Hi, my name is Aaron and I am the luthier behind Queen City Guitars. I build modern steel string acoustic guitars with an eye towards innovative technique, and a desire to remain rooted in tradition. I also build almost entirely with hand tools. On this channel I am trying to share a little of my methods for building guitars.
Thankyou for your demonstration I like this technique rather than power tools this is how I would like to cut in my bindings .and purflings Can you tell me where I could buy these gamils thankyou I like your approach to building a guitar
Suggestion: Less talk in the beginning, firstly you repeat yourself and it drags. Keep the intro short and sweet and mention the details to look out for during the build. You are almost 20 minutes in before you do anything. People will get bored and click on something else. I hope you take this as constructive criticism.
This is helpful. I love how you innovate and design your own solution based on experience and modification. My first guitar was a mess at the neck and ended up being a 13.5 frets to the body. :) I hope to achieve high precision with the next and use a cantilever neck too.
Darn you got to the critical cut and the camera was set too high ....i think I am grasping what you're saying.. however I sure wished tou had some close up shots... but you do seem to get into more detail than others.. like on the directions of cut to keep from cutout do to grain angles... informative for sure
For people struggling, a schramm sanding disk works. It's a rotating disk that fits in your drill press. Schematics can be found on line and find a metal worker to put one together. Discovered this on the schramm website
I have a 1870 Martin 0-28 with this joint. Few luthiers are able to make it and it is a joy to find a luthier who can do this. I asked my luthier and he knew of any one in this country who can do this, he said no. I am really impressed with your ability! Thanks for sharing.
This is a refreshing video in a long list of voicing video where the master knocks on the top and shakes his head knowingly, while departing no knowledge on the viewer whatsoever.
I think between this and the Obrien videos, this shows the use of these tools quite well. I think this is also the safest bet for cutting these difficult channels for Beginner's. there are alot of more expensive speed up tools, but the risk factors go up with those tools for beginners. I have the other style purfling/binding cutter tool, it has 2 blades clamped in it, I am making a guess, with 2 you may be able to cut both binding and purfling channels at the same time. I was going to use it to make scribe nice clean edges and then come in with one of the Stewmac smaller routers to do the final clean ups, where usually you would use a regular chisel and fine files to finish up. Thanks for a great video.
A question on the Mahogany sides you mentioned.. I’m getting ready to hand bend the sides on my first build. I’ve got an old mahogany table I’m using, should I soak Mahog before bending?
I would say from my experience with mahogany and from what I have heard from past teachers no. I don't actually soak anything, but I used a lot of water on my first mahogany sides as a student, tried to bend them in a fox style bender and they just exploded. Mahogany seems to do better with less water involved in bending. I would still spritz it with a little water and not work it totally dry and try to work quickly (but not fast or you will break it). It always seems to me that there is a sweet spot where it bends easy, but take to long and it gets brittle. Also of note is how much runout you have, as that will only exacerbate the difficulty.
I love your design!! This is exactly what I was looking for to build my next guitar. I hope you continue making more videos during your build. I will also checkout the GAL article that you referenced. Good luck. I think it's going to be a winner!
Thanks! I think I have one more, maybe two for this guitar and then I will put up a sound demonstartion/wrap up video when I get the finish done and strings on. The Gal article is great, though I personally just could not wrap my head around making the twisted portion of the design, some day I will hopefully get to see one of her guitars in person and then it will maybe click. I will say that there are a couple things about the design I want to tweak and while I have confidence in it, and so I hesitate to 100% sign off on it till I have had strings on it for a bit, but I am just about to start putting shellac on it and I am liking how it has come together so far.
@@QueenCityGuitars When it comes to adjusting intonation with these necks and it shows flat on some strings would that mean the bridge saddle has to be altered where if it was sharp a simple readjustment of the neck angle would do it which i can adjust on my guitar but the other way would be more complicated?
@@QueenCityGuitars that is great. Happy you are now on the East Coast, I would love to visit the shop at some point now that you are not 3000 miles away
I cant believe people would still cut binding channels in with a gramil!! I could have this job done faster than the time it takes you to set up your gramil and it would be far more accurate. Why persist with a less accurate more time consuming process, just so you can say you did???
I can’t believe there are still people who build guitars, you can just buy them at the store! a router can be quite accurate and a gramil can be quite accurate. I disagree that one is hands down more accurate than the other, but personally I find the gramil more accurate (having done it multiple ways), though it certainly takes longer. I suggest you don’t delve into violin making though, for your own sanity and peace of mind.
The running of the burnisher over the edge work hardens and ' draws out the edge'. I do this after filling and polishing the edges then turn the burr get great shavings and keeps the edge for a good time. 👍
The ones I am working with I bought through Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc or lmii.com I saw that Michael Bashkin also appears to sell his own version, though they are not listed on his site.
