Official Luthiers Forum!

Drilled 7 holes in the tie block on a classical. Fret spacing rulers aren't big
enough for classical bridges. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[QUOTE=Kelby] All right, Eric and Carlton, I'll bite.

What plans are you using?[/QUOTE]
Shattered/Broken/Crushed.

You're right, it is confusing. When Eric wrote, "top down," I assumed he meant it as you described. Perhaps he was confused by broken-line bridge and fingerboard inclusions, and purposely reversed the bracing as if he were looking at it "top up"?

Guys,

My apologies for:

a) using ambiguous language
b) being wrong

This thread has mostly run its course, but I didn't
want to leave behind incorrect information, since the
archives of this site are such a great resource.

I went back and looked at my first guitar and
also the recent GAL issue with Frank Ford's
see-through guitar body article. Here's what happened:

I did initially reverse the brace direction when
building #1. Emboldened by some language in the
Cumpiano book, I carved it away and reglued another one
the right way.

But that was a year ago, and I once again made the
same mental mistake about which way the Z-axis runs,
as it were.

I think I should follow the advice commonly given here
to keep a shop notebook...

Eric

Thanks, Eric. If the brace is still in there backward, just leave it. I bet you won't notice any difference, other than that your improved skills have built a better instrument.

I once cut the mortise for the neck tenon backwards so the fretboard ran onto the back of the body. Opps!! I "fixed" this by rerouting the mortise correctly, then keeping the neck heal long enough so the heal cap would extend onto the back and fill the gap. Following Carlton's motto (If you can't hide it, make it look pretty) I then inlayed the heal cap.

I've since gotten many complements on that heal cap but have yet to do another one (knock on wood).

Great story, and excellent save, Roy! I think I remember you showing us that one some time ago. Ain't human creativity a great thing?!

[QUOTE=Roy O] I once cut the mortise for the neck tenon backwards so the fretboard ran onto the back of the body. Opps!! ......[/QUOTE]
Roy,
Thank you for posting that. I thought I was the only person in the world dumb enough to do that.

I am proud to say that i only did it once.   

_________________
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

[QUOTE=Don Williams]
More recently, I turned on my bandsaw while the blade was totally de-tensioned. Nearly ruined a $200 blade...
[/QUOTE]

I do this at least once as year on our big 4 inch vertical blades.


I recently was hit in the hip with a billet that kicked on my table saw.. the waste bin behind the saw was clearly too full but I only had 3 more pieces to do and wanted to save the extra trip emptying the bin.

The block pushed up when it butted up against a piece of scrap, by relfex I immediately pushed it down and as it came down at a bad angle is started to bind.. I had just enough time to realize what was about to happen before it fired at me. Dropped me to my knees but at least I got my fingers outta the way.

_________________
CVT Inc.
A tour of our shop (Somewhat outdated)
My Personal eBay profile. BCWoodBug

I'm building a soprano ukulele at the same time as my guitar. I'm planing on using it to practice finishing so I get the guitar right. It's a fact that I'm kind of slapping it together fast and not being overly critical in its construction. Just ok is ok. After a bit of haste and a late nite I have glued my neck block to the sides, the side of the mold, and the bottom of the mold. A bit of wax paper would have been a tad helpful. Need to remember to give the same care on all projects and don't rush.

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.