L-00 Kmg walnut-spruce log and very basic questions thread.

[mike-p]

Hi Everyone.

There are going to be a lot of very basic questions here I'm afraid so please bear with me. After sitting looking at my lovely kit for several weeks I've finally gathered courage to begin. I have literally barely used a saw since school about 15 years ago. I started cutting the sides.

Started cutting with a razor saw as no band saw, kept getting jammed so used a rubbish coping saw and tried a fine tenon saw before oiling the razor saw and getting the job done. Did them as straight as I could but the edges are not totally flush, this is partly me and partly that the side pieces have bowed slightly but they are not totally flush when put back in the mould.

See what you think below. I then located what I think is the tail piece, says should be slightly proud but mine seems very tall, should I trim it before gluing? Finally, I think I need something to flatten the rim edges against the tailpiece, I guess a bit of scrap MDF but how do I prevent it from getting glued on?

https://picasaweb.google.com/parlemicha ... c2KiIjFzwE

sorry, can't upload direct as pics too big and can't seem to reduce them.

[Kevin in California]

Hi Mike,
It looks like you have one of Ken's molds there so I gather you are building his kit. He will need to answer most of your questions; the tail block is of course too tall, but how much you want it proud of the sides using his directions I am not familiar with, but as far as gluing goes, you do want to use a caul (scrap) on both sides of that glue up. On the outside, be sure to cover the caul with some clear tape or use some wax paper between it and the sides. On the inside, a caul will help protect from denting the tail block with the clamps.
Hope this helps, I know Ken will chime in as well as others........
and welcome to the building community. I'm sure you are going to have a blast!

Kevin

[mike-p]

wax paper! i'd read that but couldn't find it again, thanks.

[Dennis in Anola]

Mike IMHO, although your joints aren't perfect they are close enough to not fret over (no pun intended). The neck joint will eventually be covered by the neck heel and the tail joint will be covered by a decorative tail wedge later on in construction. Side material will need to be removed in order to instal a wedge. Just be sure you draw centerlines on the wood blocks as that is critical for proper top & bottom alignment.

I'd recommend that you purchase a Zona or Xacto saw from your local hobby shop. This will make future hand cuts much easier for you.

Glue does not stick to clear packing tape so I'd recommend using that wherever you want to prevent gluing anything.

Hope this helps

[ken cierp]

Hi Mike,

Here's the link recommend for the rim assembly using a post style mold
http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/rim.html

Now I am concerned about your comment the you think something is bowed since it does not sit flat with the back in the mold. Now understand that the back edge of the rim is a complex profile so it matches the 15' radius dome of the back, it will not sit flat in the mold.

So a couple of things, I'd like to see some pixs of what you are describing and also it is much better to post your pictures right here on the forum -- that way the constuction progression aligns and matches your posts and the replies.

[dave d]

Mike, keep asking questions and proceed slowly (or the other way around, as required). That's the way to do it. In my construction logs I am following Ken's instructions so you might be able to use the pics from my KMG OM and KMG J200 logs as another reference. My KMG J45 log is just getting started but hopefully you can follow along with those too as I usually have a caption to describe what I'm doing in the photo.

Regarding the photo sizes, if you are using Picasa, select photos and push the little pushpin to hold them in the selection window on the lower left of the screen. then just use the Export button underneath the main picture window, and another box will open asking you what size you want to make them. Choose 640 pixels to be safe. Then use the photos from this new folder when you want to post them. If you need more help just send me a personal message in the forum.

Regarding the parts that you say seem bowed, if you mean the slight curl of the top and bottom of the sides where they join as shown in the pic, they would get flattened out when you clamp them against the tail block and glue it up. If however you mean bowed in a different way, please clarify with another photo where that is happening. Like Ken said, pictures are key here to understanding the situation so that suggestions can be made.

Regarding the tall tail block: Yes, it's tall. the important thing is that one edge of it is flush with the top sides of the rim, when the top sides are facing DOWN. After the tail block is glued, you can cut a little bit of it off, or else when you flip the assembly over in the mold the whole thing will be quite high, propped up by that tail block. You can leave about a half-inch or so, and this gets further trimmed and sanded down when you profile the back edges. DO NOT cut the tail block so it is flush with the back edge (or the neck block either). You need them to be above the plane of the sides and they'll be sanded later. The steps and accompanying photos in Ken's instructions explain this better than I'm doing...and his advice trumps mine!

[mike-p]

Regarding the parts that you say seem bowed, if you mean the slight curl of the top and bottom of the sides where they join as shown in the pic, they would get flattened out when you clamp them against the tail block and glue it up. If however you mean bowed in a different way, please clarify with another photo where that is happening. Like Ken said, pictures are key here to understanding the situation so that suggestions can be made.

Yes, that's what I mean, looking at it some more I think my cuts are pretty straight, just the curl pulling the edges apart. So as you say, I think they will work out fine. I wasn't planning on putting the tail wedge in but I can always add it depending on how I'm getting on!

Ken - I have your instructions printed out, the warp is as described above but I will add more pics now I know how. Surely I need to cut the tail wedge down to 1/2" or so protruding, maybe I'm missing something but reading the instructions the excess is sanded away, would take me a while to do the 1 1/2- 2" I've got above the rim! I understand that the back of the guitar is curved/arched slightly, I have got the soundboard side down flat against the mould as I should.

This is amazing having an expert advice team, thankyou all very much, I often use forums to try to work out how to do/make things but this seems a lot smaller and well managed so I'm not worried that nobody knows what they're talking about!