That would be a good video topic... The short of it is that I get them most of the way there with a saw, since I leave a lot of extra material normally, then I take them down the rest of the way with a combo of chisels, scrapers and spokeshaves. Paying a lot of attention to the way the grain is running on the top so as not to catch and chip into the body.
hey Aaron! I am just starting to get into the craft, no work bench, clamps or sharping stones yet. It is very admiring to see you not using power tools! maybe a video on your favourite hand tools, or unique tools, and essential hand tools to get started in the craft. thanks! keep up the good work and innovations!
Thanks! that would make a good subject, I have been thinking about it in the past, but not with any real serious plan in mind. keep an eye out, I will start getting some thought in order towards that.
This is a really useful and informative video. I'm embarking on my 7th guitar and I'm approaching the binding stage. As a builder I'm really not a fan of powertools, especially routers. I had a question, and perhaps I missed this in the video. With a gramil, how do you avoid the "skinny" binding issue especially on the back near the neck/tail areas where the binding cut can be angled with the back curve?
Happy to hear you've found the video useful! I definitely have the same feeling around routing the channels, and getting more familiar with using the gramils has paid off in other areas of the building process. By skinny binding I assume you mean having an inconsistent depth of the channels in plane with the sides, so that when you level off the binding it appears thinner in places when viewed from the back ( or front)? When you cut with the router you are making both cuts at the same time, and registering off of both the sides and back/top at the same time and so as that edge leaves square due to the back radius it gives an opportunity to cant along with the angle and not cutting deep enough into the sides at the top and everything happens so fast it cant be hard to compensate smoothly. the fix is to use a binding jig and/or to have a very small registration surface on the back/top With the gramils each interior face is cut separate, with the depth being fully controlled by registration off the side so generally skinny binding is not an issue except possibly in the waist where you have to use the curved surface for registration. The radius of the back/top comes into play dealing with the angle of the bottom face of the channel. I don't get to carried away dealing with this. Ideally that inner corner of the channel would be perfectly square, in reality the clamping force of the glue up method I use does a pretty good job of pressing everything together and a bit of tape on the gramil where it registers against the guitar back edge can help to cant the gramil up enough to compensate. At the very end you an see the tape (44:53). Alternately you could make two of those wooded faces I have in the video and angle them to approximate the angles of the top and back.
Thanks for replying to me with all the tips. The video is great and once my 2nd gramil turns up here in Australia I will be following it very closely! Yes, that is exactly the skinny binding issue I'm talking about, as you said, with a router it all happens so fast. I actually have a stew mac jig but I've never used it, It terrifies me (as do routers generally). As a classical builder, the way I like to think about power tools in general is "what would Antonio De Torres have used?" I'm pretty sure he would/could not have used a router!
Hey, I'd like to help ya out! I know whats its like to get started and have no tools or money. I have a couple tools I'd be willing to donate to a fellow (aspiring) Luthier/woodworker. Shoot me a DM on Instagram (see below) and well go from there :) ~Beauty & Peace~ Kyle @thewabisabicollective
Jalal Kazak, i enjoyed this video so much, and learned so much, your presentation is excellent and very helpful, i hope i can find those Gramils here in Montreal
Masking tape and super glue (luthiers trick) works well but its difficult to peel off without snapping thin pieces. Your method looks good and I will try it. Thanks you.
I have never heard of that trick, homemade double stick tape? I really like the toothpick method, it gives a firm hold, full plate access and you can pick up the plate and replace it many times for measuring without a lot of fuss.
@@QueenCityGuitars I got it from Ben Crowe at Crimson guitars. Masking tape on each surface and then super glue them together. Very strong and easy clean up. The only issue is that the 2 surfaces can be difficult to peel apart. So I believe your method would be excellent for thin materials.
@@QueenCityGuitars masking tape trick is where its at for so many things. I prefer green frog tape, Med/thick CA(just a small dot on one side and spray activator on the other and apply pressure for 5 secs and done. For plate thicknessing though, I'm gonna try this toothpick magic, awesome idea!!!! working figured and very hard woods can be annoying with tape trick sometimes.(keep coming off etc)
Thanks for the info. And what a nice low angle plane. I waxed my plane bottom for the first time and I was surprised that it actually seemed to help get a better cut. Getting an ancient wooden #6 plane could be great for this operation, the long sole and lighter weight may really help.
The veritas plane is great for this, and the toothed blade is a real game changer for working difficult grain. The only disappointment I have with it is that the sides do not work well to use with a shooting board. I did not think to mention wax, probably because it often slips my mind, but it amazing how much difference it can make. I have blocks of canning wax next to my bench and find it can be a great help for resawing as well.
Good plane to start is a Woodriver 62-1/2 low angle. It is affordable, Really nice quality, multiple blade options available, fits Lie Nielsen toothed blade too(i have this setup). Its nice cause its got some length to it, but way lighter than #6(cheaper too!) . I have a #1, 4-1/2, 6, 62-1/2 for bench planes and 62.5 is my go to for most every task.
