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Michael
F. Lazar The following charts list the steps that I will complete during the construction of a guitar that was commissioned on May 23/23 Click on the photo links to see pictures of components at various stages of completion. Each picture will open in a new window which can be closed after viewing. In order to get the best view of the pictures make sure the browser window and image are both maximized. Depending upon your browser and screen settings you may wish to maximize the images for best viewing. Latest Update Period: Jul 26/23 to Jul 27/23 Completed French Polish. Completed Assembly Daniel Friederich Style Bracing Extended fret board with 20th treble fret 12 hole tie block bridge Fully Compensated Nut and Saddle Fully domed top with elevated fretboard Spanish heel Neck to body constructon |
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Materials Sound board Back and Sides Neck Fret board Bridge Linings and tail block Bindings Purflings Frets Rosette Nut and Saddle Tuners |
Italian Alpine Spruce Ceylon Rosewood Honduran Mahogany Black African Ebony Indian Rosewood Ash Cey Rosewood Veneer Nickel Silver Custom Wheat stalk and veneer band borders around a rosewood background. Bleached bone Rubner Rollers |
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| NECK | Photos | |
| Dimension neck blank | Jun 08 | N~001 N~002 |
| Prepare and glue the heel block stack. | Jun 08 | N~003 N~004 N~005 N~006 |
| Cut off head stock to scarf joint angle and prepare components for gluing | Jun 08 | N~007 N~008 N~009 |
| Glue head stock to the neck shaft. | Jun 08 | N~010 |
| Glue the heel block to the neck shaft | Jun 09 | N~011 |
| Mark position of neck/body joint for 635mm scale | Jun 12 | N~012 |
| Rout receptor slots for sides | Jun 12 | N~013 N~014 N~015 N~016 |
| Rout receptor slots for top | Jun 12 | N~017 N~018 N~019 |
| Mark hcenter lines | Jun 12 | N~020 |
| Mark heel and foot profiles. | Jun 12 | N~021 N~022 |
| Cut heel and foot profiles. | Jun 12 | N~023 N~024 N~025 |
| Rough cut heel and foot side curvature profiles. | Jun 12 | N~026 N~027 N~028 N~029 |
| Trim the "foot" section of the neck.. | Jun 12 | N~030 N~031 |
| Prepare and glue headstock veneers & face plate. Trim excess when dry | Jun 12 | N~032 N~033 N~034 N~035 |
| Cut nut stop. Cut headstock to length. | Jun 12 | N~036 N~037 |
| Rough cut the neck & headstock tapers | Jun 12 | N~038 N~039 N~040 |
| True up and square headstock sides & plane the neck shaft to oversized width. | Jun 12 | N~041 N~042 |
| Refine the headstock end cuts. | Jun 13 | N~043 |
| Drill tuner holes. | Jun 13 | N~044 N~045 |
| Rout headstock slots. | Jun 14 | N~046 N~047 N~048 |
| Cut and chisel the headstock string exit ramps | Jun 17 | N~049 N~050 N~051 |
| Thickness a fret board blank to 7.5mm | Jun 17 | N~052 |
| Mark fret board tapered width. | Jun 17 | N~053 |
| Rough cut fret board width and true the edges to the final width. | Jun 17 | N~054 N~055 N~056 N~057 |
| Mount fret board onto fret slotting system. | Jun 17 | N~058 N~059 N~060 |
| Mount fret slot blade in table saw. | Jun 17 | N~061 |
| Cut fret slots. | Jun 17 | N~062 N~063 |
| Cut off waste at the nut end of the neck. | Jun 17 | N~064 |
| Taper the fret board thickness to final dimensions. using a tapered slave board and thickness sander. | Jun 17 | N~065 N~066 |
| Drill locator pin holes in fret board at frets 1 and 11.and center the fretboard onto the neck. | Jun 17 | N~067 |
| Mark and drill neck locator pin holes & install pins. | Jun 17 | N~068 N~069 N~070 |
| Glue and clamp fret board to the neck. | Jun 17 | N~071 N~072 N~073 |
| Plane and sand the sides of the neck flush with the fret board. | Jun 18 | N~074 N~075 |
| Level the fret board and finish sand to 150 grit using a long sanding block. | Jun 18 | N~076 N~077 N~078 |
