The Rufus, Sanding and Buffing

The guitar's lacquer coat has cured long enough to begin the final sanding. I started with a wet sanding of 600 and 800 grit paper (picture). At this point it was a good time to fit the bridge (picture). This was made from ebony. Once the contour of the bottom of the bridge matched the top of the guitar I buffed the instrument. So far it looks great.

Marshwood Acoustic, Chapter 7, The Bridge

Began this process by making a template out of plywood. First by cutting out the diagram (made some subtle changes) on the acoustic guitar plans, then gluing it to a piece of .5 inch ply. I then cut this out (picture). Using two small screws I joined this to the rosewood stock, cut and sanded the rosewood flush with the template. In the picture the bridge is still very rough but that will change soon.

Marshwood Acoustic, Chapter 6, The Neck

With radius sanding blocks I gave this fretboard a 12, 14 and 16 compound radius (More detail on radius-ing in previous blogs). After that, I used a straight sanding bar to level the board. Then the frets went in. It is starting to look like a steel string guitar. The headstock is taped for protection from bumps and bruises. The heel of the neck is beginning to take shape too. Once completed, I can focus on building the bridge.