Hello there, my fellow artisans and handcrafts enthusiasts!
Welcome back to another entry on the projects of the workshop. Today, we are starting a new project that has already found its owner. You might get the idea when we advance on it and you look at the results. For now, you will see the first steps of a Venezuelan Cuatro build. Actually, make it two. Not all the time you will see me working on two instruments at once but it will be an awesome pair of projects.
Let's get to it!
The blanks
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There are some options for the wood we are using on this build. The last word came to us from the musician that commissioned this build. So we went for a classic build with cordia alliodora and cedrela odorata. The rest of the pieces of the instrument are from one of the local species of oak. This particular oak has some awesome orange and red color depending on how close the cut is to the heart of the log. You will see how it looks as we move forward.
The neck is also on the same species of cedar. The combination of the woods will give us some depth in tone and also some crispy treble notes. This is a nice combination taking into consideration the commission is for both a soloist instrument that is also good to accompany singers and we need to balance everything.
Marking two necks
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As you read before, there are two instrument on the workbench. Actually, two blanks to make necks. The work is the same all the time. First, we use the hand plane and sanding block to make sure we have flat surfaces over the faces of the blank. Next we use the ruler to start marking the lines we need to make sure the length is the adequate and where we are going to make both the cuts for the head stock and the cuts for the slots.
Now, we mark the angle for the head stock cut and make both of them to move on. We follow up by cleaning the cut to make sure we have a flush glue up.
Before gluing up everything, we are making holes to put some anchors to make sure the glue up stays straight. And then we can do a dry-fit test. This is followed up by applying glue and clamping when all is ready. Then we let everything rest for the time being.
Back and top
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The last part of work for this time is creating both the joints for the back and sound board. We do this with the hand plane and also some sandpaper to make sure the joint is as tight as possible. We have to make surgical passes with the hand plane. And then make sure we use sandpaper until no light can get through the pieces when we put them together by the edges.
To finish this, we use some glue and we make sure we can hold both pieces together in any way possible. For the sound board, we use the joiner and some chord to create enough pressure between the two halves of the piece. For the back, we use a piece of glass and some clamps to hold everything in place.
While this dries and glues up, we can make sure to take a glimpse at the necks we have started and see how we are making progress on two instruments.
Thanks a lot for reading. I'll see you again on the next entry. Make sure to keep an eye for all the parts of this project!
Photos 📷: Redmi Note 13
Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.
Editing 🎬:Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
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