| Remove waste material from the underside of the neck extension | Jun 18 | N~079 N~080 N~081 |
| True up underside of neck so that it will mate with the top. | Jun 18 | N~082 N~083 |
| Hammer fret wire into slots 1 to 19 and cut the ends | Jun 18 | N~084 N~085 N~086 |
| File the fret ends flush with fret board edges and then bevel them. Finish with a diamond stone. | Jun 18 | N~087 N~088 N~089 |
| Check to ensure the frets are level | Jun 19 | N~090 |
| Mark heel and headstock profiles | Jun 19 | N~091 N~092 |
| Rough shape headstock/shaft transition | Jun 19 | N~093 N~094 |
| Rough shape heel. | Jun 19 | N~095 N~096 |
| Rough shape the neck shaft .& blend heel and headstock transitions | Jun 19 | N~097 N~098 |
| Refine the neck shaft thickness and profile and finish sand the entire neck. | Jun 19 | N~099 N~100 |
| Align the neck to the top. Mark, cut & finish neck end to match the sound hole. | Jun 20 | N~101 N~102 N~103 N~104 |
| Install the 20th fret and finish the ends. | Jun 20 | N~105 N~106 |
| nstall MOP position markers at frets 7 and 12. | Jun 20 | N~107 N~108 |
| Shape and sand the "foot" section of the neck | Jun 27 | N~109 |
| SIDES | Photos | |
| Cut ten 15mm wide maple lining strips | Jun 01 | S~001 |
| Thickness strips to 2.5 mm and tape the lining strips into two groups of 5 each. | Jun 01 | S~002 S~003 |
| Bend the lining strips to shape. | Jun 01 | S~004 S~005 |
| True up sides and thickness to 2.3mm | Jun 02 | S~006 S~~007 |
| Mark and cut side profiles. | Jun 02 | S~008 |
| Bend Sides | Jun 03 | S~009 S~010 |
| Fit sides into the side assembly mold and mark the butt joint points at the heel & tail. | Jun 07 | S~011 |
| Mark the angled cut offs that will accommodate .the Spanish Heel joinery. | Jun 07 | S~012 |
| Cut the waste material from the ends of the sides and file the end cuts smooth | Jun 07 | S~013 S~014 |
| Fit the sides into the side assembly mold. | Jun 07 | S015 S~016 |
| Cut tail block to length. | Jun 08 | S~017 |
| Sand tail block to match side curvature at the tail area. | Jun 08 | S~018 S~019 |
| Mark & cut tail block end angles. | Jun 08 | S~020 S~021 S~022 |
| Glue tail block to the sides. Scrape glue squeeze and soften the edges. | Jun 08 | S~023 S~024 S~025 |
| Glue up lining strips in lamination mold. | Jun 12 | S~026 S~027 S~028 |
| Trim laminated lining assemblies to height. | Jun 13 | S~029 |
| Round inner edges of the linings. | Jun 14 | S~030 S~031 S~032 |
| Mark top edges of the sides and sand in radiused sanding dish to create top profile | Jun 14 | S~033 S~034 |
| Mark in the first top lining to fit the tail block and neck recess | Jun 14 | S~035 S~036 S~037 |
| Cut and plane the tail angle and necj recess waste | Jun 14 | S~038 S~038 |
| Glue and clamp the first top lining to the sides. When dry, flush trim edges & scrape glue squeeze. | Jun 14 | S~040 S~041 S~042 |
| Repeat the fitting and gluing processes for the second top lining. | Jun 14 | S~043 |
| Invert sides in mold. Mark back edges and sand to 15' back dome. | Jun 15 | S~044 S~045 S~046 |
| Prepare and glue back linings following the same steps as for the top linings. | Jun 15 | S~047 |
| Cut side wedge blanks to fit the side recess slots in the neck. | Jun 15 | S~048 |
| Cut blanks into tapered wedges & plane the saw cut faces smooth | Jun 15 | S~049 |
| Fit front wedges on linings. Cut and chisel recesses for the wegdes | Jun 15 | S~050 |
| Cut recesses into the front wedges to form interlocking joint with the linings | Jun 15 | S~051 |
| Glue front wedges to sides and trim. | Jun 15 | S~052 S~053 |
| Adjust rear wedges. Dry fit the sides to the neck to complete the spanish heel joinery. | Jun 15 | S~054 S~055 |
| Cut shallow channels at the top/neck area to make room for hand finishing the top binding rebates | Jun 27 | S~056 S~057 S~058 |
