www.KitGuitarsForum.com

I'm about to start my first build. I'm waiting for my mold, seems it's lost somewhere in UPS lala land. When my back is glued up (E.I. Rosewood & zigzag strip) how should I bring it all to flush? (I don't have a drum sander, would love to have the Grizz!) Should I use a scraper, palm sander, sanding block, dynamite, hydrochloric acid, jackhammer? (dynamite might remove a little too much material, but I like to make big boom) I don't want to end up with different thicknesses all about the back. How do some of ya'll non-drum sander owners acclomplish this task. I would consult my Martin instruction manual but I ran out of newspaper to start fires in my fireplace and...
Thanks guys,
David L

I've used a scraper/razor blade scraper to level around the joint and then a handheld belt sander to thickness. Any way you choose to do it by hand (sanding block, plane, scraper even my belt sander) will require practice and some learning curve. Get the outer side flush and then thickness from the inside -where any mistakes will *mostly* be hidden. I follow a diagonal pattern to minimize any thin spots. Not for the faint of heart, and I realize there is a time when this won't be accurate enough for me. Right now it works.

While we're all sharing our sanding methods, this is the one I have: http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware ... ogId=10053

On my 2 classical builds I used a block plane mostly on the inside side of the plate. The plane had a very sharp blade and was carefully set. I went diagonal to the grain, each stroke slightly overlapping the other. After each pass across the entire top\back I turned the wood 90 degrees and made another pass. The spruce was easy, the rosewood was hard so I took only a little wood each pass.

After I got close with the plane I finished with a little sanding with the grain to remove the marks. The plane was nice for the classical as I was able to plane the edges of the lower top bout slightly thinner than the middle to match the thicknesses in the Hauser guitar plans I was following.

The #4 block plane I used has a short bed so it is not really the best plane for this purpose but the plates I started with were smooth so I found it easy to keep the thickness even. I did have a caliber to measure the thickness as I went and used it often. I read a book where it showed a homemade pencil caliber to use when carving the inside of violin tops. Imaging a deep u-shaped caliber (with a bit of give) with a pencil set in the caliber to a thickness a little over your final thickness. Only the high areas are marked after running the caliber all over the plate.

I recently used a drum sander to thickness the plates for a steel string I am building. It went a lot faster (10 minutes vs an hour), but with a lot more noise.

Couldn't find DaveBs' solution, what topic is it under? I've got a belt sander 3X21, kinda reluctant to use it, I've messed up plenty of "not nearly as sensitive" wood with this machine but may give it a try if I run out of elbow grease.
Thanks,
David L

Just figured out DaveB is deadedith or is it the other way around? Hey, I'm new at this, I'm still in "Forum Comprehension 101" Anyway, found the thread!
David L

A scraper, plane, or a sanding block are best for this task.

A sharp block plane will take the stripe down in a few passes -- set the plane for a very shallow cut, don't try and cut head on, but rather set the plane at an angle to the strip. Also make sure the back plate is clamped securely to the work surface don't try and plane with one hand and hold the back down with the other -- not good. Final clean up, as mentioned can be done with a scraper and sanding block. A single edge razor blade can function well as a scraper. No matter a real scraper blade or the razor - file off the corners to prevent digging into the wood.

+1 for the block plane or scraper. For lack of those, 80 to 120g good quality paper on a flat sanding block. To keep the sandpaper from loading up as much and to cut more quickly, sand cross grain until you get close to your final thickness.

Ken