Back of the guitar glued to the sides

 

Steambox updated

New lapsteel coming. Bending went even better this time with approved DIY steambox. Made the box much shorter so it heats up faster and propably also holds a higher temperature than previous. I had the pieces in water 3-4 hours before the steam treatment too wich I think helped. 20 - 25 minutes in the box.

Typography

 Hmmm?

 

 

Next build

 Making plans for this summers build. I think I've nailed the basic shape now. This will be a hybrid of my two latest acoustic lap-steels witch both has their  flaws. Plywood of course. I might try proper guitar building materials once I get the design the way I want it. For some reason you just can't know how it will work, feel and look until you have an actual instrument in your hands.

 

 

Fretboard added

 Drawn with markers on cardboard. Not final but it’ll do for now.

This summers lap steel build

 Bending plywood went ok. Theres a small crack in one of the bends but it’s merely visible so I went along and put it together. And it actually sounds fine! I’m allways prepared for the worst with my rudimentary knowledge in the matter and my cheapness when it comes to what materials I use. The body of this guitar is also much thinner than my last one but It still sounds full size. Will compare them when I have them both in the same

Alternate bending method

Tried another method. Plywood piece placed in a barrel of Water for ten minutes. Then warmed the curve with a heat gun while slowly bending. Worked fine too!  Heat gun set to 170 C°.

Steam box

I wanted to know if it's possible to bend plywood so I put together an improvised steambox. And yes, It works! I was afraid the steam would disolve the glue in the plywood but it looks like it didn't. Now I can build acoustic lap-steels without corners.

Acoustic lap-steel

This is my latest build. Cheap plywood but it sounds fine. My next one will not have corners though.

Lap steel update

Busy day in the workshop today. Managed to get the pickguard properly routed on the second try.