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I recently purchased a honduras rosewood board and had a friend resaw it for me. It is too narrow for a two piece back so I was thinking about a 3 piece. the boards are 7 1/2" wide by 36" long. I think I could get a piece out of the top of one of the boards for the middle of the 3 piece back. I don't know how to join a 3 piece back, with the different angles (wedge in the middle), any advise or pictures would help.

i you are doing it Martin style the taper is 1 inch at the neck and 6 inches at the tail . Joint the edge like any other board and I use tape to clamp them together . Works for me.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

When you join the 3 piece back do you join one side to the middle and let the glue dry and then join the other side or do you join them all at the same time?

I use a string and wedge setup to glue tops/backs .. 3 piece'rs get glued up all at once

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

I've never made a 3-piece back but from a woodworking standpoint, the Martin center wedge is a nice aesthetic but compromises the joint because you introduce end grain into the joint. I guess when done right it's not a problem: there's a lot of D35's out there.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

the plates go all at once and as for end grain , not an issue as it isn't at that much an angle to infer end grain . You can use almost any wood glue or CA . Much will depend on how the CA interacts with your wood .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Clamp it the same way you would any other back. I recommend you not use CA glue, and not hide glue if you aren't familiar with using it, since Titebond will do everything that you need a glue to do in this application.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Those boards are almost wide enough for a two-piece dreadnought back. If that is the project, I would prefer a two-piece with wings on the outer edges of the lower bouts. The wings will be very narrow, with the extra joints mostly supported by the kerfing.
From an aesthetic standpoint, I prefer the center wedge to be contrasting in grain (slab versus QS), or in color. Three matching slab-cut sections just never looks right to me.

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John

+1
Go with a wedge of light colored QS Honduran, or perhaps African blackwood or dark Brazilian.

Or build classicals. You can probably even get two classical backs out of that length, by cutting at an angle, due to the sloped shoulders of most classical shapes.

The guitar that I will be building will be from the plans in the Kinkead book (OM). There is about 1 inch of open space on each side of the lower bout. I have a 3.5 x 1 inch board of Quarter sawn honduras rosewood that I was going to use for my fingerboard. If I took the re-sawn portion of that board to make a wedge would it be too narrow?

A Maple center would look good too (great contrast). But maple bindings and other maple trim would be typical to go with it.

Hi, James, If the three piece back is your thing, then certainly go for it. But you can save some wood by doing as John Arnold suggests--"winging" the lower bouts with small pieces which you salvage from either side of the upper bouts. You can still add a contrasting center strip for visual interest.

I think I will probably Try the wing method with a wide center strip. The wings on the edge should be small, Especially after binding and purfling is added.