So, is it time for that label "finished instruments" yet? Or is it completed instruments, I can't remember and that says something about the amount of time this batch has taken me.
After last weeks aggressive fret offensive it is finally time to install some hardware. The tuners went in without any issues, and in the first pic you can see the jig I use to mark out the holes for the cover plate screws.
I make holes with an awl, then drilled them all with an electric drill. Time is of essence so power tools are allowed.
I put all biscuits on the cones and made a bridge for one of them. I decided to finish this one so I finally could evaluate the new skeletons. It's quite hard to foresee all lengths and angles before you string one up. I reached for the strings and saw I'd forgotten the nut.
When I ordered bone saddle blanks a while back I got a few of these ready made guitar saddles for free. Not something I need so I'll use them for nuts. It's much faster to plane them than to sand them so here's the first one in my planing jig for small parts.
Once it fit I roughed out the shape.
And went at it with a hacksaw. The vise in the pic is from Stewmac, expensive but really indispensible once you're used to it. The hacksaw cost a fragment of what the vise did.
And another favourite; the half-pencil. I slide it across the frets to get an idea of how deep the string slots should be.
Going forward a bit, the strings are on and the angles look good! Neck angle, strings' break angle, they all came together. I need to lower the action a bit at the nut but will wait for ghe cone to settle before I decide upon the bridge slots.
No comments:
Post a Comment