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I'm looking at the Stew Mac kit and it seems like I could use the same method to make one from scratch. I really don't want to purchase or build a dish. Would it matter if the braces leaned a little as the braces are further from the center? Has anyone here been down this path? How would you go about this?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Hutch: I don't use a dish or a go bar deck to glue braces on the top, just clamps,and i do use braces with a radius.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

You can. The first 3 scratch builds I did were using the methods and jigs I made for my first guitar - a stewMac kit.

Good luck!

Chuck

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

Great!!
Thank you

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

+1

Isn't there some procedure to back the plates against a piece of plush carpet on a gobar deck to force the top to come up to the curved braces? Or something like that?

That sounds good to me. I do want to build a go bar deck. Seems like a good universal instrument tool unlike radius dishes.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Have you looked at William Cumpiano's book? You don't need a dish with his method, just a lot of cam clamps, slats, and a large sanding board.

Books? I don't need no stinking books.
I'll put it on my wish list. I didn't build my mandolins without a book so I suppose I should get one for guitars.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

my first build was a stewmac 000 kit...and I quickly learned that a go bar deck and radius dish's were a must have...A go bar deck is easy to build, mine is free standing on casters , if you have a harbor freight nearby , get the 33 ft 3/16 fiberglass wire running kit and cut to 24 in lengths for go bars , works great, I do all my building on the radius dish..not to mention they are invaluable for profiling the sides for the tops and backs..

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MK5acoustics.com

Don't forget that the guitarmaking books were written in the 70's . The disks were not available at the time. Can you do it without a dish yes but you will find as you build more the fit and finish become the goal .
To glue up a radius brace in a go bar without a dish you a stack of cards and fan them out to rough the radius. This will help . It ain't perfect but it is better than nothing .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

My first two guitars were built without a dish or go bar. I used two foot lengths of 2x4 with the back and top arches cut out of them. Sort of a slice of a dish. Glued one brace at a time with clamps. A little slower than a dish and a g b deck but it works.

So, what I'm hearing is, everybody eventually goes to the dish method. I guess I may as well start out that way. I may consider purchasing them as building them seems really time consuming and dusty. I'd rather start building a guitar.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

The time you save will be worth the money you spend.

For what it may be worth, I used a rim of 1/8" plywood which was about half an inch inside the guitar outline and this caused curvature in the plate when using radiused bracing on a go-bar deck.
A radius dish is better and easier but on a first build it may not be warranted.

Your choice.

Bob

There is a local supplier who frequents the Kit builder forum who shows this method which I used on my 1st guitar http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/contourtool.html This is not as good as having a dish but does work with a gobar deck. I personally would just bite the bullet and get the radius dish for the top and back radii and 24" diameter sand paper for them, it would be easy to sell them at a small loss if you decide not to build any more guitars. Several of our sponsor people sell them for a reasonable price or there is lots of info on making a dish on OLF and other web sites.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Hutch : Again I don't use a dish to GLUE braces. Do use them to shape the rims top and bottom. Just don't use a go bar deck. Have built quite a few guitars that way. Do what works for you.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!