OK, getting started cutting wood at long last.
I actually designed, planned, and purchased all the parts and materials for this build over 2 years ago…
Heres my little DeWalt table saw. I traded a much larger cabinet style table saw for this one a few years ago because the smaller saw totally meets all my needs, and can be folded up and tucked away when I’m not using it.
Big mahogany board
The Thinner slice will be used to make the neck. the wider board will be used for the body
Wider board cut into several pieces, and two of them will be planed and jointed down to the correct dimensions and then joined into one body “blank”
The boards are quite thick (over 2″) and pretty flat already so I’ll pass them through the thickness planer to get them down to almost final dimensions. The mahogany part of the body will be exactly 1.6″ thick. I’ll use the planer to get them down to about 1.7″ initially and let them sit a day or to to allow them to move. Wood can warp or twist when you reduce it in size so I give it a chance to do that, and then reduce it the rest of the way which, being only a 10th of an inch will not likely move any more and will remain flat and square
Then I flatten and square the edge where they will be joined using a hand plane. This is 100% the best way to create a good joint. Power planers and jointers use a rotating blade that creates a “scalloped” surface on a microscopic level. A hand plane cleaves a perfectly flat, clean surface and you get far better contact between the two pieces.
Once the surfaces to be joined are perfected with the plane I line them up on my bar clamps
At this point I mix up a batch of Urea Formaldehyde glue (UF). this is the best glue for joints that you dont ever want to come apart. Its virtually unbreakable, and it dries very hard and brittle like crystalline glass and so it does little to deaden vibrations. Vibrations matter in musical instruments.Other joints, like the fretboard or neck join might conceivably need to be disassembled for repairs at some future time, so the UF glue is not a good choice for those. UF only for permanent joints.
After clamping the boards tightly I clean up the glue that squeezes out of the joint. ITs a lot harder to clean it after its hard.
Set it aside for a couple days. The UF glue doesnt set anywhere near as quickly as titebond or other carpenters wood glue, but I dries much stronger and a lot harder
