Day 24: Laminating the Sides

After conferring with my neighbor, a master-of-everything kinda guy, I decided to go ahead and laminate the faux body sides to strengthen them. This means I will be layering two 3mm pieces of maple around one 3mm sapele strip. Before embarking on bending the maple, I threw the pieces of sapele back into the mold just to make sure everything was lining up properly. It was.

The first step of the lamination is to bend the pieces so they will more easily conform to the mold when it's time to laminate. This means I got to break out my trusty, old Home Depot bending tool setup.

Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a bending tool from a luthier supply company, I put this together for around $30 and it works great. You can see in the photo below how the strips bent using it.

I left them in the mold for overnight cooling/drying and will be gluing them up tonight. It should be interesting to see if I can get a tight enough seal between the layers. Only time will tell.

Until next time...

Day 23: Resawing Some Maple

In thinking about preparing the sides, I decided to go ahead and laminate the sapele with some figured/flamed maple. This will provide a nice contrast, as well as strengthen them against unforeseen mishaps. The first step in the process was to resaw the maple.

Tonight, I will plane the pieces down to 3mm thickness and get them sanded for the lamination, which I may also start tonight. I can at least get the pieces into the mold for drying overnight.

Until next time...

Day 22: The Right Tools

In sculpting the contours of the body, I was using a tiny, cheap plane I purchased as a pack of three from Harbor Freight. I was having a heckuva time with it and figured it was my lack of experience that was causing the various unintended scratches and gouges I was making in the poor thing. Fortunately, I had ordered an ebony thumb plane from Woodcraft for an unrelated project and it arrived yesterday. I went ahead and tried it out on the body and, voila!, I was amazed.

The thing just glides over the wood and shaves off astonishingly thin curls like a hot knife through butter. I've been making an effort over the last six months to stop purchasing tools at HF and purchase, perhaps not the best, but tools that are vastly better than the Chinese, plastic crap from that place. In this case, the little thumb plane was only $20 - and worth every penny. I love Woodcraft. Now, where's the garbage can?

Until next time...

Day 21: Working the Body

I was able to make some progress on contouring the main body block over this last weekend. First, I drew a design on the block using one of the faux body bent sides. I then cut out the contours using Little Buddy, my Delta 12" bandsaw.

The plan was to use the Ridgid oscillating spindle sander to rough out the contours and then use a small hand - or thumb - plane to smooth out the edges.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I'll continue to work on the contours until I'm happy they the match on both sides. Then, I'll begin the process of mounting the bent sides.

Until then...

Day 20: Bending the Sides

Once I got the side pieces planed and scraped into submission, I could go ahead and start bending them. First, a note about my custom bending tool: I built the tool using $12 of galvanized pipe from Home Depot and a $20 heat gun from Harbor Freight. The result is an affordable workhorse that goes up to 1160 degrees Fahrenheit (about 300 on the pipe) and gets the job done.

While the bending tool was heating up, I drilled a piece of MDF and cut some dowel to create a bending form for the sides. To accomplish this, I taped the traced plan to the MDF and used a Forstner bit to tap in starter holes, which I enlarged with an awl. I then drilled the holes the depth of the Forstner bit (about 1/2"), shot a little Garrett Wade glue into each, and hammered the pegs home, using a square to make sure they were straight.

The result was a form that worked pretty well. The point of a form is to hold the bent wood in place while it cools and dries. I chose to leave the sides in overnight. First, I worked on the belly.

I then completed it with the top/shoulder.

You will notice some overlap. This is due to the lengths of the wood I'm using (originally intended for guitar sides). I've not yet come up with a final design, so I decided to let the bending process help me visualize what that might end up looking like. At this point, it looks like the pieces will blend into each other nicely - I hope. The next step will be to release the pieces and bend the other side. Then, I will work on the blending and cutting to size for tacking onto the body.

Until next time...

Day 19: Planing and Scraping the Sides

As you may know, my main project is a harpsichord based on an instrument built by Andreaus Ruckers in 1640. As I was sanding the sides and posting about my progress on Facebook, a couple of my Master Harpsichord Builder friends pointed out that I should only use sandpaper sparingly, especially on instruments and tonewoods. Well, this is an instrument, so I switched from the sander to a little bench plane and a card scraper.

Planing and scraping not only leaves a nicer finish, it's vastly easier. I set the planer to take off an astonishingly small amount of wood - enough to make the resaw lines disappear. Then, I scraped to a fine finish. I sprayed a little water on them to raise the grain (through swelling) and finished up with a green Scotch-Brite pad (please don't tell the Masters).

