Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

After 10,896 posts! That is a mighty contribution, and I remember when many of them were written while you were on oil rigs! You took us all on an epic journey building a f##@* lute. Plus the leadership role you have played of late, keeping the whole show going. Legendary stuff! Thanks for everythin...

The rosewood on rosewood looks lovely. Like milk on dark chocolate.

Hi Peter. That does look really tasty! The BRW has such lovely character. I would love to see some side shots to see how the IRW looks against the Braz - similar or complementary or contrasting? What is the black material in the saddle? How frustrating that you can't really play it to get the full e...

There is a good reason why spruce (of various sub-types) is the timber most often used for soundboard bracing. I wins, by a significant margin, in the weight:stiffness ratio comparisons. We want a braced soundboard to be stiff so that the string tension will not fold it in half. On the other hand we...

I’m aiming to use Osmo PolyX as the finish on my next build. Would that work to seal the channels as well, or would that compromise the superglue’s bond? I love hard wax oils like Osmo as a guitar finish. It would look great on your myrtle. However, I would not use it in that way to seal the bindin...

Which manufacturer made a Col Joye model? That is a real blast from the past.

I am looking forward to a long journey on this one. Keep the episodes coming. What are those hardwood strips with three dots on each? Mystery tools. Judging from the height of the saddle a neck reset might be part of the plan for this one too?

Very funky - especially the headstock face plate. Love it.

Beautiful instruments Peter. Very tasty and elegant timber combinations and great design flair. I am seeing a few decorative ideas that I definitely want to adopt for my future builds.

Hi Mark. Lovely instruments, and you must have been working hard to get them both done over a few months (simultaneously, or sequentially?). The timber combinations and decorative elements are very nice and it is great to see Aussie timbers being put together so well. I really like the timber layout...

I love the gekko! It immediately makes you smile and gives the instrument a fun and friendly vibe. The rest of the instrument looks great too.

Thanks Wayne. Your pictures and description make it crystal clear. The tip-off to that tool at Supercheap autos is an extra bonus (the bit of garden hose you put around the shaft to protect the edge of the soundhole = genius)!

That does look beautiful. I love how you numbered it #0001, meaning that you expect to make enough guitars in your lifetime to need a four digit numbering system. Did you pay attention to the ambient humidity when you were at the stage of gluing braces, and closing the box? If so, you are on your wa...

I read somewhere the adage: “Wet to dry, it will die. Dry to wet, it may live yet” So, like Martin said, if you make sure the conditions are pretty dry when you do critical gluing operations (gluing braces to soundboard or back plates, closing the box) then the guitar will tolerate living even a lot...

That is a beauty! I am imagining the feel and the smell as you carved the Huon soundboard. Did you carve the back as well, or is that flat? The patchwork headstock plate also looks cool.

Those are great. Thanks for the sneak look at your work. It all looks like fun, except the finishing!

Hi Jurgen - come on down! But, as Martin said, be aware of the scale that you are dealing with. how big is Australia.png October is a good time of year in most of Australia, as far as weather is concerned. In the far north it will be getting hot but not yet too wet, and the dangerous stingers that s...

Hi Papatar I definitely second Tom's recommendation of the Gore/Gilet books if you haven't already got them - and I think Martin (Kiwigeo) is selling a second hand copy in the classifieds section at the moment, probably with the added bonus of glue stains and erudite notes added to all of the import...

Ahhh, I get it now. The whole jig slides along the truss nod slot, and the router is screwed down to the wood plate. Nice.

Thanks Cutty. That looks like a robust and reliable jig. Can you show how the router base fits into the cutout slot? What is it that registers on the insides of the cutout?

Could be a good reason to do an oil finish on this build.

That should be fun. I hope it goes well!.
Mark

Very nice Mr Evans! I have bought some nice meranti at Bunnings for a workbench and it had similar colour. If I see some well quartered bits I might think of it for bindings. How deep is that body at the tail, and at the neck? Looks fairly deep, which might boost the voice of an otherwise small body...

I love watching the birth of this instrument. Thanks for the beautiful documentation. Your work looks very skillful and elegant, especially on the neck scroll. I am interested to see that you can graduate the outside arch of the top using the Safe-T-Planer, which would be a great way to hog off a lo...

I am like Martin and cut the back into a “guitar shape” before starting to do the bracing. However, I can’t see any problem with the way that you do it as long as it still conforms to the radius that you intend. White oak looks very pretty. Is it heavy?