...And the Spraying Begins

We are just over the halfway point of the second semester, and the instruments are really looking fine. As I'm sure I mentioned in my last post, the progress of all these instruments is all over the place. Most people are done, or getting close to being done with the instrument bodies and are working to finish their necks. Currently, there are two students in the process of spraying finish and more getting ready!

Our group as a whole seems to be cutting and installing inlays with a lot of enthusiasm. Pearl and abalone birds, roses, and trees are really taking shape on headstocks and fingerboards. It is cool to see the instruments get a refined look to them just by adding a bit of pearl.

In archtop class, things are just as spread out. Some guitars are getting close to being sprayed, which seems to be way ahead of the game for this early in the year, while we violin builders prepare to start the carve of the scroll! I can honestly say I have learned to use my hand tools 100% more efficiently after this class--which is great!

The CNC machine is often running, along with the constant hum of the router; these projects are really going fast!

Getting close to Valentine's Day--Did I mention we love our instruments?

In room 401, guitars are starting to take shape for the second year students. This semester, we have a wide array of guitars being built, from a neck-thru electric to a baritone acoustic guitar.

The electric guitars seem to be all over the place as far as how complete each is. A student building a "SG" style guitar just finished gluing on the neck to the body, while a couple others are just starting the neck. This all seems to depend on how simple or extreme the design is. A common theme among carved top builders seems to be carving the top on the CNC machine. One text run has been done so far, and it turned out great!

On the other hand, the acoustic builders seem to be in pretty close pace with each other. Most have been starting to glue on kerfing, some even gluing the box together. It is amazing to see how large (baritone) or how small (ukulele) some instruments are!

Regardless of the type, all instruments are being constructed carefully and with a well thought-out plan.

Luke

Spring Semester 2011

It's week two of the first spring semester in the Guitar Development and Production program. Our current classes include Advanced Guitar Construction, Advanced Inlay and Archtop (in which we continue the instrument we started last semester).

In our Advanced Guitar Construction classes, we are building the instruments that we previously made templates and molds for in CAD/CNC class last November and December. We have 16 weeks to complete the instrument we designed and are graded according to our weekly progress and the overall build. This class focuses on building a guitar from the ground up, while paying close attention to how much time each step will take and consequently, the whole process.

In our new Inlay class, we will all be aiming our sights on completing a number custom inlay projects both by hand and on the CNC machine. This two credit class will be a great door opener to the intricate world of inlays.

Things are being picked up where they were left off before our winter break. A lot of the guitar and mandolin builders have the final arches done with f-holes in and are getting ready to glue the box together. Those who are constructing an instrument with margins (violins/a few mandolins) are mostly finishing up final top arches--after having scraped down purfling.

-Luke

The Final Day of the First Semester!

Well it's the last day of the first semester at Southeast Technical and everyone is getting ready for a well--deserved break--whether or not people give working on guitars a break is up in the air....

For the past few weeks the second year students have been hard at work finishing up projects to turn in and finish this week. Whether trying to quick string-up an acoustic or buff out a finish repair in Adv. Repair, or finish an arch or put in purfling in Archtop, things have been getting down to the wire.

In CAD/CNC, we have cut out all necessary templates, bending molds, and outside molds. To finish up the class we all have been working on a "second project", which could be anything from a 3-d model of a carved-top to a blueprint of a six-string neck-thru bass.

To say room 317 is busy on Wednesday nights would be an understatment. We've all been hard at work trying to buff out eight project boards to an EXTREME shine with absolutely no scratches--and stuff is flyin'!

To wrap it up, this first semester of the very first year of Guitar Development and Production has been full of new and exciting work. We've gone from being "cnc-illiterate" to being able to cut out a fully functional fingerboard with a 16" radius and the correct slot depths. Let's not forget about a UV finish that can be sprayed and buffed the same day it the wood was prep-sanded! Just three weeks and we're on to the final semester to create some nice instruments!

Luke

As the End of Semester 1 Approaches...

As we near Turkey Day next week, I think it really started to hit a few of us that we really only have a few more weeks until Christmas break and, ultimately the end of the 1st semester. If there is one thing that is said often at Southeast Tech it would have to be: "Wow, it went by so fast!"

In both Advanced Repair and Advanced Finishing classes things are really starting to get serious. With only a few weeks left, we've got A LOT of buffing to do, aiming to get that "Colling's" buff, as Brian says, on each project board. As far as repairs go--there's just A LOT of guitars that need repairing out there!

In CAD/CNC, the router is constantly running and making that high-pitched buzz we've all grown so accustomed to (whether in Second Year or not, to be sure!) as templates and outside molds are cut out.

Finally, in archtop class, things are sort of all over the place...as expected when there are violins, mandolins, and archtop guitars being built all in one room. Final arches are being planed and scraped, margins are being trimmed and corners cut, and things just keep picking up as we near the half-way point in our build.

-Luke

First week of November

A lot has been going on in the Guitar Development & Production program this past month. One worthy note: we're officially halfway through the semester and it really doesn't seem like things are going to lose momentum.

In repairs class, besides doing the normal and, believe me, random repair projects, we've started to hand-bend guitar sides. This used to be the way the students used to bend them, before we had bending blankets and bending molds. Here is an example of a bridge plate that was made smaller than the bridge and the pressure of the strings forced the top to bend up and crack it.

In CAD/CNC we are all starting to, or already have, cut out our templates, bending molds, etc. Turns out, a CNC machine can be pretty loud!

Wood chips are flying down in the violin room on Tuesday and Thursday nights as most of us are in the process of rough arching our archtops, mandolins, or violins. After being rough arched, or anyone putting a margin on their instrument instead of binding, it is "spot" glued, or temporarily glued, together. It is not even close to being ready to do the final gluing, but it still is really cool to see the instrument come together as a whole.


Finally, in Advanced Finishing class, we have found the true potential of UV Finishes. Since they have such a high solids content, a project can be sprayed in as little as two coats, cured, and ready to be buffed in only a matter of hours! I would take a picture of the process but I think my camera might blow up!  Maybe not, but since the UV light is so powerful we have to cover every part of our body and wear gloves and UV-special masks.

-Luke

Things are on the way...

It's the start of October and things are really getting interesting in the second year guitar program.

In advanced repairs, we have all been doing a number of different repairs--whether a bridge re-glue, neck reset, fret job, or even a headstock crack. Things are getting exciting as we all work to expand our knowledge of guitar repairs.

In CAD/CNC, we have finally begun tinkering around with the actual CNC machine. I have no doubt that soon we will be cutting out molds and templates. One thing's for sure: that machine is really going to get broken in during the next few months!

Come Wednesday, we will be spraying and curing a UV conversion finish in advanced finish work--which is sure to be cool. Also, we start to venture deep into the world of finish repairs such as drop fills, color touch ups, burn-ins and practicing grain lines.

Instruments are starting to take shape in arch top class. Most are finishing up bending and gluing ribs to blocks and we start working on gluing kerfing/linings in.