Friday, June 27, 2014

Milling Mahogany

I know, I know: I should have videotaped this! I found a slab of mahogany 12 feet long by 18 inches wide by 2+ inches thick at St Charles Hardwood in Fenton, MO. What a monster! They cut it into two 6 foot sections so I could load it into my trusty Volvo wagon, and with some careful planning, I was able to get 7 one piece body blanks, 3 necks, several strips for use in laminated neck construction, thin stock for pickup mounting rings, truss rod covers and control cavity covers.

These babies were heavy! It took some creativity & planning to get them cut & planed to size

Ripped down to just fit in the planer. VERY shallow passes, or the planer tried to walk up the board!

Laying out the body & neck blanks
7 one piece body blanks

Mahogany/Maple/Walnut laminated neck. The center walnut is 2 pieces, book matched. Great tap tone.

7 piece mahogany/maple/walnut laminated neck. I'm thinking I'll mate it to a Pau Ferro fret board.

First peek at a single cut I'm starting. The neck is  book matched mahogany from the same slab the body came from, with a maple center stripe. Two P90s and a wraparound bridge are in this build's future.

Next two builds: Douglas fir short scale Tele with Port Orford cedar neck and drop top, and a machiche fretboard. On the right is the mahogany single cut showing the maple cap I'll use with it.


"It's Not Easy Being Green"

While Kermit wasn't singing about guitar building, the lyric still applies. The reality of building guitars today, especially in a large production setting, is that it can be a toxic, very non-environmentally friendly process. Big manufacturers have come under fire for depleting forests in search of tonewood and exotic veneer. Some finishes they use contain highly toxic compounds. The 21st century, mechanized manufacture of guitars relies heavily on CNC routing which turns most of the lumber into waste wood.

The DIY guitar builder can actually be worse than the big manufacturers. Youtube videos of amateur builders time and again show unsafe and potentially hazardous handling of materials. No eye, ear, or respiratory protection gear in sight!  Joe Luthier trying to spray a 'burst on a'59 Les Paul copy in his garage is likely spewing all sorts of volatile organic compounds into the air. (and his lungs!) Wood dust, nickel in hardware/frets, solvents and finishes all create their own potential problems.

I believe there is a solution, and abiding by a few key principles will go a long way toward creating guitars that are beautiful, sound great, but won't make the builder or player sick. I'm my own "canary in the coal mine:" My neurological issues (hemiplegic migraines & Parkinsonism) let me know right away if I'm handling something problematic, or in an unsafe manner. That said, here are a few key principles that govern how  I build guitars:

1. Use only wood that is  reclaimed, FSC certified, or "farmed." (A big shout out to Oregon Wild Wood.  They provide "Cerificates of Source" for their tonewoods. Luthiers Mercantile also indicated when its fretboards & necks are FSC certified.) Also, use everything! I'll be posting how I milled several bodies, necks, pickup rings, truss rod covers, and other odds & ends from the huge slab of mahogany I purchased from St Charles Hardwood.

2. Use no finishes and solvents that are high VOC content. No nitrocellulose for me! I use a modified French polish finish that uses alcohol as the solvent (only danger is getting tipsy!), and shellac as the finish. Shellac is what the food industry often uses to coat things like candies.

3. Use appropriate dust control measures whenever milling lumber, and avoid those wood species known to cause the worst health issues. I use a mask, but a honkin' dust collection system with HEPA filtration is for my family & neighbors too. ALL wood species can potentially cause irritation, but the really exotic ones I just won't use.

4. Limit potential problems caused by nickel & lead that may be in the hardware, frets, and electronic components. I'm more at the mercy of the manufacturer here, as I don't do my own metal millwork. I do use steel, brass or aluminum when possible when choosing components. I'm also trying EVO non-nickel fretwire on my next build as well.

Finally, I believe a great guitar is created like a work of art, not manufactured like a toaster oven. The finished instrument should be something that invites you to pick it up and play it, and reward and inspires the player.

New Blogs, New Builds & Videos

It's been a few months since I've done any guitar builds, or done any posts.  The lack of blog posts has mostly been due to technical issues.  The lack of new builds has been more of a philosophical issue. But, it's time to get cranking once again!

Regarding my blog: I'm working on the best way to use video to document my guitar builds, as video is now the go to medium for most people. I'll save my diatribe on this for another day. (Hey, I can't help it, I'm a former literature & writing teacher!) David Fletcher in Australia is a real inspiration in this regard.  He has a tremendous set of videos on Youtube that clearly detail his building process. Great stuff, check it out here.

While each of my guitars is a unique build, there are some underlying principles and processes that I follow. I believe there's a value in passing on some of my hard-won knowledge about guitars and woodworking to others. It's also fun to see some hunks of wood, wire and metal transformed into a finished guitar!

I've been milling raw lumber into body blanks & necks over the past few weeks, and as I start the individual building of each guitar I'll look for opportunities to add video. Stay tuned!