Winter Build Off 2026 - One for Dad

[AK4570]

Sanding may not be my favorite task ever... But then a quick wipe down with DNA and this shows up!





This walnut came out of the scrap bin at Keim (if you know, you know... Am I right @postalflunkie ? ) and is not the most uniformly colored... But it's got some character!

 

[Reedt2000]

That looks awesome!

 

[AK4570]

More sanding and finishing up some of the details around the headstock.

 

[AK4570]

Initial setup and geometry check.

She lives!





I may need to shave the bottoms of the saddles to get enough downward adjustment (still investigating where my math went wonky) but, I'm going to let it settle in for a couple of days first. Even with the nut higher than Willie Nelson, I spent about an hour playing last night. This one is going to be hard to give up!

Need to do some final fettling (drill for ground wire, strap locks, and through-body stringing, connect pickup cavities, route a slot for truss rod access) then we may actually get some finish on it!

 

[AK4570]

Finished the night by spending a solid hour cleaning and organizing my work bench. How does this chaos happen? (he asks while glancing around guiltily...)

 

[Reedt2000]

Its a bolt on neck, so a small shim in the neck pocket, up against the body, should totally fix your saddle height issue. Id use something really thin like a sliver of sand paper, or business card, or something like that.

This build looks awesome, very nice work and design choices

 

[AK4570]

Thanks @Reedt2000 , I'll give that a try.

 

[Flying B]

This build looks awesome, very nice work and design choices

Agreed, that's a fine looking instrument even before the finish.

 

[Flamingo21]

Even with the nut higher than Willie Nelson, I spent about an hour playing last night. This one is going to be hard to give up!

The best test there is.

 

[AK4570]

Wrapping up the final details on this one.

I used 2 pieces of heavy paper in the neck pocket to bring the action up (in the neighborhood of .010 got me close) so made the decision to toss a .020 veneer in there. Bust out the "identify your lumber" kit,


find something in a reasonably close color,



and Bob's your uncle.



I'm using the neck as a clamping caul with some plastic wrap that I "borrowed."

Next up was making (attempting to make... explanation follows) some knobs.

I glued up some neck and drop top leftovers,



squared everything up and did some layout, shooting for 3/4 high by 3/4 diameter.



Gotta head to practice, but I'll update more later.

 

[AK4570]

Whew! Great rehearsal!

Ok, back to the story.

A 1/2 forstner cut a pocket in the base for the nut, then a 3/32 through the side for the set screw (4-40).



I had a brand, spankin' new 7/8 hole saw that measured exactly 3/4 for the "plug"... So let's give this a whirl.

Back the center drill out so it will just barely find the center and mark the cut.



Then, drill to depth with a 15/64 to fit the pot shaft, then back to the hole saw, pull the center drill and flip it over (the pointy end goes in the chuck) and drill down not quite all the way. Except for that one little guy... Don't worry about that little guy.



Over to the bandsaw to free them, and there we go; 6 rough cut knobs.





Next, put that handy 15/64 drill bit into a cordless drill backwards (pointy end in the chuck again) and spin the rough knobs against an 80 grit disc sander and a 220 grit belt to ensmoothen.




And here we have.... Not a success.



After ensmoothening, the diameters are a very consistent .65

Which means they look like miniature skyscrapers when sitting on the pots.

So... I've got another piece of walnut/maple gluing up and will go with a larger diameter hole saw. I've got a 1 1/8 that measures out to around a .95 plug so that's where I'll start tomorrow.

Onward and upward!

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Whew! Great rehearsal!

Ok, back to the story.

A 1/2 forstner cut a pocket in the base for the nut, then a 3/32 through the side for the set screw (4-40).

View attachment 7481083

I had a brand, spankin' new 7/8 hole saw that measured exactly 3/4 for the "plug"... So let's give this a whirl.

Back the center drill out so it will just barely find the center and mark the cut.

