Home Sign Up! Browse Community Submit All Art Craft Food Games Green Home Kids Life Music Offbeat Outdoors Pets Photo Ride Science Tech Building a basic lap steel guitar by friger on January 16, 2011 Table of Contents Building a basic lap steel guitar . 1 Intro: Building a basic lap steel guitar . 2 Step 1: Got wood? . 3 Step 2: Squaring things up . 4 Step 3: Laying out the head stock . 4 Step 4: Making the cut . 5 Step 5: Transition time . 7 Step 6: The head shape . 7 Step 7: Don't fret the small things . 8 Step 8: Time to pick it up a bit . 11 Step 9: Dealing with cavities . 12 Step 10: Control freak . 13 Step 11: The cover up . 14 Step 12: And sometimes "bleep" happens. 15 Step 13: Let's get wired . 15 Step 14: Getting a bit of bridge work . 16 Step 15: Boom! Head shot . 19 Step 16: The finish . 20 Step 17: And we are done. 22 Related Instructables . 24 Comments . 24 http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Author:friger I live on the east coast of Canada. I have been tinkering and building things all my life and still manage to learn something new and exciting every day. Intro: Building a basic lap steel guitar In this, my first Instructable, I will attempt to chronicle the construction of a simple Lap Steel guitar. Disclaimer; power tools and sharp cutting tools will be used and I take no responsibility for people who use these things carelessly, read and understand manufacture's instructions and safety guidelines for their proper and safe use. I would also like to acknowledge the web site Buildyourownguitar.com for providing the basic guide lines I followed, http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/index.htm Here is a list of tools and materials I used in this build in no particular order, of course you are free to substitute any where you wish: 1 piece Maple 32" X 4" X 3/4" 1 Piece pine 32" X 4" X 3/4" 2 pieces of maple 18" X 3/4" X 1/8" 1 piece walnut 18" X 3/4" X 1/8" several small bits of maple mostly 4" X 2" X 1/8" (pick-up cover plate and control plate) 2 pieces aluminum L channel, 2 1/4" X 1/2" X 3/4" ( bridge and nut) 1each 250 K volume pot 1each 1/4" phone jack 1 single coil pick up with adjustment screws and springs Carpenters glue 2 part epoxy 6 tuner heads, 3 left, 3 right 5/8" #6 pan head screws tuner head screws Sand paper, 60, 100, 150 and 600 grit table saw miter saw joiner drill press cordless drill many clamps flush cut hand saw dove tail saw wood rasp several files Cabinet scrapper digital calipers tape measure 18" steel rule French curve rotary tool with steel burr and sanding drums. Safety glasses assorted drill bits lots of imagination an occasional adult beverage of your choosing (I do not endorse drinking and operating tools) lacquer 0000 steel wool one set of electric guitar strings chisels block plane saddle square and combination square http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Step 1: Got wood? Ideally you would be using a solid 1 1/2 " plank for this project but since the costs can be prohibitive I went with a laminated blank, the top half is maple, the bottom half is clear pine. Cut your boards 32" long and 4" wide, then if you are using a 2 part construction method glue and clamp them together. I use LePage's carpenter glue but you can use what ever you like. Image Notes Image Notes 1. you can never have too many clamps 1. wood gloat, check out the tiger stripping on this maple. I got it right out of the rack at my local borg store http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Step 2: Squaring things up After the glue has had about 24 hours to cure you can square up the blank. I use a joiner and chop saw to do this however you can just as easily use a hand plane and hand saw. Image Notes Image Notes 1. looks like I could use a new blade for my table saw 1. That's better, the joiner makes short work of this job. Step 3: Laying out the head stock In this step I lay out the head stock in preparation for material removal. http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Image Notes Image Notes 1. I do this so that I always know what edge I am going to square my layout 1. Mark your center line, another very useful reference and remember to extend lines from. This avoids problems down the road. it down the ends too. Image Notes Image Notes 1. This line shows the material to be removed and the x's remind you which side 1. The line 7" back represents where the head stock ends and the 5 1/2" line of the line to cut on. Leave about 9/16" for the head stock. represents the the point where the transition to the neck/body begins. Image Notes Image Notes 1. For those following at home, this is the width of the end of the head. 1. Buy a "French" curve, it will give you consistent results, the end result is a smooth transition line. Step 4: Making the cut At this point you should be ready to remove the bulk of the material on the head to bring it close to the finished thickness. http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Image Notes Image Notes 1. Secure the blank to a solid work surface. 1. If you start your cuts like this you will always get a square cut. Image Notes Image Notes 1. The back cut is done. 1. This is one method of removing the material, a band saw would work even better. Image Notes Image Notes 1. This is the method I used, a good quality dove tail hand saw and some patients 1. This task is done, and I am happy with the results. will yield good results. http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Step 5: Transition time The area where the head meets the neck requires some careful attention, it is easy to mess up the whole job here. Again, a band saw would make quick work of this, but I chose to use a sharp chisel and hammer. Image Notes Image Notes 1. This is where using pine as the back will work to your advantage, it is much 1. Sneaking up to the line, don't be in a rush here. softer and easier to remove the material. Image Notes 1. This is as close as you need get with the chisel, you will clean the rest of it up with rasps and files. Step 6: The head shape At this stage we are ready to cut the taper on the head and clean up the back side. Here a hand saw, rasp and file will be used followed by sand paper. http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Image Notes Image Notes 1. Once again start the cut on the angle to ensure a square edge when you 1. The rough cut is done. are done. Image Notes Image Notes 1. The finish shaping is done using a rasp, followed by a file then sand paper. 1. The transition area has been filed to the line and here I also used some epoxy as a grain filler. I do this because the end grain of the pine I exposed will absorb the final finish at a different rate to the maple. The epoxy prevents this. Caution, epoxy won't take stain, so if you plan on using stain, use the grain filler recommended by the stain manufacturer. 2. This bark inclusion wasn't visible on the wood surface, oh well, it adds character. Step 7: Don't fret the small things The nice thing about a lap steel guitar is that the fret board can be super simple or non existent at all. You don't need to install fret wire and if it isn't perfectly flat or crowned it doesn't matter. Here I am trying to decide if I should use walnut or some lovely bird's eye maple I had on hand. Since they both looked good I decided to use them both. You could assemble the fret board right on the guitar or do as I did and glue it up and mark it off before I attached it to the guitar. The end product should be 2 1/4" wide by 1/8" to 1/4" thick by about 18" long, it is better to go long and trim later. Also, a word about scale length, I will be using a 22 1/2" scale length with 25 fret positions. This link has a great fret calculator. http://www.sirgalahad.org/paul/fretcalc.html http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-basic-lap-steel-guitar/ Image Notes Image Notes 1. Walnut? 1. Maple? Image Notes 1. These are cedar shims I used to apply lateral pressure to the strips. Epoxy doesn't need much clamping pressure so go gentle. Image Notes Image Notes 1. Fresh out of the clamps.