16 archtop guitar build

8/20/2019 16 Archtop Guitar Build

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A r c

h t o p G u i t a r K i t s . c o m

MK16EN_V10

16-Inch Archtop Guitar Kit

Building Manual


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This Page Intenonally Le Blank

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Introductio

Thank you for the confidence that you have put in my products!

This is a kit for building a 16” hollow archtop guitar. It looks quite tradional, but there are some details that make it unusual and some among them make it easier

to build than convenonal archtop guitars:

The neck uses a tenon-morse instead of a dovetail. Thus, it does not have a sepa-

rate extension as most archtop guitars have. The tenon itself is unusual too: unlike

most joints of its kind (perhaps all), this one does not need fing at its le side.

The inner surface of the top has been simplified right below the braces. That allows

me to supply carved braces that fit perfectly without having to spend a lot of me

working on their underside.

The tailpiece is aached to the tail block through a bolt that locks into a metal

piece embedded in the tailpiece. This eliminates the need for a tailpiece bracket.

The volume potenometer is disguised under the fingerboard. This is made easier

using a special ebony piece that is glued to the fingerboard and to which the pot,

in turn, is glued

The fret ends are not visible, as the fretboard has two binding strips made from

the same material as the fretboard itself.

The pickup ring is ebony; it fits the top perfectly and at the right angle. This is so-mething hard to find even in top-class instruments.

Most parts are made using CNC technology. All the wooden pieces except the ker-

fed linings have been manufactured in my workshop in Spain. Metal parts and

electronic components are all top quality, some being imported manufactured pro-

ducts.

Please note that this kit may be slightly different from what is explained in these

instrucons. Also noce that this is not a complete kit; below, you’ll find a list of

addional materials that you will need for its compleon.

Although the materials in this kit are all high quality, we cannot guarantee that

the resulng instrument is, as skill levels vary. If you have already worked with

wood and take your me following these instrucons precisely, you’ll end up with a

quality instrument that you’ll be proud of. Good luck!


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4

Check the contents of the box now. They should be as follows:

1 An arched carved top made of Spruce, Maple or some other wood.

2 Precut braces, Spruce (2)

3 A carved back made of Maple or some other hard wood

4 A set of prebent sides (2)5 A shaped neck block made of Sapele or Khaya, which includes a mor-

se for the neck

6 A shaped tail block made of the same wood as the neck block

7 Enough length of kerfed linings (around 110” or 2800 mm), made of

the same wood as the neck block

8 Enough length of Spruce side reinforcement strips (at least 36” or 900

mm)

9 White plasc binding strips (2)

10 A semi machined neck, usually made of maple.

11 Peghead face veneer, quite probably made of Ebony

12 An Ebony or Rosewood fretboard, ready to be glued to the neck andsanded

13 Strips for binding the fretboard, made of the same wood as the fret-

board (2)

14 A Stainless Steel compression truss rod, cut to size and threaded

15 A truss rod cover piece, made of maple, the same thickness as the

truss rod channel in the neck

16 Fretwire (at least 63” or 1600 mm)

17 A bag with a semi machined bridge, made of Ebony or Rosewood,

composed of a foot with its base adapted to the top and a compensa-

ted saddle. The bag also includes the posts/thumbwheels and an auxi-

liary nut18 A semi machined Ebony or Rosewood tailpiece, with an insert for at-

taching it to the body

19 A semi machined Ebony or Rosewood pickup ring, with its base adap-

ted to the curvature of the top

20 An Ebony or Rosewood finger rest

21 An Ebony or Rosewood truss rod nut cover

22 An Ebony or Rosewood neck cap blank

23 A mold template

24 Peghead sides waste material (2)

25 A CDROM with this manual (high definion version)

26 Truss rod adjustment nut, barrel nut and washer27 PTFE tape, for the truss rod

28 Screws for truss rod nut cover (2)

29 Plasc rod for side dots

30 Pickup ring screws (4)

31 Tailpiece bolt

32 Finger rest aachment screws (2)

Introduction


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33 Finger rest spacer

34 Finger rest reinforcement strip

35 Blank bone nut

36 Strap holders with screws and felt spacers (2)

37 Maple veneer for shims

38 Magnets (8)39 Cups for magnets (4)

40 Mold dowel pins (8)

41 Mold tail reinforcing cap

42 Long bolt (M8), with nuts and washers

43 Miniature Potenometer for gluing under the fingerboard

44 Adhesive Felt for Potenometer

45 Jack, wiring and connectors (3)

46 Jack reinforcing plate

47 Wiring guides (2)

48 Nylon e

This kit does not contain the following:

Pickup: Most convenonal humbuckers fit the ring supplied with the kit

and the hole in the top

Machine heads

Strings

Glue and finishing supplies Case

You will find these parts in most lutherie suppliers; there is a very complete

list at hp://buildyourguitar.com/resources/suppliers.htm

If you find some error in the content of the package, or if you need some

spares, please contact me at [email protected].

Introduction

Quesons...?

www.archtopguitarkits.com/Kits/FAQ16_EN.html

Cannot idenfy those parts...? You'll find photos at

www.archtopguitarkits.com/Kits/Parts16_EN.html


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Before You Start … Control the relave humidity at your workplace, which must be bet-

ween 40 and 50%.

Don’t do anything without having read carefully the instrucons in ad-

vance. Try to complement it with the secons in the books that are re-

ferenced at the end of this manual. Previous experience with flat top

or even solid guitar kits is great.

Keep your edge tools well sharpened.

Some power tools are very dangerous if used improperly, but the

same can be said of many manual tools. Read, understand and follow

all the safety advices included with both.

Be careful with adhesives and other chemicals. Read, understand and

follow the indicaons in the product MSDS (Material Safety Data

Sheet).

Wood dust can be a health and fire hazard. Always wear a mask, espe-

cially when sanding wood, and use extracon equipment.

This kit includes some powerful magnets that can be dangerous in

many different ways. Read, understand and follow the magnet han-

dling safety advices at the end of this manual.

This manual includes metric and inch measurements. I have followedthe simple default criterion that, when a measurement is menoned, I

use the intended value (what I was aiming at) first, whatever its units.

If necessary, the translaon to the other system follows, but noce

that in most cases it is an approximaon. Feel confident to use any of

the two, as the translaon error has been chosen to be below other

sources of error.

6Introduction


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Molds are used extensively by guitar makers everywhere. They are used to effecvely support the

sides in the right posion during the first stages of the building process.

When I decided to make this kit, my first worry was how to avoid the maker the pain of making a

mold. Aer giving it a lot of thought, I didn’t find how an inexperienced maker could build a guitar

like this without using one. Experienced makers could do it somehow, spot bending the difficult to

bend curly woods and working with a lot of care, but even they avoid what some call “free buil-

ding”. Yes, now you know: you will have to make a mold. However, it has some details that make it

quite simple and easy to make, without compromising its funconality or toughness. I have tried m

best to make it one of the best molds that you can find, with details such as the magnets that will

surely be adopted by other makers in the future. And, last but not least, its construcon may be as

much fun as the construcon of the guitar itself.

Step 1: Building a Body Mol


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8

Tools and Supplies

You will need at least two power tools: a Router with a Paern Bit

and a Jig Saw. The Paern Bit has a bearing above the cuers, so

that it can follow a template, effecvely copying it. If the cung

length is not enough for the material that you are using, then youwill have to work in two or more passes but, apart from that, al-

most any commercial paern bit will do.

I recommend that, if possible, you use a Drill Press instead of Por-

table and Manual Drills, but you will need these also.

