One last thing to do in construction mode: make the top plate for the head case. I start by selecting a board with straight, even grain, chopping it up into pieces, jointing the edges and gluing them together to make the blank from which the top will be made.
After surface planing the blank smooth, trimming it to finished size and routing the decorative edges, I sand all surfaces and attach it to the head case with screws from inside. No glue is used here. The back edge is permanently affixed, but the screws in the front edge are put in though screw holes that are elongated so as the top piece expands and contracts the front edge can move so the top won’t split.
I finish out the day by making up a batch of shellac. This finish starts out as dry flakes of a resinous material that gets mixed with denatured alcohol as a solvent. This will need to sit overnight to let the flakes dissolve, tomorrow I’ll strain it to remove any lumps as I transfer it into another jar for storage. This way I can go start shellacking the parts of the case that are done while I apply the rope trim to the rest. The rope trim will be frustrating, I’ll need a diversion to get away to!
One last thing to do in construction mode: make the top plate for the head case. I start by selecting a board with straight, even grain, chopping it up into pieces, jointing the edges and gluing them together to make the blank from which the top will be made.
After surface planing the blank smooth, trimming it to finished size and routing the decorative edges, I sand all surfaces and attach it to the head case with screws from inside. No glue is used here. The back edge is permanently affixed, but the screws in the front edge are put in though screw holes that are elongated so as the top piece expands and contracts the front edge can move so the top won’t split.
I finish out the day by making up a batch of shellac. This finish starts out as dry flakes of a resinous material that gets mixed with denatured alcohol as a solvent. This will need to sit overnight to let the flakes dissolve, tomorrow I’ll strain it to remove any lumps as I transfer it into another jar for storage. This way I can go start shellacking the parts of the case that are done while I apply the rope trim to the rest. The rope trim will be frustrating, I’ll need a diversion to get away to! 
yeah looking good.
ReplyDelete