So I drilled out the majority of the scrap from the insides of the bodies using 15mm and 30mm Forstner bits. I bought the old pillar drill specially for these two projects although, of course, it will get used on others. I made a couple of jigs to rout out the inside after drilling. Here's the 360... You may have noticed the biscuits in the ends. They are there because (as Sod's Law has it!), although the wood had been in my house for several months before gluing up the body blanks, once they were stuck together they decided to split along a shake line! Some solution was essential or the bodies would have been junk. Here is the 325 after routing... ... and the back of the 360. I'll need to install a larger base on my router before finishing off inside. The existing one won't span the jig and so tends to rock. Anyway, this is the top of the 360 with the catseye soundhole... Next on the agenda: routing the binding channel,; gluing the backs together; making a jig for the tailpiece scoop and the neck pocket. :)
Blimey! Is it that long since I last posted on these two guitars? Yeah, alright. Other things tend to get in the way of hobbies. Tedious stuff like earning a living, having to fix the car, spending three days cutting the overgrown grass at the old homestead. Finally I managed to find some time and motivation to do some work so I proudly present... ... a 360 body with the tail scoop, binding rebate and neck socket cut. And here is the binding glued and taped into position. As with the Cipollina SG a hairdryer was used to get the tight bends on the horns. The control area was drilled out to allow me to get a cramp on the end of the neck tenon. When I did the smaller 325 I had to cramp a piece of timber across the body to hold the end. It's all a learning curve. You can see that the binding has been scraped prior to fitting the neck. And, lastly, I present a pair of Rickalikes. The 325 has the back glued on but the 360 is still waiting for its own. More to follow. :)
Great to see that you're able to find a few minutes to move along on these. The overgrown grass wasn't as high as hedge row was when I was there, was it?
Not quite! It took me a good three days to cut down the grass front and back of the house to a level where I could get the mower over it. The other end of the garden, beyond the garage, didn't get touched because I ran out of time - and somewhere to dump all the cuttings! I can't even have a bonfire to burn all the woody and dry stuff because the government has made it an offence, all in order to satisfy environmental concerns. If I had a wood burner and put the stuff on, they'd commend that; if I want to burn it in my own garden they will fine me a thousand Euro.
As the plug got pulled on my work today I decided I might as well glue the back on the 360. The neck tenon was planed down flush with body and the back was glued using the template as a caul. Does it need that many cramps to hold it? Probably. A press would be easier but that still leaves the problem of aligning the back correctly. As you may realise, these things have a nasty tendency to slide when the cramps are tightened. More soon. :)
Hey Javamagic I could have given you a nice neck for that project. Reckon it would really give it a good look & I know from xperience how much you like this style
Call me a traditionalist but those Ibanez Heavy Metal Handbags do nothing for me. Same goes for those "Death Metal" guitars all in black in pointy scorpion shapes (or similar!). I would have used the "puke" smilie but we don't have it anymore.
Early finish today so I spent the afternoon bending the binding for the back of the Capri and gluing it in place. Notice the flame in the maple back. I'm hoping it will jump out when the finish goes on. :)
Fireglow of course! This has been my model for this build. Darker red than many Ricks but isn't it a beauty? I hope I can get mine to resemble this. :)
Long overdue for an update. Warmer weather has meant that I can get on with some finishing. I began by sanding the two guitars down to 320 grade silicon carbide paper. After this I applied several coats of sanding sealer and rubbed that down nice and smooth. The 360 Capri got a mist coat of amber lacquer while the little 325 got a bit more applied to get the deeper honey colour of the JL original. It was applying this when I ran into trouble, getting a bit over zealous with the spray can. The guitar ended up orange(!) and I had to spend two days stripping it back to bare wood. The worst part of doing a sunburst finish is the masking. First the front and back so I can do the sides and the neck and then the sides and neck together with the back to do the front. Oh, BTW that's the front before the amber went on. After spraying the red onto this face I then have to mask the front, sides and neck to do the back. I took this pic of the work in progress. You'll have to wait for the finished article. More to follow soon. :)
I am floored.........floored I say.......... Resemble that you say? Your wood tones all ready look better than the Ricy Well done man
Bindings scraped. What a horrible job! That has given me the chance to get a few coats of clear lacquer onto the 360. The front. And the back. Flame in the maple shows up nicely now.
rscalzi, those are nice looking guitars but we need more details. Got any build pics? Come on, tell us all about them.
