Portland Guitar Co.

( 125 ) 18-OCT-2015

I am going to route out the heel channel in the rim. Here I have mounted the rim to this router template.

( 126 ) 18-OCT-2015

I will route the channel 1 " deep.

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The channel has the same profile as the shape of the neck. The neck will be framed by binding to hide the gap.

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Here I am drilling the holes for the adjustment and attachment hardware in the heel channel.

( 132 ) 18-OCT-2015

Two 1/x20 wood inserts in the face of the channel for yaw control, and one 1/4x20 wood insert from the rear for the angle adjustment.

( 133 ) 18-OCT-2015

The set screws and bolts are accessed from the rear of the heel plate.

( 134 ) 18-OCT-2015

Next I have carefully cut out the the rear access plate from the end of the guitar.

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I am gluing in a maple frame to fill the kerf.

( 137 ) 18-OCT-2015

And then a back stop for the hole plate.

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Now I mount a brace blank on the shaping template.

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And I use the template to shape the blank. I set the platen on an angle to limit the loading on the sand paper.

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It will be a perfect fit.

( 142 ) 18-OCT-2015

I next used the table saw to dimension the thickness the of the brace.

( 143 ) 18-OCT-2015

I used the belt sander among other things to shape the braces.

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Now I lay out the shape of the rim on the back plate.

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And cut it out with the bandsaw. I leave a 1/4 inch guard excess around the perimeter.

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Placing the bracing.

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And checking to make sure everything fits.

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To glue the braces in place I use a go-box.

( 152 ) 18-OCT-2015

Flexible rods push in just the right places.

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Here I am trimming off a piece of Honduran Mahogany for the neck blanks.

( 156 ) 18-OCT-2015

Carefully laid out and cut wit the band saw.

( 157 ) 18-OCT-2015

I get two blanks from each piece of wood.

( 158 ) 18-OCT-2015

I first trim the headstock so the platen for the fretboard is the right length.

( 159 ) 18-OCT-2015

The Miter Saw trims the end of the heel.

( 160 ) 18-OCT-2015

To create the heel I mount the neck blank in the template fixture.

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And I use the router table to trim the sides.

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I drill a channel and install a barrel bolt in the heel. This will be used to hold the neck to the body.

( 165 ) 18-OCT-2015

I also use the router table to route a channel for the double action truss rod.

( 166 ) 18-OCT-2015

Perfect fit.

( 167 ) 18-OCT-2015

Here I am gluing a Red and Blue layer of maple veneer together for the rosette.

( 168 ) 18-OCT-2015

I use my CNC router to create the rosette.

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The Go-box is used to glue the rosette into the top plate.

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