I have used the following manual tools:

Cabinet Scraper

Chisels (miniature 2 mm and 12 mm)

Clamps (at least 15) Engineer’s Square

Painng Brush

Pencil, Marker

Straight Edge

Saw

And the following supplies:

Mold Template, #23

Magnets, #38

Cups for Magnets, #39Mold Dowel Pins, #40

Tail Reinforcing Cap, #41

Long M8 Bolt, #42

Epoxy Glue

Polyurethane Varnish

Wood Glue

Waxed Paper

Sandpaper (P120)

Step 1 - Building a Body Mold


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Procedure

The thickness of this guitar at the sides is around 66-68 mm. Wi-

thout the top and back glued, the sides and blocks (neck, tail) will

be around 10 mm less due to them having a thickness of around 5

mm each. Thus, the sides will be 56-58 mm tall. The mold must bethinner than that, so that it can be used to glue the back (and

even the top, as we will see) to the sides while these are placed in-

side it. However, it must not be too thin, as it wouldn’t support

very well the sides and it wouldn’t work well for clamping the

blocks while they are being glued to the sides. With all this in

mind, we will make the mold around 50 mm thick. Fortunately,

there are standard thickness of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard)

stock that coincide more or less in most countries, and permit to

arrive there easily: use one ¾” (or 19 mm) and two 5/8” (or 16

mm) MDF laminaons. If you don’t find those thicknesses, you can

use some other combinaon, even using the template itself, butthe following instrucons describe three-layered molds. Every-

thing will be fine if the total thickness is somewhere between 50

and 54 mm.

Standard MDF stock is a material that swells a lot when weed. If

you use it, you will have to protect it somehow. I suggest that you

use polyurethane varnish, as described later. You can use moisture

resistant MDF instead, but it is not as readily available as standard

MDF.

Before you start making the mold I would like to menon thatthere exist the open and closed variees. Open molds are formed

by two halves that are aached by toggle latches or a similar me-

chanism, and allow easy removal of complete glued soundboxes

(top, back and sides), if this construcon method was used. Closed

molds cannot be disassembled and are used to glue the back (or

top) to the sides, but closing the soundbox using the mold is not

recommended, as there is no guarantee that the guitar can be ex-

tracted without suffering damage. The mold described here is a

third kind, midway between both types. It can be opened at the

tail, but not at the neck end.



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Separate the two parts of the template cung the tabs and smoo-

thing them with a chisel and sandpaper. Work with the outside

part, which is the real template; the inside will be used later.

Aach the template to one of the thin (5/8” or 16 mm) MDF bo-ards, using a few clamps. Drill the six holes in the stock as in the

template using a 5/16” (or 8 mm) pilot point drill bit; try to keep it

perfectly upright (use a drill press if possible).

Using the dowel pins instead of the clamps, trace the outline of

the template on the board.

Remove the clamps and cut it with the jig saw, following the pencil

lines, inside and outside, and leaving a lile to be trimmed by the

router later.

Do the same for the other two boards. Eventually you will have

the three laminaons and the template. Don’t discard the three

central secons.

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I will show you several ways of roung those laminaons to get an

accurate shape. For the first method (first and second pictures),

join the three laminaons, using the 8 mm dowels supplied with

the kit and, on top, the supplied template. Don’t use glue yet.

Now use the router with the paern bit to copy the template to

the mold laminaon above.

I have used clamps and a heavy chunk of wood to fix the lamina-

ons to the table. The idea here is to use the template first and

then remove it, using each routed laminaon as a template for the

one below it. This is a simple method, but you will have difficules

trying to keep the router straight, because the narrow mold walls

are not a steady base for it.

The second method fixes that problem with the stability of the

router. It involves the use of a roung table where the router is

placed upside down, in this case with a Flush Trim Bit instead of a

Paern Bit. I consider that a roung table is not difficult to make;

you may even find commercial units that can be adapted to agreat variety of routers. If you plan to rout a binding channel for

your guitar with a minimum guarantee of success, a roung table

is the easiest way to go. By the way, I was only posing for the

photo. Otherwise, my hands would be farther away from the bit!

Roung tables are not available to everybody, so there is another

alternave: use the central part of the template. Screw it to one or

more of the central pieces that you sawed from the boards and

you will have a wider base for roung the outside curve.


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Roung the inside will not be possible unless you make the central

base smaller, leaving enough room for the router bit.

Whatever the method, you may cut more than one laminaon if

the bit length permits it; if not, you may need to remove the tem-

plate and use the area that has been cut on the laminaon above

as the new template, placing and removing laminaons similarlyfor the central support if you use it. This is only a guide, and what

you do depends a lot on the bit dimensions and other factors.

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Now that you have cut the three laminaons, get the middle lami-

naon and, using a chisel, cut four recesses at the points shown.

These must allow the placement of the magnets supplied with the

kit. Their external surface must be as close as possible to the inner

surface of the mold, but not protrude above it. Warning: these

magnets are exceponally strong and can be dangerous if your

skin is caught between them. Wear gloves and work with onemagnet at a me, keeping the others at a safe distance. Read the

important safety rules at the end of this manual!



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Magnets…??

The waist spreader in most molds is based on

a turnbuckle screw that pushes upon the

waist. While it is not difficult to make, you willneed to cut two addional blocks that act as

intermediary between the screw and the

waist. There are other designs; the one shown

here, used by some makers, is elegant and

simple.

However, neither of these designs will allow

you to close the soundbox with the waist spre-

ader inside, at least in guitars with limited ac-

cess (f-holes instead of round hole, for

example). I considered that a necessity for aguitar built by someone who cannot retouch

the sides in a bending iron. These magnets

may not be as powerful as turnbuckle screws,

but wait ll you see them in acon!

Now glue the three laminaons together; use wood glue (I used

Titebond), spread it well with a brush, use the dowel pins to keep

the three laminaons aligned except the pin at the tail end and, fi-nally, clamp everything.

Be careful when gluing the laminaons, as they may slip, losing

their alignment. To avoid that, do it in two or three steps, using

gradually more clamping force. Try not to use a lot of glue to avoid

ooze-out, especially around the recesses for the magnets. If you

look at the photo you’ll see a lot of clamps; you can do this with

less, but my recommendaon is that you have at least 15 – you’ll

need them later.

Step 1 - Building a Body Mold14


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When the glue is dry, remove the clamps and check the vercality

of the inner walls. This is very important at the neckblok area! Co-

rrect them with a cabinet scraper, also removing the dried glue

from inside and outside.

Use a saw and a small chisel to shape the area at which the router

bit couldn’t arrive, opening a small recess for the cutaway side.


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Trim the excess off the dowel pins.

Glue the supplied tail reinforcing cap.

Trim it and then apply two or three coats of polyurethane varnish

to protect the mold from water spills, as MDF swells a lot when

weed. Try to avoid varnishing inside the cavies for the magnets.

If you’re using moisture resistant MDF, you may skip this step.

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We will install the magnets now. There are eight, separated by

plasc pieces. They are magnezed so that it’s their faces that are

North and South. While they are all in a row, write their polarity

with a permanent marker (there's a 50% probability that you get it

wrong, but it doesn't maer)..

All the magnets in the mold must show the same polarity outside,

N for example. Get four magnets and, working one by one, sand

their S surfaces (P120) unl they are rough. Use a good epoxy to

glue them in the mold cavies, S face down. Use a plasc straightedge to verify that they are flush with the inner surface of the

mold.

Work now on the remaining four magnets. Again, work one by

one, sanding the N faces this me. Epoxy them to the four sup-

plied cups, N face down. With these precauons, the fragile mag-

nets may sll collide, but there will always be a wooden cupbetween them.


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Drill a 5/16” (8 mm) hole at the tail end for the M8 bolt (#42). Be

careful to make it straight, especially if you need to drill from both

sides.

Trace the center line at the neck end. Use the hole for the dowel

pin as a reference, as it is located at the center line of the instru-

ment. Mark it permanently making shallow cuts with a fine saw.



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Similarly, draw the center line at the tail end, but this me cut the

mold along it.

Now the mold can be opened at the tail end. It is me to glue the

last 5/16” (8 mm) dowel pin in its hole. Apply glue to a half of it

only, so that it is glued to one of the sides of the mold. Avoid con-

tact with the other side using a piece of waxed paper or similar.

With the dowel pin glued, you’ll noce that both halves don’t

close completely. There is a narrow gap le by the saw, which you

must close now. Glue the correct thickness of cardboard or wood

to one of the sides, again using waxed paper to avoid it gluing to

the other side.

