allen levine
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- new york city burbs
Maybe I should just refer to it as fun work.
The object of this build is to have fun, not cost me more than 20 bucks, and not use anything but excess pieces of wood I had laying around without taking a new board off the pile.
I cut up all the sycamore I had. It was really full of splits, so I cut around all of it, made 14 bed slats,and a panel for the underside of the body for my piece.(I gave the rest of the split up pieces to Jim, Im sure he can cut them up and make plenty of boxes or boards with them)
Used some leftover pieces I had from the panels I made the bed with, not the greatest figure in these pieces, but I wasnt going to trim down another board.
Laminated them, made a template for the body around 1 and half the size of regular looking electric guitar, traced it, cut out with bandsaw then used flush bit on router. Sure could have used a spindle sander, but I have one drum that I attach to drill press, does a sufficient job.
I had alot of thick pieces of maple around, from all the tables and units Ive made.
Cut out some shallow grooves, inlaid strips of walnut for some frets. I had them slightly raised, but didnt like the way it looked, so I took my block plane and shaved them down, then sanded them flush. Used a countersink bit, made some holes, took my plug cutter, used some walnut, put some of those dots on the neck, whatever ya call them, I forgot. (so you can know where your fingers are when youre playing)
My first headstock cracked, cut the second one out of spanish cedar, just to mix up the colors, and will attach it with a lap joint.
Same way I will attach the neck to body.
The strings will be small chains(well, Im the artist, hehehehe), and now Im working on figuring out how to get good tension on the chains when I make the bridge and pickups.
The bridge and pickups and all the hardware will be assorted junk hardware I have laying around, but I purchased 6 brass eyelets and 6 small eyelets with bolt ends that I will figure out how to make the bridge.
Im using a small sheet of I guess its called stainless steel sheet, like ducting material, and Ill cut it to size to form phony, but artistic(hehehehe, Im making myself laugh) bridge and pickups.
I have some wood knobs Ill paint black to use for volume or tone control knobs.
I have a small sheet of 1/8 clear plastic, I took off a cutlery showcase, and I might paint it and use it as a pick guard unless I like the way the wood comes out and dont want to cover it up.(I turned the boards when I glued them up with the least amount of coloring/figure in the middle, since most of it is covered with strings, bridge, pickups)
Heres where Im at now, tomorrow I will slightly round over the pieces, attach them all together, sand, and start applying finish before I attach any hardware. Im up in the air with hardware right now, been sorting threw my screws, and some little metal clips I found laying around.
The bridge will make or break this piece. If I mess that up, Ill put the piece on hold and get to the next bed.(the second bed I made this winter is going to be sanded with 400 grit tomorrow to take the knubbies off, and its ready to be shipped, uh, delivered)
I know I copied the design of a famous make guitar, but I figured an artist has to be inspired by something, and that guitar inspired me.
All the parts were sized and drew/cut freehand using my eagle eyes, so if anything looks a tad off, well, Im off.
I purposely left the bottom of the body a bit more flat because I may want to put it on a shelf standing up so gravity helps keep the chains straight if I need some help with tensioning.
The object of this build is to have fun, not cost me more than 20 bucks, and not use anything but excess pieces of wood I had laying around without taking a new board off the pile.
I cut up all the sycamore I had. It was really full of splits, so I cut around all of it, made 14 bed slats,and a panel for the underside of the body for my piece.(I gave the rest of the split up pieces to Jim, Im sure he can cut them up and make plenty of boxes or boards with them)
Used some leftover pieces I had from the panels I made the bed with, not the greatest figure in these pieces, but I wasnt going to trim down another board.
Laminated them, made a template for the body around 1 and half the size of regular looking electric guitar, traced it, cut out with bandsaw then used flush bit on router. Sure could have used a spindle sander, but I have one drum that I attach to drill press, does a sufficient job.
I had alot of thick pieces of maple around, from all the tables and units Ive made.
Cut out some shallow grooves, inlaid strips of walnut for some frets. I had them slightly raised, but didnt like the way it looked, so I took my block plane and shaved them down, then sanded them flush. Used a countersink bit, made some holes, took my plug cutter, used some walnut, put some of those dots on the neck, whatever ya call them, I forgot. (so you can know where your fingers are when youre playing)
My first headstock cracked, cut the second one out of spanish cedar, just to mix up the colors, and will attach it with a lap joint.
Same way I will attach the neck to body.
The strings will be small chains(well, Im the artist, hehehehe), and now Im working on figuring out how to get good tension on the chains when I make the bridge and pickups.
The bridge and pickups and all the hardware will be assorted junk hardware I have laying around, but I purchased 6 brass eyelets and 6 small eyelets with bolt ends that I will figure out how to make the bridge.
Im using a small sheet of I guess its called stainless steel sheet, like ducting material, and Ill cut it to size to form phony, but artistic(hehehehe, Im making myself laugh) bridge and pickups.
I have some wood knobs Ill paint black to use for volume or tone control knobs.
I have a small sheet of 1/8 clear plastic, I took off a cutlery showcase, and I might paint it and use it as a pick guard unless I like the way the wood comes out and dont want to cover it up.(I turned the boards when I glued them up with the least amount of coloring/figure in the middle, since most of it is covered with strings, bridge, pickups)
Heres where Im at now, tomorrow I will slightly round over the pieces, attach them all together, sand, and start applying finish before I attach any hardware. Im up in the air with hardware right now, been sorting threw my screws, and some little metal clips I found laying around.
The bridge will make or break this piece. If I mess that up, Ill put the piece on hold and get to the next bed.(the second bed I made this winter is going to be sanded with 400 grit tomorrow to take the knubbies off, and its ready to be shipped, uh, delivered)
I know I copied the design of a famous make guitar, but I figured an artist has to be inspired by something, and that guitar inspired me.
All the parts were sized and drew/cut freehand using my eagle eyes, so if anything looks a tad off, well, Im off.
I purposely left the bottom of the body a bit more flat because I may want to put it on a shelf standing up so gravity helps keep the chains straight if I need some help with tensioning.
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