View attachment 7481084

Then, drill to depth with a 15/64 to fit the pot shaft, then back to the hole saw, pull the center drill and flip it over (the pointy end goes in the chuck) and drill down not quite all the way. Except for that one little guy... Don't worry about that little guy.

View attachment 7481085

Over to the bandsaw to free them, and there we go; 6 rough cut knobs.

View attachment 7481086

View attachment 7481087

Next, put that handy 15/64 drill bit into a cordless drill backwards (pointy end in the chuck again) and spin the rough knobs against an 80 grit disc sander and a 220 grit belt to ensmoothen.

View attachment 7481088
View attachment 7481089

And here we have.... Not a success.

View attachment 7481090

After ensmoothening, the diameters are a very consistent .65

Which means they look like miniature skyscrapers when sitting on the pots.

So... I've got another piece of walnut/maple gluing up and will go with a larger diameter hole saw. I've got a 1 1/8 that measures out to around a .95 plug so that's where I'll start tomorrow.

Onward and upward!

If I’m turning that style of knob I seem to keep going shorter and shorter to have them look right to me. Taller can work with some interesting shapes but the last straight cylinder type knobs with a rounded top I made were just long enough to go over the pot shafts.

 

[AK4570]

@Matt Liebenau , agreed. That's where I'm headed with round 2 of these. I think it will come together by shooting for minimal height over the pot shaft and a diameter slightly larger than the overall height. We'll know soon!

 

[lark_z]

@Matt Liebenau , agreed. That's where I'm headed with round 2 of these. I think it will come together by shooting for minimal height over the pot shaft and a diameter slightly larger than the overall height. We'll know soon!

Are you familiar with the Golden Ratio?

 

[Philonius]

The sharp eyed will call me out for my tall front knob…

Hey, this is a family oriented site. 'You keep this up and I'll report you to the mods!

 

[AK4570]

Knobs (looks around nervously), part 2:

I started off the same way as yesterday by undercutting for the nut and drilling the setscrew hole


Then the hole saw routine followed by bandsaw liberation (exactly the same as last time... Just a bigger hole saw)

Clean them up on the disc and belt sander and this is starting to look promising.



I used a scrap of mdf clamped to the table of my disc sander to get a consistent angle, and sanded a chamfer.




Then held them to the slack portion of the belt with a light behind so I could see when I had full contact



Giving me a nicely domed set of knobs... Plus a spare.

 

[AK4570]

Since the string tree I ordered from the Borg appeared incapable of holding anything stronger than a sewing thread (I easily bent it with my fingers) but the holes were already spotted in the headstock face, I needed to make one.

Snag a chunk of 1/4 brass out of the scrap box, two holes, and bust out the files.




A bit more finessing and a bunch of sanding, and we've got some bass jewelry!



I need to come up with something to space it up a bit, but the hard part is done.

I hope!

 

[AK4570]

@lark_z , this set of knobs ended up coming in pretty doggone close to the GR

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Since the string tree I ordered from the Borg appeared incapable of holding anything stronger than a sewing thread (I easily bent it with my fingers) but the holes were already spotted in the headstock face, I needed to make one.

Snag a chunk of 1/4 brass out of the scrap box, two holes, and bust out the files.

View attachment 7481468
View attachment 7481469

A bit more finessing and a bunch of sanding, and we've got some bass jewelry!

View attachment 7481470

I need to come up with something to space it up a bit, but the hard part is done.

I hope!

The string retainer looks very nice. Good work! How’s that little green belt sander work for you? I had one that came from Harbor Freight. It was ok for a little while then I couldn’t adjust the belt to track right so I rebuilt the tracking adjuster on the top roller then it got off again and I tossed it in the trash.

 

[AK4570]

Matt, this one is from 2012 and still going strong. While I'm not afraid to drop a little coin at HF, I tend to buy their hard goods only after having similar experiences to your own with electric tools.