Aer the glue is dry, trim the glued pieces and retouch with polyu-

rethane varnish. Finally, install the M8 long bolt with its washers

to close the mold.



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Now that you have finished the mold, put the sides in it, using a

few spring clamps and the magnets. If your clamps do not have

so jaws, use small wood pieces in between.

You can leave the sides in the mold for a long me, but they

should stay clamped to avoid distorons. Noce that, as the tailarea is not trimmed yet, it cannot be clamped adequately: I re-

commend you to follow the order of operaons in this manual

and start working on the sides now.


USING THE MOLD TO FINE-BEND THE SIDES

If you find that the sides don't fit well inside the mold, leaving more

than 1/8" at some places, wet them well inside and out. Clamp them

to the mold using as many spring clamps and wood intermediaries as

you need to get a good fit without distorons or cupping. The wet

wood is very so and can get impressions quite easily, so try to usesome so material between the intermediaries and the sides. Once

dry (typically one day), work on them soon or you'll have to repeat the

procedure again.

Wet sides can damage the mold, and that's the reason why it must be

varnished. But the mold can cause damage to the sides too, the main

reason being the magnets having lost their chrome plang due to colli-

sions with other magnets. The oxide in the magnet will contaminate

the sides and you will get a nasty black spot. If you see that the surface

of the magnets is chipped, cover them with tape whenever you place

wet sides in the mold.


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Step 2: Preparing the Side

The sides, as supplied, are already bent. It is not easy for a supplier to do that, because bending

curly woods is far from being a simple procedure, especially at the cutaway area. In fact, it can get

so frustrang that I am sure that this is one of the aspects that any archtop guitar maker with pre-

vious experience will value most for this kit.


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Step 2 - Preparing the Sides

Tools and Supplies

Prepare to collect as many Miniature Spring Clamps as you can, for

gluing the kerfed linings to the sides. Some makers use clothes

pins instead, but most mes the spring is not enough for the job.

Some others use modified clothes pins (usually with a rubber bandwrapped around them) that seem to work fine.

You will need a Drill and some Drill Bits (see details at the Proce-

dure secon). Also a Chisel, Saw, Pencil, some Spring Clamps and a

good quality Machinist Square.

There are other more special tools that you'll probably need, des-

cribed in the Procedure secon.

You will need the following supplies:

Sides, #4

Neckblock, #5

Tailblock, #6

Kerfed linings, #7

Spruce side reinforcement strips, #8

Wax paper

Sandpaper (P80, P120, P180 and P220)

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Step 2 - Preparing the Sides 2

Procedure

The first thing that you will need to do is find a good flat working

table. Place the sides inside the mold, flat on the table, and clamp

them using the magnets and some spring clamps.

Watch the gap between them at the neck area. Contrary to the tail

block, this doesn't need to be very narrow, but you can trim it any-

way following the procedure shown in the pictures, using a machi-

nist square and a block plane. You'll avoid tearing out the wood

(end grain is frail) if you start from both ends.

The block plane is not included in the list of tools; you may use

files, sandpaper, etc.

Note: Aer making the guitar for this kit I discovered that the neck

heel was not tall enough to cover the enre joint between the sides at

the neckblock, unless a very thick heel cap was used. If you look at the

neck in your kit, it has a taller heel to avoid this problem.

Addionally, I don't want to give you a heel cap that is much thicker

than what is necessary, so, if you don't plan to bind the back, don't

make a lap joint as shown at right, because the neck cap won't cover

the end grain of the cutaway side completely. For unbound backs, use

a miter joint.

[See also page 94]


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The neckblock can be glued without much preparaon using Tite-

bond. You will need to sand or scrape the gluing surface at the

sides, with the purpose of cleaning the quite possibly dirty maple.

Do a dry run first!

The blocks and the sides are both made from stock 58 mm high. However,weng and heang the wood for bending may modify its dimensions. Addi-

onally, there will be some tolerances that you'll surely find aer you glue the

blocks. This is why the final thickness of the guitar at the sides may range bet-

ween 56 and 58 mm.

Use a few clamps to press the neckblock while gluing, keeping

everything flat.

While the glue sets, you can find the points at both sides where

they will meet at the tail end. Use spring clamps to adapt one of

the sides to the mold without leaving gaps, and then mark the

center point. Do the same for the other side.

Draw a line at the marks found, using a machinist square. Cut the

excess with a saw and refine it with a block plane (if not available,

use a file or sandpaper).

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With the mold and sides firmly on the table, check that the joint is

at the center of the instrument and that the gap is not wider at

one of its ends, correcng the joint with the block plane if neces-

sary.

With the basic joint already done, you'll have to refine it in orderto make the gap as small as possible. Use sandpaper, a small hard

sanding block and a lamp behind the joint: you must not see any

light through it.

When sasfied, join the sides with tape.

Note: For some tapes, when the tailblock is glued to the sides the pressure

put by the clamps will cement the tape to the sides very strongly. You may da-

mage the sides if you try to remove the tape without using alcohol or ace-

tone!

Put them inside the mold using some wax paper in between. Sand

the gluing surface because, as before, the sides may be dirty.

Find the center of the tailblock and mark it with a pencil. When

you glue the block to the sides (using Titebond), keep everything

flat on the table and the center marks aligned. Do a dry run first!

Noce that your tailblock may look different from the one shown here. With

the new design, you may use addional clamps (arrows):


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26

Aer sanding the inside of the sides (P120, P180 and P220), you'll

install the kerfed linings. There are four lengths of this material in

the kit, enough for the enre guitar and some leover just in case.

Some guitars have uninterrupted linings from neckblock to tail-

block. While this saves me at the factory, it is not an acceptablemethod. Without the side reinforcement strips, the sides would

probably rip open aer a moderate blow, ruining them. If the

strips are there, but they don't cover all the width of the sides, the

danger is sll present, so the best soluon is to interrupt the lining

strips with the side reinforcement strips.

Begin cung 16 lengths of 17 teeth. The rest will be approxima-

tely two lengths of 23 and two more of 20 (see diagram), but this

may vary, so wait unl you have glued all the 17-teeth lengths.

With the supplied kerfed lining, each 17-teeth piece will be around

113 mm.

Glue the linings (Titebond), clamping them with the spring clamps.

They should be a hair above the sides. As always, remove the glue

ooze out.



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Insert spruce side reinforcement strips between the lining pieces.

You must not glue them yet.

When you glue the lining at the other side, use the strip as an

alignment. As before, don't glue the reinforcement strips yet.

At areas with high curvature, (waist and cutaway), you will have to

saw the kerfings almost all the way down before gluing. Other-wise, they will break.

Take each reinforcement strip and shape it as shown. If you use

sandpaper alone it will be easier.

2Step 2 - Preparing the Sides


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Glue and clamp each strip (use Titebond). Do it with the sides in

the mold, so that the spring clamps exert enough pressure to

adapt the flat strips to the curved sides.

Glue a couple of teeth to each strip at each side.

This came as a surprise. I hadn't used magnets in molds before,

and I didn't contemplate the possibility of the magnet being right

below one of the reinforcement strips. However, it has power to

spare, and will work well even in that situaon.

You must make a tool for sanding the excess height at the linings

and blocks. It is a long piece of wood with sanding paper (P60 or

P80), glued (I use double-sided tape) at one of its ends, as shown.

You can improve it easily using hook-and-loop fastening.

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If you trace a line along the sides, you will know when to stop san-

ding.

It is not necessary that you use clamps, just the magnets. When

you are sanding at a certain area, press the side against the mold

with your free hand; that will be enough.

The blocks must be sanded carefully. If you don't do it right, you

won't get a flat gluing surface for the top and back. Also, you may

disturb the angle between that gluing surface and the sides, that

must be a right angle. If that happens, you will probably have to

make tedious correcons to the neck angle when you glue the

neck. To avoid that, press the neckblock and tailblock to the sidesusing a clamp. This is beer and simpler than using a turnbuckle

screw from block to block.

