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There's a definite change in the density by quarter sawing. It might be my imagination but this crap is hard to carve.

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It's different carving through flatsawn vs. quartersawn. Not really change in density but it's more like your blade must plow through more harder growth rings.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Just a question here... Is there any reason for a bridge plate when he's using a pinless bridge???

What do you guys do about small gaps when overlapping braces?

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In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

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What small gaps???

After seeing many years of work on this site, i suspect that's the answer you'll get.

I am building my first in a shop 2 hours away so i am willing to accept small errors that won't make a difference. If i was working at home i'd probably redo the whole brace. I suspect that you're going to get a whole range of answers from"It doesn't matter" to..."If you skimp there you'll skimp everywhere!!"

good luck with that one.

Braces are cheap.

A gap where a finger or lower face meets an arm of the X, or a gap in the lap joint of the X itself?


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A gap in the notches of the X joints. Just wide enough I could add a tiny shaving.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

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I don't think it matters so much, but you do want to cap it with something.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Cool thank you.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

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Here's what I have so far. It still needs work and fine tuning of course. I wanted to ask about my bracing. I noticed some people concave the middles of their bracing and some people leave them like mine below. How do I know what works for me.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

There really shouldn't be a gap in the notch of the x brace. I would at least glue a shaving in there before capping it off to be safe. The tiny gap itself might not be a problem, but if anything a
Else about your gluing or profiling isn't just rite you may get compounding issues (probably not but it can't hurt to blur in a little shim for tightest fit possible)

The saw I was using really sucked and kept ripping the wood. I was able to borrow a couple bucks and got some better blades which helped. Thanks for the advisement on the shims. That's what my shop teacher taught me many years ago but I wanted to make sure that would work. With a razor blade and a lil sanding its invisible now.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

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Started gluing my kerfing on today. I used binder clips as advised and it the angle they are set at works perfectly. Worst part was gluing the kerf around the cutout because it needed to be tight. Had to do some weird clipping to get it tight. After that it was glue and clip, easy. And for future reference it only takes 6 total strips to line an OM guitar.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

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Out of curiosity, how tall and wide are your braces?

This top looks overbraced.
Take a look at comparable guitars by searching "guitar bracing" or something like that on google pictures.

Keep it up.

All are standard size for the guitar as described in the plans and other sources. Now they are pretty high and need to be shortened in height. I was advised that on a double cut away that I would need to extend the sound hole braces to the neck block to give extra support. I have looked at a lot of different styles and more on bracing and have read a lot about it too. To tell you the truth guys I'm never sure of something no matter how much I've prepared for it till I've actually done it. I learn by doing. I also like to hear others advice and experiences they have learned in the process too.

Hears my kerfing being glued.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

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Well I can't argue with that.

Good luck.

Sorry if I sounded rude or defensive. I really do appreciate all your help guys. Really I do. Y'all have been invaluable. Please keep it coming.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

I think I'm done with the soundboard. I went ahead and did some more carving and lowered the height of the all the bracing. I was afraid to mess with it too much more, but it turned out to be better. So far it seems to be balanced and sounds like a soundboard should. Of course I'm using a massed produced guitar as a comparison but I like it.

On the extra long braces at the top if I'm wrong in doing that please tell me. Especially while I have I have a chance to fix it.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

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It looks like you didn't carry the ends of your upper transverse brace or your x brace outside the margin of your top. They need to be let in to the linings.

I was a lil confused on wether I should somehow notch the kerf or cut the braces to the point where they meet the lining. I've seen it done both ways. I prolly should have errored on the side of caution. If I really messed up I guess I can buy a new soundboard set they aren't that expensive. I've already glued the mottled Makore veneer to the ones I was using as back boards.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience will stop by about this. Some notch just the linings some notch through the whole lining/side combination, which is what I do, and it gets covered with binding. I haven't seen one where the important braces weren't let into the linings or sides and I don't know if the top will hold up under steel string tension. You may be able to find someone with a suggestion . Maybe start a separate post with that question because I'm sure some of the experts that might not be watching this thread would chime in. Good luck

If anybody has any ideas on how to proceed I'd love to read them. Otherwise I think I'll just chalk this whole thing up as a learning experience. If anything it will look good on the wall. LOl!!! But really the most expensive part I paid for was the neck which is still untouched and needs to be finished building. And it's a bolt on so what I can do is finish this body set out the best I can since I can replace the sound, back and sides easily enough. And if it doesn't work I'll build another body just like this one but better since I've learned all the do's and do nots. And transfer the neck to the better body. I knew this would be a learning experience to begin with and that my first try at an elaborate instrument might fail. And the cool thing is I have all the tools I need so the second body will go much smoother.

Prolly should rename this topic " what not to do when building an acoustic guitar."

Any way thanks everybody for your help. I do appreciate it. After the body is built I will definitely need tips and advice on how exactly to do the neck right so I can transfer it if needed. And if there is and kind of way to fix my mess please speak up.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

All right all is not lost I can order new sound boards and I still have plenty of bracing. And i looked at my plans and see where i messed up. I do have a question about the back board bracing before I begin. I've seen a lot of back boards and some have a Popsicle brace going down the center and some don't. What's best.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com