I should have the finishing done on these pieces this week. As soon as they're completed, I will finalize a faux body design and bend the sides. I will also need to build a small jig to hold the pieces while they cool and dry after bending, so that goes on the shortlist, as well.

Until next time...

Day 18: Sanding Sides

Now that the bridge/pickup box has been completed, I can get on to bending the sides for the faux body. I decided to go with some sapele I had for a guitar build that never happened - at least I never used the wood for a guitar. I picked it up about five years ago, so it's nice to be finally using it. Before I could start on the bend, I cut the wood into 1 3/4" strips. I noticed the resaw marks were pretty nasty on one side. These needed to go, so I started sanding them off with a little orbital sander.

Halfway through the process, I posted a photo to good, old Facebook and my Master harpsichord builders were kind enough to remind me that I should not be sanding tonewood; rather, I should be using hand planes and scrapers, if not my 12" planer. I was already done for the night when I posted the photo, which means I'll not get back to it until tonight. I'm going to start with a card scraper to see how it goes and take it from there.

Until next time...

Day 17: Roughing Out the Body Block Sides

When I planed the bridge pickup box down, I managed to knock one of the sides free, which tells me I didn't initially apply enough hide glue. The good news: I got the side re-glued. The even better news: I started working on roughly drawing up the body block side contours. I accomplished this by drawing straight lines 1cm in on the sides and 2cm in from the top and bottom. How I will draw out the contours remains to be seen - I'm hoping I find some creative way to use something in the shop to create a nice, swooping curve that will complement the faux body.

Speaking of the faux body, I've decided to use thin strips of black walnut about 3" or so wide. The thing is, I've not yet run a 240v power outlet for my new Laguna 14" SUV bandsaw I purchased for resawing wood. I'm hoping to get it going this weekend. When I do, I'll cut up the walnut and take it from there.

Back to the photo. Along with major tasks come several minor tasks I've not yet considered. For instance, drilling out the peg holes in the pegbox at the top of the neck is something I need to do before mounting the fingerboard. A friend, Darrel Wallen, loaned me a couple cylindrical reamers that should do the trick just fine. First, I'll put one in the drill press and get the holes started. Then, I'll finish up manually so I don't over-drill the holes. That would be a point from which there is no return, so that ain't gonna happen.

I also need to start thinking about how I'm going to mount the neck securly to the body block. This is not something I considered before cutting the neck to length. In hindsight, I sure with I would have left a little extra to accommodate a more secure way to mount the neck. The main issue with this is mounting it in a way that not only keeps the neck attached to the body, but also keeps is from rotating from string tension and playing. I'm thinking an oddly-shaped (triangular or square) dowel will do the trick. Chalk this one up to inexperience for sure.

Until next time...

Day 16: Tracing the Faux Body

Before shaping the body block, I decided to go ahead and map out the faux body. The faux body is necessary for a couple of reasons. First, the cello player rests the cello againt their upper body, which I believe will require an extension on the back of the body block. Second, the cello player grips the lower bout with his/her legs as a means of stabilizing the instrument while playing. My plan is to bend some nice flamed maple I picked up at Home Depot after ripping it to 1/2" thickness. I'm frankly not sure it will bend well, but we'll see. I can always substitute another light wood if necessary.

The first step in the process was to line out the measurements for the upper and lower body thicknesses. The body block is 135mm wide and I need the top to be 335mm and the bottom 425mm. These measurements are based on the instrument I borrowed briefly from a friend, Darrell Wallen, who was gracious enough to loan her to me for a few days of measuring fun. And, yes, I prefer metric at all times (old habits from my archaeology days).

Once I got the measurements solid and locked into place with a little painter's tape, I broke out two sheets of parchment  paper from the kitchen to do a some tracing. Yeah, the parchment paper I use for cooking. I want the upper and lower bouts to be graceful, even if the upper one won't be used for much, and they both need to be stable. This is my first crack:

It then realized that the lower one may be a little too long, not offering enough stability, so I put the top one through.

At first, I thought I might remove the bottom piece that runs through the top, but, in thinking more about it today, it might look nice to leave the X and it would provide additional stability. Tonight, I'll ask my in-house artistic expert (my wife) what she thinks. I'll have this question resolved tonight and plan on trying out some bending over the weekend.

Until next time...