In ideal condions, all the sanding will be limited to the blocks and linings. Ho-

wever, it is possible that you have to sand the sides, making them narrower,

due to small construcon errors (typically, small imperfecons in the mold or

in the gluing of the blocks). This is not a big problem for later stages, at least if

it is not much more than, say, 2 mm. If it happens, try to keep the sides the

same width everywhere.


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Aer some detail sanding, this is the way the sides look inside the

mold right before gluing the top and back:

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Tops are usually made of sowood. This makes carving them quite easy, especially when comparin

the curly maple used for the backs. However, they are trickier to make: they have pickup and f-

holes, braces and more complex thickness graduaons. I have tried to simplify these tasks: the

holes are open and the braces are extremely easy to fit.

The braces deserve some more comments. The first version of this kit had "integral" braces (carve

in the top). As the strength of a brace is highest when the grain runs straight along it, they were pe

fectly parallel. However, most makers think that braces must form an angle with the direcon of th

grain at the top; otherwise, there is an increased danger of spling the top along their corners. Un

fortunately, this rules out the integral braces. What I have done is to simplify the inner surface of

the top right below the braces, making it the same height at both sides of the brace. That way, I ca

make them using a template, and they will fit perfectly without any further adjustment.

Despite these simplificaons, you'll sll have to graduate the top, but most of it will be done aer

the soundbox is closed (see Step 7, Binding and Tuning the Soundbox ).

Step 3: Preparing the To

3


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Step 3 - Preparing the Top

Tools and Supplies

The top and back, as supplied, don't need much addional car-

ving. A cabinet scraper with a curved shape is a great tool when

you don’t have a lot of wood to remove (removing the machining

marks, carving the recurve...). While the “French curve” scraper(first picture, le) may have some other uses, you may also use a

rectangular scraper with one or more corners ground, as the one

to the right.

You will need gouges and chisels. These are great carving tools

that can reach inside corners, for example around the gluing areas

for the neck and tail blocks. Chisels are also great for trimming the

braces to their final shape.

You’ll need clamps for gluing the braces. Steel clamps of the requi-

red throat depth are usually very heavy; it is preferable to use thelighter wooden cam clamps.

You’ll have to sand also, manually or with an electric sander. Fi-

nally, you will need some other common tools such as a pencil and

a measuring ruler.

If you have built more archtop guitars, perhaps you have learnt to

esmate the plate thickness with enough precision simply using

your hands. You can exercise this ability by having some wood pie-

ces of known thicknesses at hand.

The tools described below will definitely make your work easier,

but they are not necessary.

The best tool for carving tops and backs is a plane with its sole

curved (le).

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Step 3 - Preparing the Top 3

These are mainly sold for violin builders, and are available from

many lutherie suppliers. You will find them in many sizes, but the

larger planes (palm planes, le in the picture) are unnecessary be-

cause both top and back have been rough carved already. I prefer

to use a smaller finger plane (the one to the right in the picture)

with a blade width of 12 mm.

As an alternave to the method described, you may use a thick-

ness caliper for measuring the thickness of tops and backs (right).


Top, #1 Precut braces, two pieces, #2

Side reinforcement strip material (for the pickup hole), #8

Glue (Titebond)

Sandpaper (P80,P120,P180 andP220)


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Procedure

Before doing anything, take your me studying the top. Noce the

following:

The machine carving has been done with a square bit. Thismeans that you will noce some “stair stepping” especially

where the slope of the surface is higher.

The top has been cut approximately 1/8” (3 mm) bigger than

necessary, all around.

As supplied, the top has three different regions. The central

region has a uniform thickness of around 6.5 mm (¼”). The

other two are around 5 mm (3/16”). There are two smoother

regions at both sides of the central region, about 8 mm

(5/16") wide, clearly visible in the picture. Those are the sur-faces where the braces must be glued.

The size and outline of the f-holes is quite tradional. You

may enlarge them either to change the overall shape or to

make more room if you want to install bindings. These holes

follow the tradional rule that locates the bridge approxima-

tely between their inner ps. When we menon the bridge

area (and we’ll do it a few mes), you will be able to locate it

easily if you remember this rule.

There is a parally finished aperture for the neck tenon. It isundersized: 1.5 mm (around 1/16”) smaller than it should be,

all around. You can compare its size now with the size of the

cavity in the neckblock, which has the right final dimension.

The inside of the top has been machined using an upcut bit. This

means that the edge of all the vercal surfaces will surely need a

lile cleaning of the dangling fibers. Use a piece of sandpaper

(P120) everywhere that you see them; forget the areas that show

a lot of stair stepping, as they will be smoothed soon using other

methods. Be careful not to remove more than necessary, and

don't sand on the surfaces where the braces will be glued.

For all that follows, it is advisable to trace the outline of the guitar

at the top plate, inside. This can be done easily measuring 441

mm (17 23/64”) from the end of the aperture for the neck tenon:

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This distance will be measured with the top as supplied, i.e., with

the undersized aperture for the tenon.

Once the end point of the guitar at the tail has been found, all

that remains is to use the mold to trace the outline.

Fine tuning the top has to do with giving it enough structural sff-ness and a long life free from deformaons, while at the same

me giving good tone and volume.

If you choose not to modify the graduaons that will be great for

electric instruments, but you will definitely get a beer acousc

tone (and even its electric counterpart) if you modify some of

them. In parcular, the area right behind the bridge is thicker than

necessary. I could have made it thinner but then, if you decided to

start an X-bracing design of your own, that area would probably

be weak.

Removing the wood from that area is easy with a chisel, as shown.



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If available, use a finger plane.

Very important: for all the operaons that follow, don't remove

any wood from the smooth areas to the sides of the central region,

where the braces will be glued later. You will need to carve quite

close to them now; I recommend that you mark with a cuer first

and then cut with the chisel, as shown.

When you work at the tail end, don't carve beyond the last CNC

machining mark.

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The final graduaons in this area will be as shown here:

There is an area of 5 mm or a lile more (“5+” in the picture),

then a transion area and finally an area of around 6.5 mm. These

are inner graduaons; the final tuning will be done later, when thesoundbox is closed.

Remove the stair stepping from everywhere inside the top. Here I

am doing it with a finger plane, but you may use many other

things, electric sanders being a valid alternave if you are good at

controlling them.



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Don’t remove more wood than necessary. Also, it is very impor-

tant that you work at a safe distance from the edge of the instru-

ment to avoid modifying the flat area that will be glued to the

sides.

Again, use gouges and chisels for reaching near the base of the

braces (be careful) and around the neck block gluing area.

If you are new to carving wood, you will discover that grain direc-

on may guide the tool if the shavings are too thick, or if your

tools are dull. Tear-out as shown at le can be avoided simply by

changing the carving angle or by adjusng the tool for a thinner

shaving. I suppose that your tool is sharp as a razor – is it?

38


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Noce that we haven’t thinned the top ahead of the bridge. I have

found that this raises a lile the feedback threshold but, if you

don’t care, thin the area similarly to what you have done behind

the bridge.

If you do this, you should leave a round area below the bridge, extendingabout 50 mm (2”) to both ends, where the top must be around 6.5 mm thick.

Don’t be afraid for the edge of the pickup hole being too fragile at 5 mm (or

less aer thinning the outside): we will glue a small transverse brace there.

Next we will glue the braces. As menoned, they are ready for

gluing. The brace to the right (corresponding to the non-cutaway

side) is marked "2". The other brace (cutaway side) is shorter and

it is marked "1".

Check that there are no gaps at any point along the enre length

of the brace. Where there are faint machining marks, remove

them very carefully , using sandpaper or, preferably, a razor blade.

Glue them, one at a me. As always, clean the ooze out.

I have used four small and four large cam clamps. It can be done

with less, however. The braces tend to slip out of place when

clamped. To avoid this, press them in place by hand before clam-

ping, and don’t apply full clamping pressure at first. Use whatever

clamps you have available, but try not to use heavy clamps thatmay harm or even break the top.


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Aer the glue has dried, begin removing wood from the top of the

braces with a chisel.

The central area of the top must be sff from neck to tail. You can

check it by pung pressure with your thumbs, using the mold as a

support.

