Finally starting the Walnut/Redwood and Koa OM.

[David L]

There are very few things on this forum that I can out-do anyone on, having a messy shop is one of them!!!

David L

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Here is a pic after carving the back braces. I did this last July 26th.
The last time I worked on the guitar.

[johnnparchem]

Now to the top?

I am stopped right now waiting for my new shop to complete. I look forward to stating again on my next project next month.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Made some progress this weekend. I used a new clamping caul for glueing the back (and the top later) to the rims in the mold. I saw this system in Kinkades book, and I know that Ken Cierp also shows using this on his website. I have been using the go-bar deck for this operation, and it works, but it is precarius, especially when glueing the top with the potential to have a fiberglass rod slip and shoot through the top. So I wanted to try this screw down plate, and it does work nicely, and it it pretty fast.
I got a really go fit with the brace ends and notches in the rims, and it did not take much pressure glue this thing, however I still seem to have trouble getting/keeping the centerlines in place when I do this. I did a dry run about 3 times, and found it easy to get the two ends lined up on the center of the end blocks, but when I glued it up, and thought I had it centered, I take it out of the mold later and find it is off on both ends about 1/32". Not the end of the world, but I need to find a practical way to position and hold in place while clamping so these backs and tops do not move. Anyone with some ideas that they use that work are welcomed.
So here is a few pics of it clamped up and then out of the mold cleaned up.
I will start on the top this week which is already joined and thicknessed.

Kevin

[Jim_H]

Nice work Kevin!

I'm not sure, but I think that caul would drive me crazy, for not being able to see whats going on as I screw it down. That might go away if I used it a few times and had good results.

As far as your problem with alignment, you might consider some type of registration pin.. maybe include the external wings at the waist, or at the neck/tail.

I've seen others whose tops have this. John Mayes comes to mind. I think Taylor and Martin also use external pins to align their tops during assembly.

Here is a picture I found of a Martin D-1 top (courtesy Frets.com).

[tippie53]

http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/fea ... acing.html
here is a library of the martin brace patters

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Those registration pin points will work on the top, but what about the back??? :>)
I will figure something out for the next one, it is frustrating, but there must be a simple resolution.

I really liked being able to see the glue joint - rim to back - with this method. I can see exactly what is going on, and I can turn it over to see how much glue squeeze out I'm getting and start cleaning it up before the glue is rock hard.
I found that since I had a good fit, I could have used very little pressure to clamp the back down. I think it took more pressure to conform the caul than it did to actually clamp the top. I could have almost held it down with tape. Hmmm, maybe next time I will try that!

The off center should not be a problem to deal with. There is a mirror image at the center at the neck end that I will have to get the heel to center on, so I'll carve the heel to line up with it. It is only off a little bit so should not be obvious at all. The tail end won't be obvious with an end wedge.

These little details continue to get me.....

Kevin

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I was able to spend a little time Sat and Sun and get the rosette made and glued in.
Nothing fancy, simple but elegant I think. I was going to ring it with BWB purflings, but decided I liked the subdued look. The guy I'm making this guitar for doesn't want any bling, so I thought simple was better in this case.
See what you think. It is walnut with an inside ring of curly Koa.

Kevin

[Kevin Sjostrand]

....more.....

[Kevin Sjostrand]

...and final......