Winter Build Off 2020- The ♾

[MPU]

Here’s my entry, The ♾
Mahogany/flame maple body
Warwick RB maple/rosewood neck
Warwick/Schaller hardware
MEC pickups
Here are the woods

 

[MPU]

Here’s the plan.

 

[Bent77]

Subd

 

[MPU]

Body in the clamps. Tomorrow morning I’m starting to plane and sand the front to 1500mm radius.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Subd

 

[Gilmourisgod]

MPU builds are always a Technical Feast. Sub’d.

 

[IconBasser]

this is gonna be gorgeous

 

[MPU]

After planing with hand plane I use radius sanding block to radius the front to 1500mm radius.

Front looks good, it's time for the back.

First I routed steps on the back.

Then unbelievably fine tool; Ibex violin plane. Cuts very easily and suprisingly fast for it's size.

Radius block again, now the other side.

And here we have it, radiused body blank ready for routing chambers.

Last thing before Xmas, joining the top.

 

[Kelly robinson]

Always such pristine looking builds ! Going to be another fascinating project to watch develop ..... Kelly

 

[5tring]

Looking awesome!

 

[MPU]

Just for check; 7mm flame maple top bends fine for 1500mm radius.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I'm curious, why not route the neck pocket and pup cavities while it was still flat? Will you have to make a counter-radius jig or router sled? Lovely work, per usual.

 

[MPU]

I find them easier to route when the top is glued. I make rails on the edges of the templates and melt glue/screw the templates on the top.
The top will be glued after I have belly cut carved to the back.

 

[rojo412]

I'm kinda surprised you're not done already
Seriously though, this is looking amazing!

 

[turindev]

Love this build, sub'd!

 

[MPU]

I'm kinda surprised you're not done already
Seriously though, this is looking amazing!

It's a bit too cold to live in a dog house with finished bass so I (we) decided that there's no bass building during Xmas. I'll be back in my workshop at 26th or 27th.

 

[MPU]

Back in the workshop. Cavities drilled with Forstner bit. Template is made of 4mm plywood and held in place with double sided tape.

I made a curved sled from the sanding block. I wanted to make both back and front equal thickness. That meant that the cavities must have curved bottom.

Cavities routed. I routed with 8mm bit to final depth, then routed with 20mm round shape bit to get rounded corners in the cavities. A bit of sanding and cavities are ready for staining.

I stained the cavities dark brown before gluing the top. Before gluing I roughed the body and top to shape. There's around 3mm to sand after the glue has cured.

In the clamps. Here's also my entry to the Most clamps- contest. I'm hoping to route the neck pocket this evening and tomorrow morning I'm going to go to work to sand the body to shape.

 

[MPU]

Neck pocket template screwed and melt glued. Time to rout.

Neck joint is tight. I used epoxy for making accurate template. Works great. I can hold the bass from the neck without screws. Shape sanding with oscillating spindle sander tomorrow morning.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@MPU
Not to derail, but what’s your process for making a tight neck pocket template? Are you “bedding” the neck heel in epoxy putty to make a negative, and then using that to make the final plywood template?

 

[MPU]

I made a bit loose template from plywood, then taped and waxed the heel and bedded it with epoxy putty. I used that template to make the final plywood template with router. Like the bondo- trick but with epoxy putty.