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I am starting construction on my go-bar deck and wanted to see it there were any guidelines for min/max height of the deck.
It occured to me, though, that I may first need to figure out which bars I'm using.
Does anyone out there have sources or suggestions on where to get the bars themselves or what to use?
Thanks in advance.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

www.intothewind.com.
It's a kite manufacturing company that sells fiberglass rods.

There are hundreds of threads on this subject in the archives. Do a search on Go-bars and you will find way more than you want to read

3/16" dia. fiberglass x 23 5/8-24" long and a 24" minimal deck height. I suggest that you make the height adjustable as you will find many uses for the deck

I used to have a portable deck which was 24" high. I found that the short wooden go bars were pretty unforgiving of differences in height. I often had to add shims to get sufficient clamping pressure.
Last year, I built a sturdy shelf a about 4'above one of my work benches. This height is much better as the longer bars can easily compensate for the variable heights of the workpieces.
If you buy fibregass go-bars, this is much less of an issue.
Another reason I like the taller deck is that there's plenty of room to get your head & hands in to see what you're doing & for glue cleanup.
I now have two sets of bars. One for braces & one for gluing tops & backs to the rim.

Dan, don't you use vacuum for your braces?

Shane

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Canada

What diameter size do you guys suggest for the bars? How many is reasonable? I don't recall how many I ever needed when glueing up.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Walmart, Ace Hardware, 5/16 inch hardwood dowels, about 58 cents each. 36 inch. Or, as once advised by Mario, rip 'em from any sturdy hardwood stock 36 inches long.

Since braces get shaved and sanded, the tips are nice but not necessary. More than one way to do this as you can see. I like the length of a long gobar, 36 inch.

Also, you might consider making the top of your deck adjustable, to allow for varying thickness of the guitar wedge neck to tail, I tilt my top and keep it adjusted to the heights which work for 36 inch gobars. No need for multiple lengths. Matter of fact, I've actually gone in and glued tiny extensions on my gobars that didn't meet the 36 inch length from the store. Easy to do, mine are all the same.

I second Paul's recommendation of the kite place for rods and end caps. They also sell a nifty little hack saw that's supposed to work great on the rods. I cut mine with a cut off wheel on an angle grinder. That worked very well and was fast. I actually found I got better cuts by cutting really fast; at first I thought that I'd get less splintering by going slow, but the opposite proved to be true.

I also second the recommendation to build a shelf over a workbench and use that as your deck. That way you have a useful shelf and don't have a whole seperate thing to find a place to store when you're not using it. A lot of height, as has been said, makes the deck easier to use.

I got 1/4" thick rods (rather than 3/16") after reading some threads on the subject in this forum that convinced me that the greater clamping pressure is a good thing.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

As Paul said, the FG ones from intothewind.com are the way to go. They're cheap and take a lot of bending without taking a set, much more forgiving that way than wood, plus they're near impossible to break. They're really tolerant of extreme bending, like when you end up with your workpieces and cauls stacking up and requiring a lot of deflection. Be sure to get FOUR tips for each 4ft rod as tehy come from ITW, if you intend to cut the 4ft rods in half to get two for one. If you intend to use 4ft rods as DanielM suggests, you might consider a larger diameter, as the resistance to deflection on the longer rods is considerably less.

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

I tried hardwood dowels, 3/8. Way too thick. I bought a bunch of F/G rods and rubber tips from Into the Wind and cut them in half with an old japanese saw blade (it got really dull near the end of the process). I really like the consistency of the F/G rods over the wood ones I tried wood and I am a wood guy. Not at all sorry for going F/G. Mine might be 3/16 but I will check.

Shane

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Canada

3/16" fiber glass rods (into the wind) or driveway reflectors at the orange big box home improvement store. just about the same price only important difference is delivery


See Don I did not say I get mine at Home Depot this time ........oops

I cannot tell you what to buy, or where to shop. I CAN tell you NOT to cut lots of the fiberglass rods with your bandsaw blade unless you have a spare bandsaw blade handy, or money to buy one

Do not ask me how I know this.    

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

HESH! a gobar deck on wheels, I see round and flat gobars ay? Nice.

TODD! wow, your deck is so accessible, very nice, plus you have a storage rack and a GOBAR QUIVER, that rates.... holy mackerel is that a DISH RACK on top? man o man, you gotta supply some plans for this baby.... and adjustability in the REMOVABLE BOX for doing tops and backs on the bodies.... (now what can I get rid of in my shop to make room for one of these?)

Hesh...Great setup!!! Did you glue up with what we discussed? Take courage, Bro!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Here’s my go-bar deck and how it looks as of 10 minutes ago……..

I built it with enough room inside to use for installing backs and fronts on even d****n****ts.
[/QUOTE]

Wow, Hesh, you're building DONUTS!!??? Cool!!

Mine looks like Hesh's only without the wheels. And that sander piece up there on the top part. I'm still working on that.




I first had 1/4" bars, but they were too stiff and awkward to handle, so I went to 3/16".

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

Hesh...sounds like it could work. I do it just the opposite...bead on the kerfing. If you lay out the proper bead there's no mess. It's all about the proper viscosity...thanks, Mario!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I built this...



with this....

also see:

Jigs and Tools

Mine is like a compromise between my Brother Hesh's and my brother Todd's, it's got wheels and bottom shelves storage!

Here's the best pic i could find, it's on the far right side

While I had read of the gobars on the Jazz guitar construction book I had not been planning on using them for a single run guitar.....

This is somewhat of a side venture from my music writing and recording.

Are the go bars needed for good or best results?

While I plan to buy good tonewood and invest in the compnonents I don't think I will be building another acoustic in the next five or ten years so I am questioning wether this set up is justified for a single build?

My next projects will like be more electrics.

If not using gobars what is the second best choice of clamping methods?

I use 5/16 wooden dowels, height is 30"

Mike
White Oak, Texas

"Cam clamps will be needed though."

I picked up six of them already at Woodcrafters.

Think I will need more?

I also bought a set of the "Cauling clamps?" The ones with the threaded bar and padded disc on either end.