The Body

The mahogany blank was cut to square, and centre lines were marked both length and width ways around all sides. These were reproduced on the drawings and photocopies to enable easy and accurate positioning of templates.

I had decided to route out the tone chambers in the body while the timber blank was still square, as this would allow accurate positioning of the template, as well as providing a large area on which to place the fixing tape. To route out the chambers a template was made from 18mm plywood. The photocopies were spray mounted onto the ply, and the appropriate areas cut out with the bandsaw. The templates were fixed with double-sided tape, and then the body was cramped on to a bench. A template following router bit was used and the cavities were slowly routed out. This was a spectacularly messy job, turning the entire workshop and its contents a delicate shade of orange; needless to say I wore a dust mask. The tone chambers were deepened over several days to allow the wood to adjust and dry out, and to prevent it warping. Great care was taken with the sides and the last cut to minimise clean-up. The top cavity, which would be seen through the sound hole was then given three coats of black Liberon Palette wood dye.

The 10mm thick halves of the top were cut and thicknessed immediately before use to prevent warping, and were stored beneath heavy weights! The two would be joined down the centre of the top, enabling the pick-up cavity and control runs to be cut in easily before joining. These areas were carefully marked, bandsawn and cleaned up.

	A template for the sound hole was made from 10mm ply, the photocopy being suitably modified to allow for the width of the template following ring on the router. The shape of the pick-up cavity was used to line the template up, it was secured again using double sided, and cut with a 5mm cutter. Clean-up was a simple job with a file, glasspapers and steel wool.
	The two halves of the top were then joined having first used the ‘blind nailing ’ method of location (see Hints and Tips), pushing them together on a melamine tabletop to ensure accurate lining up. Three sash cramps were prepared, and waterproof  Resin W adhesive used.

Having glued up the top and offered it up to the body a minor mistake was discovered. It was obvious that I had not allowed enough depth for the pick-up cavity, despite apparently thorough preparation. I made up another ply template and routed out the appropriate place, having masked off the newly stained area.

Gluing the top onto the body was entertaining. Once again pins were knocked into diagonally opposite corners and de-headed, then the top was aligned and pressed into place. Cramping involved two newly purchased long reach g-cramps, twelve other g-cramps off differing sizes, and four speed cramps. Protective blocks were cut, the cramps all set to size beforehand, and Resin W applied. The cramps were positioned and tightened until beads of glue were seen all the way round the edges. These were then cleaned off with a wet rag. Cramp overkill it may have been, but the result is a superb, neat, even joint, which after sanding is virtually invisible.

After drying the centrelines were marked on the top of the body and the body shape marked on, having prepared a template from thin styrene sheet. The bandsaw was used to cut out close to the line, leaving some extra wood around the neck mortise area, to be trimmed back after routing. The sound hole and control cavities were stuffed with tissue and masked off to keep them dust free. It was very pleasing to see the body shape in 3D for the first time!

The template for the neck mortise was cut from plywood. A centreline was marked, then the neck tenon itself was drawn around so that the mortise would be the exact same size. The template stretched down most of the length of the body to ensure accurate alignment, and was cramped in place, holding the body onto a bench. The template following cutter was used, taking the joint down to depth in small stages. After removal of the template the corners were neatened with a chisel and the neck trial fitted into its new, snug home!

The shape of the body was tidied up with the bench sander, then filed and glasspapered. A rounding-off/bullnose bit was used to radius the edges.

A Strat-style four bolt neck joint was going to be used, and a plate and screws were purchased. Unfortunately cock-up number two became evident when preparing to drill the holes: the screws were too short! Luckily Julian had in stock the plate and screws from a Squire Strat, which had screws slightly longer than what was obviously standard. These were sent off to a local electroplater (Paramount Plating in Ashford) to be gold plated to match the rest of the hardware. (A minor worry happened when instead of the plate and screws a beautifully gold plated toilet flush handle was returned by mistake!).

To further reinforce the neck to counter the extra pull of twelve strings I had a bright idea. Two long wood screws were purchased, to fit beneath the neck plate hidden from view, passing through the neck to just below the fingerboard. This, I figured, would create an immensely strong neck joint, able to withstand stringing up with twelve telegraph cables, if required!

To drill the holes, their positions were marked on the inside of the neck pocket, then drilled through with the pillar drill (this prevents the wood splitting as it would if drilled from the back). The neck and body were g-cramped together, tested for squareness against the centreline, then the screws were wound in so that they marked their own positions on the neck. The holes in the body were drilled to the overall size of the screws, those in the neck being drilled to the core size of the screws so that they cut their own thread. The screws and cramps were removed so that the holes for the two extra screws could be marked and drilled into the same way, then the assembly was joined together. The basic woodwork was now complete.