# MoonJelly's Home Depot Challenge Build 2016



## MoonJelly (Apr 8, 2016)

So I haven't been on these boards long, but I saw the challenge thread, and thought Serratus and Hywell had some cool stuff submitted. I figured I'd jump in as well with a body design I've been working on.

For those that have seen it. the Wyvern and Siren builds are kinda on hold until I'm sure I can nail this down by the deadline. My free time=not so much 

So this is a playful riff (get it? ) on an Expl*rer that I doodled once, been dying to build it but there's a lot in the queue. The boss gets after me about the pile of wood in the extra bedroom already.

Materials: My first run to Home depot I picked up a ton of machine screws, a 4x4 of southern yellow pine, and some ceramic/neodymium magnets for building the pickups. Couple other things I can't remember, but the running total is about $35. Haven't figured out tuners yet, may just go with some from a used Ibanez cheapo.

the one on the right





after breaking down the 4x4





planing/laminating stuff. Boy I wish I had better than a measly hand planer at times like this.

















front side with the basic shape doodle. Everything has to be planed down still 





Oak fretboard in the making, salvaged from a pallete ***FREE.99***









Soon the shape will be bandsawed and fret slots done, hopefully it starts to be recognizable as a geetar ....


----------



## mnemonic (Apr 8, 2016)

That's a pretty cool looking X-shape. 

Will that pine hold/be stable for a neck though? Especially with the grain going diagonally?


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 8, 2016)

mnemonic said:


> That's a pretty cool looking X-shape.
> 
> Will that pine hold/be stable for a neck though? Especially with the grain going diagonally?



Haha! I've wondered that myself. I Have some Carbon fiber strip I picked up for $100, I was planning to use about $15 worth to stiffen the neck. Hopefully also prevent twisting. Only time will tell for sure.


----------



## Hywel (Apr 8, 2016)

This looks like it's going to be fun. Can't wait to see how this one goes. 

I'd be a bit concerned about the grain direction in the neck but if there was ever a time to experiment with that kinda thing, a home depot build is it!


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 8, 2016)

Hywel said:


> This looks like it's going to be fun. Can't wait to see how this one goes.
> 
> I'd be a bit concerned about the grain direction in the neck but if there was ever a time to experiment with that kinda thing, a home depot build is it!



My thoughts exactly. I figure if the carbon fiber doesn't hold it all together, I haven't forfeited much of an investment at $50


----------



## Serratus (Apr 9, 2016)

It's great to have someone else on board with the home depot challenge! And someone else using lots of pine! Cool


----------



## UnderTheSign (Apr 9, 2016)

If the neck fails you could always chop it off and make a bolt on neck from another piece of pine.

I'd go with very light strings and E standard just to be sure because that is not a good grain direction at all, especially with all the laminations running through there


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 9, 2016)

UnderTheSign said:


> If the neck fails you could always chop it off and make a bolt on neck from another piece of pine.
> 
> I'd go with very light strings and E standard just to be sure because that is not a good grain direction at all, especially with all the laminations running through there



I know right now it looks sketchy...give it some time to evolve and it may surprise you...and/or me


----------



## Prophetable (Apr 10, 2016)

I think that with the carbon fiber in there you might have some good rigidity.


----------



## Pikka Bird (Apr 10, 2016)

If that neck holds up then the diagonal grain is gonna looks snazzy!


----------



## pondman (Apr 10, 2016)

Excellent, looking forward to seeing this one


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 10, 2016)

Thanks guys, it means a lot that long-time members like you are interested and supportive of my build! We'll see how much I can get done Monday, hope to post some more updates soon.


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 11, 2016)

So, didn't get a lot done before I had to cut out to work, but here's a few new snippets. I especially like the way the endgrain _looks _across the neck, so I'm crossing my fingers a little harder that it turns out ok.


----------



## KnightroExpress (Apr 11, 2016)

Neat! If nothing else, that neck will be really cool to look at.


