In this excerpt from the Online Course, I demonstrate a practical method for creating a headstock template, whether copying your peghead design from plans or designing your own. Creating a simple Martin style paddle shape certainly simplifies things. However, I demonstrate a more interesting design incorporating long symmetrical curves. Was this useful? I would love […]
Author: Eric Schaefer
Chisel Sharpening
I discuss hand sharpening and honing chisels with sandpaper and a granite block, and sharpening using a powered system with dry abrasives: the worksharp 3000. This is an excerpt from The Online Guitar Building School course “Building an OM Acoustic”
Cutting the Scarf Joint
In this excerpt from the Online Guitar Building School, I cut and prepare the scarf joint for the headstock. Video Transcript: Okay, we are ready to begin work on the neck! From this single blank of wood I will cut and make the scarf joint for the headstock and I will also cut and assemble […]
The End Wedge
A decorative end wedge hides the seam between the sides at the lower bout. This video excerpt from the Online Guitar Building School goes into detail about design considerations and the process for creating a clean and attractive endwedge. Video Transcript: Okay, the sides are looking pretty good at this point. The addition of a […]
When a Neck Removal Goes Bad!
To follow up episode #22 When a Bridge Removal Goes Bad, I decided to also write an article on bad neck removals as well. This neck removal was particularly hairy. I won’t get into why this was the case, but you can see the damage to the soundboard beneath the fretboard tongue was extensive! […]
A Simple Jig for Cutting the Headplate Square to the Nut Slot
When I first started building guitars, I remember some of the difficulty that I had in cutting the headplate square to the nut slot. I would clamp a piece of scrap wood to the headplate as a fence, but the fence would only keep me square to the sides. To get the edge of the […]
Using Magnets to Repair Side Splits
This Martin 000-15 came into my shop with a long split in the sides on the treble side. The owner told me that the guitar was never dropped or bumped into anything. It never experienced any kind of trauma to cause the split. Furthermore, the guitar had been repaired previously for splits in the sides, also […]
Making Guitar Mold Spreaders
For this episode I am using an excerpt of The Online Guitar Building School’s Building an OM Acoustic series. This video walks you through the construction of upper, waist, and lower bout spreaders to fit your guitar mold. Was this useful? I would love to hear your questions or comments! I try to answer every e-mail […]
When A Bridge Removal Goes Bad!
My Canadian friend brought me a Norman guitar with a lifting bridge, a belly bulge, and long run-out splits in the soundboard beginning just forward of the belly bulge. These are all symptoms of the same problem: too much tension at the bridge. First, the bulge in the belly needed to be reduced, then the bridge removed […]
Quartersawn Vs. Flatsawn: Guitar Bracing
Quartersawn Vs. Flatsawn: Guitar Bracing This is an excerpt from “Roughing Out the Braces” https://ericschaeferguitars.com/course/building-an-om-acoustic/ Transcript: Now we are going to rough out our brace blanks from billets of spruce. Before we get started with that we just need to understand the difference between quarter sawn and flat sawn. To get a better understanding of […]