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Well, here is the fruit of today's labor. A new go-bar deck is done and I have started making inside cauls for holding the sides in one of John Hall's molds. Next week the wood and parts will arrive and then I have to start my first build. It is going to be a kit, but I want to do a little customization, like wood bindings and a couple of other little things.

The deck might not be robust enough (3/4" thick) so I might have to glue only a few bits on at a time. What do you think? Any advice for my maiden voyage? Thanks in advance!

SteveCourtright38962.8121527778

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Steve, nice deck bro!

Just a friendly advice though, you might want to make it a full inch thick (2 X 1/2" thick layers) at the top and at the bottom also, you do not want the top or bottom parts to flex under pressure while glueing anything in there and also for security reasons, i wouldn't want my bro to receive a flying rod through the belly!

Other than that Steve, it looks great!

Oh and what a neat shop you got, are you related to Hesh?

SergeSerge Poirier38962.8227314815

Looks good Steve. I would suggest that you get some 1/2 inch PVC pipe to cover the threads on the side supports. It will prevent accidents where you might scar the wood and actually increased the stability of my go-bar deck. Your off to a good start and I'm looking forward to seeing your build.   

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Man, I've heard of 'deep bodies'-it must work for the dimention next to ours.

it looks great,
Like Don said....get some PVC tubing from home depot to cover the threads on the side supports and it will look better and be a lot sturdier. I think you are fine a 3/4 plywood.
To me it does look a little too tall....is that a reasoning behing that?

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Peter,

It's 36 inches tall. I read somewhere that 24" was too short, and the rods don't flex much at only 24" long. Fortunately, mine is adjustable! What is the average deck height?

Thanks for your tips!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

If it's of any use, I used 3/4" metal conduit to cover/support my threaded rods, and a 32" deck height. Personally, I think 36" is just fine.

But yes, if possible, I would up the thickness to at least twice what you have. Looks really, really good though.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Nice job Steve and a fine start

I was a bit curious about the height too.....but I have yet to get to this point, so I will just observe, read, and absorb!

Thanks for the share

As has been said, get some PVC... You'll find the top starts to move around while you're putting in go-bars and you'll accidentally launch them into all corners of your shop all of a sudden. Don't ask me how I know that.

I've been using 24" and it's been just great so far with 3/16" fiberglass rods.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Remember that at 24" after you add the radiused dish plus the height of the braces you'd be getting a bit more flex...

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I'm taking notes! And as far as my shop goes, Serge, that is the neat view! Sorry about the quality, this was taken with a cell phone camera.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Looks good Steve, looking forward to seeing your first in progress.

Good Luck

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Steve, i hope you are not too discouraged by all the advices or suggestions that were given on your first jig, we all know you felt proud of making your very first lutherie jig, the crticism you have encountered here is the only way we have to make sure you remain safe and that your jig will help you succeed properly but i'm guessing you already knew that eh bud!

Listen to the group's wisdom my friend, i know it made me make giant leaps in my lutherie skills!

Your mold is awesome and the shop seems to have great karma if i can borrow Heshter's words!

Serge

Steve, well done.

There are two things that come to mind when looking at the picture.

It looks like you have used melamine for the top and bottom boards. Is that so? You may find that the surface is very slippery and your rods may not "bite" into the surface very well. If you have some other board kicking around, I would switch to something a little "rougher" or just add a second board of a different variety, even basic plywood for the top will be fine, but you really want a surface that will hold the dish in place when you start adding pressure, the whole thing could "explode" out of there and you wouldn't want that.
If the plates are some other type of material that is not slippery, well just disregard all of that .

As others have said, there is a lot of pressure on the top plate when you a gluing down a full set of braces, even on a back. I would add a layer on the top or if you don't have a piece to add, you can add some "braces" on the top side of the top. Use 1"x2" screwed to through the 3/4" plate to stiffen up the entire top plate. Make a simple + on the top will add a lot of stiffness and you will not see much flex in the plate at all.

That's it though (other than the pipe over the all thread which many others have noted).

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Thanks, Rod. Yours sounds like the best solution/mod. I am going to add a plywood layer to each of the inside surfaces of the upper and lower plates.   

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Way to go Steve!!!!

Just remember, lots of screws will make it like one piece no need to glue it together here IMHO.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

when your tonewood arrives, don't start to build with it right away. rather, allow it a couple of weeks to acclimate to your shop environment. can prevent problems later on.

Steve,

Looks like you're good for launch! And lots of good advice waiting for you.

The true test of Hesh factor ( ) will be how your shop looks AFTER the build.

BTW, the extra height of your deck means that the go bars might need to be stouter. Longer bars will give you less force than shorter ones of the same dia.

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

[QUOTE=burbank] ...The true test of Hesh factor ... [/QUOTE]

...Say, I like that. Hesh Factor... Can I borrow?

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Steve, it does look a bit too tall for my liking, I use 24" 3/16" fibre glass rods and they flex just fine, you only need about 1"-1/1/2" of flex for clamping. To get the height of the top above the base add the dish depth and the total body depth of your guitars (assuming you want to use the go-bar for gluing top and back). When gluing braces make a raiser block to sit the dish and plate in. You may also find a bit of flex with just 3/4" top, add another layer to stiffen it up.

This is the deck I use, I used heavy duty angle-iron brackets so that the front was clear allowing more convenient access.



Colin

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[QUOTE=Alain Desforges] [QUOTE=burbank] ...The true test of Hesh factor ... [/QUOTE]

...Say, I like that. Hesh Factor... Can I borrow? [/QUOTE]

Alain,

It's OK with me if it's OK with Hesh!

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

Colin, that is a very clever use of wall space. When I get a proper shop, I will have to use that idea!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

My deck is similar to Colin's but the top of mine is the underside of my loft space.

Here's a look

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson