Adjustment on the 2020 build

 Never really liked the soundhole design on last years build so I carved new ones.

Plywood lapsteel 2021

 

Lapsteel update

Went back to my parents and the woodshop to finnish this years lapsteel build. Everything went smoothly. Quite happy with the adjustments I did with the design. Changed the shape a bit, made it thicker, designed new soundholes and made the bridge piece bigger. Looks better and sounds fuller. Next time I might consider using "real" guitar building materials.

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.

Lap steel 2019 continued

Lap steel 2019

The glueing of the binding. Oh, the horror!

Lap steel 2018- 2019

Routing the binding channel... Check.

Guitar build 2015-2019

Gluing the binding was a challenge. Mahogany seems to be tricky that way. Made a lots of test with different glues. I ended up pre-glue the suface with epoxy and let it dry before I glued the binding itself. The sharp bends was also a first time for me. I used a heat gun to make the plastic bend-able.

Plywood lap steel build 2017

I did this akoustik lap steel a few years back but plywood didn't go well this time. I sounds and plays ok but the design looks clumsy and the finished version with binding and color looks like crap. I will propably make a second, non-plywood attempt in the future.

Lap steel build 2018

The mahogany piece I got from my uncle made perfect for a solid body lap steel too. Som process pics here.

Guitar build 2015 -18

My uncle gave me a fine piece of mahogany a few years back which provided material for a replacement body for an ugly 3/4 guitar I got cheap in a flea market. Here's some pics from the process. Stained birch vaneer on top and plastic binding. I spent a hole day routing neck pockets on a scrap piece to get it right. When I got the neck in place I found out I had to tilt it slightly with a chim to get the string action low enough. Very hard to get the holes for bridge and tail piece in the right spot too. I might have to correct that later.