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Cutting Brace Stock
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=32309		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Darryl Young [ Tue May 24, 2011 7:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Cutting Brace Stock
I ordered some Sitka brace stock 2 years ago. What came in was rift sawn at roughly 30 deg. I've never cut up brace stock before so thought I would see if I could do anything with it.

I wanted the brace stock perfectly quartered so best thing I could figure to try was tilting my bandsaw table to match the grain pattern and try cutting a slice. After slicing, I put the brace through my drum sander to get the sides parallel and finished up by squaring the narrow edges to the sides on my table saw. Is there a better way to deal with riftsawn brace stock? I picked the worse board to start with in case I screw something up. Grain appears to be well quartered in the one completed brace in the pic.

The first slice was triangular shaped and not very usable so I decided to split it and test for runout. As I suspected, on this particular board the grain turns a little odd about 1/3 of the way from one end. I then split it from the other end and it stayed fairly straight for 2/3 the length of the board. I guess I can make finger braces, tone bars, and sound hole braces from stock off the straight end. Probably should use a different board for X braces.

Here is a pic of the ends showing grain orientation and a shot from above where the runout can be seen (split 90 deg to the grain)

Attachment:
CuttingSitkaBraceStock.JPG


Attachment:
BraceRunout.JPG
Author:  alan stassforth [ Tue May 24, 2011 11:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cutting Brace Stock
interesting, Darryl.
I just started ripping my brace wood into 7/8",
then splitting it with a hammer and chisel,
and see what it does.
The stuff that splits straight is for the x ( duh ), or tone bars.
I've got a lot of reject stuff now.
Wanna buy some of it? :lol:
Author:  Darryl Young [ Wed May 25, 2011 8:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cutting Brace Stock
Yes, wondering if there is a better way to do this.
Author:  David Newton [ Wed May 25, 2011 8:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cutting Brace Stock
I agree with Filippo, those little splinters of brace wood are the most important, value/weight, of any other thing we use.
I like to buy brace stock in a block, and split it with my big knife. Then I run the splits thru the planer to square up the sides, either 5/16" or 1/4", and store them away for a year or more.
If they are going to react, that is when they will do it.
Author:  James Orr [ Wed May 25, 2011 3:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cutting Brace Stock
Filippo Morelli wrote:
Shane at High Mountain Tonewood will send you some lutz bracestock or Zootman probably has a variety of spruce including adirondack.


I've never gotten any from Bob, but Shane's brace stock is the bomb. Perfectly quartered with straight grain. A little clean up with a plane or sander and it's ready to work.
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