Wow, look at you go @koendb! Best of luck but, you’ve got this. Incidentally I’m currently watching the acoustic course as well, just for fun though. Maybe I’ll build one someday, maybe…

How far along are you? I’m on lesson 72 out of 222!

How far along are you? I’m on lesson 72 out of 222!

Im at 54 at the moment 🙂
Also just watching for now, taking notes(both mentally and real). 
See what tools, jigs and templates I still need to get or create. Also see what options I have , etc..
I'll just watch it once, start all over when I am done and ready to do the actual build.

I'll just watch it once, start all over when I am done

Sounds like a good plan @koendb 👍

I am starting to collect all my material, tools etc.. to prepare for my first acoustic build.

@koendb Good for you sir. 

Every so often, one more of you makes the jump and commits to building an acoustic. I feel the pull but I’m still not ready. I have way too many electric builds planned and I really can’t take the financial hit of buying a load more tools for acoustic guitar building. 

My uncle plays acoustic guitars a lot, always has done and I would love to build him one to his spec. I think if I was going to do it, I would want to go to Mark’s workshop to do it. Another problem I would have at home is that I don’t have a workshop that is consistent with heat and humidity. My uncle does ask me from time to time and I really want to make one for him but we are moving house and country soon so it’s not the best time anyway. He always says, “Don’t take too long about it, I’ll be dead soon” 🤣 He has a wicked sense of humour. 

Hopefully I’ll manage it one day before it’s too late. What will be, will be. 

Enjoy gathering knowledge from Mark’s videos and I’ll be waiting to see your efforts when your wood is ready for building your acoustic guitar. 

I’m only kidding about maybe building an acoustic, I will someday as I think it would be fun. Watching the acoustic course is also pretty inspiring as well. I did actually build one already from a Stew Mac kit years ago. But I think building one from scratch would be a fun challenge and a good way to up the skill sets. 

I know that I have had an absolute blast making the two acoustic guitars I have completed. I'm on the other fence saying maybe someday I'll make an electric guitar.... maybe. I can see me making a bass guitar first for my son who plays in his school band. I think that is on my list but I think I want another acoustic guitar first..... or two. 🙂  I put the arm bevel on the second one and I am already thinking about how I could do that better so... now I need to do it again to get better at it. I love the challenge and I love the unique look to it. And I really can't wait to use my home made drum sander for my side thicknessing. Maybe that's what I'll tell my wife... I built the tool so now I need to do another build so all that time building the tool wasn't wasted. 🙂

Don’t over think it Boo, it took me 40 years to start building my first acoustic, once I did it took about 3 months to have it strung and playable. Anything you need I may be able to help you with. Time stands still for no man, carpe diem and all that!

Darren

carpe diem and all that!

Amen to that

Go @koendb 222 jesus wept, I thought 75 was a lot.

Good luck man, this is definitely one to watch. As much as I'd love to build an acoustic, I'm with @boo on the 'too many electric builds planned'

Don’t over think it Boo, it took me 40 years to start building my first acoustic, once I did it took about 3 months to have it strung and playable. Anything you need I may be able to help you with. Time stands still for no man, carpe diem and all that!

Darren

@darrenking Thanks for the encouragement and the offer to help out. When I get settled in Scotland I’ll give it some serious thought. 👍

Received these today ! Thanks Carol and Mark. Now it cant go wrong 🙂

@koendb, good luck with the build - but you dont need it with the Guitar Making apron in your possession 😋  .

Building an acoustic is something I would love to do - I feel that i'll need to skill up my woodworking skills first. Looking forward to your progress! 

Received these today ! Thanks Carol and Mark. Now it cant go wrong

@koendb Now you are cooking. Good luck. 👍

Now you are cooking.

Wait.. What.. I thought I was supposed to build a guitar. 🤔 😋 

Wait.. What.. I thought I was supposed to build a guitar. 🤔 😋 

@koendb I could really confuse you by saying “You are now cooking with gas” 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

@koendb

I hope your build goes well. Planing by hand is tricky as one deep tear out can ruin a piece. I mostly use a scraper plane for thicknessing which takes longer but doesn’t tear.

Planing by hand is tricky as one deep tear out can ruin a piece. I mostly use a scraper plane for thicknessing which takes longer but doesn’t tear.

@rocknroller912 Thanks for sharing your experience!
I haven't started yet, I will wait a while before actually start working on the build.
Especially because I am still developing my game plan, based on information I can get from the acoustic build course, this forum and small tips just like yours. (As well as finding out which tools I NEED to invest in and which ones I can move from my 'ASAP' list to my 'Would Be Handy To Have Someday' list)

What does a scraper plane look like?

@koendb

This is a photo of the scraper plane I use. It’s an expensive model as I chose an all brass construction to avoid rust problems due to not having any heating in my work area.
I struggled with getting and edge on the blade for years until I took advice from @darrenking who advised it should be a turned edge like a hand held scraper and not sharpened like an ordinary plane blade. If you buy one the round off the corners of the cutting edge to avoid digging in and leaving a line on the wood.

I have a friend who is a university lecturer in design technology and studied scraper planes as a student project. His conclusion was that the best blade angle is 12deg forward of vertical.

I use mine for fretboards as well as front and back. Set up correctly it can remove a lot of wood quickly.

and I prefer it to sanding as it doesn’t make fine dust.

all brass construction

Don't under sell it @Rocknroller912, it's made of bronze!

Cheers

Darren