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I've got the head and tail blocks glued to the sides, and now I need to
profile the sides. Since that seems like a lot of wood to take off with a
plane, I figured I'd whip out my saw, saw about 1/4" outside the profile
line, and then take it the rest of the way with the plane.

Well, I started at the tail block, and as I sawed away at one side, it was
springing back pretty hard. as I came around the curve of the lower bout,
the springing-back cut-off followed the grain and took a crack about an
inch beyond the profile line. ARGGHH!!!

I had some liquid CA on hand, so I tried to use that to repair the crack.
We'll see how well that does. I guess the rest comes off with a hand
plane.

What makes me most mad is that I *knew* it was going to happen after I
saw how it was springing back, but I decided to push it anyway. Err! Bad
Jay!

Not that it matters much now, but how are you supposed to do this?

Jay, i'm no expert here but i think you were supposed to cut the sides profile while the wood was flat and then after the bending done and the wood installed and clamped inside the mold, you can either plane or use a sanding dish to finish your profiling, but better wait for more answers, my heart goes out to you friend.

Serge

Jay, like Serge said. I profile mine before bending, to within about 3/16", then take it the rest of the way down with the radius dish.   There's a lot of folks here, though, that profile after bending, and they will be along shortly.

Ronold man38831.9787037037

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Jay,

That is what I do, cut the profile down to about 1/4" while still flat, bend and then after glueing the tail and head block, plane a little and finish to the line using my hand sander. I have never tried it but I guess you could do as Serge said and sand in your dish. Makes things alot easier. If the planning doesnt' go well, take your time and use a jewelers type saw or something with a small really sharp blade and take it slow


Mike

One more thing Jay, i did assume you have a radius sanding dish but if it's not the case, Michael Payne showed us a home made jig made with a 2x4, here it is:

Cheap alternative for sanding bowls
Posted: 27 January 2006 at 1:33pm | IP Logged          &nbs p;    

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There have been a couple new members looking for a good way to profile sand rims to match top and back domes without buying or making sanding bowls. This is the method I use in the beginning. It is a sanding bar made of 1 x material with wedged ends to replicate the bevel. It is simple and cheap. You must move you pivot point in the oposite ditection you progress your sanding. This will match very close to a 15' back dome and a 25' top dome. You will want to adjust the bevels to the slope of the domes you use.





Edited by MichaelP on 27 January 2006 at 1:58pm

Hope this helps, i can't get the image to download here, sorry, maybe if someone is better at this than me!

Serge

Serge Poirier38831.9951851852

I go the other way. I bend mine full size, attach the rims to the top and glue in the neck and tail blocks. Mark with a flexible straight edge and then plane to the profile I want. This is one part of the building process I really enjoy. Weird huh?

Not weird Ronn but quite different yeah! pics?

No pics but it's pretty straight forward. I thought I picked up the habit from C&N's book. I could be wrong But I know I did it on my first and every one since.

Another option yet similiar to Serge's is to bend them, glue on the blocks and then sand entire profile with a radiused dish. I have a powered radius sanding machine that I built based on Tin McKnights version of Mario P's. So I don't worry about the side profile at all, I let the dish do that with built in stops for repeatability. I think you could do this by hand with a dish also, you just need a bit of elbow grease for lubrication! .

Good luck Jay!

Shane

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Canada

I use a router to make the back radius. There are two methods that I
know of - Jim Olson's and Kevin Ryan's. The Ryan jig is a bit more
elaborate and takes up more space - so I went with the Olson jig for right
now.

Here is what I do. I have a tracing that is about 1/16" taller than my
finished side profile will be. I cut the sides to this tracing before bending.
I then attach the headblock and tailblock and glue on the kerfing. I then
use my router jig to route the profile. I can route the profile in under a
minute and I just touch it up on a radius dish. The jig ensures an exact
side height every time. For a picture of the jig...check out Olson's
website. Here is a link to the jig - images #3 and #4.

http://www.fayguitars.com/guitars/visuals/rich.htmlSimonF38832.0388078704

[QUOTE=RCoates] I go the other way. I bend mine full size, attach the rims to the top and glue in the neck and tail blocks. Mark with a flexible straight edge and then plane to the profile I want. This is one part of the building process I really enjoy. Weird huh?[/QUOTE]

Me too - just like Ronn. Its fun to see the curls coming off the wood, dont'cha just love planes

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I like to trim mine to shape witht the plane as well. Unless its a difficult wood, like quilted bubinga, I can gitr dun in about ten minutes or less, including the marking in the bowls.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Jay,

Same as Tony. I like to use a small block plane to profile the sides. It doesn't take very long to do and I find it one of the most relaxing and pleasing parts of doing the guitar - watching the curls of wood build up inside the guitar. It also gives you a good feel as to how the grain of the sides goes.

If it's any consolation, my Slim Jim model came about as I was sanding the tailblock on a belt sander and a side piece cracked that was too obvious a line to glue back on. I decided to bring the tail block depth of the sides down so that they were pretty constant front to back and that guitar was one of the nicest sounding that I have made to date! Serendipity is definitely a guitar makers friend sometimes.

St Fagas ( S** that For a game of soldiers)is another guitar makers patron but can take you in the opposite direction

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De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I'm finishing my first kit build, but ended up using sides that needed to be re-profiled. The line was marked after the bend and after the blocks were installed, but the back was planed to the line.

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