Hello, dear readers
It's time to work!
The DIY projects are going on a steady pace. Today, I wanted to show something I spent some days learning.
I took some days to finally tackle an important matter in my new luthier career: designs. The first one was done with Canva. It was your my label. Now, making blueprints for instruments, it's a different thing.
If you search around the internet you can fine plans for guitars and ukuleles pretty easily. Guitars are the most common string instrument in the world, and the latter is making a close second (it might even get to pass the popularity of the guitar as ukulele have another thing: they are lighter and smaller). Anyway, finding plans for other instruments is kind of difficult. You may find pictures and rules about the golden ratio applied to these blueprint design, but these measures are not always the best to start making your design.
I found some plans here: http://www.laguitarra-blog.com/2012/10/22/planos-de-guitarras-espanolas-y-acusticas-3/
You can check out this one: http://www.laguitarra-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Gibson_L-00_fr.pdf
You might be wondering why guitars. Well, I'm preparing to get guitars onto the workshop's selection of instruments. Ukuleles and Mandolins would soon join the fray. However, I'll make my own designs. How? Getting my hands of a lot of blueprints and giving them the shapes I want considering what can of sound I want the instruments making.
Making my Cuatro blueprints was a challenge because there's only 1 reference in the internet. It's a blog you can easily find if you look up how to make the instrument (go ahead, you'll find it in no time). This posses the question of how unwilling are some luthiers on passing on their knowledge or sharing with the world. At least, my teacher isn't. I have his blueprint and used the measures as a starting point.
Then, I embarked into the art of YouTube-learning and watch some videos on AutoCAD to get familiar with the ribbons and tools at my disposal. Afterwards, I started the grinding. I mean it. I don't remember how many failed attempts go me to the final design. But there was a lot of learning implied. some of the other blueprints you can see for head stocks and heels were made in no time. Of course, I spent 2 days going back and forth from the laptop changing a line, putting it these many millimeters up or down, using arcs, guiding myself with intersections. There's a lot to do with AutoCAD. But I'm ecstatic now that I'm able to use to for this. My guitar, ukulele and mandolin plans will be up in no time (after I finish the preliminary studies)
Here you can see the end result. Pretty neat if you ask me. And if you wat to try to make this instrument and want to use these plans, just ask. The world needs more Cuatros everywhere.
As a final note, I would like to address the point that using this beats drawing on paper for obvious reasons. The program is precise. That's why it is use for any other kind of plans: electric, building and so much more. As one of my favorite YouTubers would say: "WWII is over, use technology!" And I think he's right. If you have a tool, it's time to learn how to use it.