Renaissance guitar

Koendb · 2023-01-31T06:05:05Z

I've been pretty quiet on the forum the last couple of months because I had so much things going on , that I barely had the time keeping up reading through all the new replies and topics.Last summer, I started to do some sports and started to run on an almost daily basis, wake up earlier, eat more healthy ( well , ok, I dropped drinking regular coke and eat more vegetables ).I also enrolled in a 3 1/2 year lute building course here in Belgium (3 year building, 6 months instrument repair) - Centrum voor muziekinstrumentenbouw. For me , this was a more realistic goal then to commute to Scotland.The focus lies really on building very close to the plan, and attention to details. I am learning so much about accuracy, sharpening and old methods.Anyway, .. The instrument we are building during the first year is a renaissance guitar, which is a little , very lightweight instrument. Starting off with making the template/mold Sanding the cherry sides to thickness ( 1.3 mm ) Marking out the maple neck, after we set the reference side, which will become the top face of the neck.For this we had to handplane, use scrapers and a high precision straight edge to make sure we had an absolute flat and smooth surface.We also needed to do the same for the other 3 sides, and make sure they where square to eachother. Rough cut the neck on the bandsaw, then carve with a carving knife.Refining the thickness and straightening the back of the neck Shaping the neck by creating facets. We had to copy the exact shape of the top and end of the neck, which was indicated on the plan.drawing lines to meet up the facets enables to find the correct locations where the lines should start. simply connecting those lines gives us the correct lines over the length of the neck. With a chisel, we sliced the exact facets at the beginning and end of the neck, on both sides.With a spokeshave and a scraper, we just removed the wood in between those two chiseled out areas.At all times we needed to make sure we kept a straight cut across the neck to ensure straightness ( double checked with straight edge ).We also shaped the heel block with a blockplane and a marking gauge.The final shape of the heel is carved with a carving knife and a scraper. Aside from a little bit of touch up, we havent been using any sandpaper at all at this point. The planes and scrapers give a better result then sandpaper ever will. ( But you really need them sharp and well setup! )The headstock was originally made separately and wedged in with the neck. Since this requires quite some skill to do properly, we are simplifying this, by making a false joint.Squared with a pairing chisel first, making sure all lines stay crisp and clean, then using sanding blocks to round over the triangle, conforming to the neck shape.Finally, the headstock shape is created, first, by sawing a vertical line in the lowest points of the curves with a small , fine sawblade.Then, using a very sharp chisel, bevel down, we cut from the highest point to the lowest point. Slicing away a thin shaving over and over again, until we reach the lines. Preparing and leveling the sides top edge, bending the sides into shape. Finally leveling with a sanding board, very gently as these sides are so thin, they can easily crack. These sides are only 1.3mm thick and they will not have kerfed linings, but the back and sides will be glued directly, with only that 1,3mm of gluing surface. Attaching the neck to the body. First we need to prepare the heelblock, cut away the waste with a handsaw and already rough shape the curve of the body into the heel. The shaping is done, using a holding jig , and a spindle sander.

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Koendb

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Topic starter 08/06/2024 12:47 pm

So I finally have a video of my renaissance guitar been played!

Peter C-F, Russ, Dan Hawkes and 1 people reacted

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Russ

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08/06/2024 5:32 pm

Excellent @koendb.

🙂🙏🎸🎶

🗝️ "Life's what you make it"🗝️

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