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phavriluk
 Post subject: 3/16" braced thickness?
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 2:22 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:49 pm
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First name: peter
Last Name: havriluk
City: granby
State: ct
Zip/Postal Code: 06035
Country: usa
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I've been having some encouraging results using 1/4" thick tapered braces. So far so good. My guitar bodies have all been built in the same mold, using a pattern of a 93% copy of a Martin Herringbone. Martin did the same thing and called it a 'Dreadnought Junior', but my brainstorm preceded their announcing the model. I'm curious if I can, owing to the smaller size, reduce my brace thickness to 3/16". I've not encountered anyone mentioning using such a brace size, and I'm wondering if it was found to not work well, or whether nobody's done it, period, satisfied that quarter-inch-thick braces have worked just fine.

Thanks!

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Michaeldc
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 2:50 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:45 pm
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First name: Michael
Last Name: Colbert
City: Anacortes
State: WA
Focus: Build
phavriluk wrote:
I've been having some encouraging results using 1/4" thick tapered braces. So far so good. My guitar bodies have all been built in the same mold, using a pattern of a 93% copy of a Martin Herringbone. Martin did the same thing and called it a 'Dreadnought Junior', but my brainstorm preceded their announcing the model. I'm curious if I can, owing to the smaller size, reduce my brace thickness to 3/16". I've not encountered anyone mentioning using such a brace size, and I'm wondering if it was found to not work well, or whether nobody's done it, period, satisfied that quarter-inch-thick braces have worked just fine.

Thanks!


Ervin Somogyi told me that a minimum 1/4” footprint was recommended. I make my X-brace footprint a full 1/4”. As for the finger braces and tone-bars, those start at 1/4” and taper slightly as the radius is sanded to match the dish radius - my X-brace is 1/4 x 5/8 to start (rectilinear). My finger braces and tone-bars are pre-tapered, hence the change in width when matching the dish radius. Note: my UTB is 5/16” x 7/8”. I like a bit more heft there.

M


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Last edited by Michaeldc on Tue Apr 22, 2025 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

These users thanked the author Michaeldc for the post: Hesh (Wed Apr 23, 2025 6:47 pm)
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bobgramann
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 3:24 pm 
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First name: Bob
Last Name: Gramann
City: Fredericksburg
State: VA
Zip/Postal Code: 22408
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
I’ve always kept mine at 1/4” for the glue footprint as Michael mentioned. I can taper it quite radically if I want it to be lighter. I recently had the opportunity to examine a 1962 Hauser II classical. His fan braces were small—it seemed about 1/8” wide, but I only looked, couldn’t measure. The bracing in that guitar was scary small, but all were attached. (There was about 1/8” inch dip in the top between the bridge and the soundhole.) Anyway, in 60 years, they hadn’t come loose even with the smaller footprint. I’m planning to build a similar classical, but I won’t make any of the glue joints only 1/8” wide.

On my steel stringed guitars, I make the UTB glue footprint 1/2” wide and brace tightly between it and the headblock. O don’t want any slippage there.


These users thanked the author bobgramann for the post: Michaeldc (Tue Apr 22, 2025 3:31 pm)
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dofthesea
PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2025 9:46 am 
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First name: David
Last Name: Foster
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State: CA
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I do 3/16" on my ukuleles but would not go this small on a guitar.

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mike-p
PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2025 4:53 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 4:59 pm
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Location: Co cork Ireland
Country: Ireland
Focus: Build
Plenty of l-00 built to the grelier plan with this dimension bracing.
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