so..... what a day so far......
I've been slowly working on this build. It has been coming along pretty good. I have the front and back done and ready for the sides. I have the sides done to the point that the arm bevel is glued on and the kerfed lining. I have it in a mould and clamped to dry. I set it aside to dry... prop it sideways on the floor, so I can work on it more tonight after work and on the weekend.
well... what would be the worst thing for a woodshop?........ A shut off valve broke and leaked onto my water tank... which leaked and flooded my shop. I woke up to an inch of water in my shop. 6 hours later I have a new shut off and water tank and most of the water vac'd up.
I will find out later if my sides are salvagable. I'm not sure how wet they got but I know the mould got wet.
all I can say is..... sigh.....
A shut off valve broke and leaked onto my water tank... which leaked and flooded my shop. I woke up to an inch of water in my shop.
Thats a challenge that you didn't need, I hope there's no other damage. Have you left the sides in the mold to dry into the right shape.
@markbailey Thanks Mark. I took a really quick glance at it this morning. I'm pretty hopeful that they are still good to use. Right now my shop looks like a bomb went off it in so I'll know more when I can get it back to usable order. Just need to remind myself... things could always be worse, everything is fixable. 🙂
@bpower I feel ya. Last year Sept. Typhoon hit the islands of Hawaii where I live. Heavy rains hit and I could not get home. Flooded my workshed. Luckily it only severely water damaged the wood flooring I installed. Up to this day I have yet to fix it. It is all wonky and unleveled potholes and all. Dampened my spirits literally and took a long break from building. Lost my benchtop planer, my back up bandsaw fell over and the motor got flooded with water. A few other things I lost including an archtop build that I was working on. But like you said anything is fixable.
Well... this has been quite the fight so far. I'm glad this wasn't my first guitar build. I know things just haven't been going well with this build. To say it has been a struggle would be an understatement. Don't get me wrong.... I'm still having a blast, it is just a little disappointing when things don't go exactly to plan (ie. the epoxy fix on the back and the flood in the shop). I think, with the problems and the mistakes made, this guitar build has come to the point of it being a learning experience. I am going to keep going at it to practice my skills and to overcome some more challenges. And you never know... it may still turn into something. However I'm going to start thinking about the next build and how I won't make the same mistakes again. I'm soooooo lucky to have an understanding wife.
I'll post a few pictures to show the progress and where I am at with this build. There is only really one problem left that I need to think about how to correct and I fear that it is a major problem... and best of all... it's a problem that I caused. That issue is the cut away. I have intended for the fretboard to flow right into the cutaway (no step) and, when I was making my heel block, I neglected to remember that I needed to keep at least half of the width of the fretboard on each side of the centerline. I was more focused on getting a good square connection to the side. I only thought about it after the sides and front were glued on and if my "rough" measurements were close I think I will be just under my size I wanted (right around 1/16"). I haven't done anything with the neck yet and I will actually look and see how close I am very soon. I may have the option to just make the fretboard just a little bit thinner then I wanted but I'll try and make a better judgement once I have all the info.
I think, with the problems and the mistakes made, this guitar build has come to the point of it being a learning experience. I am going to keep going at it to practice my skills and to overcome some more challenges.
@bpower It’s all part of it, you have to just suck it up sometimes and put it all down to experience. I think we have all had times like these, where it just seems to go from one problem to the next but it’s not always like that. Having a set of guiding principles and accepted instructions is just a guide, a very good guide but often things don’t go to plan. Your flood definitely threw you a curve ball, that could never have been expected or predicted.
I have heard Mark say on a few occasions that you definitely need a thick skin to be a guitar builder. So long as you have the skills to fix problems, you can always make things turn out good in the end, it’s just very frustrating at times.
Keep going man, you’re doing good. 💪
Boo
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Here are some progress pictures. Note the couple of center seam diamonds that my daughter helped me make and she glued in. She has done this on all three builds so far. She ma
rks them with a G
@bpower That looks great, nice and clean. You and your daughter have done good.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Well... the saga of this guitar build keeps going. I managed to get the body of the guitar to where I'm happy enough with it... that's the good news. Start working on the neck again and I notice that it has taken a pretty good twist to it. I guess that's why you let it rest after the first step with the neck. Time to see if I can take the twist out of it and still be able to use the neck. Worst case I get to make a new neck.
On a good note... I'm getting a ton of experience on what can happen in a guitar build. If I was superstitious I'd say this build was cursed. I said it before, and I'll say it again.... I'm really glad this was not my first build. I will win this fight... oh yes... I will win this fight.