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Does anybody remember the name of the kite building place where people were getting fiberglass go-bars? What size are people using. What about rectangular ones that are used in wind-surfer sails?

My wooden dowels don't really have enough flex to them

Thanks!

Shane

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Canada

Shane, it is   intothewind.com

3/16" are best suited for lutherie. Be sure to order the plastic tips too. These rods are 48" long so you can cut them in half.

Ronold man38734.5636111111

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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

Shane,
here in the states you can go to Home Depot and buy the orange or red
painted sticks (4ft long) they sell as markers to stick in the ground along
a driveway to show the edge for plowing. They're about $1.95 each and
can be cut in half, depending on the height of your go deck. They're made
of fiberglass. Since it hardly ever snows in Canada, maybe they'll be hard
to find, though!
Craig

What Ron Said.

Thanks y'all. I will follow those up!

Shane

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Canada

Consider ripping hardwood slats about 3/16" x 1/2" in cross section. I like them better since they are cheaper and have a more predictable bend when under tension. Also, for braces, you can notch one end to form to the profile of the brace...it seems to hold better for me than the round dowels. The round profile sits on those brace tops a little too precariously for me. After I had one incident where one gobar slipped off and started the chain reaction making all of the others slip I changed to the slats.

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

What JJ said.

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My wife once came in my shop, the wind slammed the door which knocked a bar off, hitting most of the others on its way. It looked like a war zone in my shop. Fiberglass rods flying every which way, knocking stuff off shelves, etc.
I like vacuum now.

I use 3/16 fiberglass rods I get mine at Home Depot by buying the driveway reflectors at 2.00 each. Each reflector renders 2 24" long rods that is $1.00 each you still need 3/16 rubber screw proctectors but most hardware stores carry them or order them in.

At Into the Wind they're $1.35 each for 48" rods if you buy at least 12 of them, $.10 each for the tips in quantity. Cheaper than HD by a little bit including shipping, if you can wait for them to be shipped (~$6.50 in the states).

I just ordered a bunch. I had originally bought 1/4" and they work okay, but they're too stiff.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I ordered a bunch from into the wind, 25 of the 3/16 ones with 100 rubber ends. That otta keep me going while I figure out the vacuum thing. I have a vacuum pump (fridge compressor, 20 lb tank and guages) and the LMI bridge clamp but just don't see how you could get a bunch of braces in place with hide glue in time to set the vacuum on without the glue setting on you first...unless you just do a couple of braces at time...what's the secret Paul

Thanks

Shane

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Canada

I use titebond so I don't have a secret for you. I'd guess just a couple of braces at a time.

I was anticipating that! Thanks Paul

Shane

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Canada

For the tips, go to HD, the department where they sell the white wire closet shelving. They sell bags of tips for putting on the ends of the shelving that will also fit wooden dowels and presumably the fiberglas rods. My recollection is a bag of 50 costs about $3.00. That could be off a bit but they are dirt cheap.

Shane, Collings uses a combo method. Although I'm not sure if they use hide, I doubt it. They have their vacuum press under the gobar deck. They position it all with gobar sticks, then pop them out and hit the vacuum. So there you go.

Hummmm, I will have to think about taht a bit, it would probably work well with hide glue as it would tack up enough that they wouldn't move. And the advantage would be very even clamping pressure along the entire length of each brace...

Shane

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Canada

What size were the sticks that didn't work for you?

I use mostly white birch go bars, 1/4" by anywhere from 3/4" to 1" wide.

I forget the last time one broke on me....

Also, how much were they bending? I see some photos of some of the go-bar setups y'all have, and there's some crazy bends going on. The bars don't need to bend much. If the bend is more than an inch in deflection, get a shorter bar. I see some that have like 6 inches or more of deflection to the bars. yikes! What a mess waiting to happen....

25 bars won't go far. You won't clamp all the braces with those. then again, I don't brace everything at one time, either. It's easier to clean up in there if you study how the braces go in, and clean before installing the next ones...

Of course, with anough go-bars, you can brace two tops and back, two tops and two backs, etc... at a time.Mario38734.7934259259

Shane, I got mine from here:

http://www.goodwindskites.com/goodwindskites/merch/list.shtm l?cat=framework.solidfiberglass

3/16" x 72" rods for 1.95 (cheaper in quantities) and the little end caps are 4 cents each for 48 up to 144...then even cheaper.

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Wow Larry that is a good price! I already ordered though. Mario, I was using 3/8 oak, about as much flex as a ships keel! I could have gone smaller but these fibreglass rods are actually cheaper. I bought 25 4'ers so that is 50 go-bars when I cut them in half. Fibreglass is a lot more f;exable than wood, I think that is why you are seeing the huge bend.

Shane

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Canada

Shane- you can buy 3/16 x 24 fiberglas rods for less than a buck apiece from Meisel Hardware-they sell lots of scroll saw craft stuff but they also have the rods. Google, of course.

24" is a bit short for go-bars, if you ask me. The shorter they are, the stiffer they are, but also the less range you have.

3/8" was way too thick. 1/4" is pushing it, even. I wouldn't go over 1/4".

You own a wood company? How can fiberglass bars be cheaper than some maple or spruce scraps? <bg> Really, I have some spruce bars, as well as some cedar ones. Anything works. I don't buy wood for go-bars; just use whatever's left from other projects, orm if I run across a board or plank at the dump that is near the size I need, I take it home and rip it into go-bars....

But if you like the fiberglass ones, all the power to you.

The thing with the too-long bars that are flexed a lot isn't so much that they will break, but that the big deflection is more likely to scoot your work all over the place before the glue "grabs". Been there, chased that, shortened my bars <g>....

Wood here too. Mine are pine and I use pencil erasers for the ends when I feel I need it. So far so good.