Solid modeling a Strat

[navvid]

Hello all
I am new to this forum. Glad to be here.

I have decided to take on a Strat project, as my favorite lady is an 87 MIJ, and I have long wanted to enter into both the worlds of lutherie, and solid modeling (I am trying to learn Solidworks). I guess there are probably many easier ways to go about this, but as I have acquired more machining and fabrication skills, I find it useful to learn some engineering tools.

So anyway, I'm starting with a body only, and plan on buying a fender neck for it at first, until I feel confident enough to try making a neck. I decided I wanted to make my own template (again, to learn a new skill, and because it makes me feel more like I really made it). I am a Hendrix nut, and right handed, thus I had thought about taking a lefty and stringing it righty many a time. I have a friend who has a left handed MIJ which he has kindly loaned me to take measurements. After taking a few max/min dimensions and measuring a few radii, I tried to make an outline template to place over the original, and refine. It very quickly became evident that most of the curves are composed of many compound radii. At this point, I would like to take a look at someone else's CAD file just to see if I can identify more curves. I am measuring the radius of the curves I can Identify with a machinists divider (looks like a compass). This alone is difficult, but if I know what I'm looking for, the various compound arc sections will be easier to get. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

Thanks, navvid (aka nick)

 

[Bloozcat]

First off, welcome aboard Nick!

Sounds pretty ambitious...

How would you describe your skill level presently? Have you done any electronics modding? Any neck/body work? Any finish/painting work?

Do you have any basic luthiers tools to do set-ups, fret leveling/crowning, wiring/soldering, nut filing, etc? Even putting a Fender neck on a Fender body will require some basic tools and knowledge if the two seperate parts were not previously fitted together.

I'm not trying to be a wise guy here. I'm just trying to get an idea of what you may have done up 'til this point. It just makes it easier to comment when we have a little more info about you...

 

[333maxwell]

Hello all
I am new to this forum. Glad to be here.

I have decided to take on a Strat project, as my favorite lady is an 87 MIJ, and I have long wanted to enter into both the worlds of lutherie, and solid modeling (I am trying to learn Solidworks). I guess there are probably many easier ways to go about this, but as I have acquired more machining and fabrication skills, I find it useful to learn some engineering tools.

So anyway, I'm starting with a body only, and plan on buying a fender neck for it at first, until I feel confident enough to try making a neck. I decided I wanted to make my own template (again, to learn a new skill, and because it makes me feel more like I really made it). I am a Hendrix nut, and right handed, thus I had thought about taking a lefty and stringing it righty many a time. I have a friend who has a left handed MIJ which he has kindly loaned me to take measurements. After taking a few max/min dimensions and measuring a few radii, I tried to make an outline template to place over the original, and refine. It very quickly became evident that most of the curves are composed of many compound radii. At this point, I would like to take a look at someone else's CAD file just to see if I can identify more curves. I am measuring the radius of the curves I can Identify with a machinists divider (looks like a compass). This alone is difficult, but if I know what I'm looking for, the various compound arc sections will be easier to get. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

Thanks, navvid (aka nick)

This wont directly help you, but I bet it provides motivation..

Take a look at one of the blokes at another forum I frequent has done.. this is an incredibly beautiful bit of work.. take a look..

http://coleywood.com/guitar/index.html

 

[navvid]

I certainly understand your concerns Bloozcat.

With regard to my skill level, I have repaired and modified audio equipment (amps, compressors, etc.) and computers/laptops, I have done surface mount solder work such as replacing grain of salt sized resistors and parallel stacking micro fets up to six high by hand with no fet tool (just a fine tip on my iron), I have used an airbrush to custom paint models and rc's, I have basic machining skills (I can run a lathe, mill, etc.), and I have basic woodworking skills.

I do not have neck/body fabrication experience, or lutherie specialty tools. I study astrophysics at SF State University, and can access basic shop tools such as planer/joiner, table saw, band saw, etc. there. I am currently assembling my woodworking tools (as of now a top quality set of beveled chisels, and some finishing chisels). Unfortunately I am near broke, but refuse to give up on this endeavor. I just scored a piece of the physics building that i cut into a perfect maple neck blank, though I'm not ready to try that yet. Was hoping to build this guitar entirely out of salvaged/recycled materials. That would give it mad mojo. Unfortunately, very few commonly found items are made of ash, let alone southern/swamp ash.

Oh, and thanks for the link Maxwell.

 

[navvid]

Always looking for a good piece of ash.

 

[333maxwell]

I certainly understand your concerns Bloozcat.

With regard to my skill level, I have repaired and modified audio equipment (amps, compressors, etc.) and computers/laptops, I have done surface mount solder work such as replacing grain of salt sized resistors and parallel stacking micro fets up to six high by hand with no fet tool (just a fine tip on my iron), I have used an airbrush to custom paint models and rc's, I have basic machining skills (I can run a lathe, mill, etc.), and I have basic woodworking skills.

I do not have neck/body fabrication experience, or lutherie specialty tools. I study astrophysics at SF State University, and can access basic shop tools such as planer/joiner, table saw, band saw, etc. there. I am currently assembling my woodworking tools (as of now a top quality set of beveled chisels, and some finishing chisels). Unfortunately I am near broke, but refuse to give up on this endeavor. I just scored a piece of the physics building that i cut into a perfect maple neck blank, though I'm not ready to try that yet. Was hoping to build this guitar entirely out of salvaged/recycled materials. That would give it mad mojo. Unfortunately, very few commonly found items are made of ash, let alone southern/swamp ash.

Oh, and thanks for the link Maxwell.

Thanks.. I thought it was cool!

 

[navvid]

Its just not Red Special with a floyd rose on there, though. Needs motorcycle valve springs and a ground down knife blade.

