I didn't.
Not on these, I didn't select the tops to be decoratively grain filled just painted. That is something that needs planning for so you have a grain structure that will show it off.I guess there is no chance for a "doghair" finish on one of those?
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Woof Woof?
Interestingly though, the binding is exactly what I have planed, 0.5mm cream, 0.5mm black and an outer of 1.5mm cream, after seeing that I'm glad I chose that, thanks
I knew it was a joke but when I saw the marks left by the glue squeeze I thought "..... hell, Larry was right!!"
So from now on those are officially "Larry lines" 
I'm in awe Christine. Otherwise speechless on how these builds are turning out.
Larry Lines. there's a lot of places i could go with that....................
Larry Lines. there's a lot of places i could go with that....................
You could go with Daft Bat and just inlay a DB on the headstock...
I didn't notice the smiley at first, I had a nice response all typed out explaining why that was a bad idea.
Well for north Wales the weather has been hot these last few weeks but the last two have been baking, I had the day off yesterday but decided to try working outside today and enjoy the sun. It started out lovely but eventually it got too hot and I ended up with a towel draped over my head trying to keep the sun off, I had a magnifying visor on so I couldn't wear a hat. I got some done and now I'm inside cooling off.
I set up a makeshift bench outside, literally a saw horse and a metalworking vice clamped to it to hold my saw table. then I took my designs for the headstock inlays and, well confession first, I nearly flamingo'd up with the name as my written Welsh isn't that good but basically "the dragon" is "Y Ddraig" and plain "Dragon" is "Draig" so disaster averted. So I took my design and with a sharp scalpel cut out some of the sections and glued them with Titebond to a Mother of Pearl blank then cut them out, each time I cut a piece I turned it upside down and glued it to a mirror image of the design so it can then be transferred to the headstock. I'm sure you all get the drift and after 4 hours sawing and filing I ended up with one dragon ready for inlaying into a headstock.
Not sure if I want to do the other tomorrow or do one of the Draig inlays for which I have some lovely dark green Abalone
I set up a makeshift bench outside, literally a saw horse and a metalworking vice clamped to it to hold my saw table. then I took my designs for the headstock inlays and, well confession first, I nearly flamingo'd up with the name as my written Welsh isn't that good but basically "the dragon" is "Y Ddraig" and plain "Dragon" is "Draig" so disaster averted. So I took my design and with a sharp scalpel cut out some of the sections and glued them with Titebond to a Mother of Pearl blank then cut them out, each time I cut a piece I turned it upside down and glued it to a mirror image of the design so it can then be transferred to the headstock. I'm sure you all get the drift and after 4 hours sawing and filing I ended up with one dragon ready for inlaying into a headstock.
Not sure if I want to do the other tomorrow or do one of the Draig inlays for which I have some lovely dark green Abalone
Done by hand with a coping saw?! That's just crazy! I'm really surprised you don't use/have a scroll saw for this type of work.
I don't really have the work to justify one, a good one is an expensive thing and to be honest I don't know if a powered saw might get the blade too hot, as it is by hand they get super hot and snap every couple of inches. What I would like is a foot powered marquetry donkey but a vertical one like a scroll saw so I can have the sort of control I like. I agree there has to be an easier way as that was heavy going
