Winter Build Off 2022 - Star-Crossed-Caster

[Gary_M]

Tolex sides are kinda cool, take a look.at some pictures of old Danelectros, maybe you can see how they handled the transition from side to top. Looks like the tops overhung the sides just by the thickness of the tolex, I dont see any binding holding it in image search. Maybe hunt a few Danelectro threads on TB. I've only done binding in white or cream celluloid and ABS plastic, which has the admirable quality of being easily glued on with acetone, which can also be used to melt small binding shavings into a color matched goop that can be troweled into minor gaps to hide all sins. That body shape should bind without much trouble, but you need a bearing guided binding slot cutter as sold by Stewmac or LMI. Typical ABS binding is sold in .040" or .060 thickness, so you need the correct bearing to match. Any of it needs to be scraped flush with top and sides, not sure how you'd do that with Tolex. Aluminum would be a huge PITA, but I suppose its possible with a thin strip of modelers or hobby store flat metal. Youd have to find a piece long enough to do the whole guitar in one piece. The chromed bumper trim looks intriguing, but I dont know how well it glues or bends to a curve as tight as a guitar horn. Science! Apparently Gretsch did it on some their older guitars, the Silvertone Esplanada model. It looks suspiciously like automotive bumper trim!
Silvertone Espanada - Aluminum Binding : Other Guitars : The Gretsch Pages

Yep, what @Gilmourisgod said. I really have nothing of further value or interest to add. Just happy to be here.

 

[dwizum]

I really have nothing of further value or interest to add. Just happy to be here.

That would make a great life motto.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

This one is pretty cool. It almost looks like the kind of bumper strip you'd see on a car door or boat deck edge, that's probably what it is.

 

[BishopJP]

Just a thought, how would it look if the Tolex was installed with piping(?) like on a cabinet? That would give it a clean border without leaving an edge to get snagged.

Additional thought; you could also (maybe?) use old E or B strings instead of piping.

 

[2groggy]

This one is pretty cool. It almost looks like the kind of bumper strip you'd see on a car door or boat deck edge, that's probably what it is.
View attachment 4570628

I'm building a bass, not a bumper car

 

[Max Bogosity]

This one is pretty cool. It almost looks like the kind of bumper strip you'd see on a car door or boat deck edge, that's probably what it is.
View attachment 4570628

I'm pretty sure my aunt had a Formica table with that edge trim. There were probably forty years worth of crumbs stuck in there.

 

[2groggy]

I needed to figure out a way to route the binding channels with the tools and materials at hand. So I came up with this: Use the tape and super glue trick to temporarily build a perimeter that will lie flat against the router table and then route as if the body was a flat slab. Easy peasy.

I still need to cut the pick-up openings.

BTW, to I finish before or after I do the bindings? (Yes I see other filling to be done first)

 

[2groggy]

I'm going to be away for a long weekend. I plan to use my idle moments on the ski lifts re-thinking this build.

I've had enough difficulties holding the various templates in place that I'd need to bind around the neck pocket and add pick-up rings. Making the build look good enough is one thing. I can do that. But the real goal was to find a better build method with no need for molds and less waste hogging out archtops and semi-hollow bodies. I'm not happy settling for hiding the errors in workmanship without fully succeeding in the experiment.

My current thinking is:

• In the same way that the core and frame provide the bearing surfaces for routing the perimeter, they could also provide the routing surfaces for the neck pocket, pickup cavities, and maybe even sound holes.
• The curves at horns were too tight - I lost a lot of time dealing with them. So maybe adjust the shape to being a single cut with a sharp horn. Keep the general offset shape to keep using the same panel molds.
• A lot of time would be saved by making the sides only of wiggle board and then wrapping in tolex. The edges of the tolex could be protected by leaving the front and back proud, like on a violin.

More thoughts are on the way.

 

[2groggy]

OK, who do I thank? Somebody sent a telepathic message of what to do.

I decided that I needed to think this over, so I wend to a PUBlic place and had a BEvERage. I actually brought a notebook and listed numerous design improvements such as box-beam construction and other mumbo jumbo. While I was on my way to the big box hardware store, the telepathic message arrived like Excalibur, piecing through my right ear and out my left.

"You silly bunt, you used hide glue. Just heat the panel off and put on a new one".​

I guess that all of those redesign ideas are going to waste.

Thanks and praise to the pythonesque telepathic luthier overloard.

 

[2groggy]

I'm back from hibernation. I heated off the first panel and have started on the replacement. I still have some of the birdseye veneer, so here's another wood pile photo. I'll have a dark or opaque back and sides with a clear front. Maybe I'll try my hand at a burst.

 

[2groggy]

I did a fair bit of catching up yesterday and today:

• vacuum bagged the new front panel
• on the open body, I glued up the edges of the cavities for the pick-ups so I can route the holes in the panel with a bit that has the bearing at the end
• created a sound hole design that had a large enough opening to allow passage of the pots and wiring harness. I actually tested this on the old front panel.
• using the old front panel as a template, I pre-drilled and the sound holes in the new panel
• aaaand I glued it up. Clamp shot below.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Triple bonus points for the zip-tie-through-the-sound-holes clamp.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Triple bonus points for the zip-tie-through-the-sound-holes clamp.

I missed that! Good thinking.

What are those two clamps that look like caulking guns? I don’t believe I’ve seen those before.

 

[2groggy]

...What are those two clamps that look like caulking guns? I don’t believe I’ve seen those before.

I thought that you saw those in my other build Winter Build Off 2022 - Toby-or-not-Toby

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I thought that you saw those in my other build Winter Build Off 2022 - Toby-or-not-Toby

Uhhh… errr… ummm… lots of threads going on right now and staffing and supply chain issues?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I can neither Confirm nor Deny, that I might of seen those clamps before, and had I seen them, would not be presently disposed to discuss their possible existence.

 

[2groggy]

The body is out of the clamps and sanded to 220. Sorry to make you crank your head to the right. I sprayed it lightly with denatured alcohol to show the colour under a clear finish, but most of it evaporated off before I took the shot.

By the end of the day, I hope to have the neck and pick-up cavities routed to match the correctly sized interior cavities, and route the perimeter for the binding. I'll also need to clean up the inside of the sound holes.

Quick Question... What grit do I sand to before applying grain filler?

 

[2groggy]

I still haven't cleaned up the sound holes. Here's how far I got.

 

[2groggy]

After a few rounds of water based sanding sealer and a couple of coats of water based satin clear coat, this is what I've got.

Instructions say one coat a day, with wet sanding in between except no sanding between the last three coats. So I have four or five more days of finishing before binding, assembly and set-up. I should be able to cross the finish line in time.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

You’re gluing the binding on after finishing? I’ve always done and seen it done the other way. Binding then finish. May I ask your reasoning? Not a put down in any way, I’m genuinely curious.