I got a great deal on a drill press at Harbor Freight.

I need to make a list of power tools to buy… I also need a bigger paycheck.

-M

I created a simple design on the fretboard. I wanted something that was easy to create yet still look original. The inlay material is called Paduak, it looks a lot more orange than I anticipated. I still think it looks pretty cool.

So I got done what I wanted to get done. I got all the kerfing on, cleaned everything up, and got the top and bottom glued on. I had some complications, but I got them all figured out and fixed. Next I flush cut all the sides and the tenon for the neck. Lastly, I glued on the end graft. It doesnt look super good, but hopefully with enough sanding, it will look ok.

Next is shaping the neck.

-M

I glued on my neck and tail block. I broke one of my clamps in the process… it’s a good thing it was like $4.

Next up, side profiling, kerfing, fitting and more glueing. Hopefully I’ll get to gluing on the top and back by the end of the weekend.

Not many pictures. Trust me, this took a long time.

I updated the inside caul of my mold, eliminating the need to use clamps, so i can actually work while the guitar is in the mold. I added cork to the outer rim of the caul to create a soft padding to the clamping pressure. The cork also acts as a space filler since the caul wasnt an exact fit to the outside mold.

Here are some more pics. I got the second half of the guitar bend as well as the bindings. Before I bent the bindings, I glued on some b/w purfling.

Now I’m just waiting on my blocks and neck blank to show up.

I jumped ahead a little bit and got my first side bent last night. I should’ve waited until I got the inner caul fabricated. The negative that I had from the mold is just a bit too small and doesn’t fit all the way around.

It still works pretty good.

Guitar #2 has been started. I was waiting on some materials that I needed for #1 and got kind of bored, so I figured I could do some work on #2.

I didn’t do a whole lot, just joined the pieces together and cut out the rough shape.

Specs:
Soundboard: Engleman Spruce
Back & Sides: Black Walnut

I’ll keep everything else a surprise. Another words, I’ll just wing it.

I got my shelving project all done. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I also learned the value of a straight piece of wood. Doing precision work gets a little pointless when the wood you are using is warped.

Oh well, it still came out ok.

Today I began work on making myself a functional shelving system. I’ve accumulated a lot of tools since I started woodworking and I only have a few shelves. So I designed a simple system that will fit into my existing workplace.