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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
This version is completed now. Took a sunlight photo today for my website.
The next version I mentioned with the floating rope will look something like this simulation image. I made the changes in Aspire this morning and saved it to review again at a later date before generating the gcode file.. This one is not likely to be ready before going to the Aspire camp. Finishing the guitar project is next to be finished.
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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
A friend offered me a free acoustic guitar last evening while I was talking with him. He thought I could use it for parts to make the cigar box guitar.. I went over to get it today and found out that's seen very little use, no major scratches and is in almost new condition. It cost around $100 and was sold by Walmart, Toys R Us, and other chain stores. The two reviews I found online gave it fairly high marks for a low cost guitar. It's a First Act model MG412 made of spruce and mahogany. I'll keep it just as it is and take measurements from it. The neck has 18.5" fret board length and 20 frets.
To speed this project up I'll buy an unfinished (or finished) neck similar to the one on the guitar if I find one at fairly low cost. Mostly because it would already have the rod in it. This will definitely be a six string project.
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
nylon and wound silk string guitars don't have a truss rod in the neck. That's only required for steel stringed guitars.
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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
Thanks Kuroguy. This will be using steel strings.
I finally decided to not let the neck intimidate me out of making it myself and started throwing something together this morning using red oak. Since this is a CNC woodcraft project, and in no way going to be competitive with the finest guitar craftsmen out there, the best I can hope for is something that looks reasonably good and stays in tune long enough to get through a few chords of Stairway to Heaven. :)
The fret board will be sliced off of the Bolivian rosewood piece I have instead of wasting the whole piece for just one neck.. I didn't want to install the rod, but doing it this way will give that ability. The neck will be almost a through neck, but will not go completely through the bottom end of the box. It will be glued into a 1/4" deep notch. More on that when the neck is being installed. The precision radius on the heel is from tracing the bottom of the can of stain. There will be some band saw cuts while fitting the neck to the box.
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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
The neck is fitted to the box now, and the top could be glued in place, but there are other things to do inside first. Now to work on a fret board and stain/seal the inside of the box except for the glue joints.
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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
I cut the Bolivian rosewood fret board this morning and ran it through the planer to clean up the band saw cut side. This one may be a little too thin at 0.150", but I have plenty more where that came from. The length is 18" same as the acoustic guitar I was given. Fret board on that one measures about 0.187".
I've been looking at how to install frets on this websiteLiutaio Mottola Lutherie Information Website which sounds like a lot of work. Maybe I should order a finished neck after all ...
By the way, the pattern on the right side of his website pages is a stereogram. I never noticed it in the past when I visited the site. Maybe the specialty finishes paint makers can sell me some of that to paint my next CNC machine project. :)
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
Knowing that eventually someone has to tune this guitar project, I started looking at how to tune a guitar videos, reading about how the strings are numbered and located, and finding beginner chord info.
I was expecting to shell out some money for an electronic tuner, but my local brother-in-law said that he has one I can use. He mentioned that a friend of his tunes his guitar with an online software tuner.
Hmmmmm, My Galaxy S4 phone has a microphone. Is there is an app for that? Sure enough, the Play Store lists at least 60 apps, some of them being free. :) I looked at the free ones and found one with no time limit, no ads, no fees, and with graphical displays. I downloaded the PitchLab app and now have the free acoustic guitar a friend gave me all tuned to specs. Now if only it was this easy to learn to play the thing once it's built ...
Hotel reservation was made yesterday for the trip to McGrew's Aspire camp. Gotta get fired up about finishing this guitar build.
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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
I've been working on the neck today and have it roughed out with some shaping done around the heel. The tuning machine hole locations have been center punched into the wood so they don't get sanded off while working on the head. The head will be widened with the two small walnut strips in the photo. Not sure yet what shape will be added to the top end of the head. It won't be anything fancy. I'll do that after the tuning machines are temporally installed and see how much room there is for a shape cut.
Not much else can be done until I get the truss rod and install it.
Need to start placing orders for parts tonight or tomorrow.
