Hello there, my fellow artisans and handcrafts enthusiasts!
We're back to catch on the progress of the project. We are getting close to some of the final stages of the process at this moment, so let's keep on the momentum to get to the end of it. On this entry, we'll see all about some details on the build and the rounding of the neck.
Let's jump right to it!
Filling a gap
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There was a gap between the sides on the end block. This usually happens when the cut isn't as precise as it should be. If the sides fall short on this glue up, you'll have a gap between the pieces. But this serves the purpose of having to add an ornament to fill it.
That's exactly what we'll do. To start, we need to make the gap bigger. This is one of the only times when we can get some symmetry on the build. Trying to make a rectangle markings taken the center of the sound board as a guide. We make our marks and then process to make all the cuttings and chiseling to get the space between the sides ready for an inlay.
For the inlay, we'll use some cedar from the endless pieces of material that I keep gathering as builds we done. These always come in handy. It is like the drawer of a tailor. Instead of samples of fabric, there are samples of wood. We cut a piece and sand on both sides. Trim it until it has the length we need. The last steps are simple. We do a dry fit to make sure the piece goes in with a certain amount of pressure. Once we check this one, it's time to glue the inlay. We ca use tape to hold the piece in place since we don't need too much pressure for this job.
Heel cap
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Even in luthierie, heels need caps. We are making one from a piece of mahogany that's on my luthier drawer. We need a small piece to get on place. But before gluing it, we have to remove some material from the heel. We start by sawing some of the excess of the back that goes on the heel. Next, we use a chisel to remove any dry glue reside from the are to get a proper glue up.
Now, we can work on the heel cap. Once we have a small piece that is bigger that we actually need, we can glue it in place. We use tape again to hold it while the glue dries. Once it is fixed, we use some tape to protect the sides and back and begin to sand the cap until it takes the shape of the heel.
And by doing this we have completed the ornaments on the instrument.
Round it
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The second to last step before starting the finish process is rounding the neck. This step takes a lot of time and tons of elbow grease. We start by marking the tallest and lowest points on the neck. The former goes near the body; the other, near the head stock. With these in place, we have to mark a slope from one side to the other. This will ensure it is comfortable but also keep the strength we need for the instrument to last.
Once we have all the marking, we start the process us removing material. We start on the lowest and highest points, making a template for the curve of the whole neck. This curve is achieved by making corners until we have none left. And the rest of the process is repeating this process. We keep making corners on the whole length of the neck until we have a round piece.
The last step on this part is to sand the neck until it is smooth to the touch and we have removed any markings from the rasp and other tools we used during the process. That way we have done half the sanding required for the instrument.
Next time, we'll tackle the final sanding of wood and get into finish territory.
Thanks for reading!
Fotos/Photos 📷: taken by me (Redmi Note 8)
Portada/Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.
Edición/Editing 🎬: by me, made with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
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