WBO 23 - Drop it like it's hot

[Hout]

Second part glued up

Out of the clamps an planed a bit to make the surface nice and curved in stead of faceted.

The gap you see in the foreground will end up in an offcut if it all plans out.

Measured and cut multiscale fretboard. I had a small jig for cutting a square fretboard from a previous project that I could dismantle and reuse for a hackjob one time use jig..

Quite intense, measuring and marking a multiscale I must say. First time also, so hope I got it right

I'm sort of making up my plan along the way, not sure what's next at this point. At some point I'll also need to figure out what to do on the electronics side, so I can rout the LED setup into this fretboard

 

[Hout]

Okay well this didn't work.

The next iteration works a bit better, but I'm not there yet

I was wondering what kind of strenght the system will need to have, so I measured the amount of force needed to fret all strings on one of my other instruments.

Apparently 90N should be enough to fret 5 strings.

If there were any doubts on the nerdiness of this build, here's the preliminary results of the finite elements analysis of the main beam of the capo

Looks like aluminium will be quite strong enough.

Not much to show in the woods department, I've been experimenting with getting some contrast layer between the back and the top to no succes as of yet.

 

[smart51]

Ah thanks, as in dyed by yourself or bought pre-dyed?

Pre-dyed. I get mine here: Coloured Wood Veneers - The Wood Veneer Hub

 

[Jeff Siddall]

If there were any doubts on the nerdiness of this build, here's the preliminary results of the finite elements analysis of the main beam of the capo
View attachment 4928122
Looks like aluminium will be quite strong enough.

I think this is the first bass build I have seen with FEA. Nice work!

 

[Hout]

Pre-dyed. I get mine here: Coloured Wood Veneers - The Wood Veneer Hub

I found some at a Belgian woordworking supplier. Iddy biddy closer than the UK, but thanks for the tip!

 

[RLK]

Very cool, but I must confess I'm not grasping (no pun intended) how the capo mech functions.

 

[Hout]

Big screwup to report unfortunately..

I spent quite some hours over a couple of days on the fretboard to install the led stuff for the shifting markers. I never did this before, and I don't know the common practices, but I figured it would be best to have the actual light source somewhere where I can reach it it the future so based it around end glow optic fibers.

And as there will have to be some switching to be done in the headstock, I also wanted a small tube running the length of the neck, to power some yet to define electrics.

Drilled the side makers (2x 12 of them) with a small jig

Routed some channels in the back of the board, (intermediate pic)

And installed the optic strands (which was a major hassle and hardly any fun) and a brass tube in between.

All good and working nicely! Check out the gif to see the lights shifting

This was actually me changing the light source in between the two frames, so nothing automatic yet. I see now that not all markers are showing in the picture, must be some artifact of the gif compression.

For the bottom side of the fretboard to become nice and flat for glueing it up eventually, I figured I'd cast some epoxy in the channels..

I was somewhat wary of the possibility that clear epoxy might interfere with the "end glow" characteristics, and cause some kind of "light leakage" from one set of strands to the other, for instance because of a difference in refraction index or something like that. So I made a little test pour first.

No significant leakage or weird effects so good to go.

..Or so I thought... Tum Tum Tuuuhm..

After the poured epoxy cured enough to confirm all had gone well:

The light only reached a couple of markers, the rest remain all dark.

Apparently the epoxy did end up doing something to the acrylic strands, causing them to crack and lose their light conductive property. Maybe heat, maybe chemical reaction? I don't know, but bottom line is figure out how to get the stuff out and start anew with a renewed plan..

 

[Max Bogosity]

I vaguely remember that the way optic fibre works depends on a large difference in index of refraction between the fibre and whatever surrounds it. If you embed it in clear epoxy with a similar index, I wonder if you lose the internal reflections and just leak the light out the sides of the fibres into the epoxy instead of delivering it to the end of the fibre.

 

[Reedt2000]

I vaguely remember that the way optic fibre works depends on a large difference in index of refraction between the fibre and whatever surrounds it. If you embed it in clear epoxy with a similar index, I wonder if you lose the internal reflections and just leak the light out the sides of the fibres into the epoxy instead of delivering it to the end of the fibre.

If this were the case, a black epoxy might solve the problem?

 

[Max Bogosity]

If this were the case, a black epoxy might solve the problem?

Maybe. I'm going to shut up now and leave this one to the people who have actually done this.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

Big screwup to report unfortunately..

I spent quite some hours over a couple of days on the fretboard to install the led stuff for the shifting markers. I never did this before, and I don't know the common practices, but I figured it would be best to have the actual light source somewhere where I can reach it it the future so based it around end glow optic fibers.

