redwood 00

[ruby@magpage.com]

Now to brace the top

1) On my X-brace, I leave a section square at the joint so the joint fits better. To start, I use a 1" plastic water pipe with 80 grit glued to it to make a divot at the start of the bevel

2) Then I use a plane and a chisel to make the bevel, taking advantage of my brace shaping jig to do both sides

3) Here is how they end up

[Morecowbell]

Ed, thanks for the updates, I'm really enjoying the details of this build. Beautiful work and wood, really looking forward to the neck!

[Diane Kauffmds]

Nice work, as always Ed. I leave my x flat as well. I have several diameters of pvc pipes, cut to length for me, for sanding divots or inner curves like the waist.

[ruby@magpage.com]

This one might take forever - lots of things to do besides making a guitar

1) I refer to my drawing for placement of the braces - the X is a little more open than 90° and is located a little over an inch from the soundhole

2) Braces in place, time to locate the cherry bridgeplate

3) I use my bridge locating jig and place the 12th fret at the body line - now I know where the saddle is, and the bridge, and then the bridgeplate

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) I build up a double thickness of blue tape at the top and the bottom so that the plate does not squirm when I clamp it - that's the fake ivory bridge blank

2) Now to shape the braces - both the ends . . .

3) . . . then the scalloping at the X-brace and at the tone bars.

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Everything done, sanded, and signed. I started adding a doubler at the soundhole after talking to Hans Brentrup and then reading his book. I taper the ends of the tone bars and finger braces to nothing rather than tuck them into the lining

2) Going to look great with the fake ivory bridge

3) Now to close the box. I set the back in place where it goes and after marking the side with a pencil where each brace end is located, I am trying a trick - a dental tool to cut a little line on the brace where it meets the body - this is a hard one to mark with a pencil.

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Using a scrap the same thickness as my side, I transfer the cut line inboard to make the brace fit inside the sides

2) Cut with an X-Acto razor saw - great tool by the way - and lift the cut-off portion with a chisel, then clean up

3) Last step is to extend the marks on the body to the lining, connect them a straight edge across the body, and use a Dremel set at the thickness of the brace ends to make pockets for them

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Gluing on the back. I have a bunch of these orange, medium duty Jorgenson clamps, so I made the mold the right dimension so they would center over the sides for clamping - just push the clamp bar in to touch the edge of the mold and tighten. I used a donut caul so that pressure would be applied only at the edges and not in the domed center. I have a second donut taped in place on the other side for clamp bearing.

2) Trimming the edge. I use a bearing guided straight router bit and start at the largest dimension of each bout and work to the lowest - here I am routing to the right. Then one last pass left to right over the whole edge

3) Now I get to see the classic Martin double O 12 fret shape

[ruby@magpage.com]

Why can't I put 4 shots in one post? There is another Luthiers Forum that uses the same template as this one does and they allow 9 pictures - much easier to tell a story

1) A little cleanup inside especially where you can see through the sound hole, and ready for a top

[Stray Feathers]

It's going to be stunning Ed - Going back a few posts, I see you have scalloped the upper ends of the X-brace. That doesn't seem to be done universally. I followed Jonathan Kinkead in my first two builds, and he does it, so I did it, but how does one know which approach is better? Bruce W.