Clear Stream Fine Woodworking (CSFW)

Work on 12/13/08 and 12/14/08 With the finish polished to it’s final gloss it was finally time to bring the guitar to life by adding the bridge, saddle, nut, tuners and strings… Oh yeah, can’t forget a pretty label. Immediately after polishing I roughened up the area that was masked off previously for the bridge with some 80 grit sandpaper.  Two bridge pins will be used to index the bridge while being glued to the soundboard. The … Read entire article »

Work from 12/5/08 through 12/13/08 Time for the stuff that really gives a project life and can cause hours of aggravation: the finish.  There are two major options for finishing a wood guitar: a clear film finish (traditionally varnish or lacquer) or oil.  Oil finishes are super easy to apply.  You just wipe on 10-12 coats of oil, letting it dry overnight between coats.  The surface of the wood has to be perfect though because the … Read entire article »

Work from 11/25/08 through 12/6/2008 The sole purpose of the headstock is really just to hold the tuning machines.  It’s never flat with the fingerboard but angled at about 10 degrees so that the strings exert some pressure on the nut.  It can be virtually any size and shape.  Most built it with a fairly simple Martin or Gisbon style head shape.  I really liked the headstock designs of Tom Doerr in Florida who I got … Read entire article »

Work from 11/11/08 through 12/4/08 The neck of a guitar is a pretty unique little piece of engineering.  About a quarter of the build time of the entire guitar went into some portion of the neck/headstock.  The neck has to be thick enough to withstand the stresses from the strings and not twist or bend.  Yet it has to be thin enough to be comfortable to play.  The neck also transmits some of the sound energy … Read entire article »