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Gold Dollar with bone scales

I think the work looks great. As for size, you won't really know until you try, but you should be able to lay the blade flat and put one of the scales in position on top of it and get an idea.

I've been laying the blade on the scales to see...I was actually afraid the edge was going to stick out past the back side and depending on the size of wedge I use it's still possible. I'll drill the holes for the pivot here soon and see what it looks like once I get them separated. I think it'll be ok for my first attempt.

BTW I was looking back at your 2013 build thread...wow, that is one fine looking guitar. I love the neck and top on the body...really nice.

You could potentially reshape the end where the pivot hole will be and make it in a slight V form or something, or just taper it more.

I always find this shape of scales to be hard to get just right...

The last one I did with flamed maple turned out exactly how I think this style should look...too bad the bone didn't work out as well. It's a a real pain to work with compared to wood.

Wow. What a cool project. I look forward to seeing it completed.

Thanks BSAGuy
 
I've been laying the blade on the scales to see...I was actually afraid the edge was going to stick out past the back side and depending on the size of wedge I use it's still possible. I'll drill the holes for the pivot here soon and see what it looks like once I get them separated. I think it'll be ok for my first attempt.

BTW I was looking back at your 2013 build thread...wow, that is one fine looking guitar. I love the neck and top on the body...really nice.
Drilling the pivot holes always tightens me up.:blink:
That 2013 guitar is hanging in my music room/shop right now. Lacquer's been ready for 3 weeks, I just haven't had the time to flat sand and buff. I hope to have a chance to finish it by Christmas. Would be a nice Christmas present to myself. We shall see. I have a restore job I shot finish on at the same time that's gotta come first.
 
I wouldn't worry on the scales being too thin, I'm betting it will look fine once it's all completed. As for the bone hole/gap which you filled in, I like things that give my razors personality and individuality like that. Looking way better than I could manage at all, that's for sure.
 
Drilling the pivot holes always tightens me up.:blink:
That 2013 guitar is hanging in my music room/shop right now. Lacquer's been ready for 3 weeks, I just haven't had the time to flat sand and buff. I hope to have a chance to finish it by Christmas. Would be a nice Christmas present to myself. We shall see. I have a restore job I shot finish on at the same time that's gotta come first.

I don't have the capacity to work on other people's guitars...I do "good enough" work...not "good enough to sell" work!!! I'll have to pop in and see what it looks like finished up.

I wouldn't worry on the scales being too thin, I'm betting it will look fine once it's all completed. As for the bone hole/gap which you filled in, I like things that give my razors personality and individuality like that. Looking way better than I could manage at all, that's for sure.

Thanks Shave_Rat, I think it'll look fine probably but still not quite as nice of lines as I'm accustomed to....but it's not far enough off for me to want to start over lol
 
The other night I did some more shaping and sanding through 2000 grit as pmaster suggested then used mother's aluminum polish to shine them up. As I was doing all of this part of the patch for the hole came out...I've since patched it 2 more times and neither one worked out. Both times they actually started to fall out through the back, like the CA glue didn't get down in far enough into the bone dust leaving a hard patch layer over the top of dry bone dust below. Last night I filled the hole in stages from the bottom to the top making sure to get plenty of glue mixed into the bone dust in 3 different layers to the top. I'll sand it down again and see if this one takes ok, otherwise the part that has stayed so far looks pretty good IMO. I can't wait to get the blade pinned in and get to honing.


 
I don't have the capacity to work on other people's guitars...I do "good enough" work...not "good enough to sell" work!!! I'll have to pop in and see what it looks like finished up.
Don't sell yourself short. I don't build to sell either(yet). All of my work for others is repairs, setups, and other kinds of tech work, which I've been doing for a long time. But I started with small things. I'm still not afraid to tell someone that a job is beyond me, and send them down the road to someone else.
Those scales look great! Bone is a natural substance, and there are imperfections. The repair you've done looks good, and your final approach (filling in stages) was the right call, IMO. I think you'll be good to go. Nice work.

P.S.: I'll send you a PM and link when I start posting to the build again. It'll be a while, yet.
 
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P.S.: I'll send you a PM and link when I start posting to the build again. It'll be a while, yet.

looking forward to it

Give the bone dust another try. The polished bone looks good!

Thanks! The last attempt worked. Bone dust in the bottom of the hole, drop of CA...more bone dust another drop...one last little dash of dust and one last drop of CA. This got the dust saturated from the bottom to the top.
 
I got quite a bit done today. Pretty much finished it up. Last night I got the final patching of the hole done and let the CA dry over night which was probably part of my problem on the last 2 attempts...I was a little impatient and started sanding on it too soon.

I separated the scales and sanded off the paper/glue after I drilled the hole for the pivot. I decided I was going to use some black plastic pick guard material for my wedge instead of mahogany, copper, or brass like I was initially thinking. I put just a dab of glue on the wedge to hold it in place while I sand it flush and drill the hole.



I finally got all of that done, got the pinning done, and polished up the wedge area after going through 2000 grit. The one thing I was pissed at myself for was not going and getting my blue masking tape while pinning to protect the scales while I was filing the pivot pin down to length. Of course I slipped and gouged the scales beside the pin...still not sure if I care enough to do anything about it. Here's several finished pics...wish I had some natural light though. Now I just need to hone it up and hope I can get a decent edge on it.











 
Those scales are sweet! Nice job. And I don't see any issues with the size. They work great on that blade!
 
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