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Hi

Cumpiano's book starts with the finger braces, is there a recommended sequence for gluing the finger, tone bars, UTB and X brace to the top?

John

I may have found the answer to my own question !

http://instrumentmakers.net/LLcom/tutor ... rd001.html

After the soundhole is cut out, the undersurface of the top gets drafted for all the braces and patches. The first step in bracing the top is to prepare and affix the flat elements. The curved braces go on last. First, a .10" rosewood bridge patch, trimmed to fit under the bridge and between the lower arms of the X brace, is glued down flat.

I would like to hear opinions on this too. I usually clamp the X in place with a single go bar, then glue in the fingers and tone bars. That way I can taper and profile them without the X in the way and they help me line up the X when it gets glued in. But then it is more difficult to profile the X. . .

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

As with most things, it depends. Do you radius your braces? All of them, or just some? Do you glue with cam clamps like Cumpiano, or go-bars? Do you have a radius dish? Do you notch any braces into others or have any "overpasses"?

I use cam clamps with no radius dish, braces radiused but not all equally, and lots of notching.

I glue the bridge plate first, just suctioning it down with hide glue and then set a cork lined block and a brick on it to keep it from moving much. Then mark the X and upper transverse braces for notching all the other braces into them. Glue all the fingers and tone bars and soundhole braces as many at a time as I can with the number of cam clamps I have. Notch the X and UTB, and glue them down one by one. Then carve everything.

In Somogyi's book, he says he starts with the X for ease of profiling it without all the others in the way.