You will feel that the bridge area deforms more under the same

pressure, the main reason being that it is at the center of the top.

Carve the braces so thatyou can feel more or less the same sff-

ness at the bridge and near the end of the braces at the tail area,

where I am pressing in the picture. That means that the tail end of

the braces will have to be thinner. How much thinner is a subjec-

ve queson, but this picture will let you judge how the braces

should look aer this inial carving:

The highest point is at the bridge area, where their tops should be

at a height of around 18 mm (11/16") above the surface of the

top.

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Beam theory shows that the deflecon of a beam of rectangular

secon is inversely proporonal to its width and to the cube of its

thickness. Thus thick (tall) braces are great at supporng the pres-

sure from the bridge with lile weight. Our braces are tall already,

so we will shape them removing material from their tops, giving

them a somewhat parabolic secon:

You may want to remove some more wood making the braces

lower. That's correct; in fact, if you have followed my recommne-

daons you must have an ample safety margin.

Sand the braces and the rest of the top (P80, P120, P180 and

P220). If you use an electric sander, like I'm doing here, be careful

with the f-holes. Almost all sanders are too big for the central sec-

on between the braces, so you'll have to hand sand there.

Glue a piece of the same material that you used for the side rein-forcement strips (spruce) to reinforce the pickup end grain. It

must go between the braces:

4Step 3 - Preparing the Top


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42

If you have used an electric sander, sand the top manually (P220)

following the direcon of the grain. Electric sanders usually leave

very small spiral marks, but even if they are invisible inside the

closed soundbox, a smooth surface is great at avoiding the dust

scking to it .

There is a situaon when sanding marks inside the soundbox may become vi-

sible, and it is aer you seal it with shellac (we won't do this). Some makers

favor this pracce because it slows the exchange of humidity with the envi-

ronment.

Note that the contour line has disappeared in many places aer

sanding. You may trace it again, but only if you know posively

that you are going to install binding at the top/sides joint . Other-

wise, be extremely cauous with the pencil: when you glue the

top to the sides, it will make the joint much more visible.



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4

Step 4: Preparing the Bac

The techniques and tools that you have used for the top will also work for the back. Being quite

close to the final graduaons, it will not be difficult to carve it in spite of curly maple being so tem

peramental.


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44

The back (#3) should be carved to a uniform thickness of around 5

mm (3/16”). Currently, it is around 6.5 mm (1/4"). Being hard

wood, not braced, not having to stand a lot of stress and being

very important for shaping the tone of archtops, we'll carve it

more flexible. You'll have to remove wood from all areas, but be

careful with the gluing surfaces for the sides/blocks. Thus, the firstthing to do will be to protect those areas from your tools.

To trace the outline of the guitar on the back, take the line where

its two halves join as the reference. For the sides, their mid point

at the tail end is evident, but at the neck end you'll have to mea-

sure 27.5 mm (1.08") from the wall of the cutaway:

(Note: You can use the mid line at the mold instead)

The first photo shows how to mark the sides with that measure-

ment, using a machinist square. With all those references, and

using the sides already assembled inside the mold, trace the ou-

tline of the tailblock and neckblock, as in the second photo. Never

carve beyond the lines or too close to the edge of the instrument

(third photo).

Curly maple is much easier to work if your tool goes across the

grain. In case of trouble, change direcon. Here I am using a finger

plane, but you can use gouges instead.

Step 4 - Preparing the Back


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Near the tailblock you will have to remove more wood, creang an

abrupt transion.

Near the neck end, round the corner of the vercal wall at the

neckblock transion.

Work with a gouge at the abrupt transions near the neckblock.

4Step 4 - Preparing the Back


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46

This is the aspect of the area near the neckblock aer carving it.

Here you can see the carved back, right before sanding. Its thick-

ness is more or less constant, around 5mm (3/16") everywhere.

The flame is more evident now.

Sand the back, using P80 or rougher and then going up to 220. You

may use an electric sander, but the last step should be done ma-

nually, following the direcon of the grain. Electric sanders usually

leave very small spiral marks, but even if they are invisible inside

the closed soundbox, a smooth surface is great at avoiding thedust scking to it .

There is a situaon when sanding marks inside the soundbox may become vi-

sible, and it is aer you seal it with shellac (we won't do this). Some makers

favor this pracce because it slows the exchange of humidity with the environ-

ment.

Step 4 - Preparing the Back


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This is the back aer the final sanding:

The flame is less evident now, but it will jump again aer the finishis applied.

Note that the contour line has disappeared in many places aer

sanding. You may trace it again, but only if you know posively

that you are going to install binding at the back/sides joint . Other-

wise, be extremely cauous with the pencil: when you glue the

back to the sides, it will make the joint much more visible.

4Step 4 - Preparing the Back


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48


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Probably this is the part that will take more me and effort from you. Necks have a lot of parts, an

must be built under very low tolerances. Despite the many steps, you will not face difficult pro-

blems if, as always, you don't rush things and read everything very well before grasping a tool.

Step 5: Preparing the Nec

4


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50

Tools and Supplies

A Cabinet Scraper is the best tool for removing the carving marks

le by the CNC machine.

You will need Chisels, Gouges, some convenonal Clamps and afew Spring Clamps.

A Coping Saw and Files are the tools recommended for cung

what remains of the shape of the peghead.

You will need some small Drill Bits (read the Procedure secon for

details) to use with a Hand Drill. A Center Punch made of harde-

ned steel is the best tool for aaching the barrel nut to the truss

rod.

Adhesive Tape works fine for holding the bindings in place whilethe glue dries. You may use strong tape (filament tape, for exam-

ple), especially if you are going to need it also for gluing the body

bindings. However, I will explain here the method that works bet-

ter for the wooden neck bindings, for which you will need a few

meters of Cord.

Cleaning the slots aer the neck bindings are glued is a must. You

may use a Fret Slot Cleaning Tool, available from some lutherie

suppliers or make your own.

Some operaons (for example, freng) will require addionaltools – please read the Procedure secon below.


Neck, #10

Headplate, #11

Fretboard, #12

Ebony binding strips, #13

Truss rod, complete, #14 and #26

Truss rod cover, #15

Plasc rod for side dots, #29 Nut blank, #35

Fretwire, #16

Peghead sides waste, #24

PTFE tape, #27

Wood glue (Titebond, regular and for dark wood)

Toothpicks

Step 5 - Preparing the Neck


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Cord, 8 meters/yards

Sandpaper (P80, P120, P180, P220, P360, P600, P800, P1200)



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52

Procedure

Before doing anything, take your me studying the neck. It is

made of three main laminaons, that become five at the peghead.

As other parts that you have seen before, it shows stair stepping.

The picture also shows that the CNC machine didn't finish the peg-head transion completely.

The top of the peghead, where the maker usually writes his name,

has not been cut. This is because the design of the peghead is

usually one of the signatures of the maker. There are many de-

signs for which the holes are not where I have drilled them, but I

decided to drill them anyway, as it is a process that can go wrongquite easily.

Noce the channel for the truss rod. Its boom is semicircular, but

it has the same depth everywhere. At the heel end there is a hole

for the barrel nut. Noce also that the area right below the nut

has two parallel pencil marks. They represent the two faces of the

nut, i.e., the beginning of the peghead and the beginning of the

fretboard.

The CNC machine could not remove all the wood from the tenon,

due to the radius of the cuer.

Our first task will be to install the truss rod. Measure 1/2” (13

mm) from the beginning of the peghead (the vertex of its angle)

to the beginning of the access cavity; draw two lines (the sides of

the cavity) at a distance of 7/16” (11 mm).

Clamp the peghead, not the neck: with the truss rod channel

empty, it can break easily. The kits include the two waste pieces

that were cut from the sides of the peghead so that you can use a

convenonal vise, as shown in the picture.



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With a narrow chisel and a hammer, cut the vercal wall at the

beginning of the cavity. Be very careful: it must be normal (per-

pendicular) to the surface where the fretboard will be glued, not

to the peghead.

