The second one, Oahu-style: finished

Solid Body Steels, Reso, Weissenborn...
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banjo980
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:45 am
Location: Noumea, New Caledonia

The second one, Oahu-style: finished

Post by banjo980 »

Hello guys,

Here we go!

The second one will be shorter (22.5 scale), 8 strings with a large neck
It will look like this:
Image

I got templates from my drawing I made by a computer assisted router:

Image

The wood is european curly maple for neck and wings, and the top is flamed maple from Stewmac:

Image

Fingerboard will be Pau Ferro (from LMII.

I just discovered the joy of working with a nicely sharpened planer:

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I used a router and a random orbit sander to reduce the thickness of the wood:

Image

Image

I'm now working on the joint of the top.

Cheers,

Xavier
Last edited by banjo980 on Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:05 am, edited 3 times in total.
banjo980
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:45 am
Location: Noumea, New Caledonia

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by banjo980 »

I glued the 2 parts of the top:
Image
catdumpling
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:11 am

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by catdumpling »

that maple is absolutely drool-worthy! i just started my first lap steel build and i've already had a major setback, so i'll be watching this to keep my spirits up.
banjo980
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:45 am
Location: Noumea, New Caledonia

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by banjo980 »

Thanks, Cat,

Here 's the jointed top:
Image

If I don't do a major mistake, I think I'll like the result :-D

Now I have to level it to 5 mm thickness... and my planner seems not to be OK to do the job... Any idea?
Bent
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Re: The second one on the way!

Post by Bent »

Another baby on the way eh? You're doing good Xavier! That wood is absolutely gorgeous!
http://benrom.com/
21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
bluesteel
Posts: 127
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2012 5:58 am

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by bluesteel »

Wish we could get wood like that in this country... (sob)
banjo980
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:45 am
Location: Noumea, New Caledonia

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by banjo980 »

Hello guys,

To rout the wood to thickness, I've built a vacuum sanding table:
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That's a great tool!! It holds the wood enough to work on it

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Then I tried to rout the wing's shape, but had a problem:

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So...

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I finally finished the shape by hand, with sanding paper, planer, scraper:

Image

Image

I discovered that my wood neck is not so perfect:

Image

I think there's nothing to do... that's wood, after all!

Still have to smooth the joints between neck and wings, but the guitar's going to look like a guitar!

Image
Bent
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Re: The second one on the way!

Post by Bent »

Xavier, you are doing some fine, painstaking work there and overcoming your little problems just fine. That's going to be a great looking guitar with that dramatic wood!
http://benrom.com/
21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
Paul Lafountaine
Posts: 332
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:06 am
Location: Northern Ontario

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by Paul Lafountaine »

Hi Xavier,

I am pleased to see you are back to building. I really enjoyed your work on the New Yorker. This looks like it will be a beauty when your done. I really love your choice of wood. Are you planning on using a clear finish on this project?

Keep up the good work and keep us posted with pictures of your progress.

Paul
banjo980
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:45 am
Location: Noumea, New Caledonia

Re: The second one on the way!

Post by banjo980 »

Paul Lafountaine wrote:Hi Xavier,

Are you planning on using a clear finish on this project?

Paul
Yes, Paul, this one will have a clear finish (what would you say if I covered that nice maple top with opaque finish ? I would be banned lifetime from this forum :-))

This is really a challenge for me, every saw , plane, sandpaper notch has to be perfect, as there is nothing to hide the mistakes.

I'd like to tint the back and neck a light mahogany tint, to enhance the wood. The top... I'll try to sunburst it yellow on center and orange outside. I still dont know about the headstock

The joint between neck and wings is really painfull to adjust (I do it with a scraper ans the planer is not enough

I notched the nut yesterday... pictures coming soon

Cheers,

Xavier
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