Another approach to back joint reinforcement

[deadedith]

I just cut and pasted parts of this method directly from a web site. Two notable things about it: first, the bjr is glued down in one continuous strip; second, no glue is used in the areas that would normally have to be chiseled out. The excerpts:


My intent is to glue the back joint reinforcement where it needs to be glued but to also not glue it where I will have to chisel it away to install the blocks and braces. These areas are marked with a "X" to remind me to not spread glue there. Squeeze out will migrate to these areas a bit anyway but most of these areas will just pop off when I am removing material for the braces and blocks. That’s the goal...
Once the BJR has had time to dry my next step will be to round over the entire strip into a nice, gradual radius. I do this by using low tack tape next to the strip and sharp planes and sand paper. Shaping the BJR is optional and the subject for another piece.

I cut out the areas for the braces and blocks using the actual braces and blocks and a new, single edge razor blade (edge facing downward...). Minimal chisel action is required and the piece being removed often just pops out because of our previous judicious use of glue once the razor cuts have been made.

One advantage of gluing down the entire BJR strip as a whole and not in segments after the braces are installed is that the entire strip can be shaped and sanded to a pleasing shape as one operation. Again there are many ways to accomplish this task.

[tippie53]

I do glue my back reinforcement strips in . How can you be assured you have glue where you want it ? You can't . I use the razor blade method to notch it . This method was shown to me by David Nichols of Malone NY that was doing it for 50 yrs. It works very well. You can get a perfect joint with minimum skill.

[kencierp]

The little Exacto tool I show in this tutor:

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/ki ... embly.html

chips out the waste material in an instant -- why chance a "mystery" buzz from a reinforcement strip not glued down properly?

$.02

[deadedith]

My fault for not posting the whole article - the exact location of the braces is marked on the back first; where they intersect is marked off so glue is not applied at that area of intersection. You apply the glue up to those points.
No big deal. If we don't ask about or try new things, we don't learn why the 50 year old method is or is not superior.
Just sayin'..

[kencierp]

I am sure if care is taken that method will work just fine.

[Ken Hundley]

How about masking the area the brace is going to be....cut the reinforcement down to the tape, peel the tape off, glue in your brace? Haven't tried it that way, but its a thought.

[deadedith]

And it might eliminate some of the squeeze out that is bound to get into the space. Cool.

[Darryl Young]

On my first, I glued the back strip in in sections between the already installed back braces. Next time I will try gluing the center seam brace first and trim it for the back braces and see how I like that. I hope it will be easier to keep the center seam brace in a straight line.

[deadedith]

Darryl - yeah, that's the way to go. You can glue it all at once, then sand it a bit and chamfer or whatever you want to do to it, if anything - it's not required - all at once, then go about the rest of the business. I am choosing to not put glue where the braces will be, to make it easier to pop out the chunks of back brace, but others will say it's no big deal and who really cares? Get 'er done :-)

[Tony_in_NYC]

I will be quietly mocking every method mentioned here that is not the one I currently use. How about that? LOL