Use a gouge to open the rest of the cavity. This operaon and the

previous one must be done in several steps, each one deeper.

To check that you have reached the right depth, screw the brass

nut to the rod (to the side with a longer threaded secon), put it

in place and try to turn the nut with the supplied wrench; It must

be possible to insert and turn it, but try to remove the minimum

amount of wood .

Remove the brass nut and screw the barrel nut to the end of the

rod with the shortest length of threads. Check that the access at

the other end, brass nut and washer, is correct; when you are sa-

sfied, peen the barrel nut to the rod using a hardened steel cen-

ter punch and a heavy hammer. Do it at both sides of the barrelnut.

5Step 5 - Preparing the Neck


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54

Wrap the rod in PTFE tape and insert it inside the channel.

Note: Although the truss rod has 10-32 threads at its ends, it has been made

from 5 mm instead of 3/16" (4.8 mm) rod. Anyway, as the width of the chan-

nel is a hair above 5 mm, you won't probably find problems inserng the rod

with the tape in it. If you do, file lightly each side of the rod.

Cut the cover to size, glue it above the rod (Titebond) and press it

with three or four clamps. Do the same for that secon of the

channel that doesn't have a rod below; for this, shape the base of

the wood cover with some sandpaper unl it has a semicircular

secon (the boom of the channel is round)

Don't throw away the cover le over. We will use it later.



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Once the glue gas dried, use a wide chisel and then a cabinet scra-

per to remove the truss rod cover excess.



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56

Center the fretboard and place it above the pencil mark. This is

because the finished nut, inially 5 mm thick, will be a lile thin-

ner in the end due to sanding and polishing. Ideally, the nut

should fit perfectly inside its channel; this is one of the places

where guitar making needs all your precision, so take your me

posioning the fretboard prior to gluing it. Hold it with strongspring clamps.

Check the alignment once more, and then drill two holes at the

first and last fret. They must have a diameter a hair below the dia-

meter of a toothpick (I use a 2 mm bit – not all toothpicks are

equal, not even inside the same box, but they use to be a lile

more than that).

Remove the fretboard and insert a length of toothpick inside each

hole. The fretboard should align perfectly now with just the two

toothpick guides and without the spring clamps.

The main problem to avoid when gluing the fretboard is neck dis-

toron. As the gluing surface is large, you will have to use a lot of

clamps. These are usually heavy, so it is common that the neck is

under stress while the glue dries. A part of the problem can be at-

tributed to the water in the glue (Titebond in this case), but that

must be a much less important factor. In my experience, the bestway to avoid this problem is to let the neck rest on its side while

the glue sets, using idencal clamps placed to the same side.



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Try to ghten the clamps progressively, in several passes, as the

glue makes everything much more slippery, even with the tooth-

picks.

Clean the glue ooze out. Use a wet piece of cloth and then a chi-

sel. Do it very well while wet and aer it has dried: the bindingmust sit on flat and clean surfaces.

Check the two ebony binding strips. One of their sides is flat (the

narrow sides, the ones that should be glued to the neck, not to

the fretboard); the other may or may not be, so beware. They

must be taller than the edge of the fretboard, but not much more

than 1 mm. Scrape them if necessary.

Apply glue to the binding (use preferably Titebond for dark

woods, or add two drops of black water dye to some of your regu-

lar Titebond) and use a length of cord (8 meters/yards should bemore than enough) to clamp the bindings in place, applying a firm

constant pressure.

Don't use adhesive tape here: the cord is much simpler and it

works much beer.

While the glue is sll wet, you can clean some or all the slots with

a small tool that you may find at some lutherie suppliers or at

some hobby shops, or even make yourself (as I did). If you are ca-

reful placing the cord over the frets, you will be able to clean

them all.



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58

Aer the glue is dry, remove the cord and clean the slots again if

necessary.

Before sanding the fretboard, check its straightness with a straigh-

tedge and correct if necessary with a cabinet scraper or sandpa-

per (P80 or P120). Then sand the enre fretboard surface unlyou cannot see any router marks. You may use a radiused sanding

block (12" curvature radius) or a straight wooden block; avoid

using any so backing.

Always watch the ends of the fretboard at the first and last frets: it

is easy to sand them more than necessary. If that happened, it

wouldn't be very noceable now, but it surely would show up

aer the fretboard surface was polished.

Sand the sides of the fretboard so that the transion between the

fretboard and the main body of the neck is smooth. With a pencil,

draw a line along it and locate the center of frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17

and 19. These must be marked with single side dots. Fret #12

must be marked with a double dot.



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Drill the holes (hand drill!) at the points marked, using a 1/16”

(1.5 mm) bit at a depth of around 3 mm (1/8”).

Use superglue for gluing enough length of the white plasc rod.

Aer the glue sets, file them even with the fretboard surface.

Now you will sand and true the bone for the nut. This is the first

step for preparing the gluing of the headplate. The bone is pro-

bably rough now, but it will shine if you sand it following the gra-

des: P220, P360, P600, P800, and P1200. Wrap some tape around

your fingers to aid holding it against the sandpaper; always try tokeep its faces well squared .

Chisel out the ends of the binding strips at the nut.



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60

Sand one of the face-grain edges of the headplate on a flat table

unl you get the same angle as the peghead. This is important, as

you won't make any further adjustments to the nut channel . The

two faces of the nut should fully contact the end of the fretboard

and the end of the faceplate.

Hold everything with strong spring clamps and drill two holes (2

mm). There will be one near the nut; the locaon of the other

hole depends on your design for the headstock, but you cannot be

very wrong if you place it at the upper corner, as shown. Use to-

othpicks as you did when you glued the fretboard.

Note: Most commercial headplates have a width of 3½”. This is not enough for

most archtop headstocks, that are a lile wider, so many makers need to “cut

and paste” peghead material. I have enough stock of 4” wide peghead vene-

ers, and that's what I will supply with the kit.

Before gluing the headplate it is advisable to open the access hole

for the truss rod nut in it. You can do it aer it is glued, but the

wood may get damaged especially where you have to cut along

face grain. I have an easy method for which you will need just a lit-

tle white paint, that you will apply to the corners of the hole, as

shown.



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Plug the veneer into the guiding toothpicks and you will have the

reference of where to cut.

Drill some holes and then work with files and chisels unl you get

the access right.

Now you can glue the headplate, using Titebond. Use a flat block

above it to even up the clamping pressure (some MDF leover

from the mold...?). Don't clamp too strong or you may break the

peghead; it is beer to use many clamps with a moderate pres-

sure at each one. You don't want a lot of glue inside the tunerholes or the truss rod access cavity: use as lile as possible and, as

always, clean the ooze out.



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62

Now it is me to decide your headstock design. It is not easy to

find something really new that doesn't look odd. You have an ob-

vious size limitaon, but there are other concerns; for example, if

you are going to use the same design in the future, think very well

how you will manage to rout the peghead binding channels. Also,

study how you will rout the peghead shape using a template; per-haps it will not be possible if there are, for example, ght curves.

In the end, if you don't want to spend a lot of me working on the

peghead, you will arrive at some simple designs, most of which

have been used already. If that's your decision, I suggest that you

try to refine their proporons unl you make them more personal.

For this guitar, I have chosen a very simple design; if you want to

use it as it is or modify it somehow, you may download it here:

The real dimensions of the rectangle that encloses the drawing

are 140x230 mm.

We'll cut the peghead shape with a coping saw and then refine it

with files and sandpaper. If you print the peghead shape, cut it

and then glue it to the back of the peghead, it will be easier.


www.archtopguitarkits.com/Kits/Peghead_16i.jpg


63/123

I am sure that you will prefer to use some kind of sanding drum

instead of doing it all by hand.

Aer that, use coping saw, chisel, cabinet scraper and sandpaper

to trim the ebony headplate to the peghead shape.

In the future, if you decide to use the same peghead design, you may want to

use a router with a template. Unfortunately (for this operaon), I have cut al-

most the enre peghead shape, and this makes it much more probable that

you get chipping problems where the bit exits the wood. To avoid that, you

may use a spiral bit and a roung guide (these bits are too thin for using them

with bearings). Or, if you use a paern bit, remove as much wood as possible

at the end of the peghead where the bit exits the wood.

