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Hesh - Thanks for sharing!  Very clear and informative and will be put to good use soon.

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

as per usual, you are the man.

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sweat the small stuff.

Great tutorial Hesh, as always.

I got away from using a pencil and opted for a marking knife when marking the cuts and like you I saw inside the lines. I then file the joints to proper fit.

Thanks for sharing.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Hesh,
Marking knives are nice, but most are impractical for this situation. I use a whittling set with many alternatives.

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Scr een=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-UWK1&am p;Category_Code=TXO

Dean

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Dean

Here's what I use, the one on the left.

Marking Knives

An X-acto knive would also do the job.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Hesh, the pencil line is fat, but the line left from marking knife is fine and clean.
These will show you different styles   They are a cool tool when you get used to using them. If you are using them on a dark wood, go back over the line with chalk, it will get caught in the cut and stand out.

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Aoibeann

Oh, thanks for the tutorial. Up to your usual standard. Much appreciated

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Aoibeann

Hesh,
Sorry, it is this item at the above address


Code: MS-UWK1

Dean

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Dean

Nice tutorial, Hesh.  Take a look at "The Best Things" website.  They have some nice marking knives.  This link takes you to their Measuring and Marking page.  A number of different options.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Let me start off by saying that I sent Hesh a PM and asked for  and recieved his blessing on posting these pictures before I am posting them. I dont want to appear that I am stealing his thunder. I realize that if you dont have a table saw, what I am about to show you may be useless. It is, however, how I make x-braces and I usually make several sets at one time which takes just seconds to make.

First of all, I radius my brace stock the same way he does, the difference is after this step.

I made a jig to operate on my table saw to cut the slots cleanly and accurately.  The jig has a backstop that is glued to the main table at 8 degrees. One brace is cut radius side up and one radius side down, and they are  slotted at the same time. I place the radius side down against the rear fence and the glued on  supports that keep it "square and plumb"  can be seen in one of the pictures.

The height of the saw blade is adjusted to height before cutting and the sled was made so that it can be moved from side to side, but a controlled side movement so that it cuts the proper width slot in the braces. I think the pictures are pretty self explanitory, but if you have questions, please feel free to ask!

the whole jig

next, you can see the rear fence which is glued on at 8 degrees. you can also see the supports that hold the "radius side down" brace holder.

hard to see, but if you look close you can see the height of that radius side down brace holder.

Here is a picture of the sled in the slot on the table, pushed all the way to one side. you can see that the piece of guide stock that is down in the slot has room to "wiggle". This allows the correct width of the slot to be cut. the next picture shows how much side to side movement is allowed 

Lastly is a picture of the bottom of the sled

 

I usually make up a number of x braces at once, and just store them until needed. right now, I need to make up a batch because IA have used all that I previously made.  These braces will fit the standard x brace templates and require trimming as in Hesh's last step to get an absolute tight fit. instead of a plane I usually sand them to the proper thickness. The aqngle is correct for the standard Martin X brace. If your x braces require some different angle than this, it only takes less than an hour to make a new jig for that angle.

Hope this helps!

Ken

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Reguards,

Ken H

Hesh, be aware that some marking knives are "right handed" or "left handed" both are useful depending on what type of position you are in or what side of the joint you are marking. The flat side of the blade goes against the wood and the beveled side tends to urge the blade tight into the joint. If that is not clear, look at some catalog descriptions, which will probably do a better job of it than me - it's late at night!! Nice tutorital btw. And thanks.

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

Hesh, what do you use to plane it to the rough radius? Are you free-
handing it? I have the Luthier's Tools radius jig on my tool list and was
planning to use it along with a finger plane.

Do you find that moving the brace side to side puts a radius on the
bottom across the grain as well since the dish is a sphere and not a
cylinder, round on ALL planes? Is it really just kind of insignificant? If it
is, the brace maker is a $60 tool I might take OFF my list to make room
for the PC 310.

Wouldn't it be nice to live next door to Hesh?

         Great job again Hesh

                                                          Red

I shape the radius on my braces on the router table by clamping them to a plywood template and using a pattern following bit that has the bearing guide on the bottom.

What I don't like about shaping them on the dish is that they tend to "round over", that is their bottoms are not as flat and perpendicular to the sides as I would like. It is possible to avoid this by sanding the x-braces after they are joined, that will keep them upright, but it does not help the other radiused braces. The other thing I don't like about it is the sanded surface; a cut surface should glue better. The best would probably be to use a plane with a glued on stop to give a constant radius like Alan Carruth has described previously, but I have not been happy with my results when I tried this. The biggest problem for me seems to be to keep the plane at a constant angle to the sides of the brace, instead I always seem to end up with a slightly twisted bottom of the brace; not good.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Like Arnt, I rough out my braces on the router table with a bottom bearing bit using a home made radius jig.



Then after the notches are cut and the two halves glued together then I sand them in the dish, I also do this so that the chances of rounding are reduced.

Before I glue them onto the top I run a scraper lightly over the gluing surface.

Colin

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

Hesh, that was a great tutorial! I like that you put up lots of pics. I’m a visual person, so it really
helps to SEE IT come together! Thanks for sharing!

Questions Please;

I know you have said, you like parabolic braces, So-

Are you planning on doing this?

What technique do you use, to achieve the parabolic curve of your braces?

Robert

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

There was a thread a few months back on cutting lapjoints here that had input from a number of people so I'll throw it in here so it'll be easier to find in the future.

We rough the braces out and then finish them on the sanding dish. If you sand the X brace as a whole it will help to keep them square. This is a John How tip which works a treat.

I got a couple of radius guages from LMI which I find are invaluable for checking the radius on braces and also on the tops and backs after they've been glued.



Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

Bob, I really like your router jig/drum sander method in that other thread. I guess it's jig making time again...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]

Not to worry about my thunder - the only thunder that I have tends to make my dog leave the room.....

[/QUOTE]
Poor Sony, What you put him thru Hesh
Thanks again for another great Tute.and taking the time for all the great pics and comments! I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say Thanks Much Hesh.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755