A EIR Dred in the D45 tradition

[Kevin in California]

I sure will Dave, I was doing it at 11pm last night and didn't take pics, but I'll mock it up tonight and take some.

Kevin

[Tim Benware]

A lot of things on a guitar are personal preference. If it is done "right" and I guess by that I mean symmetrically, then if the builder/owner likes it great. There many things I see (in general) on a guitar I don't like - rosettes are one of them, some to me look awful ugly but put together "right" and I can appreciate the work and craftsmanship that went into making it, ugly as it may be:) But folks like different things, so we make 'em.

[Tim Benware]

Headstock is beautious. I love inlaying with wood. I am consulting with a guy now whose initials are "RR" and he's talking about inlaying the top half of the guitar with reverse R's. If you can picture it, looking at the top the left R (following the Bends thru the waist) would be reversed and the one on the right side would be the right way. The bottoms of the R would end just above the saddle side of the bridge.

[Kevin in California]

Dave,
Not my idea, but like I said, it sure works. Here are some mocked up pics of thicknessing the back of the headstock. AS you can see my drum sander (actually a Robo SAnder) is not quite tall enough...it is 3" and so is the widest point of my headstock) so I'm going looking for a 4" tall drum for this purpose.

I also glued on the veneer last night. I had a terrible time with it slipping around when clamping with my cauls and c-clamps, like I have always done in the past. For some reason this time it was different, so I used all squeeze clamps. It appeared (used a flashlight to look at the joint) that all was plenty tight enough so I should be good when trimmed back. Tomorrow I should get the neck done, maybe even get it fretted. We shall see.

Kevin

[Dave Bagwill]

Ah so!! I see the light.... I don't have a robo-sander, but I do have some drum sanders for the drill press and I can make this work.
Thanks Kevin.

[Tim Benware]

That's similar to what I do. I have a Luthier's Friend Sanding station and the fence pivots to dial in the thickness needed. I use it for rough thicknessing nuts and saddles too. Robo sander is good for headstock profiles too.

[Kevin in California]

I made more good progress this weekend. I took the heel down by 1/8" and shaped it up, but left the width at the cap. I just like them with a little more meat. I pared away at the heel contact area with my scary sharp 1/4" chisel to leave just about 3/32" of flat to contact the body. Just a little more to do to transition the edge of the fretboard into the shaft and final sanding. Got the heel cap glued on, it is curly Koa.
I have Koa in three places on this guitar, the heel cap, the end wedge, and the headstock inlayed "S".
I also got the fretting done except for final polishing of the frets which I will do after the guitar is finished and polished out. All I have left to do is a little tweak at the fretboard extension fit over the top, drill the hole for the end pin and drill the tuning machine holes and I'll be ready for final inspection of the whole guitar filling any little voids, etc. There are a few very small areas around the binding and where the fretboard meets the mahogany neck. I always seem to have some of those no matter how flat and smooth I think my surfaces are.

I hope to be porefilling by this coming weekend.

Kevin