Next, drill the tuner holes for the headplate, preferably using a

drill press (10 mm bit). It is very important that you use a backing

for the peghead and press firmly to avoid chipping the ebony . If

you want to reduce even more that danger, don't rely on your

own strength alone: use some kind of clamping between the peg-head and the backing.

Saw off the end of the neck and refine it with sandpaper using a

hard sanding block.



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64

Now you will have to cut the corners at the tenon that the CNC

machine couldn't finish (there are three). Use a chisel and a mallet

and remove the wood gradually as shown in the first two photos.

This is the tenon aer cung the three corners.

Finally, smooth the end corners to around a 1/4” (6.5 mm) curva-

ture radius.



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Before installing the frets, we'll sand and polish the fretboard.

Many makers will polish it aer the frets are installed, probably

because they use some kind of glue for the frets that will mess up

the polished wood. I don't use any glue, and I've never had any

fret liing problems, but you may do as you like: there are many

good sources on the subject of freng and there is not a best me-thod yet.

The fretboard should be already sanded to P80 or P120. Go gra-

dually through the sandpaper grades unl you arrive at P1200, al-

ways using a hard sanding block. Watch the ends of the fretboard

at the first and last frets: it is easy to sand them more than neces-

sary. Finally, polish it to give it a high luster. I use a small coon

buffing wheel on the drill press, without any polishing compound.You may use some kind of wool pad and work manually or even

Micromesh to get the same result.

Clean the fret slots again; compressed air is great, but you can do

it with a brush. The finished fretboard, right before installing the

frets, should look like the picture.

The fretwire in the kit is already curved to match the curved fret-

board surface. In fact, it is curved more than necessary, because

that helps the fret ends to seat beer. Cut each individual fret so

that you have an excess of around 5 mm (3/16”) at both sides.



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The fret ends must fit over the bindings, so you must remove a

small length of the tangs there; there is a great tool for this at

Stewmac, shown at le. If you don't have one, you can sll trim

the tangs with a file.

I like to use a file anyway to remove the small burr le by the tool.

Try to keep as much length of tang as possible, but not so much

that the binding may break or unglue when the fret is seated. This

is correct.



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The most convenonal tool to seat the frets is a nylon or brass

hammer. Hand press the fret at its posion and then pound it with

a few sharp blows, working from the center to both edges. There

must be a wooden block below the pounding area. Work on a

sturdy table, preferably right above one of its legs.

For each fret installed, bend down a lile its ends with the ham-

mer. This will definitely avoid any end gap between the fret and

the fretboard. Don't over bend: the moment that the fret starts to

bend, you know that it has bien the fretboard. Finally, cut the ex-

cess using the end nippers.

If you find problems using the hammer (I don't think so) there are

other alternaves (fret presses) at affordable prices.

Aer all the frets are installed, file their ends with a long metal

file. Do it at a slight angle.

Wring your name on the headstock should be the next step. This

can be done in many ways; I use mostly inlaid mother-of-pearl,

CNC cut.



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68

I did that manually in the past; I used (sll use) 1.5 mm thick pearl,

and cut it with a jeweler's saw. Then I traced the contour of the

sawn pieces on the headstock and used a small bit in a small rou-

ter (Dremel) to open the cavity. Finally, I glued the pearl in the ca-

vity with a glue capable of filling the voids (I sll prefer pigmented

superglue instead of epoxy). I agree that this is an incomplete des-cripon: whatever I could say in a reasonable amount of space

would be incomplete, and you would like to consult other sources

anyway. Sll, if you don't feel confident, you may use a white-ink

pen for signing the headstock – if you do it well, it can be very at-

tracve.

The cabinet scraper is the best tool for removing the CNC machi-

ning marks. When you don't see them anymore, sand the neck

with P120, P180 and P220.

Use a half-round file for shaping the small area at the pegheadthat the router could not reach.

Aer all these operaons, this is the way the neck should look:



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By Main Assembly, I mean closing the soundbox. It is not uncommon to have some problems aer

doing this; typically, irregular or not quite vercal sides. Hopefully the mold design, with its unusua

magnets, will help you avoid these problems.

Step 6: Main Assemb

6


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70

Tools and Supplies

Archtop guitars are difficult to assemble because of the arching it-

self. You'll need to make a flat base like this, using MDF:

Noce that it is a lile bigger than the outline of the guitar. I re-

commend that you make it without a cutaway, as shown. The legs

(the three rectangles inside it) raise the plate about 2 inches (50

mm).

My main flat base has a cutaway, but it would be beer without it.

It can be used for guitars up to 18 inches. Instead of three it has

two legs, glued and screwed, but is equivalent to what I have ex-

plained.

Step 6 - Main Assembly


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I used a different flat base for the photos that follow, shown at

right. Despite the holes, it is the same idea.

Apart from that, you must also have four wooden blocks to be

used as legs to raise the mold around 2 inches (50 mm).

You will need as many clamps as you have (plus two more), a ma-

chinist square, a calibrated ruler and a pencil. Also chisels, cabinet

scraper and saws, as always.


Wiring guides, #47

Jack, #45, and Jack reinforcing plate, #46

Back, top and sides

Glue

Thread Adhesive tape

7Step 6 - Main Assembly


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72

Procedure

The width of the neck where it joins the soundbox (14th fret) is 55

mm. Thus, its mid line is at 27.5 mm (1.08") from the wall of the

cutaway, as it was menoned when we carved the back plate.

Trace it, if not already traced, using a machinist square.

Place the flat plate on the table, and then the mold with the sides

inside. Place the magnets and a wooden sck of 389 mm (15.31")

to press the end blocks apart.

Align the back using the line that you have traced and the middle

lines of the sides and back at both ends. Watch the inside oen,

especially if you have carved the back very close to the end blocks.

When sasfied, clamp the back temporarily.

Glue a few stop pieces like these around the back, using super-

glue.



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For gluing them, I use a base (a cabinet scraper) with which I push

the pieces up against the back; on top of the scraper there is a

small wooden sck that I use to push them against the side. Be ca-

reful to glue the pieces only to the back .

This is the back with the glued stop pieces.

Now you can glue the back (Titebond). Use glue very sparingly, to

avoid excessive ooze out.

If you use small wooden blocks under the clamps, you won't need

as many. I have used a connuous block around the contour of theback, that is faster to set than individual lengths. It is more diffi-

cult to make, however.

Noce that there are a couple of clamps out of the connuous

block, pressing directly upon the back. These are necessary to

guarantee good gluing pressure at the neckblock and tailblock

areas.

When the glue is dry, extract the sides from the mold and clean

the glue excess with a chisel. If the amount of glue was right, you

shouldn't clean much more than what's shown in the picture.Learn as much as you can now: when you glue the top, you won't

be able to clean the excess.



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74

Aer removing the stop pieces you'll have to trim the overhang

from the back plate. If you don't have a roung table or a similar

jig, then I recommend that you remove the overhang using manual

tools.

Don't leave this step for later: if you do, you will not be able to re-move the soundbox from the mold aer gluing the top!

A roung table has a router below, with its bit protruding through

it. The soundbox is kept parallel to the table by means of three

"legs" (modified spool clamps) that can be adjusted to any sound-

box depth. They keep the guitar above the table at a height a lile

higher than the maximum arching of the plates.

I use a long Flush Trim bit (bearing above the cuers). It cuts the

overhang fast and cleanly.

If you use a roung table, you will have to take into account two

very important things.

The first is safety: the bit is exposed, so take every conceivable pre-

cauon, including a hood for it (that I don't use, but I should).

The second is tear-out. As you know, hand held routers must be

fed against the piece ("convenonal cung"). This is safe for you,

but not as much for the piece, that may suffer tear-out. The sim-

plest way to avoid this is to not let the bit reach full depth at first

at the problem areas, while sll keeping the convenonal cung

direcon. Don't use old/bad quality bits either.



