The Scroll Shop (Ed of H's Shop Thread)

[kilowatt]

Greg,
I look forward to seeing you post what's going on in your shop. I appreciate the craftsmanship, and effort you put into your work. You are always willing to help anyone who is looking for information, on all things Alembic, and more. Please keep posting updates, and I thing other members enjoy it as much as you do!

Regards,
Pete

[pauldo]

Greg,
I look forward to seeing you post what's going on in your shop. I appreciate the craftsmanship, and effort you put into your work. You are always willing to help anyone who is looking for information, on all things Alembic, and more. Please keep posting updates, and I thing other members enjoy it as much as you do!

Regards,
Pete

Same. 



.

[edwardofhuncote]

I got a good start on the cello for Sister Sailor this weekend.

Fingerboard needed to be planed, and underneath the grooved black paint was a beautiful slab of flame maple. I may take advantage of that later. (meaning, not cover it with opaque paint, but maybe a dark translucent color)

Fixing a little nick in the neck... not sure what caused this, but it would drive me bananas trying to play with that little divot there for your thumb to fall into. I'll fill, and flush it up.

There was an old, not-so-pretty repair to the button (neck heel) on this cello. I masked it up and touched up the area.

A new bridge, tailpiece, strings, and gigbag case are on the way from my old friends at International Violin Co. https://www.internationalviolin.com.com

*my buddy Steven Ayers, who manages a database of Kay serial numbers tells me, this instrument dates to 1939, and is a very early Kay cello.

My Ol' Man stopped by Sunday afternoon to inspect Honeytones, #27 and #28. He's pretty excited to see them finally come together. He had some thoughts about the setup on #27, and volunteered to do the final reassembly and setup after I finish spraying the shell this week. He's also ordered some special bridges for it, in a couple sizes. (different heights... 5/8", 11/16", and an in-between size - .656)

The finish on #28 is just about cured enough for final rubout. Then, we'll do final assembly. I can't wait for that one to be done. It's been a true test of my patience. A test I've failed several times now.

[edwardofhuncote]

#27's maple block shell got two coats of brown-tinted lacquer this evening... Gibson called this color; Sheraton Brown.  I was just shooting for something that complemented the hues of the walnut in the neck and resonator.  My old 1919 A-Model is Sheraton Brown... 

I love how the different blocks saturated at a different rate.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Well, in the middle pic, the bottom-left block is sort of the same color as the middle of my brown-sunburst Epiphone Sheraton......

Peter (who is having flashbacks from the 3rd pic, as his first full-time sound gig - and dear friend - played one just like that!)

[edwardofhuncote]

Fixed some little flaws in the cello... nothing too crazy, just some wood missing from the points, and the edges around the perimeter.

Got the endpin/footrest fitted too... sounds harder than it looks.

I did shoot the fingerboard with a dark reddish-brown tinted lacquer, to simulate a nice rosewood board.

[edwardofhuncote]

Fitting a new bridge to the cello... it's just like a miniature bass, or a giant fiddle. I put some squares of adhesive-backed sandpaper on the top, and slowly scrub the trimmed bridge blank until it matches the contour of the top.

To quote Han Solo- "it's all simple tricks and nonsense."


Banjo updates coming...

[pauldo]

😎

[growlypants]

 

[edwardofhuncote]

With just a couple final tweaks to go, here are the finished pictures of Honeytone #23-28. I'm still not 100% happy with the setup... the neck angle is too steep causing the bridge to be taller than I like 'em. I need to either shim out the bottom of the heel, or recut the top. A couple of the frets have high spots that need a dress up. The upper coordinator rod is just a placeholder for what will be a decorative chrome-plated crown nut. I needed something with the correct threads though, so I sawed an old upper rod off short. Works fine; looks dumb. Dad would fire me, but I'm kin. Besides, I've got a little job for him.

The finish on #27's replacement shell is just about ready for rubout... two new serial number labels are being issued. After assembly, Dad will do the final setup on #27. I'm trying to figure out how to reissue that number. The original build was completed in 2011. This wasn't really a complete rebuild. Almost. Hmm. Gotta' do something that makes sense.

[edwardofhuncote]

Back to work on the Kay cello project for Sister Sailor...

I made a new string nut, and fitted a set of rosewood pegs. Not much left to do but cut and set a new soundpost, trim the bridge, and string this one up. I glued the nut in place, installed the endpin, and gathered all the other parts together... the tailpiece is a Wittner, a faux rosewood composite, with fine adjusters built in. These are very nice.

[edwardofhuncote]

Final Chapter on the Kay cello for little Sister Sailor.

I use this same tool to cast the arc of the fingerboard onto the bridge and mark it for cutting to approximate height for each string. Note that some wood is left after band-sawing, to do the final shaping, and crowning.

Use calipers, dividers, or a good eyeball, just get the string spacing right. File the slots half the diameter of the strings, round them over, graphite them, and I always finish-sand maple bridges. Doesn't matter, looks nice.

Cut a length of spruce soundpost on the bandsaw. I had an old one to go by, so this one was easy. Shape the ends, cut a little at the time, because this little dowel is a friction-fit... only string tension holds it in place. Ideally, I like the top of it positioned proportionally, about the thickness of the bridge foot, and below that about that much, standing perfectly vertically of course. The green X-----> is about where I aim for them to go.

Those little notches in the F-holes by the way... they are how we locate a bridge... they're kinda'-sorta' like timing marks. If the bridge is aligned with these, and standing 90° vertically, the scale is measured from the nut to that witness point. There isn't anything exact about it. There's actually another crazy variable too, by which you tune the string afterlength; the amount of string length behind the bridge-to-tailpiece. This measurement, depending on how big of a fight you want, is supposed to be 1/6 of the scale length. So on a 42" bass, the afterlength should be close to 7". Phooey... maybe on a good bass. (I'm looking at you Casey Vancouver...)

Anyway, since I could adjust the Wittner tailpiece easily, I tweaked this little girl pretty close to that golden ratio, and wound a new set of D'Addario Prelude strings on, slowly bring it to pitch.

She's done. I've been playing it a little while this afternoon. Really sounds nice, plays great too. We'll watch it for a couple weeks and make adjustments as needed. Sister Sailor was supposed to be passing through here headed out West later this month. That'll be the handoff.

Last one is the artsy picture I sent Big Sister.

[David Houck]

Nice!

[pauldo]

I really appreciate, not only what you do, but also how selflessly you share your knowledge.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Nicely done (once again), Greg!

Is the pencil in a hole drilled into the end of your arc-casting tool?  What is the height of the graphite from the fingerboard?

Peter