Blast from 2011 - Luthier Attempt

Glenn Thompson

• 3 min read
Blast from 2011 - Luthier Attempt

Here is another Blast from the Past. This is probably my most dark time as a woodworker. I was feeling as if I knew a decent amount about woodworking which really means I knew that I didn't know much.

I took a class at our local Woodcraft store (no, I wasn't working there yet) to make a guitar from a kit. It was fun so I, of course, thought making one from scratch would be a blast. I researched it (internet and actual books) and felt I could tackle it. I started the project and got all the pieces ready (sides thicknessed and bent, back and top thicknessed and braced. When I assembled the top and bottom, everything shifted. I was heart broken. I put it aside and didn't really do any woodworking for a year or so. I decided to try again so more wood (for 2 more guitars - yes, glutton for punishment) and these went much better. After finishing those 2 guitars, I decided - heck, I can fix the first one...so I did. This period was about 3 years. I came out of it stronger but it was very frustrating.

Guitar 2 (after the failure)
Getting the binding and purfling ready
Prepping for glue up
Gluing on the binding and purfling
Results of glue up
Glue up of Guitar 3 - this one has a cutout
This is a jig to cut the dovetail joint for the neck and body
Test cut
Neck prep
Mortise cut out for the neck
All 3 guitar bodies ready for necks
Neck tenon and bolts prepped
Dry fit
Bolted necks
Binding for fret board
Binding glued to fret board
Finished fret board
Getting ready for glue up of fret board
Necks clamped and glued
Applying inlays to the neck
Top inlays applied
Finished applied
French polishing the bodies (time consuming)
Setting Bridge
Bridges all done
Fret installation
More hardware
Guitars Finished

I did label them and 2 of them are in the wild somewhere. I still have one which Xander has claimed to take someday.