Official Luthiers Forum!

I saw a post about making an adjustable body form on this forum a while ago... it looks like it would be really helpful for a luthier who builds or restores guitars of all shape and sizes. Is it simply a plywood with slots cut into it with spool clamp looking pegs locking into the slots to form the shape?

_________________
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

here's an example of an adjustable mold that I bought from Kenneth Michael guitars. But you could make your own.

I've used it for 4 guitars, but I've come to like the standard one size molds more now.

I've built with the Fox adjustable mold ever since taking his course 8 years ago. I like it. It would be fairly easy to build as a holding device for repairs. As a building mold you have to be more precise in the construction. You need a very accurate centerline and orientation of the end blocks as well as insuring that the posts are vertical. The end blocks also have to have the correct radius as they serve as gluing cauls for the head and tail block.

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Is that workboard radiused or flat? One problem I see with the design is that I wouldn't be able to easily radius the rims for a perfect fit... at least not for the top...

_________________
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

The form is flat. It's actually very easy to radius. I swap out the high endblocks that were used as gluing cauls for shorter ones. Put a post in the centerline midway between the head and tail blocks and drop the sanding dish over the post. Doing the back the top sits flat on the form, when radiusing the top I put wedges under the sides as shown below so that the rimset is held in the proper position. More hassle than a conventional mold? Maybe but I've done it so much it's second nature. I do use a conventional mold for archtops and cutaways.





I do have a jig I use to sand the proper angle into the upper bout for the top and fretboard to be coplanar with the proper neck set. It gets you pretty close.

http://kennedyguitars.com/_Kennedy_Guit ... t_Jig.html

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I too have a Kenneth Michael guitars mold but the one he calls the Mega Mold Guitar Making Fixture. I love the thing. It was expensive but you could build something like it yourself.

_________________
Another day, another dollar.