----------



## jwade (Apr 11, 2016)

Man I hope the carbon fiber rods work, I LOVE pine grain patterns. I can't wait to see that neck carved.


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 16, 2016)

This is my first time slotting a fanned fretboard myself...suddenly I realize why some luthiers charge through the nose to do it...





This is far more tedious than perpendicular fret slots...hopefully the actual fretting goes a little smoother. 

But hell yeah, I'm doing 36 frets.


----------



## Hywel (Apr 17, 2016)

I know your pain. I hated doing fanned fret slots and I only had 25 to do. 

This is certainly a unique build and the sideways grain is gonna look sick when it's carved.


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 22, 2016)

So, we are planed, sanded, carbon fiber is in. The neck already feels _much _stronger. I also just got a truss rod in the mail--figured I would just expense a properly made steel truss rather than botching up the job and have that contribute to the instability of the neck.

The steel plate will become the pickups and bridge saddles. More pictures, coming soon! 












The fretboard's not actually glued on yet, just using it keep the glue in!


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 29, 2016)

mini update. I'm giving it a little every day, my attention is mostly divided thanks to my 9-month old.

got cheap Rushki tuners for acoustic 7 string. Going to mod these into individual tuners.





Fretboard progress. Radius, inlay, and fretting comes next, then it goes on the slab. Truss rod is in.

Don't mind the frog feet 














yuck, that looks bad up close. It should sand out....if not, I have more pallets to break down hehe

I'm probably going to sneak my frets into the office this weekend to prep them for pressing.


----------



## pondman (Apr 30, 2016)

Loving this one  The way you've set the grain gives this guitar a striking flow and movement.


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 30, 2016)

Behold, it did sand out!





My fan is a little 'softer' than this pre-made board on the right. Scaled 25"-26.5"
Talk about grain, I might use oak more often 









Tried to place the nail holes over the 12th fret position, here the glue squeezed up n' out


----------



## MoonJelly (Apr 30, 2016)

pondman said:


> Loving this one  The way you've set the grain gives this guitar a striking flow and movement.



Thanks pondman. This build is full of little happy accidents. After the pieces all glued up the neck had a little bit of back-bow, which is perfect considering how pine bends pretty easily. Got my fingers crossed everything turns out perfect.....


----------



## jwade (Apr 30, 2016)

So stoked to see that with some oil on it.


----------



## Hywel (May 1, 2016)

I can't wait to see this carved and strung up. I'm getting tempted to buy some pine now.


----------



## BlackMastodon (May 1, 2016)

I really dig how you made the nail holes work out to be 12th fret inlays.


----------



## ElRay (May 1, 2016)

MoonJelly said:


> Haha! I've wondered that myself. I Have some Carbon fiber strip I picked up for $100, I was planning to use about $15 worth to stiffen the neck. Hopefully also prevent twisting. Only time will tell for sure.




EDIT: didn't catch that you were past this point. 

Heck, you can continue with the HD theme and get some square aluminum or steel tubing, route a groove and epoxy it/them in. Threaded rod would also work, and they also have metal strips. Then you can just cut a saw kerf the entire length and epoxy the strip(s) in.

Last idea is to thin the neck by the thickness of your fretboard and then laminate another layer on the back.


----------



## ElRay (May 1, 2016)

BlackMastodon said:


> I really dig how you made the nail holes work out to be 12th fret inlays.


----------



## MoonJelly (May 1, 2016)

BlackMastodon said:


> I really dig how you made the nail holes work out to be 12th fret inlays.



They had to go somewhere!  I keep going back and forth over whether to inlay over it. I may inlay some neon green blocks, or blue dots. Haven't decided what color the finish will be yet tho


----------



## MoonJelly (May 11, 2016)

radiused to 20" 






messing with a LOT of fretwire (for one guitar hehe) at the office. Using the premade board as a template.





radiused.....





first 24.... last 12 are narrow/tall wire










I also got the tangs filed off the fret ends, which you can do by hand if you're stuck in an office for 10 hours at a time 
Can't wait to do inlays and fret this thang.


