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I glued this in with regular Titebond and washed away the excess glue with water and a paper towel. I wanted to spray with shellac first but I forgot to. I hope there aren't any finish problems ahead of me. It looks good to me.

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Hutch

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

Just to keep this going here's a pic of the bracing I cut this morning. Next up, shaping and fitting.




Just so you know, I cut all of these on my table saw with the shop vac attached to the band saw.

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Hutch

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

I had a little problem with the rosette and I didn't take a photo but remember I said I forgot to spray shellac? Well, it bit me, there's a bit of a dark line around it. I'm not going to let it bother me much but I sure wish I had sprayed the shellac. Also, I ran it through my thickness sander to clean it up but the drum sander was taking wood everywhere but the rosette. I have some spots that are down to .113" before finish sanding. At the rosette, after clean up with a hand plane, I still have .125" which is what I was going for before final sanding. I guess my drum sander needs some TLC, at least some fresh paper.

I haven't driven the bus yet so I couldn't use a washer to scribe the lines. I used this plumbing nut to ride the sides and give me an offset line. Because I don't have a good acrylic template and I didn't trust the one I made from poster board, I kept the sides in the mold and trace around and under the mold with very short pencils and hemostats. See, they're not just for smoking weed.

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Hutch

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

Hutch

I think I read you glued in the rosette with Titebond. If that was the case I wouldn't want the glue area coated with shellac. Titebond needs contact directly with wood to bond. Looks like the dark lines around the rosette are spaces where the channel was cut a little wide in places. Maybe the bit was dull or the circle cutter isn't real accurate.

Shellac is usually used to prevent bleed from CA glue when used for bindings and rosettes against spruce or other softwood tops.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I won't be using a Dremel ever again and I'm not sure why I did this time. I think I'll relegate them to buffing frets or something. The cut looked pretty clean though.

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Hutch

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

Much to my dismay, I found myself 1 brace short of a guitar. The last time I got it from RC tonewoods and I have no complaints, seemed like good stuff. This time I decided to go with Alaska Specialties. I ordered enough for 3 to 4 more guitars and because I'm in the middle of bracing, I want it right away so I payed a premium. What I didn't realize because I'm an idiot, when I saw the shipping cost it for some reason made me think it was the grand total and I went ahead with it. $48 dollars to ship $24 worth of brace wood totaling $73. Rather than cancel the order, I just let it go, I need the wood. Next time I'll try to order ahead of time. I certainly don't blame AS for the high cost of shipping, I should have ordered this tuff long before I ran out. Would have saved $24.

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Hutch

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

Some more brace work. My template is made from foam core poster board. I'd like to make or purchase an acrylic template some day but for now, this works.





I cut the lap joint with a Japanese saw and a chisel. It's a snug fit.



I abscond the use of the dish and let the braces do the work of shaping the top.



I did this on Sunday morning and was too lazy to go into the shop this morning, preferring arm chair luthery. Sometimes it's all I've got but at least I'm learning stuff. Everybody does things different and I like that.

I forgot to glue the lap joint so I guess I'll have to super glue it now.

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Hutch

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

For my 1 hours work this morning I rough cut all the braces to length and started carving the x-braces. This is a very satisfying step.

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Hutch

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

I made a lor of progress this morning. I shaped the x brace and installed the rest of the braces except around the sound hole. The braces that butt up to the x are fit slightly into and under the x braces.

This is usually clamped in a go-bar deck which I have but I don't really like mine. Good sticks are expensive kite rods which I don't wish to pay for and wood or fiberglass driveway markers are not flexible enough. The clamping method i used, works just fine.

The above text is copied from my fb page where my audience is non-builders but like to watch my progress.

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Hutch

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