Official Luthiers Forum!

Serge, I agree with Mario (man, I've gotta stop doing that). If you have a good fit, leave it. If the fit isn't so good, I'd go with a piece of binding rather than try to fit a wedge in. I would also stay far, far away from it with a router. I'm not sure how you would possibaby get a clean cut with one.
Here's what I'd do.
Mark the width. Use a metal ruler and lightly scribe lines with a brand-spankin' new x-acto blade. when both sides are scribed to the depth you want, hit it with a 1/4" chisel. Since you don't have any side purfling to deal with it should be a pretty easy fix.

Thanks to all who have answered!

Larry and Graham, i'm still LMHO!

I saw very beautiful work here guys, thanks for the inspiration!

Since there is a visible gap, too wide to just fill with dust and CA, IIRC, i'm gonna follow the wisdom of those who advised me to take a piece of binding, a straight edge and a box cutter and chisel to scribe slowly what needs to be removed.

Thanks everyone, i really appreciate your support and will report what i will do with pics!

Hmmm, I thought I'd made a page up when I had done a similar job once, and sure enough, I found it!

     The page is here.

This was the prototype OM/D model, which had been hacked up pretty good in testing(which included having 3 pickups installed at the same time for a pickup test/shootout), but in the end, it was too good a player to chop up and burn, so I fixed some cosmetics, and sold it.

I like the idea already stated (several times) of using a straight piece of binding. AND THEN if that doesn't turn out so well, you can use a wedge as a fall-back. A pearl engraver gave me a tip for using a 6" rule: double stick a piece of sandpaper on the back so that the little ruler isn't slipping around so easily. You will be able to keep it PUT--right where you want it to stay.

Oh yes, here's a wedge, courtesy of BobC:




Steve

Steve Kinnaird38876.5922800926

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

[QUOTE=Steve Kinnaird] A pearl engraver gave me a tip for using a 6" rule: double stick a piece of sandpaper on the back so that the little ruler isn't slipping around so easily. You will be able to keep it PUT--right where you want it to stay.[/IMG]Oh man, that's brilliant, and obvious in retrospect. I'm endlessly fighting slipping rulers. No more!

Man Steve, that's a beauty of an end wedge...what kind of wood is that?

I have a 1/4" chisel that I'd ground triangular in section back in the dovetail cutting days...works great for getting an end graft channel clean...actually can undercut the edges just a bit if need be....

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

Yes, that cheveron pattern, it is really easy. Just take a piece of nice straight grained wood and cut it corner to corner. Flip one side and joint it. Glue it up then cut your wedge out of it.

They come out looking like this:
(but you might not want to install it going the wrong way, like I did.    )

Brock Poling38876.6320949074

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I double stick a ruler (or other straight edge) to cut the wedge channel. Works like a charm.

Steve...I also ask..what is the wood in that wedge? Wow!

That wood is an offcut from a piece of spalted Ambrosia maple. The bulk of this formed the rosette. I'm 99.9% certain that this is Boxelder. Other "Ambrosia maple" on the market--which isn't Boxelder--turns a brownish shade when attacked by the bugs. Not that bright shade of red.

Glad you guys like it...thanks.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Brock--I really like your chevroned (word?) wedge. Only--why did you use a spruce back?   

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Thanks again guys, you are just amazing!

thanks for the link to your website Mario, great recovery job! And thanks Steve and Brock for the awesome wedge pics, it's now hard to choose betwween a piece of straight binding and a beautiful wedge, it probably would be easier for me to go the binding route and it would look nice with a piece of PH binding there but after seeing Brock's and Steve's pics, i gotta say that i'm tempted to go that route, wider part of the wedge near the top right?

Yes, the wider part is near the top. Don't follow my example. That one is in backwards.

Steve.... I was trying something new. I thought the back of that guitar was just too pretty to hide so I made it the top.   

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=KiwiCraig] All these wedges look fantastic . I'm very impressed with you combo Paul. I know we spoke of it ,but seeing it in the flesh is a different thing all together. Your work looks very neat too! , as is Dave's and Alain's. Looking forward to seeing it all complete .

Cheers ! KiwiCraig[/QUOTE]

Thanks Kiwi, that is the endgraft that fought me all the way, huge gaps between the binding and the graft. Had to re-do, fiddle, and fuss with the rotten thing. Though I'm happy with the (eventual) recovery. Oh, and the true color of the blackwood hasn't come out in the pic - it looks faded, it's much more golden when seen in person, much less contrast with the binding. You can just see some of the back in the pic, the sides look more like that.

There are some nice wedges on her but me thinks this be my favorite... Thanks Pete....

[QUOTE=Pete Licis] [/QUOTE]

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Hi Serge,

I messed up as well, put the wedge in upside down and tried to fix it by getting cute and inlaying a piece of Cocobolo, bookmatched to represent a bottle shape. Well, the bottle looks like it was made by a drunk glass blower and I also didn't miter in the b/w parts.

In the end, I don't think a casual observer will realize it was a mistake. Good luck on yours, my friend.

Pete

Thanks Brock, i think i'm gonna try making one like yours though i won't have any purfling on either side but there might be something that i'll be doing that will make it be different a little...

Thanks Pete, your wedge with a bottle shape is really nice!

Unfortunately, i didn't get a chance to work in my sop today, had some overtime to do at the day job and i'm on duty tonight so, ah well.., there is always tomorrow huh?

You can get an end graft upside down? I`ve got a sickening feeling, here.
Oh No...

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

When I use a center wedge of a contrasting wood on the back like I did with the Thinlne SJ I reverse the wedge direction so that wide part of the end graft lines up with the wide part of the back center wedge if they are the same wood.(typically the same as the binding as well) It gives a keystone apperance. I guess it is most common to set the wide part of the end graft wedge toward the top, though I have looked far and wide, I have not found a stone with that rule ingraved in it yet MichaelP38877.3766203704

Thanks for the reassurance, Mike.
I`m not about to change this one anyway. It`s mine.

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Wow, some very nice looking endgrafts. I especially like Pete's. It sort of mirrors the shape of the neck heel. Very cool.

I've done endgrafts as either wedges or straight. I find the wedges to be easier because, well, they're wedges. Straight endgrafts have to be exactly the right dimensions or you get gaps as you can see in one of the following photos:




I had to fill a few small gaps in the top photo. The one in the bottom photo required a wider endgraft as a result of the sides not being bent quite right. Rather than rebend both, I just cut them for a slightly wider endgraft. I didn't want to do a wedge on that guitar. But since the back doesn't have a center strip, I don't think the wider endgraft takes away from the look.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Here's one more.

_________________
Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

Jimmy, that's pretty.
Is it Padauk?...Cocobolo?...Bloodwood?

SK

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Thanks Michael and Jimmy, beautiful work there too!