| Rout tail graft channel to fit tail graft. | Jun 27 | S~0599 |
| Prepare and spot glue a temporary tail graft. Set permanent graft aside for later. | Jun 27 | S~060 |
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| SOUND BOARD | Photos | |
| Select top, true up the center edges and cut the top plates to width.. | Jun 10 | T~001 |
| Join the plates. Scrape glue joint and level the top in the thickness sander. | Jun 10 | T~002 T~003 |
| Cut the background field for the rosette.from rosewood | Jun 10 | T~004 T~005 |
| Drill sound hole center and mount the top on rosette cutting board. | Jun 10 | T~006 |
| Rout the inlay channel for the central rosette element | Jun 10 | T~007 T~008 |
| Fit and glue the central motif for the rosette and level | Jun 10 | T~009 T~010 |
| Bend the herringbone/wheat inlay elements on a hot bender. | Jun 10 | T~011 T~012 |
| Rout the inlay channels for the rosette borders and cut veneer border strips | Jun 10 | T~013 |
| Fit the rosette elements and level with a block plae | Jun 10 | T~014 |
| Extract the elements tying them together with twist ties during the extraction.. | Jun 11 | T~015 |
| Apply fish glue to the channels, reinsert the elments and clamp until dry. | Jun 11 | T~016 T~017 T~018 |
| Clean up and level the rosette in the thickness sander.. | Jun 11 | T~019 T~020 |
| Mark and cut out the top to profile. | Jun 21 | T~021 T~022 T~023 |
| Thickness sand until the rosette depth is reduced to 1.2mms | Jun 21 | T~024 |
| Fill the gap at the rosette ends | Jun 21 | T~025 |
| Thickness top from underside to 2mm. . | Jun 21 | T~026 |
| Mark bracing and reinforcement pad positions | Jun 22 | T~027 |
| Fabricate the sound hole/rosette reinforcement patch | Jun 22 | T~028 T~029 T~030 |
| Glue the sound hole/rosette reinforcement patch | Jun 22 | T~031 T~032 |
| Cut out sound hole. | Jun 22 | T~033 T~034 T~035 |
| Round off the inside edge of the sound hole. | Jun 22 | T~036 |
| Attach neck joint reinforcement patch | Jun 22 | T~037 |
| Mark the neck interlock slot and recesses in the adjacent perimeters. | Jun 23 | T~038 |
| Cut out neck interlock slot and recesses in the adjacent perimeters. | Jun 23 | T~039 |
| Dry fit the top to the neck. Align & clamp into the assembly mold and insert the sides | Jun 23 | T~040 |
| Mark inner perimeter of the linings | Jun 23 | T~041 T~042 |
| Cut fan brace stock from fine grained quarter sawn spruce.& thickness | Jun 24 | T~043 T~044 |
| Rough cut he fan braces | Jun 24 | T~045 |
| Glue and shape a lower bout stiffening patch. | Jun 24 | T~046 T~047 |
| Fit and glue the fan braces (interlocking the centre three with the lower bout patch) | Jun 24 | T~048 T~049 |
| Plane the braces to height and shape with brace planes, chisels and sand paper | Jun 24 | T~050 T~051 T~052 |
| Fabricate and glue the transverse tone bars across the fan braces. | Jun 25 | T~053 |
| Fabricate & glue the transverse brace below sound hole,. | Jun 25 | T~054 T~055 |
| Glue and shape reinforcement braces on either side of the sound hole. | Jun 25 | T~056 |
| Fabricate the two transverse braces for above the sound hole.. | Jun 25 | T~057 T~058 T~059 T~050 |
| Glue tpe first transverse brace above the sound hole | Jun 25 | T~061 |
| Fabricate the final upper bout reinforcement patch | Jun 25 | T~062 |
| Gue in the final patch and trannsverse brace. Shape both upper braces | Jun 25 | T~063 T~064 T~065 |
| Fabricate and glue the bridge arm end patches. | Jun 25 | T~066 |
| BACK | Photos | |
| Dimension and true up back plates | Jun 01 | B~001 B~002 |
| Join and glue book matched back plates | Jun 01 | B~003 |
| Mark out back profile, cut to shape. | Jun 01 | B~004 B~005 |
| Thickness the back to 2.3 mm | Jun 08 | B~006 |
