I got bored(s)

[PhilHill]

George! George Washington, someone chopped down my favorite cherry tree! Did you do it?
Father Washington, I cannot tell a lie...it was that Jefferson kid from down the road..........

. And speaking of cherry wood, I have some.

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. Along with some mahogany blanks. The picture only shows two planks of cherry, but I actually have four. 3/4 thick by 6" wide by 18" long. I took two of them and split each by re-sawing and glued a pair on each side of a piece of the mahogany that I also split, ending up with a top and a back that are about 3/8 thick each. More or less.

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.To join them I used a large piece of particle-board that was pretty flat. Screwed a piece of 3/8 board along one side and put another piece, parallel to the first along the other side. These were located so the gap was just about a 64th narrower that the cherry and mahogany wood be when put together. Then I glued the pieces up and laid them in between the side rails and pressed them down with a flat board and some weight. If done right it does a good job of clamping them while keeping everything flat. (Confession, I stole this idea from Jerry Rosa on You Tube.)

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.Then I joined two of the 3/4 thick pieces of cherry to a 3/4 thick piece of the hog For a center section in between the top and back.

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. Took some templates I made out of MDF ;

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. And used them to outline the top, back, and center. Bandsawed them out and routed the final shape with the templates. The center section being slightly larger all around.

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. The shape is basically a double cutaway Tele, but 1/2" larger all around. And the horns are a little shorter. Used the painter's tape and super glue thing to hold them down for routing.

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.  Now I just have to figure out the next step in my grand unplanned plan............... :dontknow:

 

[DangerousR6]

Cherry is some nice wood, I have a full hollow all cherry Tele. Left it in the sun for a few months to age a bit. it currently has a mahogany neck, but I'm always on the prowl for a cherry neck... :laughing7:

 

[PhilHill]

Cherry is some nice wood, I have a full hollow all cherry Tele. Left it in the sun for a few months to age a bit. it currently has a mahogany neck, but I'm always on the prowl for a cherry neck... :laughing7:

I love cherry. It's easy to work with and it ages beautifully. It doesen't have as fancy a figure as some, but fancy figure doesn't guarantee tone. I've heard some mighty fine sounding guitars that looked rather plain as far as grain figure, and some poor sounding ones that looked fantastic.... :headbang:

 

[PhilHill]

"The cherry blossoms are in bloom Yoshi, I feel like reflecting on the peace and tranquility in my life. Please get me some tea."
"I don't want to get the tea, how come I always have to get the tea?"
"Because I am the Master and you are the apprentice, now please get me some tea"
"I hate getting the tea. I wish I was a General, then I wouldn't have to get the stupid tea!"
"May I point out to you Yoshi, that if you were a General I would be Emperor. So you would still have to get the tea. Now...JUST GET ME THE DAMN TEA!!!"

. Once I had the pieces rough cut close to size, I was able to estimate final weight. Seemed a bit hefty as the body is 1" longer and wider than a stock Tele. The pieces add up to a thickness of a little less than 1 1/2" rather than the usual 1 3/4. Decided to leave it there and also took the main body section and sawed out both sides leaving a 4" center block and 5/8" rims on each side.
I had two pics of this, however right after I put them on my computer the 2yr old SSD that served as my system drive decided to croak and join it's Honorable Ancestors. Fortunately I had a spare one of the same size and I had just done a back-up the day before. So I was able to restore everything but those two shots.
Basically it looked like this one from a previous build.

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. Just a different shape but same idea. Then taking the center top and back I glued them all together. You've probably heard the saying that everything is a hammer, well I follow the principal that when clamping a body together, everything is fair game to be a clamp or a caul..

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.Then I did a little trimming to even things out and smooth it up.  Then routed for the neck pocket, just used a Tele template for that since I'll be using a Tele neck that I already have.

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. Then it was on to the neck bolt holes and counter-bores for ferrules. The corners got 45's on the front and round over on the back.