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This may not always avoid tear-out, especially with spruce tops,

that show lile cohesion parallel to the grain. It will be more effec-

ve if you manually remove as much wood as you can from the

areas marked "!":

The diagram represents the guitar on the roung table, as seen

from above while roung the back. Noce that he rotaon of thebit is anclockwise, as corresponds to a router that is upside

down.

If you want to avoid any possibility of tear-out, follow the feed di-

recons given by the arrows. Rout first the "!" (climb cung)

areas, but be extremely alert and prudent: climb cung is not safe

for the operator . If you feel uncomfortable doing this, try the al-

ternaves explained above; at least, I don't think that you have

problems now with the maple back.



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76

Glue the wiring guides at the places shown, using superglue. Pass

a thread through them and e and tape the end securely near the

pickup area. This thread will be used to pass the wiring through

the guides; if you don't tape it well, it may become extremely dan-

gerous if caught while roung the binding or buffing the finish.

Shape and glue (Titebond) the jack reinforcement plate. Noce

that it is a laminate of two veneers with their grains at right an-

gles. Glue it so that the grains of the three laminaons involved

(the side and the two laminaons of the plate) alternate direc-

ons. Drill a hole in it for the jack. Don't use a bit of the final dia-

meter; instead, use a smaller bit and finish the hole with a circularfile or a reamer.

Preparing the top for gluing will be a lile more complicated. The

first thing to do will be to measure the length of the neck exten-

sion. It must be around 91 mm (3.58"), but it may vary, perhaps

because you sanded the neck end differently.

Draw the mid lines inside the neckblock and at the edge of the

top, as shown.



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Align the midlines at both ends of the instrument and adjust the

distance from the edge of the pickup hole to the outer surface of

the sides. It should be the length of the extension that we found

plus 5 mm (3/16"). In this case, around 96 mm.

Glue a stop piece, as we did before for the back, to freeze the co-

rrect locaon of the top relave to the sides.

Make a stack as you did for the back, but this me don't use the

flat base. Instead, put some wooden blocks under the mold so

that the back doesn't touch the table. Insert the sides in the mold

again, with the magnets.

Align the top again and glue the stop pieces around it, as you did

for the back. Before closing the box, be sure to sign the top and/or

glue a label to the back (usually visible through the bass-side f-

hole).

The magnets must be in place, but this me don't use the wooden

sck from block to block.



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78

Glue the top the same way as the back. This me you don't have a

flat base below, so you´ll have to find a way of not marring the

back, especially with the two clamps that press directly on the

soundbox. Noce that I have used again the "connuous block".

When the glue has dried, remove the clamps and the end bolt of the mold. Aer that, you will be able to extract the soundbox

quite easily. Recover the magnets through the f-holes.

Follow the direcons given above for roung the plate overhang,

now for the top. This is the new feed diagram:



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It is very important that the sides are true. Work with a scraper

and sandpaper unl you feel (touch them with your eyes closed)

that they are smooth and regular.

Remove the side wood at the body morse. Be very careful with

the edges of the top, especially at the bass side. Remove also the

excess at the cutaway side. Finally, use the roung table to re-

move the top overhang inside the morse.

Use a fine-toothed file to finish the cut areas.

If you join the neck now (don't insert it fully though), you'll see a

guitar emerge for the first me. Noce that the tenon is slightly

narrower than necessary, so you'll probably need to shim it.



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80


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Far from being a purely cosmec add-on, the binding has a purpose protecng the edge of the

soundbox from small dents. This is more probable if the top, as usual, is made of a so wood such

as spruce. Unfortunately, binding a guitar is not easy, even less an archtop.

Tuning the soundbox is one of the most ethereal steps at making a guitar. You'll find makers favorin

a lot of different techniques, leading to different final graduaons. Each one has a concept of how

carved plate should be and work and, given the great results of so many personal approaches, I

don't believe that there is a magical "best" method for this.

Step 7: Binding & Tuning the Soundbo

8


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82

Tools and Supplies

Opening a channel for the binding in an archtop guitar is more dif-

ficult due to the greater arching of the plates. There are several

methods for doing this correctly, usually involving the use of a rou-

ter that slides on a vercal support while the guitar is kept hori-zontal by means of some kind of adjustable carriage. These

machines are quite popular now, and you may purchase one of

them at some lutherie suppliers. However, you can use a roung

table with similar results, provided that it is big enough for the job.

Addionally, you may use it for other tasks, as explained in the

previous chapters.

As for the cuer, you'll see me use the one from Luthier's Mercan-

le, which comes with many different bearings (Stewmac sells a si-

milar one) . If you are going to rout just the top and back of this

guitar, there is a simpler soluon using a ½” flush trim bit, forexample the CMT 806.128.11. It has a diameter of 1/2" and a cut-

ng length of 1/2". If you replace its bearing (3/16" inner diame-

ter, 1/2" outer) with one of 3/16" ID and 3/8" OD, you'll rout a

1/16" channel which is perfect for the 0.060" binding that I supply

with the kit. Small diameter bits like this are great for this, as they

limit the damage if you don't keep the guitar horizontal above the

table (see the following secon).

Inch bits are harder to find in some countries. If you have problems, you may

use the CMT metric bit 906.190.11 instead, substung its 19mm OD bearing

for a 16 mm OD with similar results.

Apart from this, you will need chisels, sandpaper, cabinet scrapers

and a small finger plane in case you have one. Nothing new at this

phase of the project.


Binding, #9

Closed soundbox

Glue (read the discussion below)

Tape

Sandpaper (P80, P120, P180 and P220)

At the end of this secon you will find the procedure for drilling

the hole for aaching the tailpiece bolt. The necessary tools and

supplies are explained there.

Step 7 - Binding and Tuning the Soundbox


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Procedure

As I said before, I use the Binding Cuer/Bearing kit from Luthier's

Mercanle, using the correct bearing for the supplied binding: the

kit, unless noted, has .060" (1.5 mm) thick binding.

The guitar is kept horizontal above the table using the same sup-

ports("legs") that we used for roung the top and back overhang,

except that here we will use only two. The third support will be

the ring that surrounds the router bit. Obviously, you will have to

move the legs as you progress roung the contour. Do it so that

the surface of the triangle defined by the two legs plus the ring is

as big as possible.

The cuers must project around 6 mm above the surface of the

ring (a lile less than 1/4"). I personally don't find it necessary to

climb cut to avoid tear out, even in spruce, but take your precau-ons, as explained in the previous chapter.

I rout the enre contour changing three mes the posion of the

legs. When you do this, the channel may show a small step if

there is some error in your tool, for example, the legs not having

the same height, the table not being flat or something similar.

Given that the third support is the ring itself, these discrepancies

have a very limited effect, and you will surely remove them with a

second pass of the router. Don't disregard these small errors: they

are the difference between first and second-class jobs.

You have several alternaves for gluing the plasc binding. Weld-

on 16 must the most common these days, but you may use UHU

Hart (similar to Duco). If you use cyanochrylate (super glue), be

warned that it is not as easy to use as the slower glues. With it,

glue lines will be visible most mes, and purfling lines won't be as

sharp and uniform as if you use a solvent-based glue.

I will use another alternave: plasc (from the same bindings, for

example) dissolved in acetone unl it has the consistency of glue.

Even if you use some other thing, you should have some of this

mixture to join white bindings, as you can get completely invisibleglue lines. If you make a 50/50 mixture of UHU hart and this plas-

c soluon, you'll get the (for me) best glue for gluing white bin-

dings.

8Step 7 - Binding & Tuning the Soundbox


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Use tape for holding the bindings in place while the glue sets. Use

a strong one, for example filament tape. Press it against the side,

pull strong and then press it against the top or back.

Use a good amount of glue, and clean the excess thoroughly be-

fore taping the binding in place.

The bindings are long enough to avoid using a joint at the tail.

When you arrive at a curved area like the waist or the inside of the

cutaway, work the binding with your fingers unl it has the correct

curvature, as shown. You may be tempted to use a heat gun to sof-ten the plasc, but I don't recommend it: it is very ea

16 archtop guitar build

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