Guitar Stand Deux

First and fore most I want to acknowledge Cgapay and his instructable on how to build a Guitar Stand.  I also want to tip my hat to Take A Stand inc. for my original inspiration. Cgapay answered many of the proportion issues I was grappling with and for this I am eternally grateful.

I chose to go down a slightly different design path on my project.  I hearken to the fine furniture builders of the past and eschew the use of mechanical fasteners in favor of tight fitting joints and glue. I was told once that fine furniture does not have nails or screws in it. Where I need to make a more mechanical connection I will use wooden pins.

Of course it must go without saying that power tools with sharp cutting edges will be used and all appropriate safety measures must be in place.

Bill of materials: 1 pine board, 46"X16" X 3/4"
                                dowels, 1@ 3/4" X 4" 
                                               2@ 3/8" X 2"
                                               1 @ 1/8" X 2"
                                  Glue, PVA
That's about it.

As with many new things I try I tend to make a prototype from cheaper soft woods to get the feel of how it will work, this is no different.  If all works out to my satisfaction I will move on to a wood like maple or oak. Also, I'll fore go the staining and varnishing steps in this Instructable since it is only a prototype.

Thank you for looking and if you have any questions or need more clarification just leave a comment.

This is what I chose to use for this project, what is not shown are the different sand papers I used, 80, 100 and 150 grits. About one sheet of each.

Following what Cgapay used for proportion measurements I went to one of my more commonly sized guitars and developed the following dimensions.  The widest part of the guitar is 4 3/4".  I wanted to instrument to hang so I measured from where the head and neck met and added several inches.  The final number I came up with was 39". By looking at pictures of commercially available stands similar to this one I figured the bottom of the upright should be 4 1/2" and the very top should be 1 1/2".  The entire layout will fit in a rectangle measuring 9 1/2" X 39".

The curved form was also a combination of what Cgapay did and what Take A Stand does. Remember drawing a curve is like drawing a living thing, I free handed mine but if you wanted repeat-ability then I recommend making a full size grid and use drawing battens. Then use that as a pattern.

Using a solid work surface and a new blade cut the shape out with the jig saw. On the drill press, using the sanding drum knock down the worst of the bumps. Move to the bench and using a spoke shave clean up any smaller bumps and dips. A good eye will give you a pleasing shape.  A rule of thumb from my boat building days "A fair line supersedes any given measurement."   

I'm a bit all over the place in this step, but it is true to the order I did things.  The base shape was developed as I went along until it started to look the way I wanted it to. The width at the widest point is 13" and it is 16" long.

I have seen this type of neck holder design before but done in metal.  Since I was only going to use materials I had on hand I developed a similar one using wooden dowels.

Before I go much further I need to test fit my stand.  I don't want to spend too much more time on it if it doesn't work.  In these images I   haven't glued the base in place.  The fit is good enough that I might not and that would make it more portable, just an option. As you can see everything seems to work just fine.  I did try one of my electrics in it but I am leery about the added weight.  I think I'll just stick to the lighter acoustics and save the hardwood one for the electrics.