Evolution of an Endgraft
I wanted to do more than a simple wedge for the engraft on my guitar, but I really wasn’t sure what form it would take. At this point in the build, there was a bit of a theme developing with the squares, so I thought I might do something related to that. I had some ebony, laminated with black white veneer, left over from the headstock. I decided to cut out a square, and then go from there. After cutting it out and bevelling it, I thought it would look interesting with some more smaller ones underneath, echoing the design of the rosette.
I spent a lot of time playing with the arrangement of the squares, trying to find something that looked good to me.
I thought it was an interesting concept, but after looking at it in the context of the guitar, it seemed out of balance, maybe a bit too big, and overly busy compared to the clean lines of the rest of the guitar. I was talking with Chris Morimoto about it, and he suggested making the squares out of solid ebony, and experimenting with carving some angles to add depth and interest. He also suggested making a test piece of wood, with binding, and the same size as the location the inlay would go, to aid in visualising different ideas.
I made another set of ebony squares, and played around with carving them in different ways. I did have to remake some after trying some carvings and not liking the results. In the end I liked the look of a simple tapered bevel.
I had made a set of squares laminated with black white veneers, and a set of solid ebony, so I was mixing and matching to see if I liked a combination of them. Also trying different angles and locations for the layers.
In the end this was the arrangement that I liked best. I taped the layers in place, and drill some holes in the corners to help line up when glueing.
Then, I glued them together.
I trimmed the edges, then added a little box around the whole thing, so it could sit below the surface of the sides.
I inlayed it in to the test piece, and experimented with different things at the bottom. I liked it most with a piece of wood matching the side material. I thought it gave an interesting illusion of depth to the sides, while keeping the focus on the squares, and maintaining a clean look.
I glued a piece of rosewood at the bottom, and then it was ready to install in the guitar.
First step was to make a strip in the middle.
One detail I like, which you can see in this photo, is that there is a small gap between each of the layers.
Then mark and cut a square shaped pocket in the end block, to accept the inlay. First I routed out most of the material.
Then I chiselled to the final dimension.
Finally, I could glue in the inlay.