| Locate and attach inner center seam reinforcement. | Jun 28 | B~007 B~008 B~009 |
| Round off the center seam reinforcement with planes and sandpaper. | Jun 28 | B~010 B~011 |
| Cut mahogany back braces, radius in sanding dish and plane square | Jun 28 | B~012 |
| Mark positions of back braces on center strip and cut passages for the braces. | Jun 28 | B~013 B~014 |
| Scallop the back braces and glue them to the back using the 15' radiused solers. | Jun 28 | B~015 |
| Shape back braces with planes and sandpaper. Attach label. | Jun 28 | B~016 B~017 B~018 |
| PURFLINGS & BINDINGS | Photos | |
| Glue purfling to the tail graft strip and trim | Jun 29 | PB~001 PB~002 |
| Cut binding strips from side material | Jun 29 | PB~003 |
| Glue up dark/light/dark veneer sandwich for top, back, binding and tail graft purflings | Jun 29 | PB~004 PB~005 PB~006 |
| Cut the veneer sandwich into strips of appropriate widths. | Jun 29 | PB~007 |
| Fabricate a flamed maple strip for the top purfling. | Jun 29 | PB~008 |
| Glue the maple strip to black veneer for the top purfling. | Jun 29 | PB~009 PB~010 |
| Tape top and back purflings together and bend | Jun 29 | PB~011 PB~012 PB~013 |
| Glue side purfling strips to binding strips.and trim | Jun 30 | PB~014 PB~015 PB~016 |
| Tape binding strips together and finalize thickness | Jul 01 | PB~017 PB~018 PB~019 |
| Bend bindings. | Jul 01 | PB~020 PB~021 PB~022 |
| Assemble heel cap components | Jul 03 | PB~023 PB~024 |
| Mark and rough cut the heel cap to shape | Jul 03 | PB~025 |
| BRIDGE | Complete | Photos |
| Cut bridge blank to the required dimensions. | Jul 05 | Br~001Br~002 Br~003 |
| Mark string positions and drill pilot centers followed by string holes. | Jul 05 | Br~004 Br~005 Br~006 |
| Cut saddle and tie block slots | Jul 05 | Br~007 |
| Radius the bottom of the bridge to fit the dome of the guitar top. | Jul 06 | Br~008 Br~009 |
| Rough cut the bridge arms on the table saw | Jul 06 | Br~010 Br~011 |
| Round and bevel the arms of the bridge | Jul 06 | Br~012 Br~013 Br~014 |
| Chisel and shape the ramp leading from the tie block to the saddle slot. | Jul 06 | Br~015 Br~016 |
| Round off the leading edge of the saddle slot retainer and sand | Jul 06 | Br~017 Br~018 |
| Fabricate the tie block cap. Glue and clamp it to the tie block. | Jul 07 | Br~019 Br~020 |
| Finish shaping and sanding and seal with shellac to prevent bleeding color onto top. | Jul 08 | Br~021 Br~022 |
| ASSEMBLY | Photos | |
| Apply glue to the underside of the neck, align top and clamp. | Jun 27 | A~001 |
| When dry scrape any glue squeeze out. | Jun 27 | A~002 A~003 |
| Place neck/top in assembly form, insert sides & mark recesses in the transverse bars and side linings. | Jun 27 | A~004 A~005 A~006 |
| Remove sides and cut interlocking recesses in the transverse bars | Jun 27 | A~007 A~008 A~009 A~010 |
| Remove sides and cut interlocking recesses into the linings. | Jun 27 | A~011 A~012 A~013 |
| Replace sides and check for a perfect fit to the top. | Jun 27 | A~014 |
| Apply glue to upper side linings and outer heel gluing surface. Insert sides and clamp. Glue in wedges. | Jun 27 | A~015 A~016 |
| When dry, trim wedges and level the heel to the sides. | Jun 27 | A~017 A~018 |
| Refine back profile of sides on a 15' sanding dish to align with back doming. | Jun 28 | A~019 A~020 A~021 A~022 |
| Align the back and clamp lightly. | Jun 28 | A~023 |
| Mark the outline of the edges of the braces on the sides.& the sides on the braces | Jun 28 | A~024 A~025 |
| Cut recesses in the sides/linings. | Jun 28 | A~026 |
| Measure & mark lines for the interlocking rebates in the back braces. Cut and chisel the rebates. | Jun 28 | A~027 A~028 |
| Glue and clamp the back to the sides | Jun 28 | A~029 A~030 |
| When dry, remve clamps and trim the back plate flush to the sides. | Jun 28 | A~031 A~032 |
