Got that Martin OOO kit...

[dgarrett]

I'm sure slow here, but I want things to be right. I finally got the head and tail blocks mounted, and now working on the kerfing. Next, Cory's book goes into top bracing but doesn't address the rosette at all. Guess most Martins have the rosette already installed. My kit does not. Also, Boaks book doesn't address rosettes either. So I'll have to do some research here.
Fortunately I've had a little practice but I need more examples. Also the top seems to be on the thick side, so I may need to thickness sand it a little. That's also not covered in either book. I think the top needs to be about .100 to .125 ins. So this will take me so me time to figure out and get done.

Dennis

[Ken Hundley]

I would install the rosette, then thickness it down where you want it, sanding the rosette flush while you are at it.

[dgarrett]

Well I'm still moving slow here...Got the kerfing on and the side braces, finished getting the rosette installed, and now today joined the back together. I used a back strip I got from grizzley that is rosewood with maple edges, and is about 1/4" wide, I like it better than the white plastic from the kit.
Next I'll get out my Ryobi thickness sander I got for free from Craigslist and sand down the back and top. The kit pieces are at .125 and need to be at about .085-.095. So I'll see if I got a real bargain
on this thickness sander or not. The rosette looks a little messy at the top, hopefully it'll be mostly covered by the finger board and sanding my help it a little also. I'll let you know later...dennis

[David L]

Something must be wrong with my computer, I don't see any of the pictures you posted!

David L

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Thickness sander free on Craigs List????? Why can't I find those kind of deals.

Kevin

[deadedith]

Kevin - here's how I got mine: just do a search on craigslist using the following search terms:

Free thickness sander

Then if anything pops up, Bob's your uncle!!

Truth be told, I did not actually do that but I'm always a bit of a smarta** on Monday mornings :-)

DaveB

[dgarrett]

Hey, that's exactly what I did...And it came up, I called the guy and he said first come gets it.
It was about an hour south of here, and I got it! It works great for the most part, but the feed belt motor was gone, so I do what he did. I got a cheap drill motor from Harbor Freight and connect it to the drive spindle and run it in reverse, works great! At least the price was right.
I'll try to get some pictures posted asap, I need to figure out how that works...I've been taking pictures along the way so I do have some. Maybe when I thickness sand I take some more and try to get them posted. dennis

[dgarrett]

Sorry for the lack of input lately, looks like others are slacking off also. I got sorta side tracked for a while. I've gotten into wine making and I have a couple of carboys of Zinfandel sitting in my garage, and the weather is warming up quickly. I moved them into the guest bathroom bathtub, but now that room is warming up. So now I'm converting a closet in my office into a wine cooler. So I've been busy getting that into shape and ready to store wines and carboys. So I'm still at the point where I will drag out my thickness sander and thickness the top and bottom before bracing. Hope to get back into it very soon, more then....dennis

[dgarrett]

Just read the new guy bracing questions. I'm at that point also, and about as apprehensive. But just dry fitting haven't glued yet. The X-braces have a radius, questions are shouldn't the shoulder brace be curved and the same as the X-braces? My shoulder brace seems only slightly curved. Also the two longer tone braces in the lower bout. Mine are flat. seems they should be slightly curved also to maintain the top radius. I haven't read anything about this anywhere. I haven't figured out how to post a picture. I can't seem to cut and paste them, is there a trick to getting a foto into the post?

[David L]

This is what I've been told, only the x-braces are radiused, the top will follow the contour of the rim when you close the box as it is a very slight radius, also, from the sound hole forward needs to be flat for neck set angle and for the FB to lay flat on. If I'm giving you a bum steer someone will correct me as I am certainly no expert, just repeating my interpretation of what I understand.

David L