Small flush-cut saw?  One of the Japanese things that Rutlands sell perhaps?

Oooo…
Shhhh – it’s cheaper too!
(although you can sharpen a guitar maker’s knife – a tool for life)

I glued in the 6mm dowel, drilled a pilot hole and then drilled out a 10mm hole with an old brad point bit. I only needed to go in about 20mm because the 6mm dowel was thoroughly bedded in at…   Read more»

@rocknroller912

although I suspect he will find that not much of it is useable for instruments. 

Phew! That’s me off the hook. Cosy log fires it is! 

@darrenking 

Email me your address and I’ll send your good lady some for Christmas

It is done!

An alternative to years of air drying for a solid body could be polyethylene glycol or PEG. Off-topic but interesting. My darling dear (for it is she) does pyrography, and thin slices of log are always intriguing to her. But…   Read more»

@rocknroller912 Yeah, I heard chestnut was reasonable for carving but not much good for tonewood. At some point I’ll need to fell some of the sycamore. There’s a carpenter over by with a chainsaw and an attitude. It seems criminal…   Read more»

@boo I managed to give myself four stitches in the head with a shovel last year. A chain saw doesn’t bear thinking about.

Horse Chestnut anyone?

We bought the house 18 months ago with an acre of abandoned garden on a steep slope at the back. It’s full of larch and sycamore and other stuff I haven’t identified yet, all 20 metres…   Read more»

I agree with Les (Otters). I want to build an arch top, not a 335. But the 335 construction, and in particular the neck join, really interests me. It looks like more like a set-neck than a traditional arch top…   Read more»

Yeah, for simplicity’s sake, let’s say I’m just down the road from Cnocbaileidh.

Thanks Darren, that second one is really useful. 
– necks tenons are finessed by hand with a chisel
– Gibson Memphis have their pre-slotted fingerboards supplied by a third party. I’m amazed Mark finds the time!

*One of my favourite workhorse guitars is the Yamaha RGX A2. It is has an LED in the pickup switch. You would not believe the response this gets from other guitar players, from confusion to speechless panic! For the sake…   Read more»

Darren, I reckon you probably know as much about the strength of laminates as anyone. And a 335 is glorified solid guitar with an ornamental shell for mounting pots, switch and scratch plate. However, guitar players must be about the…   Read more»

Hi Darren, My Yamaha AES1500 has an almost 5mm thick top (I try not to do inches). And unlike the 335, it has a neck block and bridge block with a couple of top braces supporting the pickups, rather than…   Read more»

@rocknroller912 I would glue in a temporary dowel as a starting point then use a brad point or spade drill bit with a point to get a true round hole. Find the centre of the dowel before you glue it…   Read more»

Thanks all. 😀  That’s helped clear my thinking. Right enough, I’m most concerned about the strength of the glued plug. And I can’t use a longer screw because there’s a chamber 30-40mm in. Although if I extend the plug… As…   Read more»

Simples! We just need a guitarmaking.co.uk template set!

Bugger, png with a transparent background isn’t a lot of use, and I can’t edit the post so I’ll add this addendum:

Hi Darren, I’m probably completely overthinking the issues here, but I’m trying to work out how to fit a 335 style laminated guitar body into a Bailey style workflow. For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t want to make a…   Read more»