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On this type mold, I'm thinking of drilling holes about a 1/4" from the edge all the way around and then using spool clamps to glue the top and bottom. I built the spool clamps myself (about a buck apiece) they are slightly over 1-1/2" round and have enough over hang to secure the pieces. I'm trying to save from having to buy 36 cam clamps (about $360) at this time. My question is two-fold. Has anybody tried this and do you think it will weaken the mold to the point of ruining it? Thanks for reading.

Check out KMG's website. Ken makes a caul that you can screw into the mold to glue the top and back. I got it from him and it works like a charm.
Its about halfway down this page here:
http://kennethmichaelguitars.com/gluing ... rsion.html

It beats tons of other methods I have seen. You need to make the caul but if you bought a kit, there was probably an MDF board in the box as protection. You can cut that up and BLAMMO!! Free caul baby!!
Its not quite as simple as "BLAMMO" and I can not find on Ken's site where the assembly instructions are for this piece, but maybe he will help out here.

P.S. I dont think drilling holes will make the mold too weak. Its not like its got to bear major loads!

Ben, I can't say for sure how the holes will weaken the mold and if it would give you problems. I would suggest a go-bar deck. If you don't want to make one......using the underside of a desk or table could work (or the inside of a cabinet or book shelf if the shelf is supported well). In the old days, they used the ceiling as the top of the deck. The olny thing it woul dcost you is the cost of go-bars and you can use wood or buy fiberglass bars from an online kite supply and make your own.

I made a go-bar deck that goes on the top of my build cabinet. It's removeable when not in use so it works out nice.

Tony, thanks for your two cents! Wouldn't the caul have to be radiused the same as the back? Otherwise it might collapse it. Don't know, just askin.

Darryl, thanks for the suggestion. I'm terrible with those things, that's why I bought a vacuum press for my braces and probably why I can't afford the cam clamps now, haha!

PS - I love this forum!

Ben,
The caul has a second layer of wood around the rim to keep the center of it from touching the back or top while gluing. You cant see it because its on the side that is touching the guitar. I dont know if Ken Cierp offers it for sale, but it should not be too hard to make. I know you are looking to save some cash if possible, so use scrap. Building guitars tends to create a bunch of that!

I have seen that dome plenty. It will do the trick but there are easier ways .

As Tony mentioned the caul is an engineered design not a slab of material --- The KMG Masterworks Mold works great -- but actually my favorite way to clamp the top and back is with #64 rubber bands tied together, you can find that system on the KMG Web site as well.

tippie53 wrote:I have seen that dome plenty. It will do the trick but there are easier ways .

Tell me John, tell me! (it's your mold I have and Ken, I some of your stuff too, you guys are great!)

You could always make your own cam clamps:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.mask ... uthier.htm

got short scraps/cutoffs? glue? time? If you want to get fancy, go to Lowe's and get some 1X1/8" steel bar stock cheap.

If you use the radius disks, they make great gluing cawls. You can also make a set of clamp cawls with heavy foarm tape. I use the neoprene tape and lay it out in the profile of the guitar , that is your cawl and you can use weight or a gew bar clamps.
The key is that you dry fit the back and top so that you don't need much force. If ken uses rubber bands, he did a good job of fitting and that is the key. Ant forced joint is doomed to failure. We will be shooting video of this soon for the you tube series . Keep an eye open