----------



## BlackMastodon (May 11, 2016)

Excellent use of corporate time, I approve.


----------



## MoonJelly (May 20, 2016)

Another mini-update, more pics tomorrow. It sucks being stuck at a call center when the creative flow is strong.

This is Andromeda, she'll have her own thread soon. 





I was trying to get a good color for dot inlays using corn starch, food dye, and epoxy. I couldn't get the color where I wanted it, so I used a hole cutter on some corian offcuts from an old countertop. 

I don't recommend doing this with a hand drill, but it got the job done.










re-radiused the fretboard to 16"...can't really tell from the pic... but more to follow.





EDIT: more pics.











with sanding, should look pretty clean. That white chunk was bigger than I hoped


----------



## MoonJelly (May 21, 2016)

_Progress! _I always have a good day when I reach a milestone. 

And since I'm in an especially good mood (I don't normally do this), I thought I would take the time to endorse one of my favorite products when working on a neck.

If you find yourself vexed by excess dust while radiusing a fretboard...if your sandpaper is gumming up after only a few passes...if you find yourself just generally 'put off' by the sawdust filling up your fret slots, making it almost _impossible _to press/hammer in those frets... then pick up one of these, my friends. This specially purposed _fretboard brush _can quickly empty every pore of your fretboard of any of that offensive dust. 

This product is proudly made in USA (a well-known city in China) by the good folks at Vidal Sassoon Ltd. I won't tell you what I got it for (the number rhymes with Live Ducks!), but for a limited time I am offering a St*wMac special on these, only $25.99 USD (plus S+H, of course). I'll also _include _a free instruction booklet, titled "Blow On It", with tips and tricks for keeping your work areas free of pesky sawdust and "other" bothersome particles!








ok, real update...

sanded to 150G...





Frets, going in easy...daddy likes.




notice the fretting 'implement' above.

fretted to 27th.. spent some time thinking about how I might inly tiny dots up to frets 36.





finally decided, eh, it's a home depot guitar. In honor of a cheesy movie I just watched, we'll call this area of the fretboard 'The Undiscovered Country'.





got my frets squared and beveled. Next comes the fun part!!!


----------



## MoonJelly (May 25, 2016)

The moment you've been waiting for...the neck is taking shape. Mostly all the general sculpting is done. Now to route the cavities and sand, sand, sand.... 

















Not perfect yet, getting there... but dat grain!


----------



## pondman (May 26, 2016)

Loving this one


----------



## mnemonic (May 26, 2016)

I love the grain on it, how thick are you making it? 

I hope it stays stable.


----------



## BlackMastodon (May 26, 2016)

mnemonic said:


> I love the grain on it, how thick are you making it?
> 
> I hope it stays stable.



Same, it would be a damned shame if it didn't work out, because the grain looks absolutely awesome.


----------



## bostjan (May 26, 2016)

Wow! A pine neck! Too cool!

I built a little 3-string stick guitar once with a pine neck and pine fretboard and it bowed like crazy. It was a single piece, though, and I only made it as a prototype for a rock maple piece I was going to build immediately after. No carbon reinforcement, and no oak fingerboard (which looks amazing, BTW!).

My Oni has a spruce neck with carbon fiber. But spruce is a lot stiffer than pine. Anyway, of that design works out to be stable, I'll be you will absolutely love the guitar. Just make darn certain you don't bang it on anything, since pine is so soft. Have you considered any sort of thin protective barrier?


----------



## cwhitey2 (May 26, 2016)

I like this thread


----------



## MoonJelly (May 26, 2016)

mnemonic said:


> I love the grain on it, how thick are you making it?
> 
> I hope it stays stable.