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. My template for control cavities was a little narrow, so I widened it out and routed the outside shape for the cover. Then used a washer and a pencil to give myself a line to follow and free-handed the inner hole. A little sanding smoothed things out some.

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, And this is where it sits now while I ponder further actions........... :turtle: :turtle:

 

[rgand]

Looks great! That cherry is beautiful stuff. :icon_thumright:

 

[PhilHill]

Looks great! That cherry is beautiful stuff. :icon_thumright:

Thanks. Yes cherry is one of those woods that can have a few flaws, but they look like they belong there and don't spoil the looks. I trying to think up something that will fancy it up just a little, but not go overboard.... :headbang:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I like the washer-and-a-pencil trick, I'm gonna keep that logged away for future use...

Looking great!

 

[PhilHill]

I like the washer-and-a-pencil trick, I'm gonna keep that logged away for future use...

Looking great!

Thank you. The washer and pencil thing I picked up from an old guy in southern Il. who had been doing repair work since the late 40's. He was a veritable encyclopedia of guitar knowledge, passed away in '94 if I remember right. I tried to visit him as much as I could while he was still around as he loved to talk about his work.

 

[PhilHill]

Been busy building my Niece a door for her bathroom, so I didn't get much further yet. However I did manage to get a cover made for the control cavity and routed a channel for some binding around the top....

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. Should be done with the door soon. Then it'll be about time to level sand the finish on the walnut and maple body. Joy of joys.......... :headbang:

 

[rgand]

I like it already. Really looking forward to it's completion.

 

[PhilHill]

I like it already. Really looking forward to it's completion.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. When I start a project like this I don't usually have a mapped out blueprint. I'll know what style I want and what the main materials will be, and some idea of the hardware. And I'll have decided on the basic construction method. After that, when it gets to a certain point I let the guitar tell me what it wants. You have to be careful though, if you let wood make it's own mind up too much, it always decides it wants to go back to being a tree...... :dontknow:

 

[rgand]

You have to be careful though, if you let wood make it's own mind up too much, it always decides it wants to go back to being a tree...... :dontknow:

:icon_biggrin:

 

[Logrinn]

The binding channel together with the 45• angle looks like a really interesting concept. Can’t wait to see how that will look once completed.

 

[PhilHill]

The binding channel together with the 45• angle looks like a really interesting concept. Can’t wait to see how that will look once completed.

Thanks, I can't wait to see how I angle the biding without screwing it up...... :tard:

 

[PhilHill]

Have a slight development, got the binding on.  White, black, white. It's hard to see here, but the middle strip is black pearl. (Have I mentioned that I hate doing binding?) But now I have to wait because the scraper that I prefer is delayed in getting here. I could use single edged razor blades, but I find the purpose made scraper does a better job easier. I guess that, considering all that's going on nowadays I'm probably lucky that I can get it at all.
Also I took a trip to my local hardwood dealer to pickup some pieces of cherry that had been mistakenly left off my last order and took advantage of the opportunity to dig through their scrap bins. Snagged enough black walnut pieces to do a couple more bodies once I trim them up right. For free, I like free.... :turtle: :turtle:

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We shall persavere..err persevare,...we shall carry-on............ :icon_thumright:

 

[rgand]

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I normally don't like binding. This I like!  :icon_thumright:

 

[mayfly]

That is pretty cool binding!

Regarding that black walnut, I like thinline teles and my birthday is approaching...*






* actually it's not.

 

[ragamuffin]

The binding looks great!

 

[PhilHill]

Thanks everyone. It was a total pain getting the binding installed, and the bigger pain is yet to go. The binding is quite proud of the angle line so it's going to call for the scraping session from hell to thin it down. Do to the angle it wasn't really feasible to trim it down prior to install. Ohh well, if you want big results, you gotta give big effort.
Nice try Mayfly, actually some of that walnut is going to be a tele I think. Have to see what's possible once I get to look it all over good.... :icon_thumright:

 

[Logrinn]

I agree with the others - that binding looks super cool  :icon_thumright: