Stripping the bottom using long 1/4 inch thick strips I milled from redwood boards.
Stripping the top.
Closing the gap
After removing the two halves from the form
Painting epoxy on the fiberglass
Fiberglass and epoxy on the exterior
Building the skirt lip
Laying carbon fiber on the interior
Rough cutting the neck from a block of maple.
Routing the slot for the truss rod, which keeps the neck straight and allows you to bend it slightly to compensate for seasonal movement of the wood.
Shaping the back of the neck with a spokeshave.
Copper tape isolates the magnetic pickups from ambient radiation and also apparently makes it snail-proof. This was the practice piece I used for making the first guitar body. With a little cosmetic work, it was ready to become a guitar in its own right.
After soldering the electronics - just a couple of pots, caps, and a switch to select between the two pickups, one at the bridge and one at the neck.
Used a thickness planer to get this piece of walnut down to 1/8" thick, then shaped it to form the pickguard, and finally put a couple coats of lacquer on to harden it.
After inserting the truss rod, and laminating the rosewood fretboard, I inset the perloid dots. I bought the rough fretboard with the fret notches already cut, since that requires a level of precision I am not prepared for.
Press fitting the frets after rough sizing them from some pre-radiused fretwire.
Trimming the frets flush using special end nippers. A little bit of filing was required to bevel the ends and get rid of sharp burrs.
The finished product, before adding the strings.
Beveling the 3/4 inch staves at a 9 degree angle and down to a 2 1/4 inch width.
20 staves. I ended up using 22 to form a nearly perfect circle with a 14 1/2 inch outer diameter. This involved a lot of trial and error.
Clamping the staves. Taping the ring keeps the staves in place before clamping.
Rounding the outside using a router jig mounted to my lathe. I turned the shell by hand (you would not want to turn on the lathe while the router is running!)
Truing up the edges after sanding the outside. Final outer diameter is 13 7/8 inches, which is standard for a 14 inch drum head.
A router jig for rounding the inside. I turned the shell slowly by hand while taking off rings of wood on the inside. Got it down to about 7.5 mm thick before the shell began to flex, making it very difficult to control the depth of the cut.
Sanding the inside. Final width was around 7mm.
Beveling the outside of the bearing edge at 45 degrees on my shop-built router table. The inside is a deeper bevel at 45 as well.
After finishing using an undercoat of sanding sealer, followed by several coats of gel varnish. The gel is great for this since it doesn't drip.
Drilling the holes for the lugs.
Filing down the snare bed, which allows the snares to be pulled into the bottom head, instead of resting on top.
After assembly. I purchased the maple hoops, until I figure out a good technique for making them.
Sourcing the walnut from Chris, at his mill in Occidental, CA
Planing the boards with Sebi at the Tech Shop in San Francisco
Gluing up the boards for the top in my shop
The top, after finishing
Welding the base at the Tech Shop in San Jose
The base, after straightening the legs
Happy customers!
Used the left over wood to make a matching side-board
Rough sizing the walnut
Shaping the legs
Edge planing the planks for the top panels
Doweling the planks before gluing up the top panels
Encasing a heavy duty drawer slide inside the strut to provide smooth action
Turning the pegs for leg-apron joint
Classic pegged mortise and tenon on the leg-apron joint
Clamping and pegging the joint
The frame
Shop-made dogs for attaching the top panes to the frame, while allowing seasonal movement of the wood
Expanded to accommodate the leaf
Ready for delivery
Happy customers
Planing the blank after gluing four pieces together
Cutting out the profile on the bandsaw
Sanding the edges using a drill press rigged up as a barrel sander
Finishing the surface using a cabinet scraper
After routing out the holes for the neck and electronics
The finished product
Carving the rough shape of the seat using a gouge
Smoothing the seat using a curved spokeshave
Bending the back spindles after steaming them
Turning the back posts on a homemade lathe
Turning the tenon for the arm rests
Steaming the crest rail in a homemade steam box
Carving the mortise for the crest rail in the back post
Cutting the bottom bevel of the rockers on the bandsaw
Fitting the rockers after routing slots in the bottom of the legs