 

[duhvoodooman]

Always looking for a good piece of ash.

Aren't we all, aren't we all?....

I've noodled with electronics, but woodworking is not among my modest skill set. Will be interested to hear how you progress with this. Best of luck!

BTW, please stop by the Fret Players forum and introduce yourself to the gang....

 

[Bloozcat]

I certainly understand your concerns Bloozcat.

With regard to my skill level, I have repaired and modified audio equipment (amps, compressors, etc.) and computers/laptops, I have done surface mount solder work such as replacing grain of salt sized resistors and parallel stacking micro fets up to six high by hand with no fet tool (just a fine tip on my iron), I have used an airbrush to custom paint models and rc's, I have basic machining skills (I can run a lathe, mill, etc.), and I have basic woodworking skills.

I do not have neck/body fabrication experience, or lutherie specialty tools. I study astrophysics at SF State University, and can access basic shop tools such as planer/joiner, table saw, band saw, etc. there. I am currently assembling my woodworking tools (as of now a top quality set of beveled chisels, and some finishing chisels). Unfortunately I am near broke, but refuse to give up on this endeavor. I just scored a piece of the physics building that i cut into a perfect maple neck blank, though I'm not ready to try that yet. Was hoping to build this guitar entirely out of salvaged/recycled materials. That would give it mad mojo. Unfortunately, very few commonly found items are made of ash, let alone southern/swamp ash.

Oh, and thanks for the link Maxwell.

Thanks for that little bio, navvid. With your background and basic skills, you should do well with guitar and amp modding. You're probably starting off with more basic skills than most of us did when we got started. Access to those woodworking tools is a real plus for your plans, too. In a little while, we'll probably be asking you for help with woodworking! (if not right now!)

I think for many of us, guitar modding is just an extension of a natural inclination towards building, creating, repairing, hobbying, etc. It's a particular mindset that you can do anything if you put you mind to it - and just as importantly, your creative juices - that drives us.

 

[navvid]

Hello all, just a project update.

I decided to go about making the solid model differently than originally planned. It has proven very difficult to freehand sketch the organic curves of a Strat in SolidWorks. SW is parametric, which is its big advantage. But this also means that if you did not construct the compound contours out of the right combination of arc segments and you try to impose dimensions on the part, things go crazy. The parameters you have specified may not be reconcilable with the configuration you have, i.e. your part can not exist in the physical universe... Curves loop around themselves instead of joining smoothly, things warp beyond recognition. SW tries to compensate by altering the unspecified parameters, and if it can't, the outline of your part turns red, indicating that you are a failure as an engineer.

On a suggestion from my machine shop instructor/mentor, I decided to try a tool in SW called "Sketch Picture" appropriately enough. It allows you to import a picture into SW, so you can draft over it. This proved to be the key to constructing the contours out of the minimum number of arc segments with correct radii, which is critical to the accuracy of the model.

I got a roll of poster paper, and an artists graphite pencil (like a mechanical pencil lead, but as thick as a pencil), and laid the 94-95 MIJ I'm replicating on top with some thin rubber spacers I cut in between to prevent the glossy guitar from sliding around on the paper while i traced it. I sharpened the pencil to one side (filed at an angle, like a cut bamboo spear) so it would not add the radius of the writing instrument to the outline as I traced it.

Once I had a good trace, I took it to Kinko's and used their Oce TDS-450 drum feed engineering scanner to make a 600dpi tif (cost around $8 to email it to myself). SW will import a variety of image formats (jpeg, gif, bmp, png, maybe others) but tif is lossless. So is png, but the scanner only output tif, pdf or jpeg. I used Photoshop to clean it up (rotate to straighten things out, clean up edges and stray marks, check dimensions for accuracy), and imported it into SW. I'm currently working on the model, which is going very well. Decided to take a break to shower and update you guys on my progress.

 

[navvid]

Update #2

I have advanced from a 2D sketch to a 3D part. My model is now a "solid part". It's just the basic outline, (no neck pocket or routing), but I'll be damned if it doesn't look like a Strat. You're probably thinking "yeah great, big deal", but after struggling with SolidWorks for hours, it's a notable victory for me. I believe I should be able to produce an accurate template soon. Still need a piece of ash though. It would be nice to have access to a planer and joiner too, but we do not have one in the machine shop I have access to (it's a metal shop, so just mills, lathes, presses, a band saw... no woodworking machines). I'm hoping I can get a friend in the SF industrial district to call in a favor and get me brief access to these.

 

[Iago]

hey Navvid, try looking on allparts and other similar websites, I think they might have the ash piece you're looking for!

 

[navvid]

Thanks Iago, but I bought an ash board a couple of days ago.

It was a 6" x 8' board, which I have cut into three pieces and glued together. I used Tite Bond II yellow carpenters glue (blue bottle). I used three Bessey clamps I bought at Lowes, but I think I might return them. I spent all day yesterday with a luthier who is actually making his living making guitars for a boutique custom guitar designer, and he prefers pipe clamps. They have some advantages over carpenters clamps, notably they are cheaper, and if you need a 10' clamp one day, you can just go buy ten feet of pipe, and you have a 10' clamp. I paid nearly $120 for the three Bessey 24" clamps. They are very nice, assembled from German parts, with a mechanism that keeps the clamp jaw perpendicular to the beam. But I think I may opt for cheap versatility.

I also got many ideas from the gentleman I mentioned, buy noting his workshop, machines, setups, etc. I noted that he does a lot of his work on a pin router, and after staring at it for awhile, I realized I could probably make a jig to adapt a mill to be used identically to the pin router. I'm working on drawings of it now. My solid model is coming along, but I'm having trouble defining the centerline of the irregular shape of the Strat.