It's definitely the thickest neck carve I've done. I measured it before rounding the edges and it was 1 1/8" including the fretboard. It may have come down a smidge, but it's probably still just over 1"/2.5 cm



> Wow! A pine neck! Too cool!
> 
> I built a little 3-string stick guitar once with a pine neck and pine fretboard and it bowed like crazy. It was a single piece, though, and I only made it as a prototype for a rock maple piece I was going to build immediately after. No carbon reinforcement, and no oak fingerboard (which looks amazing, BTW!).
> 
> My Oni has a spruce neck with carbon fiber. But spruce is a lot stiffer than pine. Anyway, of that design works out to be stable, I'll be you will absolutely love the guitar. Just make darn certain you don't bang it on anything, since pine is so soft. Have you considered any sort of thin protective barrier?



It also has a slight backward bow to the neck. Leveling the frets is going to be tricky, but I want to leave the back-bow in it until I have strings on it. Pine does flex a LOT more readily than spruce.

And yeah, I have thought about doing fiberglass on the neck. If I do, it's going to be after the build is done, as I don't have the budget to include it under $100


----------



## DistinguishedPapyrus (May 26, 2016)

Love your pitch for the brush-a-ma-jig... sounds like a steal, I bet it's fun for the whole family!!! but does it come with a warranty? 

Nice build man, it's always interesting to see people pushing unconventional techniques and/or materials. I'd love to see you do this same guitar again as a true dedicated build, like done with proper tone woods, with a multi lam neck and nice hardware and such. Don't get me wrong, as a home depot challenge it's looking great, but that shape would be fun to see come to life on a non-restricted budget.


----------



## MoonJelly (May 26, 2016)

DistinguishedPapyrus said:


> Love your pitch for the brush-a-ma-jig... sounds like a steal, I bet it's fun for the whole family!!! but does it come with a warranty?
> 
> Nice build man, it's always interesting to see people pushing unconventional techniques and/or materials. I'd love to see you do this same guitar again as a true dedicated build, like done with proper tone woods, with a multi lam neck and nice hardware and such. Don't get me wrong, as a home depot challenge it's looking great, but that shape would be fun to see come to life on a non-restricted budget.




As far as the warranty, I have to defer to Chris Farley on that one 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEB7WbTTlu4

I am 100% with you on that. I have 8 other projects to finish first 

But as I've pondered the thought, I was on the lines of:
-5-piece maple/leopardwood neck
-Ash body with leopardwood top
-Katalox fretboard and (only) 27 SS frets
-Dimarzio Super Distortion and Humbucker from Hell with series/parallel switching

It'd be killer.


----------



## DistinguishedPapyrus (May 26, 2016)

MoonJelly said:


> As far as the warranty, I have to defer to Chris Farley on that one
> 
> 
> I am 100% with you on that. I have 8 other projects to finish first
> ...




Leopardwood and Katalox... hmm, that _would_ be an interesting combination...


----------



## MoonJelly (May 26, 2016)

a wood combo no one's used on SSO!

I have some in my shop, I just really like the grain pattern of the leopardwood.

And the Katalox is _really _similar to ebony, only more swirly and purplish.



...._or, if I won, I could use pond's spalted beech for the top...._


----------



## J_Mac (Jun 4, 2016)

Love it! Hope the woods behave for you. 

You mentioned you went down to 150G on the fretboard, did you stop there? Also, what grit do you normally finish on for fretboard and body?


----------



## MoonJelly (Jun 4, 2016)

I stopped to shoot a photo at 150 grit, yeah.
I sanded the fretboard to 300 grit before fretting, usually that's as far as I go until it's time for finishing. Between coats of oil/paint I do 500 grit and then it's on to polishing.


----------



## Grif (Jul 7, 2016)

Where's this build at?


----------



## MoonJelly (Jul 7, 2016)

In Augusta, GA. Lately the heat index has been otherworldly, hence the lack of updates. I'm sure you understand if you're in Gilbert!


----------



## Grif (Jul 7, 2016)

I absolutely do


----------



## squibble94 (Aug 5, 2017)

Finding this a year later and I've never been hit harder with a cliff-hanger in my life.


----------

