Post a photo of the last thing you made
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Well not strictly a woodworking project as such but it is made from Indian rosewood, and will probably bore to death most of you so apologies in advance for the story and feel free to skip.
I've been developing my skills in the Luthiery dept. and the lockdowns have given me time to develop them away from the day job.
I have a 50 year old Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. It was my first 'grown up guitar' and was badly re-fretted 35 years ago by an idiot. Basically he planed the fingerboard, why I'll never know as it was fine, but being young and naive I believed the "expert". The expert managed to damage some of the pearloid inlays !!!! His remedy "don't worry I've repaired them with Araldyte and silver paint"...... So you can imagine how upset I was at the end result.
Luckily I befriended a proper Luthier a little while later called Graham Wheeler from Ashington, Sussex. He's done the odd bit of work for some blokes called Eric Clapton and Midge Ure, so I guess I was in safe company. He replaced the damaged inlay with some 60's pearl but it never matched, and the fingerboard was way too thin, the position marker dots were half moons.
So I had the crazy idea during the first lockdown of removing the fingerboard, making a mahogany packer to go underneath and hiding it with fresh binding.
OOPS. My friend Graham advised against it as it was a lot of work for a skilled Luthier let alone me but I gave it a go. No manner of fancy fingerboard heaters would budge the glue and as I worked my way down from the nut I ended up with a mosaic of old fingerboard pieces as they would crack and break at every fret line due to their thickness or lack of.
I rapidly came to the conclusion that the immaculate Gold Top nitro finish would suffer damage if I proceeded with my "work" so I chiselled the rest of the board off, thinking I could at least get it replaced by a specialist, which I could but we're talking £1500 or so with freight.
So I bit the bullet and made my own. I had to buy several rosewood blanks before I came up with the right shade to match what was on the old girl. Then I shaped, inlayed, bound and fretted the board. Much to my surprise it came out alright (and I am very fussy, with a good eye for detail).
It did it provide my Luthier friend with a great deal of amusement but his mantra was "You won't f**k it up" and he was right!
I've just noticed that when I posted this, the word I D I O T it was automatically replaced with silly person, seriously!!
I've been developing my skills in the Luthiery dept. and the lockdowns have given me time to develop them away from the day job.
I have a 50 year old Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. It was my first 'grown up guitar' and was badly re-fretted 35 years ago by an idiot. Basically he planed the fingerboard, why I'll never know as it was fine, but being young and naive I believed the "expert". The expert managed to damage some of the pearloid inlays !!!! His remedy "don't worry I've repaired them with Araldyte and silver paint"...... So you can imagine how upset I was at the end result.
Luckily I befriended a proper Luthier a little while later called Graham Wheeler from Ashington, Sussex. He's done the odd bit of work for some blokes called Eric Clapton and Midge Ure, so I guess I was in safe company. He replaced the damaged inlay with some 60's pearl but it never matched, and the fingerboard was way too thin, the position marker dots were half moons.
So I had the crazy idea during the first lockdown of removing the fingerboard, making a mahogany packer to go underneath and hiding it with fresh binding.
OOPS. My friend Graham advised against it as it was a lot of work for a skilled Luthier let alone me but I gave it a go. No manner of fancy fingerboard heaters would budge the glue and as I worked my way down from the nut I ended up with a mosaic of old fingerboard pieces as they would crack and break at every fret line due to their thickness or lack of.
I rapidly came to the conclusion that the immaculate Gold Top nitro finish would suffer damage if I proceeded with my "work" so I chiselled the rest of the board off, thinking I could at least get it replaced by a specialist, which I could but we're talking £1500 or so with freight.
So I bit the bullet and made my own. I had to buy several rosewood blanks before I came up with the right shade to match what was on the old girl. Then I shaped, inlayed, bound and fretted the board. Much to my surprise it came out alright (and I am very fussy, with a good eye for detail).
It did it provide my Luthier friend with a great deal of amusement but his mantra was "You won't f**k it up" and he was right!
I've just noticed that when I posted this, the word I D I O T it was automatically replaced with silly person, seriously!!
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thetyreman
Established Member
very nice job, did you use mother of pearl for the inlays? they look very neat. I've met a few dodgy guitar techs myself over the years of playing.
No I left the neck on as it would've ruined the finish on the back. I was trying to avoid as much touch up as possible
They are 60's pearloid made by the Italian company that made the originals. Cost about £50. Laser cut. I inlayed them with a mini router base on my Dremel and marked the lines with a sharp scalpel for definition
Farmer Giles
The biggest tool in the box
I needed a beer table for the bar, the design criteria was cheap and quick as I need to finish off lots of DIY, but I needed a bit of a break from making kitchens, I had some resin left over from a job, a piece of old oak that was close to bark in places and some legs of an old Ikea desk the wobbled like Bambi on ICE.
Bit of oak, lots of shakes
split it down the middle and glue it onto some offcut OSB
put an oak frame around it.
pour some resin with a heavy blue mica tint to hide the OSB. While that is going off, my daughters glued some debris to the banks, old car tyres, rusty oil drums, builders rubble. A bit of social commentary.
before the first coat is fully set, pour in the remaining resin in, lighter tint so you can see the rubbish.
Sand through the grits to 400 then a couple of coats of OSMO, cut the IKEA legs down and screw to the base.
Just need to fill the glasses with beer
I have got the river table thing out of my system. However, my brother wants one, I think I shall put some different rubbish in, I have some ideas.
Cheers
Andy
Bit of oak, lots of shakes
split it down the middle and glue it onto some offcut OSB
put an oak frame around it.
pour some resin with a heavy blue mica tint to hide the OSB. While that is going off, my daughters glued some debris to the banks, old car tyres, rusty oil drums, builders rubble. A bit of social commentary.
before the first coat is fully set, pour in the remaining resin in, lighter tint so you can see the rubbish.
