Official Luthiers Forum!

I agree with you Martin.

Okay, this is merely intuitive, but it seems that, given equal thickness and species, the stiffer (i.e. stronger) soundboard would offer the better potential for good sound. A domed or arched plate is stiffer (stronger) than a flat plate.

I guess I'll weigh in here, Cumpiano's book is very dated at this point but most of the information is timeless, I have seen photos and read interviews where lately he uses a heating blanket and a mold to bend sides. I think one thing that people miss in his book is that he pushes you to learn things like how to thickness with just a hand plance because it gives you a more intimate understanding of what's involved. On my very very first guitar I followed a great deal of those steps, and the guitar turned out pretty good overall.

Of course now I use a thickness sander, have started to move some tasks to CNC and use a great deal more specialized tools. But I can say that I know what it takes to do it the old fashioned way and there are things that a thickness sander simply can't do that a hand plane and a skilled luthier can, for instance Ed Claxton thins the sides of tops by hand imparting a slight curve into the tops to open them up sonically.

My point is this: Cumpiano's book is a great source of information, but it's really up to you on how you build your guitars. I use a mold because I have a real job and sides move even after being bent multiple times if left out in the shop on their own (I sometimes can't get out to the shop as much as I want), it also provides me with some extra support that I like to have when building body's.

As for arching the top and back, not only does it make them much much stronger but it not only makes the top sound better but the back as well, don't forget that a guitar is more than just a top....

Cheers

-Paul-Sprockett38978.5969328704

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Both the Campiano and the Kinkead books have been extremely helpful to me. You also mentioned The Luthier's Handbook by Roger Siminoff. Now this book should be a "must-read" for any luthier as it explains very clearly how sound is generated, transfered, and altered. Basic acoustic prinicples are described and demonstrated. I have read mine four times and look forward to my fifth!

I need to pick up Siminoff's, I do have Kinkeads and it was pretty but didn't have very much detail, I won't say it wasn't helpful because I learned some things from it but not as much as I've learned from others.

Once I get this CNC thing figured out I'll start on Siminoff's and read through it, I can only take so much immersion in complicated topics at one time

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

I really like photos in the Kinkead book and his positive writing style.

I am building my first working mostly from the Kinkead book and Robbie
O'Briens DVD. The two compliment each other very well. I guess it is the
DVD that has become my main source.

I have a number of other books including Cumpiano and Jim Smith. It can
be pretty confusing if you try to follow too many sources as each one has
their own take on methods and construction.

To me the value of the OLF has been the sense of community, although I
am an irregular attendee at the forum I still get the sense that I am a part
of group who understand the challenges of this crazy undertaking.

You can see some pics of the side bending process here
(they make more sense viewed from the bottom first).
www.flickr.com/
photos/williampickup

I have been looking at my Cumpiano book since this post started and one thing that has swayed me towards wanting to use the outside mold method is the way the rims are arched in the book kinda scare me ....

It looks so much easier with a sanding dish....but I imagine the outside mold would really be needed to support the sides while using a sanding dish?

Does anyone use the workboard method and sanding dishes?
regardless...its still a must have book

I built my first guitar with one finger stuck in Cumpiano's book. Some critical details are buried in the text but everything you absolutely need to know is in there. I have the Kinkead book and I use it as a reference but I don't think that I could have build a guitar using just that book. I all fairness, I didn't do everything the same way as Cumpiano. I found the MIMF and look at a lot of luthier's sites for ideas. I used an outside form, side bending machine, and a go bar deck. All of which were worth the day it took to build each of them. 3-4 days of jig building out of what turned out to be an 18 month project was almost nothing.

I dome my top and back 25' and 15'. I like the looks of it. I'm not certain that there is much of a sound difference.

William, thanks for sharing the progress pics with us, keep up the good work!

Serge

As mentioned here by others, Cumpiano/Natelson has a lot of good information, some of it dated, some of it timeless.

I think its timeless quality makes it a sort of foundation for me. I find I've begun to form a sort of philosophy about building, based on Cumpiano/Natelson which I didn't get from the Kinkead book. Both the Kinkead book and C/N were essential in my limited success in building. But if I could have one of the two, it would be C/N hands down. Similarly, the old Arthur Overholtzer book of the 70s has lots of good foundational stuff and some that's now considered odd by some people, but it had information that served me well for decades in instrument repair and many other wood projects.

I expect that as I go through future builds, C/N will always be a shop reference and Kinkead will end up on a shelf in the house. But both were at my side all through my first guitar project.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Don't forget the most important secret revealed in Mr. O'Brien's DVD:


"The High-tech Glue Spreading Device."

[QUOTE=Cameron Reddy] Don't forget the most important secret revealed in Mr. O'Brien's DVD:


"The High-tech Glue Spreading Device."

[/QUOTE]

Not to mention the can of that which we cannot mention.

Actually, since it has not been mentioned... Although it isn't aimed at the flat-top acoustic field at all, the single book/DVD that I enjoy the most, and get more of a sense of feel from, is the Benedetto archtop book.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

For an alternative to the dish/go-bar setup, check out Charlie Hoffman's site...more work to build, but FAR less dust than a dish...

Hoffman

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Here's an even better link on Charlie's site...

Bracing Setup

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Aren't those great. I just stumbled across them and now they are in the TO DO jig pile.

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Aoibeann