Lutherie – Page 4

Week 4 – More Sound Hole work

Block planed the inlays round sound hole till flush with top
With 10mm router bit, but rosette inlay circle to 1.5mm deep. Start nearer neck end in case mistakes are made because these can be covered up by the neck.
Start from the centre of rosette then adjust outwards slowly in micro-steps until the router just starts to cut into the other inlays

Cut the inlay to the outside diameter of the channel (can always cut a slot to make it smaller if it doesn’t fit
Then cut the inner side of the inlay based on the width of the channel (not the diameter of the inner edge).

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Glue reinforcing strip made from cross cut strip taken from guitar top/front.
Burr side up and overlap top and bottom ends on back and glue down. Won’t necessarily be a strip the whole length of back so glue a shorter strip if necessary. Hold down with masking tape.
Clamp down using the clamping/joining jig for 5 minutes. Cover with paper to prevent wood from sticking to clamp bar
Remove clamps and wipe off excess glue and re-clamp for 1 hour

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Marking braces – 60mm long x 3mm high after shaping

Braces all get radiused on the side that is attached to the back or front using the sanding disk…

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So glad I took some of the wood with me, the top and bottom. (AA Sitka Spruce Top Board, Tasmanian Blackwood bottom and sides).

Tonight I joined the top and bottoms together and cut out the back braces. Here’s a summary of what I did:

Michael helped identify the mirror edge of the bottom halves. He lay them on top of each other and looked at the end grain to see that it matched (halves are sawn from the same cross cut piece of timber).
Identify and mark the top side of both halves.
Long plane both top and bottom halves along the join edge.

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