I used the 15 foot radius dish on the backs and once everything was sanded appropriately, I installed the kerfing
Great progress...
I was able to travel to my father’s and use his drum sander and his skill to complete some tasks. We were able to sand two soundboards and two backs to thickness as well as dimension several pieces of mahogany to use for necks and end/heel blocks.
Today I was able to get some work done on the two bodies. I glued the end blocks and heel blocks in place and was able to build the LMI / O’brien neck mortising jig and the Go-Bar deck. I was also able to use a jig we made years ago (2002) to mark the back side of the body for the taper (118mm at the back and 94mm on the front). Then I was able to use a hand scroll saw to cut this line and then use sanding blocks to smooth out the taper.
Body Work
I have discovered a great resource for guitar building. After looking through the websites: Stewart-Macdonald and Luthiers Merchantile I found references to O’Brien Guitars. There I found a complete video course. I have watched videos up to my current point of building and so may of my questions have been answered. This, of course, lead to purchases and motivation to move forward with the walnut guitars. I decided I need to make the molds capable of being split (to allow for some future steps). I also knew I need to go ahead and cut the sides to length.
Preparing the forms
Dad and I built two dreadnought molds back in 2003, soon after completing the 001 Jumbo. For the last 15 years, there have been two sets of walnut sides just sitting in them waiting to come to life. To start the process of building these guitars, I needed to make some braces to go inside the mold to press the sides in the curves of the form. This will allow to trim the two sides to the proper length to then join them with head and heel blocks. I used a template to mark the curves and then cut it out of 3/4 in MDF on the bandsaw (2 pieces for each side). The 2 pieces of each side are joined with a piece of oak in the middle. I threaded rod is then placed between the two sides and pushed apart with a nut and wing nut.
Soundboards
I joined two sets of plates to make two soundboards. I tried a few things to prepare the book matched edge and ultimately used the tablesaw to shave an edge and then did some finial sanding with sanding blocks to make sure everything joined cleanly. I clamped it with nails and placed a board and some weight to distribute the pressure over the surface.
Stocking the room...
Along with Christmas presents, my parents brought the wood my father has been storing in his dry room for the past 15 years. I have had the dry room maintained around 40% humidity for about 3 weeks. The stock includes 4 sets of spruce for soundboards, several blocks of mahogany for necks (at least 3 or 4), 4 or 5 slotted fingerboards, and lots of spruce blocks for brace material. There is also some binding and back strips. There are also two dreadnought molds with two sets of sides already bent and two sets of back plates already joined. I cut some 3/4in MDF for a template and for some flat boards to glue the plates for soundboards and backs in the future.
Dry room with a few items
Dreadnought form with MDF blank
Dry Room
To begin building in my shop I needed to have a humidity controlled room to store the wood. I decided to enclose the area under the stairs in my shop. I placed a layer of plastic wrap on the studs, behind the plywood walls and sealed any remaining cracks with caulk. I then had help connecting electrical outlets and a light.
