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I trimmed the overhang from the bottom of my OM this evening and began leveling the rims prior to cutting the binding channels. The southeast Asian rosewood I got pre-bent from LMII had a fair amount of cupping/warpage but were fairly thick at a smidgen under 0.100" so I thought I would have plenty of material to level. However, after working on it this evening I am not so sure anymore. How thin can I take these rims?

I may cut my binding channels on the rim just so I can see how much I have to work with. Once I get done leveling, I'll have to cut again, but this will be better than working them too thin. If I can't get them down perfectly level, I'll guess I'll be stuck leveling with my finish. I hate to do that, but I don't want the rims too thin.

I ran across sort of an oddity when leveling the rims. I noticed that at one point, the rim looked like it had a rather straight pen mark running cross grain covering the entire rim back to front. I thought, "How strange, I don't remember marking that side of the rim." I tried to scrape it out, but it wasn't coming out. I looked closer and noticed that the grain along the line sort of forms a slight v right at the line. As if someone could have tugged at the at the edge and pulled the grain off line about 1/16". Once I saw this, I realized the mark wasn't from a pen. I looked closer at some of the other little pinhole knots and saw similar lines, but these would only extend about 1/16" to 1/8". I had never noticed them before. Of course the most visible is right on the top rim by the upper bout, right where I'll see it every time while playing. Anyone used this wood before and ran across this?

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Ken my friend one of the many things that I learned from Grumpy that has since saved me a bunch of grief is this:

Before truing up your sides (I use a block and roller for the waist) cut the top plates slightly more than flush with your binding router bit set and the largest bearings. Once you take the plates out of play, and their end grain, leveling the sides is MUCH easier and quicker.

Another bonus of doing this is when you go to cut the binding channels you have already removed some wood as if you were making multiple shallow passes which is less risky.

As for side thickness after leveling with cupping and irregular bending some spots can get thinner. I would suspect that if you have some areas that are no thinner than .050 you will be OK. This also might be a good time to revisit your questions about side supports.

Oh, so sorry I forgot your other question: regarding that Southeast Asian Rosewood wierdness it would be helpful to those who may be able to answer this question if you posted a pic of what you are seeing? Thanks

It won't help you now but for future reference, if you get a set of bent sides from a supplier and they are warped or cupped, send them back. You are paying for that service and you shouldn't have to deal with those problems. That said, the SE Asian rosewood I have is quite dense and could be thinned more than normal. If yours is flatsawn there are more problems.

Hesh, I like that binding cutter tip from Grumpy!

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Yep it is a great tip as usual from Grumpy. The other part of it was/is to use roto-zip piloted bits to slice through the overhang of the plates first and then use the binding router bits with a very shallow pass to cut the plates less slightly beyond flush.

Sorry for the high-jack Ken C.

Thanks Gents.

Hesh, I do like the tip trimming the top and back a bit to allow for easier leveling. I will do that this evening. Not only will it help with the leveling, but it will help me gauge how much material I am taking off. Good tip.

Ken, the sides indeed are quarter sawn.

I'll also post a picture of the odd line in the rosewood this evening.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Below a picture of the SE Asian Rosewood wierdness I noted a couple of days ago. This is not a crack and is on both rims at the same place. Sort of odd. I have never run across something like this before, but I really haven't played with rosewood that much.

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Looks like knot shadow. You often see this in Cocobolo sets. Purely a cosmetic issue.

Paul