Weeks of January 21st - February 25th

Goals For These Weeks

● Cut the wood for the body
● Clean the wood with saws and sanding
● Drill holes for the other components of the body
● Begin designing the 3D print for the back panel
● Prepare for laser engraved artwork

My Research and What I Learned

These last few weeks have
undoubtedly been the most
productive of the entire school
year and the most exciting.
Most of the last several
months have been building up
to preparing to cut the block
of wood into a functional
guitar body.
Mr. Rydlund and I were able to
successfully cut out the shape
of the body with the CNC
milling machine after putting
the SolidWorks design on
EnRoute. The most difficult
part of this process was
flipping the wood over so that
the machine could cut out the
back cavity where all of the
electronics would go. The
reason this step was so
difficult was because we were
having trouble positioning
where the hole would be. This
cavity needed to be in a very
precise position in order to
not interfere with the other
components of the guitar, specifically the posts that will be drilled in to
hold the bridge of the guitar. We managed to successfully position this
back cavity without any issues.

The next thing I did once obtaining

the body was cleaning it. The CNC machine
made exceptionally smooth cuts however
the corners were still too jagged. I
proceeded by using a bandsaw to cut off
large pieces of excess wood that was used
to hold the body onto the frame as shown
in the first image. I then began sanding
down the edges of the body with a rough
sandpaper and using higher grit
sandpaper with each pass. I also sanded
down both the front and back of the body
with high grit sandpaper to make the whole
body even smoother.
Mr. Combs and I then began drilling
holes for the body. We decided that it
would be more efficient to drill all the holes
before applying the finish to the wood
since it would be easier to see where
everything goes. It also allows us to be
more rough with the wood and cover up
our mistakes later with the finish. The image to the left shows the back
panel of the guitar where the electronics for the pickup will go. The hole on
the side of the body is for the
output jack of the guitar, where the
chord will plug into an amplifier. We
also drilled holes for the
guitar-buttons where the strap
attaches to, the holes to secure the
pickup, and the holes for the neck
and the bridge posts. The bridge
holes were by far the most difficult
set of holes to drill and was
arguably the most difficult part of
the project. These sets of holes
needed to be a very precise distance
away from the neck. There was also
no room for error when distancing
how far these holes were from each
other. If they were positioned even a
millimeter too far to the left or right,
then we would not be able to use the
bridge or undo the mistake. However
Mr. Combs was able to accurately
mark where these holes needed to be
which allowed for a perfect fit for the
two bridge pieces I will be using when
assembling the guitar.

The only hole we will not drill is

the one for the volume knob. We
decided that we are going to wait
until after the artwork is laser
engraved so we can position the knob
somewhere without covering any
major details on the artwork that will
be on the front of the body.
The next steps of this project
are to laser the body, finish the wood, and assemble everything. We
decided that the best way to laser the body is by getting a piece of foam
core and cutting out a shape that the body would perfectly fit into. The
purpose of this is to make sure that the body is exactly where it needs to
be when we run the laser. This is just an extra precaution to make sure that
we don’t laser the artwork only to find that it’s slightly crooked. I also
decided that it would be best to run the laser at a minimal level of power
only to see if the engraving is positioned correctly. In the case that it is not,
then we can easily correct this mistake by lightly sanding over the
engraving since the low power means the laser is hardly cutting into the
wood.

My Accomplishments
● The most difficult part of this project is completed
● I now have the guitar body in hand
● I have every single piece required to assemble the guitar
● I know how I will cover the back panel of the guitar
 ● All of the holes aside for the volume knob are drilled
● I know what steps I need to take in order to continue

Reflections on Goals and Timeline

I am very proud of what I have achieved this month and know exactly
what I need to do moving forwards. I believe that I can finish my entire
project within a month which means I am still ahead of my timeline which is
crucial this late into the year.
 Works Cited

"85-7X." EMG, www.emgpickups.com/85-7x.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2021.

Binyamini, Yoav. "All You Need to Know to Build Your First Electric Guitar." The Electric

Luthier, theelectricluthier.com/ all-you-need-to-know-to-build-your-first-electric-guitar/.

Accessed 31 Aug. 2021.

"INSTALLATION INFORMATION POWERING EMG'S / TIPS AND TRICKS." EMG

Pickups,

www.emgpickups.com/pub/media/Mageants/p/o/powertips_tricks_0230-0190c.pdf.

Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.

Owens, Jeff. "Intonation 101." Fender, www.fender.com/articles/tech-talk/intonation-101.

Accessed 9 Dec. 2021.

"Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece 7-string black." TLC Guitar Goods,

tlcguitargoods.com/en/tune-o-matic-bridge-and-tailpiece-7-string-black.html. Accessed 9

Dec. 2021.

"Unfinished maple 24 frets rosewood fretsboard 7 strings electric guitar neck." ebay, Accessed 9

Dec. 2021.