Day 15: A New Bridge Box Frame

Once I got the bridge box situated, I decided to make a nicer frame using 45-degree angles for the corners. The "old" frame just used square angles and I want this to be a piece I'm proud of, so it's 45 degrees all around. Before I could do this, I needed a way to cut the small pieces. I had created a small cut miter box a while back, which I used for the bridge box, so I went ahead and cut a 45-degree angle into it.

I call it the Molnar Miter - the only one in existence. Fortunately, it worked quite well, so I cut the piecces for the frame.

I won't glue them up quite yet, as the body and the box itself still need some shaping/sanding/scraping work. I will also be bending the faux body this weekend using some nice flamed maple pieces I found at Home Depot that should work just fine.

Until next time...

Day 14: Straightening the Box Frame

I've taken a long break from this project and it's time to finish it up. Reed is being really cool about it, which actually makes me feel worse. Once I had glued the pickup cradle box frame in, I realized I had neglected to square it to the body block. Fortunately, I used hide glue, so all I had to do was heat it up and slide the frame into place to square it up.  I clamped it, left it overnight and all is well.

Tonight, I'll get back to finishing the thing. Given that fact that I purchased most of the parts already completed, I'm not really sure what the holdup is. Oh, yeah - it's been this: Harpsichord Project.

Until next time...

Day 13: Completing the Box Frame

I was able to get the pickup/bridge box frame glued up last night. Once I complete this, I can get the hole drilled through to the back and place the pre-amp, including soldering up the pickup connections.

Just a little scraping and sanding and then on to drilling!

Until next time...

Day 12: Recovering from an Epic Fail

Okay, it wasn't really a failure of epic proportions, but it was a failure. The frame I glued up to fit around the pickup/bridge box was too small to fit over the box. Epic? Hardly. Disappointing? Most definitely. So, I decided to go ahead and just glue the parts to the body around the box, which I fixed with glue a few days before.

I have no idea why I didn't just do this the first time around - it's so much easier to cut them a little long and and sand them down to fit perfectly. Lesson learned.

Until next time...

Day 11: Finishing the Pickup/Bridge Box

Once I decided to replace the crappy plastic box that came with the pickup with an African blackwood version made by yours truly, the fun began. Cutting astonishingly small pieces of wood has never been my forte, but I'm learning. For one, I've taken to cutting these small parts by hand using a miter box I built for just such a purpose.

I picked up a fine-toothed pull saw to make this easier and my plan came together!

Once I had the tiny parts cut up, I sanded them down using a sanding stick, which is really just a scrap of wood with some 320-grit stickyback sandpaper tacked to it.

I used the small grit sandpaper because the wood was already in pretty good shape. Then, I began the process of gluing the "box" that would fit into the body notch I carved last week. Because the parts are so small and I wanted to be as accurate as possible, I simply used another piece of scrap with painter's tape to prevent the glue from sticking to it.

Sure, there's probably a better way to go about this, but I'm not aware of it at this time, so scrap and tape it is. Fortunately, I had several small clamps on hand. As I continued to glue up the little box, I went ahead and threw the bridge in to see how it would fit.

All is well. In the photo above, I've not yet glued the top part to the bottom. That will happen tonight once I'm certain the glue has completely dried on the upper wall pieces. I'm using Titebond Hide Glue, my favorite for lutherie work, and I'm happy to see this project finally coming together in a more concrete way.

Until next time...

Day 10: Finishing the Pickup Notch

I continued to work on the notch that will hold the passive pickup and bridge. The piece that came with the pickup is a crappy plastic thing that looks pretty horrible.

I decided to replace it with an African Blackwood piece of my own making. I want this to be a quality instrument for Reed, not something thrown together from cheap Chinese parts. In order to more effectively carve the notch, I decided to stop for a few minutes and make a "bench hook" suggested by a luthier friend in Holland.

I made this "hook" from scrap wood. As you can see, it's intended to hold a piece more securely as one works his luthier magic on it. In this case, I used it to hold the body while I chiseled away at the notch.

The added stability helped me make quick work of the carving using a 1/2" chisel. You can see from the photo above that I don't have all of the tiny pieces cut, yet, but I'll have them cut and glued up this week so I can move on to routing out a hole in the back for the preamp.

Until next time...

Day 9: Carving the Pickup Notch

I was able to make a little more progress over the weekend. I started carving the notch that holds the plastic retainer for the passive pickup that sits under the bridge.

When I posted the second photo on Facebook, a harpsichord builder friend pointed out that carving out the 1 cm recess using a Forstner bit (flat on the wood-facing end) would make quick work of it. He's right. During the next session, I will attack it with one of Mr. Forstner's offspring.

