More cigar box guitars

[glenninvb]

Scott,
I just hacked mine out of a epoxy lam. block 1-1/2 thick

[scottp55]

Thanks Glenn,
Somehow I hadn't pictured the center rib or doing it all 1 piece.
What did you go for wall thickness on the lam?
Haven't cut that stuff either on CNC, but do have a chunk of LVL in garage. Cut Good?

[glenninvb]

Thanks Glenn,
Somehow I hadn't pictured the center rib or doing it all 1 piece.
What did you go for wall thickness on the lam?
Haven't cut that stuff either on CNC, but do have a chunk of LVL in garage. Cut Good?

No, Its laminated maple, not a "lam" Sorry
I always epoxy stuff because I don't like glue creep later. And I'm too lazy to actually build a box (with all those pieces and all )
The sides are a different color because I hid the end grain w/some transparent dark cherry toner before matte lacquer.

[CarveOne]

Thanks!
Using Drillman1's little Kyocera engraving bits, so at $4, I'll just throw a new one in.
Is that more of Aspires extrusion tooling of yours?
Yep, "Root" beer, sometimes drink Sassafras tea and it's the same deal with the smell
Maybe try a simple design to show the grain. Dad said it was dirt cheap, but 3X12X.25" was probably the reason(also skip planed:( ).
How are you going to join box? Butt glued?
Thanks again,
scott

The heart butterfly was created with the Create Shape from Vectors tool, not extruded.

Not sure about the box joinery yet. Might want to do something radical if I follow Glenn's lead with the box. Will have to think about the what-to-do and how-to-go-about-it aspects for a while. It won't be a simple butt glue operation. Possibly layered construction with different color woods also.


CarveOne

[scottp55]

That "layered construction out of different colored woods" could get a Really nice effect in an inch and a half!
Still searching/reading "cherry toner" , but love real wood look.
I know nothing, but does that rib in Glenns, affect the sound? Or is most of the sound from the top panel and the electronics you guys lose me on?
Have you guys seen these? I use their 2F .117fishtail and like it for the clean sidewalls it gives me.
http://www.precisebits.com/applications ... rtools.htm

[glenninvb]

Scott,

Lacquer wood toners are transparent finishes that can be spayed in very light uniform passes to blend repairs on cabinets or furniture or to change the appearance of lighter woods, like a sunburst effect on a guitar.

I use straight 2-flute bits (larger dia. the better, and length required) to pocket and profile my boxes. They give a very smooth finish w/o chipping the top or bottom edges. I used 1/2" dia. on this. The only draw back is taking lighter doc than with a spiral bit.

And your right, could use different wood for the center laminate but you would still have the edge and end grain to deal with unlike a built-up box.

The rib is going to happen w/ a through neck anyway, it would be added to strengthen the neck especially when cutting pocket for pick-up (neck would be cut thru)
I did leave about .025 clearance between the guitar top and the neck for a better sound board effect.

[CarveOne]

Scott, I'm thinking of 1/4" layers staggered in length per layer so as to make a finger joint stack-up. Each layer would be alternating colors. If the pieces are ~1" wide, the rounded corner would look like the round shape that Glenn used but would give a wider looking finger joint. Or glue same length pieces together and do a fancy joint with the dovetail gadget.

I started with a 0.1" notch in the neck for the top panel clearance and changed it to 0.2" so I could slide a pre-wired piezo pickup under it. You want the box top to be thinner so it can vibrate with more volume. The box bottom also.

CarveOne

[glenninvb]

Bottom, part of box....top added, actually epoxied on before neck slid in which was cut at front and rear of p/u pocket

CarveOne,
That's funny because I'm going the other way, real cigar box, but just a quick fretless for slide attempt

[CarveOne]

Glenn, my first one of these (in another thread here) has a 1/4" thick birch plywood box just butt glued together. It has Vcarved designs all over the box. The six string neck was completely hand made. It has a paint can lid for a resonator. Sounds more like a dobro. I think your guitar is more in line with a nice looking woodcraft style than more of a real looking cigar box guitar, but there is room for anything. There are no rules, so I've heard, and that's ok by me.

I fitted the Tabacalera Perdomo cigar box to the neck this afternoon. It is not glued in yet so I can do other things to the neck without scratching up the paper labels on the box too much.

CarveOne

[pops1964]

These guitars are interesting , on the 3 string what strings are you using ? pop's

[CarveOne]

For the first one I used the smaller three strings from a Martin Marquis set I bought locally. 0.026", 0.017", and 0.013". They are tuned to G-B-E. Some are tuned to D-G-B. I later found the individual sizes can be obtained from the CB Gitty website in 12 packs so I bought one each of those when I ordered flat fret wire, amplifier, and other stuff from them. One 12 pack cost about the same as the six string acoustic set.

Real soon now I'll post the latest neck design files here. I want to put the strings on the guitar first and check it out. So far I like the changes.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Today I cut the fret slots and installed the frets. The Tung nut oil will be applied to the fret board and the string slots will be cut into the nut this weekend. Then the neck will be glued into the cigar box. There will be a piece of wood used to fill the space in between the fret board and the box. Still haven't decided on the sound hole design yet.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

The neck is installed, the nut has string slots, the cocobolo tail piece is glued in place, and the small cocobolo filler piece is glued in place between the end of the fret board and the box. Tomorrow I'll install three brass screws I picked up at Lowes this evening. Then I can install the strings and see how it sounds without sound holes. Those haven't been decided on yet.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

The guitar is ready to install the strings and tune it. Only a decision about the sound holes needs to be completed. Whatever I use has to be 1" wide or less in order to not cut into the paper label. F holes? smal drain strainer? 3/4" wide nailer strip? The strainers will need to be cut to 1/8" depth so it can be glued into a properly sized hole, from either the inside or outside. If from the outside the better chrome finish shows from lower inside the box. If installed from inside, a more matte looking side shows near the top surface of the box. The nailer strip seems to fit the cigar box motif (if you can call it that) better. It too will need some trimming of the metal teeth. The ones at each end can be bent over inside the box to act as clamps.

Personally, I like the 4" long nailer strips. I haven't seen these used on any of the CBG photos I have seen online. What do you guys think? Too crusty looking, or "just right".

The three brass screws in the cocobolo tail piece go through the notched box wall and 1/2" into the end of the neck. Should be plenty stiff. The bridge is made from bocote, but I plan to change it to one made of cocobolo tomorrow.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Except for installing the piezo pickup kit, this guitar is completed to the point of being playable.

The sound holes work great, and there is good volume with the 1/4" thick box top. I tuned it to D-G-B. Resonance time is good and it sounds clear. The nailer strips and the 2-3/8" long hex stud bridge are things that I haven't seen on cigar box guitar photo searches on four search engines. I believe my nephew will be happy with it. He'll have to wait until after my McGrew's Aspire Camp trip to get it though.

I'm happy with the new neck layout. The strings have no sideways bend between the nut and the tuner pegs, and the tuners all turn the same way to raise the pitch. I'll try to post the neck files on Friday after some editing.

CarveOne