Week 1 . . . Day 5

The Common Tools . . .

We were chatting about the tools we might need to buy to make another guitar at home when Nick walked into the workshop – so we chatted about this for a few minutes both before and after Richard arrived at 9:00am.  Nick apparently built his first guitar as a teenager on a table in his bedroom using only the most basic equipment.  From what they were saying it seems that most tools are about increasing the efficiency of building and to some extent the finished product. 



Morning chat . . .



Apart from some specialised jigs and other bits and pieces, there are some tools that we are using every day to build our guitars.  Of course there is the range of planes . . . the long plane, block plane and various sized thumb planes. 

Common planes

Other tools include a small set square, marking protractor, glue scraper, Japanese hand saw, bradawl (for pre-marking holes before drilling), scalpel and Japanese (short) chisel.  The Japanese hand saw is interesting – not only is it very sharp and pretty much only needs its own weight on the job, but the cutting action is when you are pulling the tool towards you.  This is a very good way of keeping better control of the job.

Other tools

Another Common Tool . . .

The sound system is another essential tool in Richard’s workshop – and his has some very special features!  It requires a spray with ‘switch cleaner’ to have any chance to get it working – but I am sure this too is another ‘dark art’ as its operation eluded all of us this morning!  Richard wired up his PA system for sound today so we are enjoying music from all around the world at any volume we want.

Essential piece of kit!

On With the Back . . .

My first task was to reduce the back braces that I glued on yesterday.  This involved planing them down to 13mm and getting just the right slightly peaked profile while removing ‘sufficient’ weight from the sides of each brace.  The theory behind this is to allow the back to vibrate sufficiently so as to ‘amplify’ the sound from the plucked strings but without compromising structural integrity.  Of course there are many considerations in this equation – including the thickness and flexibility of the back itself.  

Beautifully braced

Trimming the edges





Planing the braces

Removing the bulk

Protecting the gutter graft

Scalloping . . .

The next job was to scallop the ends of the braces – again to reduce the weight and stiffness of the brace.  But here’s the trick – each scallop has to have EXACTLY the same profile.  This has nothing to do with aesthetics but all to do with ensuring the sound is balanced around the instrument.  Needless to say, this took me some time to get just right . . . and of course Richard touched a few of them up.

Scalloping the brace

How good is that!

Interludes . . .

While all this was going on we had a good look at Patrick’s Avalon guitar that he had brought in . .  . and Richard explained that they are very similar to Lowden guitars for a reason!  Some of the senior guitar makers from Lowden left and started Avalon and kept a lot of things the same.  It is a beautiful guitar – both to look at and its sound.  Patrick had brought it in to show Richard and Nick the ebony tuning knobs that he has sourced from a company in Scotland . . . both of who were impressed.

Richard and the Avalon

Nice headstock shape

And Phil’s cousin turned up for look at what was going on.  You really have to hand it to Phil – only four days ago he knew nothing at all about making a guitar but listening to his explanations he sounded the consummate expert!  But then – here I am writing this stuff up every day!

The expert!

Today’s Talk . . .

During the day Richard took his place at the ‘lectern’ and spoke about neck joints – another very dark art and something about which there is a lot of misunderstanding.  One of the traditional ways of attaching the neck was the dovetail mortise and tenon joint – which has been used for thousands of years by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood.  A variation on this method involves cutting a straight mortise and tenon joint and using some wedges or pins to hold the two components together.  Some makers use a ‘slot’ version and also either wedges or pins.  We are going to be using bolts – which allows for relative simplicity of construction and gives more flexibility of making adjustments both during construction and afterwards.

Methods of attaching the neck

On with the Show . . .

My next task involved working on the bottom of my soundboard.  The initial task was to reduce the X-brace that I had glued on earlier – again to find that perfect compromise between strength and quality of sound.  Someone said the other day that George Harrison has commented that the perfect guitar is one that is about to fall apart!

Getting the right profile took some considerable effort – especially where the X-brace crosses.  The trick is to very carefully (I hate it when Richard says that – my interpretation is that there is a very high chance of stuffing it up) remove the ‘right amount’ of wood and then come in with the thumb plane.  Of course everything is sanded at the end and I ended up with a good result.

Using the thumb plane

Getting there

Nice job - eventually!

More Braces . . .

The last task of the day involved cutting out the bridge plate and cutting more braces to length.  The bridge plate goes underneath the bridge (where the strings are attached to guitar’s soundboard) to provide additional strength. 

Cutting a bridge plate might sound very simple –but is one of those tasks where you need to carefully reduce three sides an object at the same time so it goes into the exact spot and lines up with everything else.  I got it right after a bit of jigging around – and then all of the corners needed to be slightly rounded.

The final task of the day involved butting the other braces up to the main X-brace at exactly the right angle.  There is no other way but to put the brace into place, take a look at the angle and then ‘guess’ as you slice it with the chisel.  And so I did . . . quite a few extra times!

So most of my braces are ready for final fitting in the morning – which was a good place to end the day.

Prepped braces

The Others . . .

The ‘quiet achiever’ Patrick continued in his stealth like manner to make good progress.  From what I saw he bent one of his sides, bolted and shaped his neck brace and did a lot of work on the neck itself – including routing the section for the neck brace and routing the three channels for the truss rod and the two pieces of carbon fibre that hold the neck stiff.

Some call him the 'stealth'

Bending the side

Phil finished the kerfing on the other side of his sides (best to look at the photo!), conducted a lecture in guitar making, hand thicknessed his back for the most part and then used the machine and made some little posts that go between the two rows of kerfing.

Nope - do that again!

Finishing the kerfing

Explaining the finer points

Hand planed back

Kerfed and posted

 After Work . . .

Continuing our tradition of having ‘a pint’ after work, Phil and I decided to meet at The Volunteer pub to listen to a local blues rock band called The Elevators . . . with tag line “blues for the connoisseur”.  They are a bunch of older blokes who are all competent musicians and who have been playing together for a long time – so they are very tight.  And then there is the young hotshot blues guitarist – I would have paid good money just to watch him play!  He is very skilled and knew his place in the mix.  But you have to watch that Phil . . . I’m sure he was putting extra beers in front of me!

The Volunteer