This
session we created less sawdust but refined some of our building
skills. The session was drawn out over 2 days which allowed a more
concentrated effort by those who attended. I am sorry that we do not
have more pictures but working and then stopping to take a picture is
sometimes not very advantageous. It is sufficed to say we got a lot
done. If you missed these meetings you missed a great deal in more ways
that one.
Subjects covered in this meeting were:
Mortise and tenon joints
Truss rod routes
Rotary files, types, and cutting techniques
Body prep for painting
Wiring potentiometers
Using Teflon gluing shims
1. Here is Doug's first mortise and tenon joint.
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 2. There is bound to be a little tweaking. |
 3. Sometimes to much tweaking takes place and so a maple shim is glues in place. |
 4. Now the shim must be shaved. |
 Not bad for a first attempt. The shim make the neck fit very snug and because it is of the same material and same grain direction, the change in frequency response compared to that of a perfectly cut and fitted joint should be minimal. This is the kind of comparison that can only be determined if their could have been an A to B test created. Obviously in theory this is not possible and the end result could have shown that the shim helped the sound. What a head scratcher! 5. |
. 6. Here, a bass truss rod template is shown, ready for routing. |
 7. A modified Les Paul is being prepped for painting. The styrene plastic edge binding is being removed. Solvents and base coats can eat into the plastic and make an uneven paint surface once the paint has thoroughly dried. when paint finishes overlap different substrates such as wood to plastic a joint line can eventually show up. |
 8. This instrument is going to be painted with a translucent to opaque finish. No joints should be able to be seen. An under paint substrate transition would be very undesirable. |
 9. Shawn's mandolin headstock is shown rough cut and ready for final shaping. The plans call for a scroll on each side of the head stock. |
 A small round file can be used to shape the rough band saw cuts.  10. |
 10. Hand filing can still leave the work pretty rough. |
 11. A rotary file in a flex shaft Foredom or Dremel tool usually works better to finalize the shape. |
  12. |
 13. It will still need some more sanding but the rotary file sure saves a lot of time. |
 14. Sometimes Luthier's are called to repair electronic toys. This mixer only needed to have the faders replaced. This is not much different from installing volume controls in a guitar. Just a little more time consuming. |
 came to us with a pickup installed under the bridge. The saddle slot in the bridge was badly hacked up to accommodate the acoustics' sensor. It was opted to clean up the cavity by enlarging it and then adding wood to create the proper slot width. Shawn is shown using small teflon shim pieces to hold the new wood in place while the glue is drying. This technique allow for excellent expansive pressure to be put on the wood insert while drying without the problem of glue sticking to the clamping shims. |
Subjects covered in this meeting were:
Mortise and tenon joints
Truss rod routes
Rotary files, types, and cutting techniques
Body prep for painting
Wiring potentiometers
Using Teflon gluing shims