Acquiring some new woods

20160923
Some new wood for me.
Kingwood and Premium IRW

IRW

Kingwood

Shaping the heel

20160909
I glued the heel to the neck.
Next will be rough shaping the heel.

Preparing to glue the heel to neck

Glued

20160916
I worked on the heel further.
Now it's shaped quite nicely but not yet sanded.

Shaping the slope of the heel with a plane

Shape the main bevel of the heel

At the heel cap region

Side profile done

Front profile also done.

Bending the sides

20160908
I bent the maple sides.
First time I bending maple, rosewood sides are much easier to bend.
The maple tend to want to crack alone the flame direction.
Luckily I am using hand to bent so I can stop before the crack gets too big.
I suspect the heat gun is not hot enough for maple.
Anyway I manage to complete both sides.
The fit is not perfect but I will adjust the curvature before assembly

Bend at the waist checking against the mold.

Upper bout done

Lower bout done.

Cut to length

Clamp to fit the mold.

After correction now it fits the mold nicely without the use of clamps

Continuing making the rosette

20160907
After seeing a reminder of my rosette on FB memories, I decide to continue the making of the elaborate rosette of my #4.
I am finished with the 2nd ring of lozengers.
Next will be the inner tiles.

2nd ring done.

Prepare for finishing

20160805
I began my preparation for finishing process which is essentially sanding.
My top was quite dirty from all the dust and so I have to sand quite a bit.
Also I need to adjust some of the mode's frequency, especially long dipole down a bit.
After sanding the top looks quite good.

After sanding the top.

A closer look at the sanded top.

20160907
I sanded the back and sides thru the various grits of sandpaper.
They emit a smooth dull sheen after the sanding.
Some parts I will need to sand more to even out the surface.
For finishing the surface preparation is the key.

You can see the glow here

A closer look at the surface