Starting the Process

So, here we are, two guitars and almost one uke completed and now I was set to begin another. But I needed to find the right materials. I started looking around online trying to find some nice wood that could be used for a smaller guitar. I looked through all the normal luthier websites and through other places that are normally not used by luthiers, when I came across http://www.curlykoa.com/. I was able to find some great looking pieces but all relatively expensive (as all Koa woods are). I was hesitant at first, this was going to be a pricey ordeal. However, I decided to bight the bullet and by some pieces, sight unseen. When the wood showed up at my door, I was floored. I purchased a top, back and side book matched set will all AAA curly koa. The wood was amazing, so much figure! I was extremely excited. I really need to give some props to Steve at curlykoa.com, he has a great selection. Now it was time to get started.

At the mill, we began the process by gluing up the book=matched top and back. This process is done by jointing the edges of the book-matched pieces, so that there is no gap between the two pieces. We then put a bead of yellow glue between the pieces and place them into a wedge clamping jig.

After letting this set for a few hours, we are then able to start working with the top and back to begin building the sound box of the guitar. We then bring the top and back to the drum sander, where we sand out all the glue marks and the saw marks from milling the wood. This also allows us to set the thickness of the wood.

The first thing to do is to begin the process of setting up the rosette. The rosette on an acoustic guitar is a way a luthier can decorate the top, using strips of material inlaid in the wood surrounding the soundhole. For this guitar, I decided to prepare a three ring rosette, using strips of black and white wood strips on the inner- and outer-most rings of the rosette and blue paua abalone in the middle ring. First a 1/4" hole is drilled at the center of the rosette, which allows for a routing jig, which allows circular cuts to be made in the wood. I first routed the center ring to glue in the abalone. Since abalone is a type of shell, it is a little different to inlay as compared to normal wood inlays.

To do this, after the routed channel was cut, we sprayed some shellac into the channel, to close the grain of the wood. Then, we placed the abalone into the channel and applied some CA glue, which seeped into the gap to glue the piece into the wood. Here is a picture of the abalone inlay. In this picture, you can see the 1/4" hole in the center and the beginning of the innermost channel. You can also see that I added a piece of white fiber on the inside and outside of the abalone.
While routing the innermost channel of the rosette, we had a slight malfunction in the router, the router bit broke and we had to put the tool away until a new one came in the mail.


Once the bit came in, I was able to rout the inner and outer channels and was able to inlay the white-black-white fiber. This was glued in using yellow glue as is typically done with rosettes. Finally, once everything was set, i cut the sound hole out using the same routing jig.

Now I know that it doesn't look complete due to the unfinished area at the top of the rosette. This is normal, as the fingerboard will cover this unfinished area.

Next on the docket, will be starting the bracing of the top and the back. I will be back when this process begins.