Project 7, Part 2, Dusty Beginnings

Here's Part 1:  http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2014/08/project-7-project-to-end-all-projects.html

I have made quite a bit of progress so far.  More so than I would have thought.  So I will write about my progress along with the pictures I have taken.

First up is the three piece neck.  You really waste a lot of wood cutting a neck out this way, but it's insanely strong, and will last forever. 

That's all I can do on the neck for the time being.  I have to route a line down it for the truss rod next.

Next, I thought I would take a picture of the cut out neck and body.  The next step on the body is to route out places on it.  That's why it's only half cut out.

The next step was to start gluing the top together.  I was going to use this awesome piece of bookmatched rosewood.  However, after searching for a week, I couldn't find it.  So I gave up and decided to use this awesome piece of maple I've had for a few years.

So it glued up nicely.  Here's what it looked like when I cut it out.

 

Here's what the flame maple looks like when you put a little water on it.  It makes the grain "pop" out more.

Here are the top and bottom of the body pictured together.

Here is the black walnut with some water on it to make the grain "pop."

With wood, you sometimes don't know what you have until you cut and sand it out.  I think I lucked out with these pieces.

Next up was cutting out the control cavities.  I'm 90% there.  I honestly, just need more sandpaper for my spindal sander.

So next up I will doing more routing on the body.  And once I get some sandpaper I will be enlarging the holes to where they should be. 

Project 7, The Project To End All Projects

No, not really.  I hope this won't be the last of my projects.  But enough of my shtick.  I am starting a new project.  It is going to be a copy of a 1954 Les Paul Custom.  Here's what one looks like.

I would be making a few changes to it.  I will be making it mostly out of black walnut.  I will also be adding an archtop tailpiece out of it.  The neck will be a three piece walnut neck. 

Let me start at the beginning.  First, I acquired some black walnut in West Virginia.  Here it is in it's rough sawn form.

 

 

 

So I cleaned it up by running it though the planner/joiner.

 

 

 

It really cleans up nicely.  Once it gets some finish on it, it looks even better. 

 

So the next thing I did was join up the body pieces.

 

 

I then cleaned up the three pieces of walnut for the neck.  I then glued them together.

 

 

So I do have a few goals for this guitar.  Instead of painting it black like the Gibson version, I am going to dye it black.  That way it's still dark, but you can see the grain pop through.  I am also going to use gold hardware like the original.  I am still up in the air about what type of wood I will be using for the top.  However, I am trying to track down a certain piece of wood for it. 

 

The good news is that I will always add lots of pictures, and continue to update my blog.  I am really digging this project, so hopefully it will turn out pretty good.  Stay tuned!