Guitar making class - Term two

I am now in my second term of Guitar making. I payed out another lump sum for my next ten weeks tonight - Ouch! At first Strato thought it might take about 30 weeks to complete the guitar but we are flying along and may finish after just 20. We are already planning the celebration party for Mid October which should get a bit of press attention as the course is really quite an unusual one.

In the last couple of weeks I have worked on the head of the guitar. I saw a guitar in a shop and I really wanted to copy the head design. When I didn't think I could do it I changed my mind to a more traditional shape and started carving it only to really dislike it.

The next week I asked Strato was there any way of rescuing the wood so that I could go back to my original choice. We were able to find a way of working the wood so that I will be able to have the head I originally wanted.

Last week I stuck the Tasmanian Blackwood Rosette into the recess I had chiseled out for it and clamped it for the week. This week I started to plane over the raised Blackwood circle to bring it down to the same level as the soundboard. It looks really well.

I have joined the two sides of my Guitar with a block at the base join. It has dried and is out of the clamps and looks great. I think I will be able to attach the sides and neck next week. It really is starting to take shape.

This week I was planning the inside braces for the soundboard of the guitar. They give it strength and stop it from caving in with the pressure of the strings running across it. Each guitar has a different brace design which takes into consideration the shape and final sound of the finished guitar. It involves using set squares and protractors and feels like I am back in maths class at school. Three different attempts to measure angles and draw them onto the inside of the sound board and Strato still wasn't 100% happy so I will wait until next week before carving the individual brace pieces. Better to get the plan right before I go to too much trouble carving the wrong sized braces.

As my wise Dad always says.. "measure twice, cut once"