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
I picked up most of the items needed to finish the guitar today. A tuning machine set, Martin medium acoustic guitar string set, and a PTFE nut. I still need to order some fret wire since this place didn't have any in stock. I'll be working on this project and hopefully have it completed by May 14th. I'll make the bridge and tail piece myself.
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
I went into a different music store in Raleigh, NC today and found a pack of Fender brand fret wire. It will require a thicker finger board than I already made that can be curved to work with the curved fret wire. The only thing left to get is the truss rod. I'll get a couple of those on order.
Meanwhile, I'm working on a doll bed for my skydiver friend's 8 yo daughter who got a new American Girl doll for her recent birthday.
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
my daughter is in love with the doll bed i made her for her american girl doll. I posted it in my thread about 5 months ago.
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
Thanks, I remembered seeing one here but didn't remember who it was. I'll check yours out. I downloaded a file for a doll bed from the Vectric forums almost a year ago and scaled it up to queen size with the intent to modify it into something for my guest room. For this doll bed I made a lot of changes to the original doll bed file, scaled it to fit the doll (I hope our measurements look right with the doll on it), and cut the head and foot board last evening.
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I found your head board photo Dave. Mine is 1/4" Baltic birch plywood and the head board is 10.5" wide by 8.8" tall. Does that sound about right? This does not include the corner posts. I'll use walnut for the other parts. The side rails have some decorative scallops instead of the original simple curve.
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as I recall, I calculated the ratio from a real bed at 18" (doll)/65" (real woman) = 27%, so the twin bed I made came out to about 10" wide. I also used 3/4" poplar for mine with insets to the vertical rails of 3/32" on both sides and 3/32 inset for the horizontal rails. that allowed me to cut 1/2" deep mortises for the side rails and make it pretty sturdy as kids can be hard on their toys. I probably overdid the design, but my daughter loves it so I've got that going for me.
Have fun with it. it's something they'll remember for their entire lives. not sure if I posted a picture of it when it was finished so here it is. Lauren picked the color.
Re: CarveOne CNC Paradise box
That looks a lot better than what I'm doing. :) I was going to use walnut for the framework but now I am told to use purple heart wood instead, and to stain the birch plywood, not paint it. Oh well.
I think the head and foot boards need a purple heart cap on the top and bottom to give the appearance of more thickness. You're right about getting rough treatment. He warned me about that.
Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
at 8 years old, i'm sure she'll prefer to pick some nice color for it rather than make it like a nice piece of adult styled furniture. I let Lauren glue the parts together and do some of the sanding too. we had fun building it together; that was the best part. By the way, I used 1/4" poplar for the rails and cross pieces. there's about $12 in that bed.
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I mentioned that I made a change to the shape of the curve on the side rails. It will look like the simulation image below. There is no rush to complete this, but I would like to have the parts made and ready to assemble by their next visit.
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Re: CarveOne's Steel Channel Rebuild
A truss rod (and two spares) is expected to arrive tomorrow from Grizzly.com. I ordered the rods from them since I already have an account with them. These are two way 17-1/4" long rods with hex wrench screw adjustment. While at the Guitar Center and Sam Ash Music stores I noticed the solution to my problem with having the screw end at the bottom end of the neck under the resonator where it will be hard to reach. Some of the guitars have the screw end at the top end of the neck, and the way I built the neck allows the channel to be routed out under the nut where it can be reached with ease.
While waiting for the truss rods, I started doodling in Aspire yesterday morning and by mid afternoon I had created this new Celtic cross for the shop display wall. The curly cross design is from a stone monument. I added the outer frame. All of this is done using the Extrude tool in Aspire from single line vectors, both open vectors for the weave and closed vectors for all other shapes,. It won't be cut until after the Aspire Camp trip though, I have just one week to finish the guitar.
The weave pattern is destined to be used on a future Paradise box project.
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The doll bed project parts are nearing completion. The slats need trimming to 1/2" width and the corner posts need 1/8" deep by 1/4" wide pockets in them. for the head and foot boards to glue into. Tomorrow I'll set up cut files to make the pockets. The side boards need pockets for the slats also. I cut the two side boards on the Delta scroll saw while taped together..