And as there will have to be some switching to be done in the headstock, I also wanted a small tube running the length of the neck, to power some yet to define electrics.

Drilled the side makers (2x 12 of them) with a small jig
View attachment 4933133

Routed some channels in the back of the board, (intermediate pic)
View attachment 4933134

And installed the optic strands (which was a major hassle and hardly any fun) and a brass tube in between.
View attachment 4933145

All good and working nicely! Check out the gif to see the lights shifting
View attachment 4933155
This was actually me changing the light source in between the two frames, so nothing automatic yet. I see now that not all markers are showing in the picture, must be some artifact of the gif compression.

For the bottom side of the fretboard to become nice and flat for glueing it up eventually, I figured I'd cast some epoxy in the channels..

I was somewhat wary of the possibility that clear epoxy might interfere with the "end glow" characteristics, and cause some kind of "light leakage" from one set of strands to the other, for instance because of a difference in refraction index or something like that. So I made a little test pour first.
View attachment 4933178

No significant leakage or weird effects so good to go.

..Or so I thought... Tum Tum Tuuuhm..

After the poured epoxy cured enough to confirm all had gone well:
View attachment 4933179
The light only reached a couple of markers, the rest remain all dark.

Apparently the epoxy did end up doing something to the acrylic strands, causing them to crack and lose their light conductive property. Maybe heat, maybe chemical reaction? I don't know, but bottom line is figure out how to get the stuff out and start anew with a renewed plan..

I liked your post in sympathy. That sucks, especially since you already pre-tested for problems. I have never used optics in epoxy before so can't explain what went wrong. However, I can confirm that if refractive index is to blame then using black epoxy wouldn't solve anything as the light would still leave the pipe, and then immediately be completely absorbed by the black epoxy.

All I can add is that I hope you are able to find a solution. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[Hout]

My guess it's some kind of chemical reaction artefact, before all had set to superhard, I chiseled some of the stuff out and found the fibers have gone from flexible and smooth to brittle and crackled. Very weird. Hopefully I can salvage the fretboard and won't have to make a new one.

I ordered some new strands, 'cause I still think those are the way to go for this setup. Need to figure something out for filling the channels though.

 

[Hout]

On another note, I made a sandwich from some offcuts

This will be the buildup for the body and headstock.
Here's with some orangy/brown stain:

Apart from the sentimental value for myself, the top doesn't have a particularly pretty grain, so I may want to do something more interesting with stains. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

In the meantime, I started with laminating the headstock.

..I need more clamps..

 

[Mickey666]

My guess it's some kind of chemical reaction artefact, before all had set to superhard, I chiseled some of the stuff out and found the fibers have gone from flexible and smooth to brittle and crackled. Very weird. Hopefully I can salvage the fretboard and won't have to make a new one.

I ordered some new strands, 'cause I still think those are the way to go for this setup. Need to figure something out for filling the channels though.

Just saw car building show where the guy had the same problem putting fiber optics in a car, ended up having to use silicone to keep the fibers from breaking when bent.

Don't know if a flexible adhesive is an option for you, but there might be something you can do with the info.

 

[Videojunkie]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

This guy recommends only using epoxy sparingly, and almost none much beyond where the fiber enters the fretboard.

 

[Hout]

Just saw car building show where the guy had the same problem putting fiber optics in a car, ended up having to use silicone to keep the fibers from breaking when bent.

Don't know if a flexible adhesive is an option for you, but there might be something you can do with the info.

Yeah, I considered silicone too, but I was kind of worried about possible impact on the finish later on down the line?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

This guy recommends only using epoxy sparingly, and almost none much beyond where the fiber enters the fretboard.

Hmm, this would have been useful info indeed..

 

[Hout]

Brand new 3d printed pickup cavity routing jig:

Probably single use.. (So I guess it's not all too correct on the "don't waste plastics" side of things, but still damn useful for a routing jig on a curved piece of wood)

..So I made an additional cavity with it just to make it a double use

That small cavity will be hidden behind the top, maybe for a battery, or some other electronics. Did I mention that I'll add a built in headphone amp and possibly also a tuner?

And I glued the headstock laminates to the neck

 

[swagbotbilly]

Probably single use.. (So I guess it's not all too correct on the "don't waste plastics" side of things

A lot of 3D printing is done with PLA (an organic plastic). Can't say if yours was or wasn't, but

 

[definenredefine]

Is there a way to reuse 3d printed plastics?

 

[Will_White]

Is there a way to reuse 3d printed plastics?

You can get a machine that remakes them into filament, it's fairly expensive IIRC.