Official Luthiers Forum!

Colin, after some getting used to the saw (had a bit of problems getting the blade to track properly) and with a blade from tufffsaws it now cuts rather straight. i´m happy with mine - even if a slow cutter.

Joe, i´m not Alex (who´d have told?), but the pieces are not long nor wide enough - you need 6 pieces to get it done: 3 lenghtwise and 2 to get the full height. I´ll leave Alex to do that first, though.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

For me it is very important to have the match between back and sides as good as possible, so the extra trouble is OK. Besides, it is not that hard anyway. Compared to a normal guitar, 3 extra jointing operations and a bit more care bending (as the wood is just long enough and you can't use the extra for leverage, need to use a block to push the wood over the iron right at the ends.

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Build log

sounds like fun.
please post pics when your done, I'd love to see the results.

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We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.

I posted this picture in another discussion but thought I might post it here as well. Another poorman's way into BRW land is to use sequence matched veneer and make "multipiece" backs and sides the other way (laminating veneers). For a back and side set it takes about 15 -20 square feet of veneer and a few ounces of epoxy.

cool! but you do need some molds (moulds?...) for that. i have these lying around and thought i could do a selmer-ish thing out of them somewhere in the future.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Hi Miguel,
For the backs I Laminate the veneers between two pieces of melamine coated particle board (MCP) with wax paper in between and plenty of clamps.
For the sides I use the same block form and kerf kore strip I use for bending solid wood sides with the addition of a layer of Formica (HPL) to provide a smooth surface to laminate against. I also use wax paper between the veneer and Formica so things don't stick where they shouldn't.
If you try this, dry out the veneer before gluing it up (I use West system epoxy and 207 hardener) and allow the pieces to fully cure in the mold (about a week) before removing them.
If you can find some veneer close to the color of the multipiece backs you are making I think this would be a good way to do the sides. I glue up the sequence matched veneers in the same orientation they were cut and the finished product acts much the same as solid wood.
The veneer I purchased was "off fall " and "over run" stuff. It was fairly inexpensive.

Did you find the tap tone was similar to 'real' BRW? I would have imagined the epoxy layers would increase the damping.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

That is a good question, to which I don't have a definitive answer. To me the fully cured pieces have a similar brittle tap as many of the rosewoods, but not actually having tested their frequency response it could be wishful thinking on my part. Coupled with Engelmann and Sitka soundboards I have been happy with the results.
I would be curious to know.

Clay, what type of glue do you use for top and back to sides? Any special glue needed for binding? Just wondering if the epoxy changes the ability to use normal wood glues.

Thanks.

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Greg Hatcher
North Carolina

I use titebond or hot hide glue for gluing the back plates and back graft. Same for the sides and linings. For bindings I usually use super glue, but that is what I use for solid wood also. In areas where there is "bleed through" I usually sand the surface prior to gluing, but for the most part I don't do anything different when gluing wood to wood.
I "bonked" some plates today - some EIR and some of the laminated BRW plates I made. Of the two, ones I made sounded a bit more lively. But it is pretty subjective. Is there anyone in the Md/De/ Philly area that likes to test wood?

Ok that's interesting. Thinking about it again though, it wouldn't behave like a laminate guitar as all the layers run in the same direction, so the stiffness would be unaffected. And it seems like laminated sides are 'in' now anyway.
I wonder what laminating the back into it's radius would do? It might increase the stiffness for less mass...

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Stiffness is affected even though the grain is running in the same direction, it's just not as great as using cross grain though. I use Fish glue with laminations using thick plywood and clamps on curved cauls.

Geesh it really does smell good in here.