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I just baked a top for my next guitar and thought that I would share what I do.

It's very simple:

1)  Adjust the oven racks so you are using one near the top of the oven - as far away from the heating element as possible.  Cleaning your oven prior is a good idea too if need be.

2)  Preheat the oven to 200F.

3)  Be sure that your top will fit in the over prior to step #2......

4)  I use a cookie sheet, stickers, and a couple of 3 pound weights that I cycled prior in the oven to make sure that the plastic won't melt.

5)  Stack as indicated in the pictures and place in the oven.  Set the timer for 1 hour.

6)  Order a pizza........ (optional)

7)  When the timer goes off turn the oven off.  I open the door slightly into the broil position and leave the stack in there for about another hour until it all cools down.

8)  Place the stack, still stickered, in your climate controlled shop.

9)  Wait two weeks or more before joining, thicknessing, installing the rosette, etc.

BTW this is some beautiful German spruce from Uncle Bob and it will be mated with some beautiful Cuban Mahogany, also from Uncle Bob, for an OM.

Thanks for looking!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

dang, I wish my oven was large enough. Checked the neighbours too, no luck.

I guess the baking trick is especially great for beginner builders, who dont have tops dried for many years in their stash...

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Build log

Hesh...thanks for the info.

What are the pro's and con's for cooking tops?

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Brad
Avon, OH

Here is a link to a recent good discussion on the subject.  You can read what many of us believe is happening here:  http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14177 &KW=baking+tops#forumTop

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Doesn`t look like it would taste as good as pizza,but I think I`ll try this on the next build.
                       James (SKIN)

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

It makes your kitchen smell like fresh sawn wood. I love it!

As far as what it does, I believe that it gives crisper sound from your top.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Hey, I think Hesh's shop is cleaner than his oven!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I measured the oven and it fits!

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Brad
Avon, OH

I heat my oven while the wood is stacked inside. I was worried about heating it too fast. Glad to hear pre-heating works too.

I use the large oven in the lab at work, makes the place smell like a lumber yard.

Paul, I read someones spruce caught fire while heating it up...

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Build log

You could heat a pizza and cook a top at the same time couldn't he?

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

       Now! Is the weight and stickering necessary or are you just taking extra steps just in case?

       The reason I'm asking is, I heard when you go to sleep at night you weight and sticker yourself to keep from getting more twisted! At least, that's what JJ said!   

    Seriously, I was just curious!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

If your oven is not large enough just be sure to check and see if the guitar size that you wish to build is small enough to fit.  I can put a dread sized top in my oven but I often have to trim the plates first.

Paul buddy I preheat simply because the heating element, once the oven is preheated, does not stay on long at all to maintain 200F.  I was always fearful that if I put the zoot in there and then preheat the heating elements will be on longer and increase the risk of a fire.  But I don't know this to be true, it just seems like an easy precaution to take to me.

Alex my friend I think that the fire that we read about happened because of preheating with the wood in the oven.

Pat yep my oven is dirty..........  It just seems like a lot of work to me to press that button and flip that door latch.....

Skin buddy and Billy my friend I am planning on trying that:

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I just baked 8 tops, four at a time .. stickered up with 1/2x1/2 maple, then tied the sticker ends tight with thin wire .. 190F for 1.5 hours, on convection bake (yeah we got a fancy new wall oven ... I smell a write-off) .. let sit over night in there to completley cool down.

I wouldnt be too worried about even having the top sit flat, if you sticker it up and tie the stickers as i did above, you can even put the top in diagonally - one of my students did this and it works fine.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Hesh - Do you deliver?  My address is .................................

Oh well, I suppose that frozen pizza from Michigan may not make it to South Texas.

Thanks for the pics and directions for baking the tops.

Down here we may try to smoke the wood with mesquite to get that great aroma.  I wonder how long that would persist and would it be a selling point?

 

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

I think I posted this before, but I like to bake a bunch of them when I bake. I generally bake them at 200 for about 4 hours and then leave them in the oven overnight to cool down to room temp. The wood sands easier and the tops definitely seem much stiffer after you bake them.

 

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Reguards,

Ken H