Sand through the grits to 400 then a couple of coats of OSMO, cut the IKEA legs down and screw to the base.
Just need to fill the glasses with beer
I have got the river table thing out of my system. However, my brother wants one, I think I shall put some different rubbish in, I have some ideas.
Cheers
Andy
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MarkDennehy
Established Member
Since you insisted...Nice tealight holder. Very neat.
Now you've got to make a matching set
They're not exactly matching mind, this business of using up offcuts is something I need more practice with....
gregmcateer
Established Member
Good job, sir!
gregmcateer
Established Member
Farmer Giles,
What resin do you use that doesnt bubble?
What resin do you use that doesnt bubble?
I was very pleased to see your bunkbed project - a job well done. This is exactly what I want to build for my 7-year old granddaughter.
Do you have a cutting list/plans/list of fixing, or anything that you are happy to share?
Thanks.
G S Haydon
Established Member
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Thanks for the feedback. If I had any I would be happy to share them. I just built it as I went.
I made sure a single mattress would fit within the framework and the rest fell into place. The end frames are glued up but the long rails are dry fit and screwed.
The stud material was not nice to use and I just had to accept parts of it are bent and twisted. I accepted that as a mass produced item would of been of similar quality.
If you have the time, draw up a setting out rod and have a go.
AFFF
Established Member
Lovely work guitardoctor! So much more skill involved than the work I do which is all straight lines and square angles (occasional 45°) Luthier work is all curves!
Farmer Giles
The biggest tool in the box
I used almost the first I found on amazon so must have got lucky. I didn't even bother using a heat gun or blowtorch which is the usual technique for helping bubble removal. First time I have used resin, quite good fun and very useful for stabilising big cracks.
Farmer Giles
The biggest tool in the box
The kids are showing an interest in chess so made this for them. It may become the top of a full games table if I get time. First cut some ash and dark American walnut into strips and glue up. The walnut was from a resaw cock-up so I glued it to some ply first.
then cut this into strips
And arrange into a chess board.
I have some scabby bits of oak that the sawmill was going to throw away when I had a tree planked a few years ago
these are pure gold, you can get a lot of nice burr from them. mostly little bits
and some bigger bits
but they are close to bark so not easy to cut into thinner veneers
so opted to keep them about 20mm thick and use PU glue so it foams up and fills the barky voids, here's the start of piecing it together
And finished with dark brown tinted resin filling the cracks and knots. It took three applications of resin. I poured it on, let it settle in for 20 mins, moved it around a bit then scraped off the excess with a plastic squeegee, let it set then re-apply. Far better than leaving it on thick to set which then takes ages to sand. I'm a resin novice but quite liking what you can do with it. Then took it down to 400 grit then 3 light coats of osmo.
The kids love it, I have a few ideas for a games table but that may be later in the year - back to the kitchen and utility, nearly finished, well, about 2 months away.
Cheers
Andy
then cut this into strips
And arrange into a chess board.
I have some scabby bits of oak that the sawmill was going to throw away when I had a tree planked a few years ago
these are pure gold, you can get a lot of nice burr from them. mostly little bits
and some bigger bits
but they are close to bark so not easy to cut into thinner veneers
so opted to keep them about 20mm thick and use PU glue so it foams up and fills the barky voids, here's the start of piecing it together
And finished with dark brown tinted resin filling the cracks and knots. It took three applications of resin. I poured it on, let it settle in for 20 mins, moved it around a bit then scraped off the excess with a plastic squeegee, let it set then re-apply. Far better than leaving it on thick to set which then takes ages to sand. I'm a resin novice but quite liking what you can do with it. Then took it down to 400 grit then 3 light coats of osmo.
The kids love it, I have a few ideas for a games table but that may be later in the year - back to the kitchen and utility, nearly finished, well, about 2 months away.
Cheers
Andy
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Hornbeam
Established Member
Cheval mirror in walnut and beech inlay. The problem photographing mirrors is not to get yourself or the mess behind you in the photo. Failed on 1 count.
The mirror frame is made with mitred corners, strengthened with internal loose splines. The 4mm inlay was fitted before any of the joints or were cut
Each leg is laminated up in 2 separate halves using a former I had used previously. The 2 halves are then planed and fitted back to back to form the y shape. 2 of the smallest dominos are fitted just above the point where the legs join to strengthen the joint The beech inlay lines are actually full width laminates
The cross piece is again laminated with full thickness beech inlay
The pivot mechanism is home made. A 4 mm thick piece of brass is fitted into the mirror frame. This is held with csk brass screws and has a central hole drilled an tapped 5mm, The knobs were laminated and turned on the diagonal. A piece of 5mm brass rod is epoxied into each knob. There is a small collar between the mirror frame and the leg to give clearance . As the mirror rotates slightly one side tightens and the other loosens. This is fine for the small range of movement
The mirror frame is made with mitred corners, strengthened with internal loose splines. The 4mm inlay was fitted before any of the joints or were cut
Each leg is laminated up in 2 separate halves using a former I had used previously. The 2 halves are then planed and fitted back to back to form the y shape. 2 of the smallest dominos are fitted just above the point where the legs join to strengthen the joint The beech inlay lines are actually full width laminates
The cross piece is again laminated with full thickness beech inlay
The pivot mechanism is home made. A 4 mm thick piece of brass is fitted into the mirror frame. This is held with csk brass screws and has a central hole drilled an tapped 5mm, The knobs were laminated and turned on the diagonal. A piece of 5mm brass rod is epoxied into each knob. There is a small collar between the mirror frame and the leg to give clearance . As the mirror rotates slightly one side tightens and the other loosens. This is fine for the small range of movement
