I just can't sleep...

so...I very carefully jigsawed a rough shape around the pencil outline. That was stressy because jigsaw blades want to bend to the side as you make curves or turn direction. So the cut you can see on top of the board might not be where you are cutting on the bottom. It's more of a problem with thicker material, and in this case it was 1 1/2" thick but I didn't have any problems.
Then I put two sided tape on it to attach the MDF template.




Then got my router table set up,


and got busy. But then...

OUCH!!!


AaARRGuGH!!!



This is what I was talking about. Maybe I didn't use enough tape. The router bit (which consequentially, has gone through miles of wood) grabbed the wood and slammed it into itself, making the template slip and taking a bite of alder.
So to make sure the template can't slip again I made good use of the through-holes.

Wish I woulda thought of that sooner. Oh wait, I did! Doh!

Well, a little bondo-a little paint,-makes a carpenter what he really aint...

Here's the back of the 6/4 alder wood with the telecaster outline penciled on it. Gotta look close. I love the figure on the back so I will highlight it with a staining trick. It will basically be black, but pretty.




I built a template for the body design. I'll use it to route that big hunk of alder wood on the router table.


As you can see, I screwed the bearing fences directly into the template. That was a good move as I found out later. You'll see what I mean.









Finished template.

There's something about Fender Telecasters that is just so great. They're so simple but so complete. Not a lot to them but so versatile. Leo Fender really had a timeless design.

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!

I just read that they got the go ahead for the mosque at ground zero. I cannot believe they get to plant their flag. I want to throw up!
All I can say is "the times are a changing"! What would have happened if they proposed this nine years ago? A RESOUNDING "HELL NO!" would have been heard around the world. American citizens would have chained themselves to the rubble to keep them from desecrating that site where Americans died and heroes were made and heroes were lost.
Yeah, things are changing. America isn't what it used to be. What country in the world would allow this? Do you think Japan would let it's American citizens put up a tribute to the invention of the atom bomb in Hiroshima? HELL NO! I am embarassed. Even France is laughing at us and our "tolerance".
Say what you will about George W. Bush...this wouldn't have happened on his watch.

So I eventually put together the guitar kit. It turned out to be more of a prototype for a later guitar build. It was a chance to learn a lot. Here it is:

More like here it was! It really was finished at one time. I stripped this thing down and started over at least a dozen times and it's torn apart, sanded down and waiting for me out in the garage even now as I write.

I've had a great time with it. It was frustrating as heck at times because I would think I had it jee-ust perfect, I'd be so busy thinking about the oooh's and ahhh's to come, that I'd chip the finish or scratch it with the one hand that I wasn't using to pat myself on the back. But that is one way the Lord is faithful to deal with me. He says pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. He won't let me get to far out on the leash. It happens to me all the time. I get some victory and I try to take credit for it and seriously, within hardly any time at all, it all crumbles into something I don't even want to admit I had anything to do with (which, is evidence of more pride).

When I get all fleshy, which is more often than I care to admit, I want to look good. I want to be somehow special. I want to be respected for what I can do. Even though Apart form me you can do nothing (note the red text). So, it really only serves me right when I'm congradulating myself on what a skilled carpenter I am, that I cut not one, not two... not three...BUT FOUR cedar boards too short. Yeah, that happened today. So, the Lord had my attention. Thank You for the Reality Therapy.

Thank you Jesus, that You work in and through me, and that everything that I am, do, have, belongs to You and is made possible through You. And when I wander off on my own you break me in love to bring me back.

God is really good to me.