What Is Your Goto Chisel For Carving Braces

[Danl8]

...Problem for you and me is that there is no way we can properly voice a guitar based on the few instruments that we will ever make - even after watching 100 videos like that one. I am just finishing (literally) my 8th guitar....

I absolutely concur with your assessment, Ed. Voicing is a voodoo science for many of us who haven't done this for decades. I try to follow DB's instructions (mostly to entertain myself -- I mean really, I'll never be good at it.) I am on my 10th or so? in my steel-string renaissance and have also produced my disappointment, however, that pooch is barking a tiny bit nicer now that it has a couple of years on it. :-) Like John I usually pre-shape to Martin-like braces and go from there with the chisel. The Martin recipe is no guarantee, but way better than anything I could concoct.

[ruby@magpage.com]

I lucked into a 1933 Gibson L-00 that had been badly smashed. It had braces that were less then 1/4" at the base, bevelled on both sides to about 1/16" at the top, and 1/2" tall. I build mostly smaller guitars - 14-1/2" lower bout or less - and have been copying these. Easy to make before installing them. You can still see the circular saw blade marks on the bevelled sides of the braces, just like on the bridge plate in the picture. The repaired guitar sounds AWESOME - world class amazing, so this tells me that you don't need a chisel at all as you can easily cut the curved ends before gluing them on -maybe just to touch up the ends a bit.

Ed

PS - I am sticking that ruler into the body through a huge hole in the side

[Diane Kauffmds]

Like everyone else, I use a variety of chisels and planes. I do some preshaping on a spindle sander. Like I said in my other post, my goto is my curved 16mm Two Cherries. I also use my older 6" low angle Stanley block plane.

I've recently added a 2 1/2" Veritas low angle block plane. It does a great job of shaping the side/tops of the braces. Its v RV? , so it doesn't mark up the top. http://www.leevalley.com/us/gifts/page. ... 12&p=70138
You can do the braces with any chisel of your choice. . The most important thing is to make sure that it's good and sharp.

[ruby@magpage.com]

Diane

Have you seen this:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 1182,48942

A friend in Cananda stopped by an LV store to try it out and liked it a lot, but thought the rough finish at the top of the sides was a little disappointing. But he liked it.

He noted this:

"They had one out in the display/try bench, so I gave it a go. It's nice in my small hand, has good mass for its size, and is readily adjustable (after Norris). I think it would be a useful little plane. The nickel-plating on the lever cap was faultless, and the sole and sides of the SS body have a nice finish. The machining of the adjusters was crisp. But for the price, and for the occasion, they might have done a better job finishing the body.The curved arrises along the top of the cheeks were rough and uneven. They showed no evidence of having been worked or finished at all, but were typical of many older tools which need some filing or light grinding to smooth out casting irregularities. It wasn't terrible, there was nothing sharp and nasty about it, but I felt that for a 40th Anniversary product, at a premium price point, they could have given more attention to these areas.

I also had a quick look at the cast steel version, which is priced slightly lower. It showed the same fault."

Ed

[Diane Kauffmds]

Diane

Have you seen this:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 1182,48942

A friend in Cananda stopped by an LV store to try it out and liked it a lot, but thought the rough finish at the top of the sides was a little disappointing. But he liked it.

He noted this:

"They had one out in the display/try bench, so I gave it a go. It's nice in my small hand, has good mass for its size, and is readily adjustable (after Norris). I think it would be a useful little plane. The nickel-plating on the lever cap was faultless, and the sole and sides of the SS body have a nice finish. The machining of the adjusters was crisp. But for the price, and for the occasion, they might have done a better job finishing the body.The curved arrises along the top of the cheeks were rough and uneven. They showed no evidence of having been worked or finished at all, but were typical of many older tools which need some filing or light grinding to smooth out casting irregularities. It wasn't terrible, there was nothing sharp and nasty about it, but I felt that for a 40th Anniversary product, at a premium price point, they could have given more attention to these areas.

I also had a quick look at the cast steel version, which is priced slightly lower. It showed the same fault."

Ed

Yes, I saw it in their catalog. Thank you for asking. I think it's a very nice size. I closed the box on the quilted mahogany build today, I was cleaning up the edges after routing the top and back. I used the tiny low angle block plane to clean up the edges of the top and back. It did an outstanding job, even on the end grain, making the tiniest curls of wood that I've ever seen. They looked like tiny pieces of bacon. LOL! I think I was getting hungry. The next plane I'm going to buy is a convex finger plane.