I also decided that I don't really want to mount the crappy plastic retainer that came with the pickup. I'm going to make one from African blackwood that will look better and last longer for Reed. Regardless, progress is progress and I'm happy where the project is headed once again - toward completion!

Until next time...

Day 8: Angling the Fingerboard

I wasn't able to make the April 9 deadline, but I did show the project to Reed and he's excited to see it come to completion. I smoked a brisket and made a birthday cake, which helped soften the blow. He was speechless for a bit when he first saw it and said, "I didn't expect that." Frankly, who would? It's not your usual birthday gift, right?

I'm feeling better these days, though I still have some residual pain and the second CTScan is pending. I've been able to jump back out into the shop to work on this and my other little project. My first task was to clean. I had left the shop with a fine layer of sawdust on everything and the assembly table was a jumbled mess. Once I got things cleaned up, I went ahead and started the process of figuring out how to mount the neck to the body at the correct angle.

As I worked on it, I could see where I screwed up. I should have left more wood on both the body and neck to create a good, solid joint between the two. Of course, I can remedy this, but I would have much preferred an alternate path. In this case, I will need to use a single piece of square dowel (for lack of a better term) to hold the neck and keep it from twisting over time. I wish I could have countersunk the neck into the body, but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Regardless, I'll ensure the joint is solid and the instrument plays well for years to come.

Until next time...

Day 7: Cutting Up

Well, I've gone and gotten a massive kidney infection and will be laying off the project for at least two weeks while I heal and take an antibiotic that threatens to shatter my tendons should I attempt to lift anything. Or walk uphill. Or breathe. Needless to say, I'm not going to make the April 9th deadline. Dammit.

The plan now is to bring Reed over on his birthday and introduce him to the instrument in its current state of disrepair. I've cut the body and neck to length and began sanding the neck down using card scrapers and sandpapers of various grits. This is always a difficult task, but one that cannot be avoided, so here I am.

I still have a LOT to do on this thing. The most difficult task will probably be mounting the neck to the body. I can't just glue it on and there is no way I can bolt it on without it becoming Frankencello. I will attach a protruding geometric block of wood to the neck, most likely a square, and route out the same in the body for insertion and glue up. This will prevent the neck from moving around after being glued while also providing additional stability to mitigate against the pressure that is inevitably put on the neck during play.

As you can see in the photo above, I was thinking of bending a long strip of maple into a "faux body" - a sort of outline of a cello body for him to rest his legs on - but, on further consideration, I think I will just mount extensions from the body that are curved a bit. I will also put one near the top of the body to mimic the body depth of an acoustic (i.e., traditional) cello. There is a still a lot to do on this instrument. The illnesses have thrown me for a real loop on this one. I'm hoping he understands and might even work with me to complete it - he's an experienced woodworker in his own right and I would very much enjoy working with him in the shop again.

Until next time (in at least two weeks)...

Project Update: Assembly Table Nearly Completed

After a long delay in which I developed a nasty chest cold and then designed and built out a large assembly table for the shop, I'm ready to return to completing the cello. The assembly table was necessary for another project I'm working on and it gives me more room to work on everything. It's about 95% completed, but I need to get back to work. Because I've been using a 2' x 5' bench for many years now, it recently became glaringly apparent that I needed a larger bench/table, so there it is.

It's crunch time - the instrument is due to be delivered to Reed on the 9th, which is 8 days from today. And that's no April Fool's joke. I think I can get it done in time. I just need to do some cutting, shaping, sanding, jointing, finishing...ugh. I can do this, right?

Until next time...

Day 6: The Layout

Now that all of the parts have arrived, I can begin the process of laying out the instrument. Because I'm not working from a plan, this one will be like no other (I hope that's a good thing). As you can see in the photo below, I've laid out the various parts to closely match the measurements I took from Darrel Wallen's loaner, as well as some of the literature that includes Mr. Strobel's excellent books on the violin family.

I ordered the tuning peg wax and strings and have asked Darrel if he has a peg hole reamer - seems like a waste of money to purchase one for $35 when this will be my one and only electric cello. By Monday, I will have cut and sanded the body and neck and drilled the holes for the pre-amp and the endpin. Hey, I can always take up any slack with the width and depth extensions, right? Right...?

Why do I hear crickets?

Until next time...

