Paulownia Guitar ~ Bridge & Finishing

Preparing the heel end for heel cap


Beginning to finish-carve the neck to the desired contour


The rosewood bridge blank is set up to rout out the saddle slot and tie block.


Bridge routed. Now carving the sloping wings.



Sloping wings on both sides.

12-hole tie block

Finish sanded to #240 garnet prior to shellac


Shellac is layered unto the bridge.


Soundboard prepared with bridge location by using masking tape.


Bridge is being glued.


Special sloping wing cauls for this personal bridge design.


Instrument ready to be french polished next.


The whole guitar is french polished using a rubbing pad.

Paulownia Guitar ~ Fingerboard

Fingerboard is Indonesian rosewood. Gluing face trued and thinned to dimension. Marked for slots with razor knife waiting to be cut.


Slots are cut with a dovetail saw (the saw kerf was reduced by hammering to fit fret studs)


Slots sawed. The length of the fingerboard billet is being tapered.


The fingerboard is precisely aligned with positioning pins at the first and eleventh frets.


After the soundhole is cut, the fingerboard is glued with white glue.


After glue set.


View from the neck.


After truing with sandpaper, frets are now ready to be installed.


Nine frets hammered in so far...


All frets down.


Frets are levelled and fret ends beveled.

Paulownia Guitar ~ Assembly

With some fitting work on the back and the open box. They are now ready for assembly.


A bead of aliphatic resin glue is applied around the linings on both sides, some on the tailblock and headblock and a little on the brace end pockets. The back is put in place, checking to see if the centreseam is lined up nicely, then the guitar is held down with cam clamps on the workboard. A continuous strip of rubber (from a truck wheel inner tube) is now roped in sequence to hold down the back firmly till the glue sets.


The soundbox is clamped vertically for work on the end graft. The four cam clamps provide good enough grip to hole the soundbox to the bench without damaging it.


End graft slot cut.


End graft is a tapering Indonesian rosewood with maple/walnut sandwich, as with the back centreseam.


The end graft is actually clamp down with a long cam clamp.


End graft after scraped flush to the sides.


Cutting the binding and purfling ledges is done with a hand held electric router. The back is routed halfway on one side.


Binding ledge routed as well as the staircase ledge for the purfling.


Completed staircase on the back after final ledge trimming.


The top is routed likewise.





End graft purfling mitred.


All set to glue up the bindings.


But first, the rosewood bindings are glued to the maple/walnut veneer purfling sandwich. The top has double purflings. They need to be pre-bent to shape before gluing, just like for the sides, soaked in hot water and bending over bending iron.


Here's a close up of the bindings/purflings ready to be used on the guitar.


Aliphatic resin glue, masking tape and paper towel is needed. The first strip to be glue will be the top. Notice the extra purfling is added with the prebent binding/purfling for the top. The masking tape hold down the bindings well as glue sets.


First strip done.


Binding and purflings ends are neatly trimmed square at the end graft.


The next strip is for the half of the back diagonally opposite the first strip.


3rd strip down, as well as 4th not pictured.


Unmasked.


The bindings not only protects the unfinished seams, but also protects the edges of the guitar from daily knocks and bumps.