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Building 1st kit guitar. Note that it is a very cheap one incase I mess up it will not break the bank. I glued the top braces too low. What is the best way to remove braces with little damage? Heat, water with putty knife or plane the braces down?

What type of glue did you use?

Well, I tried both and this happened.

heat
it takes 145 F to get the glue to loosen
I would use a cloths iron to the face , keep it moving and you will feel the
top get warm then use a thin knife working across the grain

these are learning experiences and it may be frustrating they will make you better.
thanks for posting , we all can learn from this

Ouch! That's a hard lesson so early in your build! I admire your ability to laugh about it though. John Hall I am sure can sell you another top and braces. John also points out that it is good for us all to learn from the experiences of others. So my question is, is your broken top flawed by bad runout? The way the grain has broken looks (to my still-learning eye) that way. What do the experts say?

Anyway, don't let this hold you back - you'll get there. Bruce W.

good point on the run out.
your correct that does look like very bad run out.

Can you please explain what is mean by "ban runout"?

Thanks.

It occurs when the grain in a piece of wood does not run parallel to the outside surface of the board, either along the lines of the growth rings that you see in a guitar top, or 90º to that along the sides of that same board. Here's a good description:

http://lutherie.net/frankford.runout.html

Great. Thanks and thanks for the link.

My brother has talked about this. He makes split cane bamboo fly rods. He starts with the bamboo culm, and taps a knife into the end, then pulls it apart along the whole length (some times 12 ft) in order to not cross the grain.

John, I tried the heat and cloth method but I did not think it was working as well, or as quickly, as I thought it would. I taped the wood next to the braces and started carving them out first with a small block plane, but again it was a cheap one so it was not cutting well. I switched to a chisel. This seemed to work well. I caught a heavy grain line in one of the x braces and it split the brace down to the wood and broke the top. In my opinion the cheap top was not worth it to repair so I did the one thing Non of us should do when working on guitars, I lost my temper and smashed it on my makeshift work bench.

I have learned many lessons and think I am ready to try again. I may order a new kit from you soon. If patients is a close friend of virtue I would like both of their contact numbers so I can call them.

Jude