In September of 2016, the CITES delegates agreed to place ALL Rosewood under Appendix II protection, effective January 2nd, 2017. Many musicians and builders alike are familiar with the fact that Brazilian Rosewood, or Nigra Dalbergia, is a protected species, and that there are many restrictions surrounding the sale, and transportation of this […]
Category: Guitar Making
Radiusing and Kerfing the Sides
Another free excerpt from The Online Guitar Building School. In this lesson, I rough out the back and top radius onto the sides, add kerfing and then final sand the radii. Was this useful? I would love to hear your questions or comments! I try to answer every e-mail I receive, so please be patient […]
Side Bracing
Side bracing on an acoustic guitar is simple and structural in nature. I discuss a simple process for creating, fitting and spacing braces on the bent sides of your guitar. Was this useful? I would love to hear your questions or comments! I try to answer every e-mail I receive, so please be patient […]
Creating a Headstock Template
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]