Official Luthiers Forum!

I got a little carried away with my new plane and got my cedar top for the classical I am building down between 2mm and 2.2mm

My question is that to thin now to use or can I adjust the fan braces slightly to compensate.

The Hauser plans call for 3mm wide by 3.5mm high fan braces. What might be a suggested dimension for the fan braces that would work with a top in the thickness range I have now?

Thanks
Dave

Hi! I don´t have any experience of building with cedar, but on consulting Courtnall´s book it appears that Friederich used Cedar tops of about the same thickness, so maybe you could study his strutting systems. Hauser (the 1st), to my knowledge didn´t build with WRC, but that shouldn´t matter much if you adapt accordingly- but more than my experienced is needed for sane advice there.

Anyway, if you feel your top is too thin, you could always save it for a smaller instrument. Also, a lot depends on the stiffness of that particular cedar top (length- and cross-wise), maybe it´s stiff enough for 2 mm. And if everything fails, just call it the cost of learning and move on. I´ve ruined more decent pieces of wood than i care to remember.

Good luck,
Miguel.

_________________
member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Make sure you arch the # 2 brace below the sound hole.
25 -30' radius is good.
Leave the #1 under the f.b. flat-or just a slight arch!
Make a work board(solera) with the area where the bridge will go scooped out to match what radius you want to use.
Also build this guitar in a solera with the fans glued into tha shape of the arch.
The Courtnall book expains how to do this.
The arching strengthens the top allot!
The Hauser size body is not to big also so this will help.

Just don't sand the top to thin in your final sanding -or rosette leveling.
Good luck!
Mike

_________________
Mike Collins

you can also consider a Fleta bracing which has the double lower tr. bar and 9 fan struts. its suposed to be pretty stiff and strong.
and cedar combines well with that sistem, (so they say, never tried it my self)