Day 5: More Parts Have Arrived

I was pleased to see that two packages arrived yesterday with parts for the instrument. The first contained a maple 4/4 neck that I will be tacking onto the body and the second contained the tailpiece, microtuners, tuning pegs, end pin, a non-usable, yet instructive, pre-amp and a couple of pieces that look like extensions designed to hold space to mimic an acoustic body.

The only parts left to acquire are wax material for the tuning pegs and a set of strings. I'll be ordering those up this Friday.

The next build steps will include designing the full length of the instrument, including where and how I'm going to mount the neck. I will also need to figure out extensions for the upper depth and lower width of the body - you'll see what I mean by that in the coming few days.

April 9th is just around the corner.

Until next time...

Day 4: Measurements and Photos

I took some detailed photos of the loaner instrument last night, as well as some measurements at points critical to my completion of the instrument. While I have several measurements available via the Interwebs and Mr. Strobel's excellent books, I still have a few questions about where and how to place extensions to mimic the true depth of an acoustic cello. You'll see what I mean in a couple of days. For now, please enjoy this photographic diversion:

Of course, I took many more photos than these, I just wanted to share a few with you.

The next steps are to carefully measure out the body and start cutting and shaping it for placement of the various parts. I was able to order up the neck, tuning pegs, tailpiece, microtuners, end pin and a nice, little end pin stand. All will arrive within the next couple of weeks. It looks like this is actually going to happen before his birthday!

Until next time...

Day 3: We Have a Visitor

Yes, a visitor has arrived for a brief stay at Tortuga Early Instruments Worldwide Headquarters - a cello! This one is on loan from fellow luthier Darrel Wallen. Having it in-house will allow me to take some much-needed measurements that will help me complete the electric instrument.

As you can see, it is seated in a place of honor in the shop. Tonight, I will spend some time getting acquainted with it while I take the measurements necessary to complete Reed's electrified instrument.

Until next time...

Day 2: New Parts Have Arrived

Because I'm busy on another major project (the Molnar Opus 1 Harpsichord Project), I've decided to purchase most of the major parts for this instrument. I also have a time constraint - Reed's birthday is less than two months away. Some of the part purchases are obvious like the pre-amp and the bow, but the others that I could make given sufficient time and focus, such as the fingerboard, tailpiece and pegs, I simply don't have the time or focus to complete. So, I've ordered them. Sadly, though, most are coming from China and that takes a long time. Even with the long shipping times, I now have in my possession the bow, bridge, body blank, faux body wood, and pre-amp.

The fingerboard is in transit and I will be ordering the tuning pegs, tail piece, and other parts and pieces this Friday. Once all of them have arrived at the Tortuga Early Instruments Worldwide Headquarters, my progress will be swift. In the meantime, I'm going to be working on getting the body designed and cut so I can start smoothing its edges and sanding it up. I can work on bending the faux body pieces, as well. It's coming together...slowly but surely.

Until next time...

Day 1: Plans and Wood

My youngest son, Reed, has wanted to learn to play cello for a couple of years now. I don't have the discretionary income to purchase him a cello, but I do have a wood shop and plenty of motivation to knock out an electric one for him. His birthday is April 9, so I'd better get a move on it.

Before deciding to build Reed an electric, I checked out what's available on eBay and instrument sales sites, as well as Craigslist. It turns out there is a wide range of instruments to choose from that run the gamut from around $300 to $2500 or more. I decided pretty quickly that I could put one together using the tools I currently have while purchasing some electronics and pre-made parts off of eBay.

After noodling around the Interwebs, I decided I could pretty easily produce something between this

and this

I'm going with the traditional neck/head stock and will be bending some figured maple to mimic the design in the second photo. I currently have the pre-amp, fingerboard, bridge and bow on the way from China, the rest I will have to get toward the end of the month.  I was, though, able to pick up some nice wood for the body and the stuff I will be bending for the sides.

I picked the body blank up from Gilmer Wood Co. here in NW Portland and the nicely figured piece I will be bending to simulate a body I grabbed at Home Depot for $8, which was purely a matter of chance and good timing.  I also have on hand Henry Strobel's Useful Measurements for Violin Makers. Mr. Strobel's book is an invaluable resource. If you ever want to do something this crazy, you should spend the $12. The graphics below are helping me with angles and measurements, as well.

My next step is to cut the body blank to spec - once I have a solid design for it. I need to take into consideration the tack points of the bent wood, the location of the fingerboard and bridge, etc. I'll keep at it and keep posting my progress here, as well.

Until next time...