My father worked in profanity the way other artists worked in oils or clay. It was his true medium. 
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Winter Build Off 2022: 5 String Fretless Neck Through
- Thread starter Gary_M
- Start date
My father worked in profanity the way other artists worked in oils or clay. It was his true medium.
View attachment 4611446
I take great pride in my craft.
This afternoon I worked on fitting the top around the neck. I used pieces of paper fitted around the end of the neck to make a template.
I transferred that to the top using the scale line and center line for alignment.
I rough cut the pocket at the band saw, then fine tuned the fit with files. I got a nice snug fit and the centerline still lines up.
As you can see in the above pictures, I still managed to mess up my calculations for the top thickness where I was planning to cover the end of the neck.
I also managed to outsmart myself with the low positioning of the side dots. I think I can taper the top down during carving to allow those to show properly. Another lesson learned.
Next up, I routed channels for the pickup leads and ground for the bridges.
Next up, gluing the top.
I transferred that to the top using the scale line and center line for alignment.
I rough cut the pocket at the band saw, then fine tuned the fit with files. I got a nice snug fit and the centerline still lines up.
As you can see in the above pictures, I still managed to mess up my calculations for the top thickness where I was planning to cover the end of the neck.
I also managed to outsmart myself with the low positioning of the side dots. I think I can taper the top down during carving to allow those to show properly. Another lesson learned.
Next up, I routed channels for the pickup leads and ground for the bridges.
Next up, gluing the top.
Qüïmsgëfääërdën ÏÏ (rëvïsïtëd) Thë Glüënïng
My plan for gluing the top was to use the vacuum bag. To prepare for that, I marked the final placement of the outline on the top and I cut it much closer to the line. You don't want to leave much hanging over any solid edge or the bag will snap off anything that it can.
Cutting out the black poplar for a pinstripe layer. This will take 2 pieces since my material isn't quite wide enough to reach.
Here the 2 poplar pieces are fitted around the neck and matched on the center line. I've placed pieces of tape strategically at the pickup locations. This will stay in place while gluing and will be routed away later.
Again, I've added a pin where it will be cut away later.
And here is a dry layup of everything. I've trimmed the poplar down fairly close to avoid breaking back beyond the glue joints.
I took a few minutes to roughly trim the winglet laminates back so that there is no change of breakage.
Here I've added some plywood pieces to act as platens and to help avoid the very sharp corners of the neck against the bag. This will help to transfer pressure directly down into the inside corners where the top meets the neck.
Applying Cascamite to the top and to the body.
The poplar and maple were positioned and keyed onto the pin, then a few pieces of tape held everything in place until the whole thing went into the bag. Paper towel padding went over the headstock as well.
Fingers crossed that everything turns out well! I'll find out in the morning.
My plan for gluing the top was to use the vacuum bag. To prepare for that, I marked the final placement of the outline on the top and I cut it much closer to the line. You don't want to leave much hanging over any solid edge or the bag will snap off anything that it can.
Cutting out the black poplar for a pinstripe layer. This will take 2 pieces since my material isn't quite wide enough to reach.
Here the 2 poplar pieces are fitted around the neck and matched on the center line. I've placed pieces of tape strategically at the pickup locations. This will stay in place while gluing and will be routed away later.
Again, I've added a pin where it will be cut away later.
And here is a dry layup of everything. I've trimmed the poplar down fairly close to avoid breaking back beyond the glue joints.
I took a few minutes to roughly trim the winglet laminates back so that there is no change of breakage.
Here I've added some plywood pieces to act as platens and to help avoid the very sharp corners of the neck against the bag. This will help to transfer pressure directly down into the inside corners where the top meets the neck.
Applying Cascamite to the top and to the body.
The poplar and maple were positioned and keyed onto the pin, then a few pieces of tape held everything in place until the whole thing went into the bag. Paper towel padding went over the headstock as well.
Fingers crossed that everything turns out well! I'll find out in the morning.
Between your scroll saw, your drum sander and your vacuum bag, I quit. 
Seriously jealousy over here. Serious.
Seriously jealousy over here. Serious.
"Thë Glüënïng".... I literally LOL'd. You get my vote just based on post titles.
Between your scroll saw, your drum sander and your vacuum bag, I quit.
Seriously jealousy over here. Serious.
"Thë Glüënïng".... I literally LOL'd. You get my vote just based on post titles.
