First Class

Initial Thoughts
Tonight was the initial class.  The first half was spent on an orientation to Edward's shop and teaching

process.  From there we started talking about design issues and the role of materials - wood - in affecting a design.  We discussed some of the physical qualities of wood - it's response to moisture, tension and vibration and the importance of how wood is cut.  Guitar woods need to have straight, continuous grain, so boards are almost always quarter saw (here are some nice images of a quarter sawn log).

The art of building a guitar is to bring the materials together in a design that is just strong enough to resist the tension of the strings (up to 150 lbs/psi for a steel string guitar) without falling apart.

For me, on this project, the other design key is size.  The OM guitar that I'm starting on has a smaller body than a dreadnought, emphasizing the treble and less bass and making it more appropriate for finger picking.  I'm hoping that the walnut also helps to bring out a strong voice for the treble while still providing a solid bass.

Materials

Here is a preview of the woods that I am using for this class.  The top is Engelmann Spruce which has consistent color and grain.  For the back and sides I am using Peruvian Walnut which is a relatively inexpensive tone wood with consistent grain and should bend easily.  I'm also hoping to get strong treble tones from it.

The bindings will be Koa, although I debated using some darker Rosewood to get more contrast with the top.  Spalted maple will be the basis of the soundhole rosette.

Top, back and Side Layout
Layout began with tracing the provided template onto the back and top.  The template is registered off the center to ensure that the jointed seam in both the top and bottom becomes the center of the top and side pieces.

Here are the back and top with the OM shape drawn onto them.  These were then rough cut on the bandsaw.

First cuts made and it already looks like a guitar.

Next the sides needed to be laid out.  The trick is to understand which end will go where (butt or neck) and to preserve the bookmatched grain.  The sides are marked up as shown in the diagram below.

The pieces are then taped together with the butt ends and neck ends together so that a single template can then be laid across both.  Key is to making sure the top edge is kept together.  This edge will match to the top of the guitar in one of the few right angles in the project.

Once laid out these pieces are also cut to depth following the curve of the template.  The initial pieces are now all roughed out


Next week we will be working on cutting out the rosette for the soundhole and preparing to bend the sides.  Homework this week is to figure out the sizing and location of the rosette in relationship to the soundhole, which has a diameter of 3.75 inches.