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OK, last night and today, I prepared a back strip, and glued it on, did all the prep, and glued the back on the body.

First step - gluing on the back strip.

Next, I measured and cut out the slots in the back strip where the braces would fit.. d

Continued in next entry.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Moving right along. Checked the slots for square.

All slots cut.

The back strip is too long at the tail block. Gotta trim it.

Got it fit, and now I'm marking the top to trim it closer to size. It is just clamped in place. I also checked to make sure all the inside hold-down parts would come out through the sound hole, while I had the back clamped on.

I trimmed it down using a micro plane drum on the drill press. Very fast. It was only a few mm too large anyway.

Next, I marked the brace centers by slikding the top to each side until the brace ends showed.

Moving to the next entry now.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Next, I started assembling my Solera Go-Bar system.

I removed the spacers from the Bars, so they would be the right length for gluing the back on.

Put the Lid on the Deck.

Last fit to make sure everything is OK.

Put Fish Glue on all the lining and back braces, set the top in place, and clamped it with everything I could get on it.

I'll leave it under the clamps until tomorrow. I worked on squaring up a bridge blank, smoothing out a fingerboard, and preparing some purfling.

Thanks again for looking.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I'm getting excited to hear this thing ring!!!

Well done Waddy!! I still love the combo solera and gobar deck.... I gotta build me one of those.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Thanks, Ken. It really works well for me. The poles fit in the quiver with the go bars, so the only thing left is the top. I just keep the washers and wing nuts on the poles, so they won't get lost. Takes time to get them off, but in my shop, I'd still be looking for them, then I would have had to go buy some more. I would find them next week sometime, when I had to move them out of the way to do something else. I probably need to make a few more go-bars though. I only have 28, and I could have used about 6 or 8 more. They aren't hard, just takes time.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hey Waddy, boy, you're getting close to stringing that baby up. Thought about what your first tune will be when it finished? Maybe "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" huh? Oh, wrong style.
I like your go-bars too. How many lbs of force do they exert per rod? You mind giving us your recipe on making them?

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Thanks, Chuck. Na, I have not even thought of stringing it up yet. I'm consumed with cutting up to put the binding and purflings on it.

I showed the go-bars in a post that is probably in the archives, but I really didn't do the recipe for them.. I can do that. it really isn't hard. Maybe I'll find a few minutes to take one apart so you can see the parts, and I can get the measurements. I'm getting around 7 lbs pressure. With the springs I have I can get up to about 9 tops. I was thinking that I might need to take about a half inch off the posts to get a little more pressure.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Good job Waddy....!!.......



.........................now for the hard parts! <Grin>



Best

I commend you on the care, pateience, and research that you've obviously put into this project.

I also know how anxious you are to finally hear it. I'm a couple of steps ahead of you and I had to put strings on mine to hear it before it was finished. I've been playing it for about a week now. I tell myself that I had to do this in order for it to settle in so that I could get the set up and the neck shape "just right", and so far its paying off!

You'll love and hate the binding stage. Keep it up with your patience.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Waddy: All looks good. I will need to look back through the archives to find more on your gobars. I also like the look of your solera. It looks like it could be used as an adjustable mold for a steel string as well. Is that the case or am I missing something? Can you tell me more about how you put it together?

Good luck on closing things up.

Greg

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Greg Hatcher
North Carolina

Thanks, everyone. I did find a glich with my glue-up. Apparently I didn't get one of the braces seated after I put the glue on everyithing. I suppose I was hurrying to get everything clamped. I spent a good part of this afternoon, wetting the joint between the brace and the back strip. I finally got the glue to release. There was space under the brace. I set up a leverage caul, and used a big cam clamp, with an additonal screw clamp really putting a lot of pressure on it. I think I, finally, got it set in the right slot, and had some squeeze-out along the brace. I have pictures of what I did.

Greg, I took one apart today and took some pictures. I'll post a little "Spring Loaded Go-Bar Tutiorial" later.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

It looks like you are well on you way to a fine looking guitar! The meticulous work pays off in the end!