I really do love the vacuum bag. I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it, but I sort of lucked into a really great vacuum pump a while back. When I bought that used pin router, it came with it as it had a vacuum fixture attachment. So it was just a matter of picking up the bag and breather mesh. Not something that gets used every day, but it’s dang handy.
Having said that, I do want your race car. So I’m calling dibs.
Sorry for the lack of updates... I know that everyone has been holding their collective breath waiting to see how this cliffhanger turns out...
Spoiler alert; It's fine. Here it is straight out of the bag.
I trimmed off the excess material with the Robosander, then I marked out the control cavity, bridge and pickup locations and laid out my knob positions.
Due to the slimmer body thickness, this instrument feels like it's going to turn out to be pretty light. The "pre-carving" weight is 6 pounds, 7.5 oz.
Next, I got started on the volute. Yep, it's pretty big, but that's the way uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh uh-huh.
I'm going to try something new, not sure how it will turn out. If I don't like it, it can all be sanded away.
This is still very rough and it needs a lot more work, but I think it could have some potential.
Today I got started by making my initial body roundovers.
A long way to go here.
I now have the body roughly rounded over and I'm in the process of carving in some swoopy lines.. like the forearm contour, belly carve and getting the neck heel blended. Basically, the most fun part for me.
I'll post some pictures of that stuff later today depending on the progress that I make. I think that if I can be to the point of applying finish sometime this coming weekend, I stand a decent chance of finishing before the deadline.
Spoiler alert; It's fine.
Here it is straight out of the bag.I trimmed off the excess material with the Robosander, then I marked out the control cavity, bridge and pickup locations and laid out my knob positions.
Due to the slimmer body thickness, this instrument feels like it's going to turn out to be pretty light. The "pre-carving" weight is 6 pounds, 7.5 oz.
Next, I got started on the volute. Yep, it's pretty big, but that's the way uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh uh-huh.
I'm going to try something new, not sure how it will turn out. If I don't like it, it can all be sanded away.
This is still very rough and it needs a lot more work, but I think it could have some potential.
Today I got started by making my initial body roundovers.
A long way to go here.
I now have the body roughly rounded over and I'm in the process of carving in some swoopy lines.. like the forearm contour, belly carve and getting the neck heel blended. Basically, the most fun part for me.
I'll post some pictures of that stuff later today depending on the progress that I make. I think that if I can be to the point of applying finish sometime this coming weekend, I stand a decent chance of finishing before the deadline.
I watched that exact video this morning... trippy...
Qüïmsgëfääërdën ÏÏ (rëvïsïtëd) Thë Cärvënïng
I'm very happy with my progress over the past few days, some cool stuff is happening.
This evening I started into carving some details into the body to reveal laminates and pinstripes. This is really one of my favorite things. There isn't any right or wrong, I just start laying in complementary lines and shapes.
Here are a few in progress shots.
At this point, I'll call this about 90% there. I still need to fair a few lines and remove a little more material here and there... the heel transition is still a bit chunky, the the tips of the horns need to be rounded, etc.
It lost 6 ounces so far in the carving process. It's down to 6 pounds, 1.5 oz. It's going to lighten up even more with the pickup routes coming soon.
Tomorrow, it's back to work for me, so I'll have to really stick to a strict schedule now. More soon!
I'm very happy with my progress over the past few days, some cool stuff is happening.
This evening I started into carving some details into the body to reveal laminates and pinstripes. This is really one of my favorite things. There isn't any right or wrong, I just start laying in complementary lines and shapes.
Here are a few in progress shots.
At this point, I'll call this about 90% there. I still need to fair a few lines and remove a little more material here and there... the heel transition is still a bit chunky, the the tips of the horns need to be rounded, etc.
It lost 6 ounces so far in the carving process. It's down to 6 pounds, 1.5 oz. It's going to lighten up even more with the pickup routes coming soon.
Tomorrow, it's back to work for me, so I'll have to really stick to a strict schedule now. More soon!
Thanks, Matt. I hope I can make it look right. It's tricky to keep everything symmetric and leave it with a smooth finish.
Thanks, Lonny. Yeah there is a small neck angle there. I’ll be using individual bridges on this one.
This my first participation of any kind in a build off.
Honestly, I don't know how someone would be expected to pick a bass and vote.
Honestly, I don't know how someone would be expected to pick a bass and vote.
It should help that there are categories. Should be able to spread the love around a little.
Maybe I should rephrase that. Nope.
