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| How's my bracing look? http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=27813 |
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| Author: | Phillip Patton [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | How's my bracing look? |
Top is Sitka, about .115" thick. Bracing is Sitka. Bridge plate is osage orange. The X braces are 5/8" tall at the intersection. All the braces are more or less triangular. The body shape is OM. Any input would be greatly appreciated.      Thanks, Phillip |
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| Author: | Tom West [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
Phillip: The shaping and scalloping looks OK to me for the figures you gave. I would just cap the X brace and clean up the work with some sanding. Having said that I am curious if you are following a plan...? The X brace seems to be back somewhat further then what I would expect,resulting in a short bridge patch and no doubt capturing quite a big chunk of the bridge.I build mostly dreads and a shape and size similar to an OM,but don't follow an official OM plan. Let's get some more input from other folks.Good luck. Tom |
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| Author: | alan stassforth [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
i'm not really very experienced in the bracing dept., yet, but my gut tells me you should taper the upper x a lot more, maybe take the humps down a bit on the lower x, shave your fingers to about 1/4" high, and next time use 1/8" x 5/8" sticks around the soundhole. don't do it, yet, let's see what somebody that knows what they're talking about says! |
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| Author: | JohnAbercrombie [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
westca wrote: Phillip: The shaping and scalloping looks OK to me for the figures you gave. I would just cap the X brace and clean up the work with some sanding. ![[:Y:]](./images/smilies/smiley20.gif "Thumbs Up") That's my opinion as well. The main bracing looks good. (I'm not a big fan of the extra-large scallop style. Yours keep a decent amount of stiffness all along the braces.) You could cut down the soundhole braces and the finger braces a bit by rounding the tops but they're probably OK as-is. BTW, I'd be careful about using ink to mark your soundboard, as you can get bleeding. (Don't 'seal' the inside of that board!) I stick with (graphite) pencil for marking and signing the underside of the soundboard. John |
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| Author: | Hupaand [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
Any of the braces that get tucked will have to be lower at the end, which will change the shape of the final inch or so. You probably know that. |
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| Author: | David Malicky [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
Nice work. There are better experts than I, but here's my understanding, much of which you may already know -- - 0.115" is on the thick side for a sitka OM top (unless it's pretty floppy sitka), as is 5/8" for the X-intersection (9/16" seems to be more common). The combo of the two, and the non-forward-shifted X, would probably make for a fairly stiff top. - As above, both ends of the Xs could be feathered thinner where they meet the kerfing. The lower X tips are often feathered to nothing, like your other braces. - The upper legs of the Xs could be tapered more in height, but many good guitars aren't. - The X-scallops look good. - A cross-section with a pointed top isn't so good for strength, as it puts a small amount of wood in the highest stress state. But it seems to work. - Capping the X-joint is a good idea (e.g., a 1/32" strip), but lots of good guitars aren't capped if the joint is made well. - At least one of the lower front braces is usually scalloped if using scalloped Xs, but I build like you do and it seems to work fine. - Your ~tall soundhole braces are generally consistent with Somogyi's advice. |
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| Author: | bluescreek [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
The sound hole bracing is over done . All you need is something to help support the areas under the rosette. Don't use a wooden plate but do use a cotton patch over the joint. In all my years of repair , I never seen a cloth patch joint fail . I can't say that about the wooden patches. You scalloping is plenty , so the only other critique is to break all sharp corners. Making bracing too light can be worse than making them too heavy . |
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| Author: | Howard Klepper [ Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
IMO your soundhole bracing is fine. I would cut all the bracing down lower where it butts to another brace, and lower the lower face diagonals (the "tone bars") |
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| Author: | Phillip Patton [ Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: How's my bracing look? |
Hi Guys, Thanks for your suggestions. I implemented most of them.  I'm making this guitar from the OM plans that LMI sells. The plans call for much beefier bracing; I slimmed it all down quite a bit.... The last steel string I built was over braced, and I had to go in and shave the braces after the fact, which was not fun. So I shaped these based on how that one ended up, taking into account differences in material stiffness (I hope). I'm hoping to sell this one, so I want it to sound great. Thanks for all your help. Now I don't feel like I'm shooting in the dark quite so much. Phillip |
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