Star Swirl *** 1st build

[cmiller0034]

Please be kind. This is my first build and I gather tools and craftsmanship as I go. So this may not turn out too well. Also, I am currency-challenged so it may also take a while.


First off - THE TEMPLATE

MDF Templates on the web are about $70. No thank you. I'll make my own.

Hallmark. If its good enough for Starcrunch... its good enough for me.

A photo, laser printer, Inkscape, and Adobe reader.




After about 10 prints I got the size right.. I hope. Used a half round string guide from Bob Shade and pickup covers from elsewhere as a point of reference.






Jigsaw for rough cut.



Black Friday sale was right on time. Spindle sander $120. Stood in line at woodcraft for about 20 minutes and listened to people share horror stories about losing fingers and nightmare lines at Walmart the night before. It was very civil and I was in and out in less than 10 minutes.









onto the neck.










I don't know how people keep the lines straight when sanding the neck. This is my method. A steel square bar I had laying around and clamps.







Jerry-rigged belt sander





If it works, it works. I used a flat bar and clamps on the bottom end.




I cleaned up the head stock portion. I think will probably use hand files or something on the "M" flourish. Flair? I don't really know what you would call that part.






Second PHASE - Hardware


I have been gathering my dark forces for about a year now. A pickup cover here. Bridge from over there

[cmiller0034]

My Treasure trove!
Found the covers on ebay a lil much in my opinion. But they will serve. I considered making covers out of hardwood. I may still do that for a future project




Those Grover Deluxe tuners were also from ebay. They are not Kluson's like Mosrites, but the do have the safety post for that clean look and they were alot cheaper. Not a fan of Gibson but I do like their hardware. The Black les paul type speed knobs will work well with the space theme I have in mind. Switchcraft pup switch .047uF poly cap. Bob shade provided the String Guide. Thanks BOB!



The silver knobs are possibly for a second project. Black neck screws. Abalone shell dots (I didn't order enough) they look like little planets to me.



I forgot to take a pic of the bridge and bar.

[panther]

Keep Her going, Keep posting.
Dan

[Greg_L]

Yessir this is gonna be pure awesome.

[cmiller0034]

Yessir this is gonna be pure awesome.

Thanks Dudz. Awesome is what I'm going for.

[cmiller0034]

I live in Kentucky. There are no major outlets here that I know of that sell lumber suitable for my purposes. (other than Woodcraft. bleh) Two months ago I made a trip to Indianapolis. It was dual purpose journey. One to hang out at the Melody Inn bar and see the Punk Rock Night surf show headlining the Madeira. The Lucks were also a good band.




the lucks



the medeira


An all girl band I cant remember the name. (srry ladies)


I mention this because this friday and Saturday Dec 6th and 7th the Madeira are recording a live album at the same bar and they are a fantastic surf band check em' out. Show is only $7 and two other bands will be playing with them Friday, a different set of bands on Saturday. GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW!!!! Ill be there.



Cool show poster. A little off topic but thought I would mention it.


The other reason was to visit the Northwest Lumber Co. The guys there were super helpful and had really good stock of domestic and exotic woods. Last night I fianlly got around to rough cutting the Bass wood and made an attempt to cut the Maple....


Got the boards glued up 2 days ago.




My buddy Cliff's family does custom carpentry. A good thing for me. He helped my cut out the shapes in his Dad's workshop. THX CLIFF!








We tried to cut the Maple but it was way too hard for that worn out blade. Didnt get very far. I'm contemplating finishing the job with my jigsaw. Might be too thick though maple is 8/4.


I also wanted to thickness plane the body but it was too wide for their 12" planer. I will have to construct a jig and use my router.

[cmiller0034]

Baby its COLD outside



The ice has put the slow to my roll in a manner of speaking.



Also it put the kibosh on my plans for Indy this past weekend 115 mile sheet of ice suddenly forms on the one day this year a plan a trip.



So while I was trapped at home I decided to sit in the icebox outside and get some work done. I managed to build a makeshift Planer. Maybe I made it a little overly complicated.






























Planed to 1 5/8" thick


Now I Finally get to use my template on the body!

[cmiller0034]

CHIPS AHOY!


Well... I tried to move slowly and remove a little material at a time. I seems that in combination of my own inexperience and a router bit that may be subpar in quality the body has suffered a few chunks taken out of it. Or maybe Basswood is just prone to chipping. I don't know. Maybe someone can comment their experience with Basswood.











Delicious bench cookies



I purchased this long bit off Amazon. As soon as I started the router, the metal sheild protector thing on the bearing came off and now the ball bearings are exposed.... I should have invested in those spiral bits with the double bearings but they were REALLY expensive it think this triple flute type was under $20.





Community QUESTION: What do i do now? Next I was going to use a Large COVE bit around the edges to start my German curve. Should I try it fix this gouge now with epoxy or something or wait until after I do the cove bit? How do I repair this? Please comment


Scars give character, but not in this case.

[panther]

When you have it down to shape, fill it in with A Bondo type material. You're going to finish it, so it will be covered anyhow.
I'm sure if we could see factory made guitars without the finish, we'd see some of that.

Dan

[cmiller0034]

It warmed up a little but now its just very cold and rainy. Here is some photos of recent bodywork.


I am using a cove bit to make a starting point for my German Carve (curve?) I first sanded the sides smooth with sandpaper and a autobody foam rubber sanding block. There is Spring Steel on the bottom end of the block. Unfortunately I took no photos doing this. Here is the first cut with the cove bit.



The chuck that ripped out last week taught me to make lighter passes. No chips this time.



Cove Bit I used cut well. Yoniko brand it think its called. Amazon.







Im getting excted. This thing is coming together



Done with body for now. Now I have to build the neck which is the intimidating part. But, I cannot decide on how to do it. I was going the try and use one piece of maple and then glue two pieces on the bottom ends for the Headstock and the heel. but now I think that might be a bad idea.
I just watched a video someone posted from the forum of Semie explaining how he makes 3 piece necks. I cant find any posts on how to make necks using this method and I already attempted to make cuts into one of my maple slabs... plus I don't have access to a band saw, which is a problem.

http://youtu.be/sSBEudhK8Ds


Anyone have a good link to a good 3 piece neck build I can follow?