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I'm making a brace profiling jig, similar to the above. Has anyone made one like this?
Someone used to sell plans for this on ebay. I made a couple versions and prototypes.

I like the safety guard, but you have to bend over it to see what you're doing. (Adding more risk)



Improvements I plan to make are:
replace safety guard with plexiglass
add a third toggle clamp (to reduce vibrations and blowout on the ends)

Any input? Any pictures? Any plans?
Terry Stowell39015.8842708333

I have one. It is double sided. 16' on one side, 28' on the other. No guard.

It is very simple.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Yeah, the one I made with out the guard was real simple. I enjoyed making/using it ('cept for needing the 3rd clamp...)

There is one in the tools and Jig section
Here

Here is mine, rough cut on the bandsaw, then sand to shape on your dish. I use a bottom bearing bit(it's a top mount actually as the bit is upside down in a router table). I agree with three clamps, especially for the x-brace.



Shane

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Canada

I built the one that the Zootman posted years ago in the jig section. I always do a climb cut on the left side to prevent chipout. I only have 2 hold downs... it works fine.

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

Terry, This is the jig I use for my braces on the router table.

I've made, oh, probably 8-12 variations of these jigs.

I now use a hand plane and shooting board to get the brace close, then finish it off in the dish. Takes -less- time, they're always perfect fit to the dish, and no more &^$%&$&ing blowouts..... And no danger whatsoever.

Sometimes, we simply need to step back and re-evaluate....

First off, Sorry Terry, I know this was about the router shaping jigs, but I thought I would share mine. It could be used with a router too mind you, just run the board past the flush cut bit.

I made a simple cutting board for the table saw (Bet it's faster than your hand plan Mario ) only difference is the possible danger factor. No blowouts, and if you use that great saw blade of yours, I bet your good to glue after the cut. (BG)

I also use this same board for my fretboard tapering, just pull the dowels and use the same hold down clamps.

I posted this several months ago for Serge. This was a test cut for the picture perpose (didn't use the brace)









Rod True39016.0268055556

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I've done router jigs like above, no tall gaurd, but if you used a piece of acrylic it's probably a good idea. Mine is plenty wide with a 25'R on one side and 15'R on the other. But I like guards.
A while back I made a jig similar to what Rod shows and I really like it, mine has more clamps. I make the cut on the table saw and then swipe it with a hand plane before removing it from the jig. No tear out problems like I used to get with the router. and I have a planed surface for joining.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I tried the table saw version, too, but I swear the plane is still quicker..., and makes a lot less noise and saw dust.

Not saying y'all need to follow, but sometimes we DO need a reminder that the simple ways were fine.

Yes we do need that reminder, thanks again Mario.

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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

As with all my jigs I try to keep them as simple as possible. I only build four or five guitars a year so my brace shaping jig is only going to get about an hour use a year. It's used with the router and I usually give two passes the first just a light touch to take the corners down and then run it across with the bearing against the template. To cut the back taper I just unbolt the clamps (simple technology again) and refit the the other way.



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

As much as I hate to agree with Mario <bg>, I too choose to simply use the plane and dishes.

I don't have a permanent set-up for my router table so I have to take it out, change bits (most times), and then I still have to use the dishes anyhow... I just save myself the hassle and cut down on a few steps.

If I were profiling a lot of braces, I would probably go for a jig, but for one guitar at a time...

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

Bandsaw and dish here too, like my Canuck buds, one gitter at a time!

I do mine a really weird way.
For the back braces I start with a piece as long as the longest brace and as wide as all the braces put together plus a about an extra 1/2". So my "blank" ends up being about 16"long X 2"thick X as high as I want my brace.
Then I draw the back arch on the blank and bandsaw (freehand) leaving the line.
Next, I use my 6 X 89 sander laying the blank on the perpendicular table to profile blank to the line.
You could also sand in the dish for this step.
Are you following me,so far?
So, now I have a really fat brace (2")
I set the guide on my bandsaw to a little more than I want my final brace thickness and rip the 4 braces out of the blank.Then I run them through the thickness sander.
The whole process takes about 20 minutes.
What I like about this method is that all the braces have exactly the same arch. Brad Goodman39016.4085069444

Hand plane and dish here. But, I only make 2-3 guitars a year.

Hand plane used with a jig like the above. No dish necessary. rlabbe39016.5532175926

I've got a shaping jig but don't use it. It is so easy to just sand the radius on spruce and no danger, so I just sand them.

Ron

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Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Bandsaw and dish or plane and dish for me. I can't make up my mind. I like the plane and dish as it makes no dust, and planing wood is much more fun that using the band saw. Both methods are pretty fast. I bet I could shape braces with my plane faster that the router method. The table saw method would probably be faster. There is something nice about using a plane instead of a power tool.

After I use the sanding dish. I always finish it of with one last pass with the plane. I like to have a planed surface tho glue instead of a sanded surface.

I have been tempted to make the table saw jig, but using the router for this has no appeal to me. That thing is just too noisy. I avoid the router whenever I can.

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Another one that I agree with Mario on. What's this world coming to?

Well, almost. I too had one of those jigs that I made for using with a router table,
and I got sick of the blow-outs.
Now I use it to draw a line on the brace and sand it back to the line with my edge sander.
It's really fast and I never lose a brace.

As the Big M said, sometimes simpler is better.Don Williams39016.6675231481

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[QUOTE=Mario] I've made, oh, probably 8-12 variations of these jigs.

I now use a hand plane and shooting board to get the brace close, then finish it off in the dish. Takes -less- time, they're always perfect fit to the dish, and no more &^$%&$&ing blowouts..... And no danger whatsoever.

Sometimes, we simply need to step back and re-evaluate....[/QUOTE]

I'm with Mario on this one. All the jigs leave the brace with a profile for a cylindrical back and they still need to sanded in the dish to get them to be hemispherical. I just rough them off on the stationary belt sander and final them in the dish. About a minute or two per brace or less. I must admit that I went to a motorized dish sander though . I love jigs an doodads but sometimes the direct simple approach makes sense.

Alan D.
dunwell39016.6810300926

I bought one of Tracy's jigs for radiusing braces and it works great! Then I got some adi spruce brace stock from Steve @ Colonial and it was so stiff I couldn't get it to flex into the jig.

Mainly I just plane them to a marked line and finish them off in the dish. It is so much quieter than firing up one of those noisey machines. After all, I have to be able to hear my XM. Dave Rector39016.7007986111

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I also agree with Mario regarding simpler methods, especially regarding
the benders (that was a different thread).   But with that said...I bought
some brace blanks from a friend since I don't have ANY machinery to cut
them to width.

Since when is it such a sin to agree with me that y'all have to apologize before you do so?

<bg>