It’s hard for me to build only one of anything.  I learn so much on the first attempt that I want to incorporate on the next.  But how many boats, surfboards, or guitars does one man need?  Bad question.  If there is still room in the house, yard, or shop, then there is room for more.  Of course, this needs to be balanced with my lovely wife who does not see things in the same way.  So it is usually more of a replace this for that around here.

This time around it will be replacing my 20-year-old, entry-level Washburn dreadnought guitar with an OM-style acoustic.  Half of the fun is the research and planning for any project.  Some of the techniques will be similar to the Les Paul electric guitar build.  But an acoustic guitar is definitely a different beast.  Tools and jigs such as GoBar decks and radius dishes were completely foreign to me a few months ago.  New is good.

New projects also provide a chance to tune up the tools.  I’ve neglected my hand planes for years.  I still used them, but never really took the time to get them up to snuff.  Hand planes are one of those tools that works so much better when they are tuned.  It can take them from being a fight to a pleasure to use.  Key items are a flat sole, a level throat, and a sharp blade.

My smallest plane was in the worst shape.  I never really used it because it never worked well. But it turns out that it is a key tool for building an acoustic guitar.  The internal bracing is almost entirely shaped using a small hand plane.  So time for some cleanup.  First, level the sole.  I was surprised at how bad it was.  The first shot shows how much work was needed to get a flat surface.

Next is to clean up the opening, the throat.  You can see a little roughness on the right side of the opening.  The blade sits on this surface, so any unevenness causes the blade to sit at an angle, or not be stable when cutting.

And here it has been cleaned up.

I also leveled the clamping plate.  It was powder coated and quite uneven when I started.  It now sits flat and places even pressure on the blade.

And the resulting test on some cherry after leveling the back of the blade and sharpening the bevel.  What a difference!  This will be a key tool for me for many years to come.

I also tuned up my block plane.  This was mainly sharpening the blade and cleaning up the pressure plate.  The result is tissue paper-thin shavings in the cherry.  Nice!