Portland Guitar Co.

( 230 ) 31-Jan-2014

The heel cap is made out of Ebony.

( 231 ) 31-Jan-2014

I glue it on a little oversized and then sand it into shape.

( 232 ) 31-Jan-2014

The nut side of the slots gets tapered with a sanding bar.

( 233 ) 31-Jan-2014

This allows free movement of the stings.

( 234 ) 31-Jan-2014

I used the CNC Router to make the channel for the headstock inlay.

( 235 ) 31-Jan-2014

The business end of the router with a tiny little router bit.

( 236 ) 31-Jan-2014

A nice accurate/precise channel.

( 237 ) 31-Jan-2014

Here is the set of tools I use to inlay the gold wire that makes the Portland Guitar Rose.

( 238 ) 31-Jan-2014

I leave the wire a little proud...

( 239 ) 31-Jan-2014

and sand it level with the surface.

( 240 ) 31-Jan-2014

After filling the pores in the wood with epoxy all the surfaces get leveled and it is ready to get the finishing lacquer. I use a water bourne polyurethane. I spray it on with lots of very thin layers. When the finish has cured I polish it with a progressively finer set of sanding pads. This whole process takes about two weeks. The balloon in the sound hole keeps the spray out of the insides.

( 241 ) 31-Jan-2014

While the finish on the guitar cures... the longer the better... I start work on the bridge. Here I am using the milling machine to rough out the bridge blank.

( 242 ) 31-Jan-2014

Drilling the holes for the strings.

( 243 ) 31-Jan-2014

And a little complimentary inlay just because.

( 244 ) 31-Jan-2014

The bridge I am using is a split saddle design that allows each string to be individually intonated. Each individual saddle can be moved forward and backward until the intonation is acceptable. Here I am working on the saddle blank.

( 245 ) 31-Jan-2014

The saddles are moved in a saddle channel.

( 246 ) 31-Jan-2014

The saddles are held in place with a T-slot so they won't move when the strings are being changed.

( 247 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 248 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 249 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 250 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 251 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 252 ) 31-Jan-2014

The bridge is placed on the top of the newly lacquered guitar and held in place with a long C-clamp.

( 253 ) 31-Jan-2014

I make sure it is in the right spot.

( 254 ) 31-Jan-2014

To make a good glue joint, the lacquer on the top, where the bridge is to go, needs to be removed. I start by scribing a line around the perimeter.

( 255 ) 31-Jan-2014

And then scrape and sand away the lacquer.

( 256 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 257 ) 31-Jan-2014

A bit of glue goes on the bottom of the bridge.

( 258 ) 31-Jan-2014

And it is glued in place with the aid of this bridge caul.

( 259 ) 31-Jan-2014

A little bit of squeeze out means I used just the right amount of glue.

( 260 ) 31-Jan-2014

I clean it up with a bit of water and a brush.

( 261 ) 31-Jan-2014

And I let it set up over night.

( 262 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 263 ) 31-Jan-2014

After a cup of coffee in the morning.

( 264 ) 31-Jan-2014

Setting up the bone nut.

( 265 ) 31-Jan-2014

The first string gets installed.

( 266 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 267 ) 31-Jan-2014

After a little fiddling around all the strings get installed.

( 268 ) 31-Jan-2014

I adjust the intonation by moving the saddles in their T-slots.

( 269 ) 31-Jan-2014

The string slots are adjusted to set the action at the nut.

( 270 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 271 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 272 ) 31-Jan-2014

( 273 ) 31-Jan-2014