check out the build!

Redwood top joined and glued.

Gibson OM template traced on top.

Herringbone rosette routed and installed.

Soundhole routed out and body shaped rough-cut.

Gibson-style X brace notched and ready to glue.

Glueing braces in the go deck

Glueing braces in the go deck.

Carving and refining the top braces.

Mahogany sides wrapped in aluminum foil and bent with heating pad.

Bent sides placed in the OM form to dry.

Glueing the head and tail block.

Installing the kerfing on the top and back.

Glueing the back braces in.

Back braces!

Glueing the top. That's a 45-foot bungee cord clamping it down!

Cleaning up the inside. Not the cleats fixing a small crack that had developed while carving the top braces. Oops.

Glueing the back on.

The box is closed- starting to look like a guitar now.

Bending the purfling to fit the sides.

Fitting the end graft.

Rosewood end graft is in place.

Glueing in the binding and purfling. Routing the channels for this was one of the most stressful parts of the project!

Dovetail has been routed into the head block.

Binding and purfling is in place.

Getting ready to route the dovetail on the neck.

Fresh dovetail joint on the neck! This is a laminate of Maple, rosewood and cherry.

Starting to shape the heel area of the neck.

Indian rosewood fingerboard with cultured stone and mother of pearl inlays. Some people say the design looks like the eye of Sauron! That wasn't the intent.

Glueing the neck. I used hot hide glue, which smells terrific.

Glueing the fingerboard onto the neck. I used Titebond I and lots of clamps!

Looking more and more like an acutal instrument.

Shaping a guitar neck for the first time is a strange and mysterious thing. At least it was for me.

Adding a "W" inlay into the headstock. I used a foredon tool to route out the area, and epoxy mixed with cocobolo dust to fill in and seal it into place.

Final sanding before entering the spray booth.

Adding a nitrocellulose lacquer really makes the wood pop. It is also very easy to make mistakes!

Level sanding the finish before adding final coats of thinned-out lacquer.

The final coats of lacquer really make the guitar shine.

Our teacher encouraged us to make a label. "Son of Wolf" is what Wilkowske means in Polish.

Fox 9 News in Minneapolis did a feature on the guitar program - here I am trying not to look like an idiot.

I am very grateful for the time I shared with these talented people!

13 fret OM
24.625" scale length, 1 13/16" width at the nut
Gibson-style bracing pattern
Redwood top
Mahogany back and sides
Maple/rosewood/cherry neck
Indian rosewood fingerboard
Cocobolo headcap

My bench never looked this clean until the last day.

Fox 9 News segment on our program.