Buckeye Burl project

[greywolf]

After a bit of research on inlay techniques for stone , I've decided to use Turquoise and Lapis to fill the voids in the birthday buckeye burl  I got.

The process isn't too hard (looking)  seal the cavity with lacquer so it won't absorb the CA , pour in the crushed stone , saturate with thin CA (the gel won't permeate well) let set for 24hrs , then sand flush . Repeat for any voids with finer grain dust. 



the mockup looks promising.

 

[dmraco]

subscribed

 

[greywolf]

book matched the lacewood body today and cut the top out , man o man buckeye is fragile .small crack in the upper bout , easily repaired  ( whew) .
The neck is hard rock maple /ebony 24 fret 12"  radius with medium jumbo frets and diamond abalone markers. There will be a center laminate , probably mahogany to support the top.

for the craters, I  lucked into some moss agate and auquamarine stone that I'll be inlaying. 


For Pickups I snagged a set of chrome top Bartolini PBF55/ PBF57  from all reports a very warm clean set of PAF's .  Chrome grover keystone tuners,  chrome / abalone knobs and a Gibson tp6 fine tuning tailpiece and roller bridge round it out.

 

[tylereot]

A buddy of mine did just that with a bowl he turned from some maple burl.  Used crushed chrysolite (where azurite comes from) and it turned out very cool.  It really looks like it's got veins of turquose running through the paler wood.

 

[greywolf]

I saw it at a few woodworkers shows and found out how to do it , this should be an interesting experiment.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Can't wait to see the progress of this.

 

[Ddbltrbl]

Oh Yeah, Gonna watch this one closely!  :headbang1:

 

[greywolf]

Cut out a nice set of 1/2" claro walnut for the back , while this is a neck through the walnut layer will cover the entire back.  The neck was planed down to accommodate . 

Re shaped the neck heel , contoured 5" for better upper fret access.  Cleaned up the lacewood core and , as the Buckeye is so fragile opted for a honeycombed approach for the tone chambers.

 

[greywolf]

Joined , shaped and sanded the 1/2" feathered crotch claro walnut .

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

My word...

 

[sixstringsamurai]

:icon_thumright:

 

[greywolf]

Finally got back into the shop and put the top on . patched the holes in the upper bouts,  and gave it a blue tint to bring out the figure in the wood

 

[greywolf]

as I had enough spare wood I decided to make the pick guard out of the same buckeye burl

 

[greywolf]

Inlay day in the shop , the crushed stone was a mixed result , , a quilted maple center strip trimmed with abalone .

A bit more fine work and then on to the lacquer!

For those who are curious , the body shape is based on the upper half  of my 79 Les Paul Custom , and the low half on my ES 339 .  ..

 

[greywolf]

applied the sealer coats of shellac ( it took 7! , buckeye is like a sponge)  and the first lacquer coat .. I'm pleased .