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This is a Martin OOO from Blues Creek pictured in my mold also from Blues Creek. I have fit the sides into the mold, glued in both blocks as well as the kerfing and have established the radius on the back. I will radius the front when I watch John's video again. I have a question regarding the side bracing. The kit came with two strips which I can get 4 braces from is this enough? I have seen several pictures of guitars with more than 4. Thanks for looking Mike Haines

Looking good!

I do not know how many braces are enough, I am sure John and others will be along to answer your question. I am guessing that it depends on the type of wood and the thickness of the sides.

Congratulations on starting your first build. I'm doing the same. My KMG kit came with brace material for 6 per side. 4 overall seems like not enough, but I'm sure the experts will let you know. Good luck.

Mike,
I would give John a call for advice on your kit. Four total seems a bit light. You can also use linen tape in place of wood.
-d.

Per the recommendation of the luthier who is guiding me, I'm using 10 side braces on the guitar I'm currently building. Now, they aren't very big;they are triangular shaped, 1/4" base width and about 1/4" tall. What cross-section do you contemplate for your side braces?

Looking very good Mike.

I base the number of side braces on the thickness and stability of the sides. I used a total of 8 braces, 4 on each side, on my OM (same size as 000). The sides on my OM were thinned to ~ 2mm (.080").

I used 10 braces on my 00 even though it's smaller than the OM, because the sides were a bit thinner at .065-.070", but also because I used highly figured curly cherry that had a lot of sap holes. The extra set went into the upper bout curve, where I worried about the possibility of a crack forming because of the sap holes.

Unless you think the sides are very thin, or in any way could become easily cracked, 8 (4 per side), are more than enough.

Michael Haines wrote:This is a Martin OOO from Blues Creek pictured in my mold also from Blues Creek. I have fit the sides into the mold, glued in both blocks as well as the kerfing and have established the radius on the back. I will radius the front when I watch John's video again. I have a question regarding the side bracing. The kit came with two strips which I can get 4 braces from is this enough? I have seen several pictures of guitars with more than 4. Thanks for looking Mike Haines

Mike, I just realized that you meant 4 braces total, rather than 4 braces per strip. I would contact John and ask him about that.

Hi Mike,

I'll be watching this thread closely since you're building the same first guitar that I'll eventuality be building as my first guitar.

Ed

Martin uses none on the small bodies but here 2 per side , one on each side of the waist. My preference is to use cloth ribbon glued to the sides like the old days. 5/8 wide polyester ribbon you can get at walmart. titebond will stick it on well.
I use this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TESA-51026-3-4- ... xywh1TBxQC

this works very well.

the purpose of this brace or reinforcement is to help control a side crack should you bump guitar. When I use cloth I put 7 to 9 per side.

Thank you everyone for the comments. I will post some more pics as I continue. Mike Haines