there is no more useful tool than a razor blade. someday, if anyone ever cares, i will be known as the crazy guy in texas who builds guitars with razor blades. i haven’t been slacking off on my guitar building project as much as one might think. my biggest challenge right now is that things are in the stage where once they get rolling, they need to get done. that is to say, once the braces are glued to the top and back, the body needs to be assembled with due haste.
this is all speaking from the vast experience of never having constructed a guitar.
a week or so ago, i traced out the bracing pattern on the soundboard. then the x-braces were carved. well, some of them were carved. today i invested about 3 hours in carving them up, making sure that the tonebars and assorted braces will fit once they are glued up. then the x-braces were glued.
now, i’m not norm. my house is not made of clamps. that means that the bracing needs to be glued up over time. not idea, but it’ll get done. with the x-braces down tonight, i can put down the tone bars tomorrow night and by tuesday, i will be able to fit the bridge plate. this is all good stuff.
something that i’m learning (note that i haven’t learned it yet) is that enjoying a project like this is more about relishing the process than it is anticipating the product. and the process is beautiful. there are few things as meditative as woodworking. carving, sanding, slowly removing material. there’s time to focus in there. the mind needn’t be absolutely engaged in the process. it can wander and in the time that exists between thinking tasks a lot can be processed. maybe we were happier people when we had to do things for ourselves rather than simply running to the store and picking up a new chair or a frozen dinner. i’m not saying everyone should run out and build a guitar, but i know a lot of people who might be happier if the did something that produced a physical outcome with their time as opposed to anesthetizing themselves with instant entertainment.
anyway, today’s progress in pictures.
carved x-braces
clamped up x-braces
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