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I came across the video of classical builder Stephen Boone today. He has a way of dealing with back braces that doesn't require notching and assures a perfect fit of the back to the sides. He does this by temporarily inserting the back braces between the sides. He does this before gluing in the linings and gluing braces to the back. It's a little tough to explain, so if you fast forward to about 4:30 you'll see this process clearly.

https://youtu.be/m0yYHh9goI0

This is new to me, but seems pretty slick. Are any of you doing this on your steel strings? I thought I might try it on my next set of builds.

It bears some resemblance to my method, which can be seen here: http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=624583#p624583

It is also the method I use for setting back braces. As a matter of fact, Stephen got it from me.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I'm curios to know why you guys choose that method as opposed to just marking the linings and notching them out? It seems more difficult and even risky to go too deep with this method but I have never tried it.

In my case it's easier, as my braces are full height at the linings, scooped in the middle, and rest on a support, which is glued in first.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

It's what I do on my tops and backs. I find it easier to get a tight, accurate fit into the linings, and especially where my A-braces fit into the neck block.



Then I put the rim/bracing down on the top and mark the locations with tape, remove the rim, place the braces according to the tape and use index blocks held down with go bars (the tape doesn't give me a solid location), then glue the braces to the top. It's more time consuming, but much more accurate. YMMV.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com