I couldn't take it anymore......

Well I couldn't take it anymore. I still have no plans in hand for my SJ but I have decided that I am going to go ahead and get started without them. I figure I have some things I can do that are things that would need to be done no matter what the guitar design is. Today was plate jointing day. First, I took the top plates, figures which way was book matched, (you wouldn't think that would be hard, but it was a little difficult to figure out!) and then clamped them down to my table saw to sand the edges. It took a bit of work getting a nice tight joint but I finally got it. Once that was done, I decided to go ahead and joint the backs as well. This took a little more work. First, I had to decide which way I wanted to match them up. Since I had sap wood on both edges, I had the option to go with a book match, or a reverse book match. After a bit of back and forth, I decided to go with the book match simply because the sap wood goes from end to end. Actually I liked the look of the opposite book match, but because one edge had the sapwood taper off, I just couldn't bring myself to do it that way. So once that was decided, looked at the edges and realized they were curved and very ragged. Instead of sanding until my arms fell off, I decided to try and cleaned the edges up a bit with my table saw. I first taped them together and ran them both through together only taking just enough off to clean the ragged edge, and make it straight. Then I looked at them and realized that one side had the sapwood just a little wider than the other. I took the wider piece and slowly trimmed the edge with my table saw until both sides were equal in size which will give it more of a mirror appearance. Once that was done, I clamped them down and sanded the edges until I had a nice light free tight joint.

Then I set up my plate joint gluing jig and glued up the top plates together. I want to wait until tomorrow before I remove the top from the jig to make sure I have good tight joint. I will then do the backs. I will also get started on making the neck blank since this is a fairly universal thing that can be made without the plans in hand.

One thing I have not mentioned is that I have taken a renewed interest in learning how to play. I tried half heatedly just after the beginning of the year, however I got easily frustrated and gave up. I don't know what got me going, but I decided a little over a week ago that I needed to buckle down and try to learn in earnest. So since last Wednesday I have taken a minimum of 1 hour per evening to start learning. I am in no way a player yet, but I have finally figured out how to finger a G and C chord cleanly and have learned how to play a few simple songs such as Ode to Joy. I am having a lot of fun and my fingers are starting to feel better too! They were pretty sore there for a few days! I have had a pretty big change in my attitude in learning after reading a lot of posts from beginners my age and older who are very reassuring that what I am going through is very normal, and playing the guitar is a very hard thing to learn. I have taken the attitude that it will be hard, there will be days when things just aren't going right, and that it will take a long time to get good. That is okay though, and with the new attitude, I am enjoying the journey instead of getting upset that I am not 'there yet'. I keep hearing that at some point, the muscle memory will kick in and fretting chords will become automatic. I sure hope so because I am having a very hard time going from G to C and back. I keep trying but I have to stop, fret, adjust, and strum. Then I have to stop, fret, adjust, and strum again with the new chord. There is no rythm involved, unless you consider a whole rest or two inbetween chord changes rythm! I have stopped trying to learn new chords until I get these two down so I can somewhat comfortably switch back and forth between the two. I figure once I have that figured out, then I should try to add a new chord to the mix. So far I am picking up into the 3rd string. It sounds like baby steps to all you players out there but for me this is a big deal.

On a final note, since I ordered a thickness sander, I was forced to get a dust collector for my shop. A drum sander will not work without dust collection so my arm was twisted. Really, I needed to get one anyways I have just been putting it off. I did a lot of searching and finally found a really good deal on a Delta 1 1/2 hp 1200cfm unit through Amazon. They must be having some kind of sale now trying to clear some inventory because I was able to get the collector for $184.00 and the best price I could find it online was over $350.00 Although I really don't like spending the money on something like this, it is something I really should have done a long time ago. I know the dust I have been breathing can't be good for me so this will go a long way in helping me clear the air. I am toying with the idea of getting an air filtration system too. Grizzly has a nice one on sale this summer that would do exactly what I need. I have a friend who has the same unit and he loves it. I have spent a lot of un-planned money over the last three weeks so I am going to hold off a little, but I don't think it will be too long before I break down and order one.

On a final note, all you kitguitarbuilder forum readers out there, make sure you read Bills post about the book he is writing and get your picture sent in. I have mine sent in and I am excited at the prospect that I might actually have a picture of one of my guitars permanently in book form. That is a pretty cool thing to think about! But, in order for this to happen he needs all of you to send in a picture so he can get around 20 pictures for the back cover. Please send him your picture right away. He needs it before the 15th of this month so there isn't a lot of time!

Sorry for being so long winded. I initially started this post thinking I didn't have much to write about!

Here are the backs being trued up in the table saw.

Here you can see the piece on the left has a sap line a touch wider than the one on the right. It is quite noticeable where the dark wood pinches inwards.

After a couple of very fine passes I got the sap wood lines much closer to the same size.

This is how I shoot the edges using a level with sandpaper on the edge.

Here are the top plates glued up and in the joining jig. The aluminum bar in the middle is clamped down to hold the center flat, the metal bar on the right edge is clamped across to pull the plates together. The stuff in the middle is just dead weight to hold the boards from buckling up. I learned to do this by accident with the OOO. I didn't use weights when I glued it up and when I came back the next morning both plates had buckled up. I was very lucky that they didn't snap on a grain line!