Thanks for this great video. One question: Is there a reason you cut the binding before the purfling? It just seems like the cutting would be more stable if you cut the purfling first--you'd have more material for the body of the gramil to ride on.
Thanks and that is a great question! I just do it that way, so I have never given any reasonable thought to why before now, haha. Thinking about it I can say that I do just that on most headstocks (at least most the last couple years) because they just get purfling with no binding, and doing it that way one has to chisel out the waste. Removing the binding channel wood first and then the purfling wood allows one to simply cut out the wood from the channel with very little if any chisel work. I am not positive, but my gut says it is faster to do in the order I do, and easier to get a clean shelf for the purfling(also less chance of screwing up the inner joint edge with a chisel. Also even with tall binding stacks I do not find it compromises the stability of the gramil enough to be a real issue.
I found this fascinating - Came across it by accident when I was googling luthiers. I play the uke and had no idea of the complexity of construction of stringed instruments especially the matter of a cantilever neck. Will pass the info on to friends who are luthiers and/or play the guitar. Thanks..
This was an extremely useful video. Thanks so much for taking the time to make it. Particularly nice to see your technique for setting the gramil depths in closeup. I prefer to make use of hand tools whenever possible, I just feel much more in control, and it’s always nice to be able to watch over someone’s shoulder when they have had some experience with the tool. This is clearly a point in the making of the guitar when I don’t want to be thinking “Ooops, shoulda...”. Much obliged :-)
I'm glad to hear the video is helpful, thanks for watching! Binding can be a real nail bitter of a time, such a long glue joint that needs to be just right. I definitely prefer to take it slow and steady with the gramils.
I’m just finishing my first neck joint, and also have a 30’ radius on the whole top. I planned on a raised fretboard extension (still touching and glued to the top, not cantilevered), because I thought I would need one for the correct geometry. But when I sanded a flat in to the extension area I found out I’d (somehow!?) ended up with the correct angle there and didn’t need any extra angle from a wedge to get there. I’ve decided to raise the extension anyway for the playability in the high registers. I’m really curious about the tonal impact and would like to find out what other builders have noticed while trying this. All I’ve heard is a “more bell-like tone” from a more upwards pull on the soundboard. When you do your normal neck joint is it easy to get the neck angle right with the 30’ radius top with no flattening of the radius on the upper bout, or did I end up sanding a lot to get there?
I am not sure I understand your first procedure and why you need a raised extension for the correct geometry? Setting the neck angle as I have known it to be done involves cutting the neck heel so that the top of the neck (where the fretboard lies) and the upper bout of the top are more or less in plane accounting for a rise as you move back to the saddle to accommodate the rise needed in the strings. Doing it that way one just has a small amount of flattening to do to remove the radius under the fretboard extension. I normally find the natural curve lies in the correct angle and just need to flatten down the middle high spot.
@@QueenCityGuitars I got instructions from another builder, and I was under the impression from him that because of the entire top being domed instead of what many other builders do, which is take out the dome from the upper bout, flattening in an angle for the fretboard trajectory, that one would have to sand too much of the top out to get the right trajectory with the uninterrupted dome. The builder I got the instructions from is a very high end builder using a 25’ dome. I was just surprised I easily got to the correct angle with what I thought was just a little sanding. Perhaps it just takes that much less sanding on a 30’ vs 25’. I’m pretty sure that was his explanation for why he uses a raised extension, to preserve the dome all around.
I've never built a 25' top, so its possible. I learned the method of using a flat upper bout first and used it for a while, but I have found that everything goes together a lot easier and cleaner with the radius in the upper bout.
I am actually going to be thicknessing an Indian rosewood back here shortly. I will see if I can get something about that recorded when I do it. Thanks for your suggestion!
Thanks! I make laminated linings, so I have two layers of spruce that are generally about 2.3-2.5 mm thick. So about 5mm when all is said and done. Sometimes I feel that is on the thin side, but I suppose the solid linings do gain a little bit of surface area without all the kerf slots (and its only about a mm thinner than a standard kerfed lining that you might buy), and I can say from having to remove a top from one the day after glue up that they end up stuck down pretty firmly.
Great video as usual. I really hope your channel grows a lot bigger than what it is! how thick are your sides? Do you thin them more at the waist? I struggle maintaining the waist “bend” as I bend the upper and lower bows. Any suggestions on what to do ? This is especially a problem when I’m bending ukulele sides.
Thanks again! I do not thin my sides at the waist any more than the rest of the side. If you are bending by hand I think you are bound to lose some of the waist as you work on the bouts. I will generally check back on the waist periodically, say after the lower and again after the upper. Sometimes in the middle of bending a bout, the upper especially. Holding the waist post bending for 30 seconds, even using a bit of water or damp towel to cool it off can help hold it, but it seems to stay somewhat plastic for a while even after it has cooled. That can be frustrating, but also advantageous in getting a good fit for the form.
