Claro Walnut / Torrefied Adi
12 Fret 00

A bit more traditional this time. I am building a commissioned guitar that is going to be a surprise gift. For this guitar I decided to be more traditional than my last few builds. I have built a few of these 00 guitars, but this will be the first where I use non-scalloped braces.

The Claro Walnut is beautifully figured, and the Torrefied Adirondack Spruce top has that warm, aged colour and stiffness that comes from the thermal treatment.

I used a plane and a radiused sanding jig to put a 15-foot radius on the back braces. Given that the braces were pre-shaped, I used my vacuum box to clamp them in place. I sliced off a bit of Amboyna for a tail wedge and installed it with some black fibre strips. I need to inlet for the braces top and bottom, but I am close to being able to assemble the guitar.

I managed to close the box this afternoon. I used a scalpel to mark out and a small die grinder to route for the braces in the linings. I used a bunch of clamps and glued on the back using the mould to keep the rims square. While waiting on the back glue-up I did a bit of prep on the top — clean-up sanding and gluing down a linen strip on the X-brace.

Well, by hook or by crook I got the guitar built and am ready to make and install my hawk-and-moon logo in the headstock and start finish-sanding. I bent four bindings at a time and fit them dry to the guitar — it went well on all sides as I took a bit of time making sure they fit before gluing them on.

I used a pre-made neck on this guitar, so I just had to glue on the fretboard, shape the headstock, and fit the bolt-on joint.

Paul asked how many I’ve built — about 15 guitars and a few ukes at this point.

I have the body prepped. On my last guitar, well into a French polish of the top, I noticed a glue fingerprint flashing when I moved a light — absolutely invisible during finishing. I use a glue that fluoresces under black light, so this time before applying any finish I checked my surfaces with the black light and cleaned off any glue residue. Lesson learned.

While waiting for the Zpoxy to cure, I cut out my hawk-in-moon logo. I am getting faster at this — the parts fit as soon as I am done cutting now. Over time, keeping the blade perpendicular to the pearl becomes second nature and I just focus on following the line.

I finished my prep work and have sprayed my first coat of EM6000, a water-based lacquer. My prep was Zpoxy pore fill followed by a wash coat of blond shellac. In between, I spent time looking for gaps — filling binding gaps with shellac and sawdust, and rosette gaps with thick CA glue. All of these gaps were very thin, but I have learned that thin gaps show up under a glossy finish.

I finished spraying and let it rest for five days per manufacturer instructions. I placed the bridge and used a scalpel to mark out the bridge location and fretboard extension. I did this before any level-sanding, as I have learned I end up marring the finish during that process.

Dave asked if the bridge clamp mars the surface. It doesn’t — I use a vacuum clamp with a rubber pad, so there’s no point loading that could dent the finish.

Kevin asked about my level-sanding technique. I use 3M purple clean-sanding discs with my random orbital sander. I’m sanding EM6000, which after it cures sands dry and powdery — no clogging. I change the disc when the abrasive wears down and sand to P800 before buffing.

The guitar is all strung up. I have done no setup work yet as I like to wait a bit, but I made the nut and saddle so that they are close to final. The instrument sounds OK for the first ten minutes strung up — give it time.