I thought I would just share some pictures from a build I've been doing for another enthusiast luthier.
He saw my Venture Sonic design and loved it, but wanted to do some different things with the neck heel and pocket. So he asked me to make him a chambered core with arm contour (inside and out) and a carved ash top to fit - only to leave some more material around the neck pocket so he could carve his own transition.
The core is made from 30mm thick roasted Korina, with 21mm deep cavities. The top is 16mm thick ash, but the carve profiles this to around 3mm thick around the edges.
He was insistent I send the pieces to him straight off the machine, so they are replete with tooling marks! But the cut went well. I will be very interested to see what he does with it!
The first cut - shaping the belly contour out of the back of the core
The piece is turned over, and the corresponding contour is cut in the interior cavity to give consistent 9mm thickness
With the treble side cavity also cut (as a flat pocket, using an end mill - no contour to worry about) and released.
This will be the visible face on the back - I'm quite pleased with the glue line and end grain join. This piece of the roasted Korina is quite beautiful! And I managed to position the guitar to avoid any pin-holes (commonly found in Korina)
The top carved and released, and fitting in position. The edge is a perfect match, and the edge is consistent all the way around (apart from the section I left for hand carving).
And this was the original design / concept, from some time ago, to show the general scheme.
Thanks for reading!
Dan