| Remove the guitar from the mold and trim the top flush. | Jun 28 | A~033 A~034 |
| Rout purfling/binding rebates for the top and back. | Jun 28 | A~035 A~036 A~037 |
| Using chisels, dental picks & wood files complete the top binding rebates. | Jun 29 | A~038 A~039 A~040 A~041 |
| Cut the heel down level to the bottom of binding channel. | Jun 29 | A~042 A~043 A~044 |
| File the heel mooth and even with the bottom of binding channel. | Jun 29 | A~045 |
| Fit top purflings. Glue and clamp with rubber bands. | Jun 30 | A~046 A~047 A~048 |
| Trim top purflings and sand them level the to top... | Jun 30 | A~049 A~050 |
| Gluie,clamp and level the back purflings. in the same way as the top purflings. | Jun 30 | A~051 A~052 |
| Remove the temporary tail graft and glue in the permanent graft | Jul 02 | A~053 A~054 |
| Miter the tail graft ends. | Jul 02 | A~055 A~056 |
| Mark and cut the top bindings to fit. Miter the purfling to join the tail graft miter. | Jul 02 | A~057 |
| Glue and clamp the top bindings. Level when dy. | Jul 02 | A~058 |
| Fit and glue the back bindings.. | Jul 03 | A~059 A~060 |
| Scrape and sand the back bindings flush with the back plates. | Jul 04 | A~061 |
| Scrape and sand the bindings flush to the side surfaces. | Jul 04 | A~062 |
| Glue and clamp the heel cap. | Jul 04 | A~063 |
| Trim the heel cap 01flush to the back plate and sides of the heel. | Jul 04 | A~064 A~065 |
| Drill bridge locator pin holes at the bottom of the saddle slot. | Jul 09 | A~066 |
| Position bridge & drill index holes into top. | Jul 09 | A~067 A~068 |
| Glue index pins into the bridge. | Jul 09 | A~069 |
| Position bridge and tape boundaries to catch glue squeeze out. | Jul 09 | A~070 |
| Position gluing caul to the underside of the top. Hold with magnets. | Jul 09 | A~071 A~072 A~073 |
| Glue and clamp bridge. | Jul 09 | A~074 A~075 |
| Remove tape boundaries and clean up squeezed out glue. | Jul 09 | A~076 |
| Check the frets for level and adjust where needed. | Jul 26 | A~077 A~078 |
| Polish the frets. | Jul 26 | A~079 A~080 |
| Fabricate nut & saddle. | Jul 27 | A~081 A~082 |
| Install tuners | Jul 27 | A~083 |
| Attach strings and set action heights. | Jul 27 | A~084 A~085 |
| Photos | Jul 27 | A~086 A~087 A~088 A~089 |
| Additional Photos | Jul 27 | A~090 A~091 A~092 A~093 |
| French Polish |
Photos |
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| Seal the sound board with shellac. | Jul 10 | FP~001 |
| Seal the back,side and neck surfaces with shellac. | Jul 10 | FP~002 FP~003 FP~004 |
| Fill back/side pores with filler | Jul 11 | FP~005 FP~006 FP~007 |
| Sand with 220 grit to remove filler residue. Clean up with a tack cloth. | Jul 13 | FP~008 FP~009 FP~010 |
| Apply shellac to side & back surfaces (2 sessions each side & 4 on back) | Jul 14 | FP~011 FP~012 FP~013 |
| Rough level the side & back surface with medium sanding sponge. | Jul 15 | FP~014 FP~015 |
| Pore fill & sand the neck. Apply several sessions shellac to top and necksurfaces. | Jul 17 | FP~016 FP~017 |
| Carry out initial wet sanding on all surfaces with 400 grit wet & dry paper. | Jul 19 | FP~018 FP~019 FP~020 FP~021 FP~022 |
| Continue with body sessions until all surfaces are ready for wet final sanding. | Jul 2 | FP~023 FP~024 |
| Wet sand the top, back & sides with 800 grit wet & dry paper & Varsol lubricant. | Jul 21 | FP~025 FP~026 FP~027 |
| Apply thin glazing coats. Cure for 2 or 3 days & rub down with fine abrasive polish. | Jul 25 | FP~028 FP~029 FP~030 |
| Matte the neck finish with fine sponge pad abrasive. | Jul 26 | FP~031 FP~032 |
| Scrape shellac from fretboard edges. | Jul 26 | FP~033 |
| Clean shellac out of peg head holes. | Jul 26 | FP~034 |
| Clean up the finish on all surfaces with Dunlop 65 Guitar Polish | Jul 26 | FP~035 FP~036 |
