| Braces |
| Splitting the Billets | |||
| Braces for the guitar will be made from these billets. This coarse-grained piece will be used for the heavy transverse brace on the top. |
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This billet is larger and offers more possibilities. |
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I cut the sealer off the end to expose the end grain. | And split the billet in the center to establish a split face that follows the grain. | |
| I now have a reference face on each piece. | |
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We can see that the grain is not straight. This piece is bowed. |
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Looking under the straightedge in this picture we can see just how much. In a perfect world I'd look for another piece of brace wood that is straighter. | In the real world perfectly straight grain is hard to find so I use a plane to cut some of the bow out and make this face straighter. | |
| I go ahead and split this piece again. | |
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And again. |
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And touch up each split face to give me a straight reference face on each piece. | Some folks begin sawing braces at this point but following William Cumpiano's advice I split the braces again to create a second split face perpendicular to the first. | |
| I'm now splitting the piece at a right angle to the first split face and again the split follows the grain. See how the grain runs through this piece at an angle? | |
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And the split face isn't perfectly straight |
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The plane helps me to "average" the difference. | Occasionally you find unhappy surprises like this little knot. You just have to work around them. | |
| This method usually produces more waste than usable stock but you are assured of the strongest possible braces from whatever wood you are using. These pieces have two split faces. | |
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This piece has two split faces and it is easy to see the twist in one plane and a bow in the other. You can only get short braces out of this piece of wood. |
| Saw To Shape | |||
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Selecting the straightest piece I begin sawing the arms of the x-brace. | I cut the pieces a bit oversized so that I can sand or plane them to the proper thickness before use. | |
| Here is what's left of the billet. Most of the wood on the left is scrap. | |
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These braces are pretty well quartered and have reasonably straight grain. |
| Radius the Braces | |||
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The bottom of the braces must be curved to match the radius of the top or back. | Here I'm using templates to mark my braces. | |
| Several swipes with a plane get me close to the pencil line. | |
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And I finish up with a quick trip to the appropriate hollow form with sandpaper. |
| Make the X-Brace | |||
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Flip one brace upside down and clamp them together in a vice. Use a protractor to draw two lines. | Using a small saw cut very carefully inside the lines and exactly half way thru the brace. | |
| Look at the curve of the braces, you're cutting the top of one brace and the bottom of the other. | |
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Pop out the pieces with a 6mm chisel. |
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You should get a neat clean slot. | Flip one brace over, and . . . | |
| clean up the slot with a file until the pieces fit snugly. | |
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The x-brace matches the blueprint! (It's been a good day!) |
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The x-brace fits together tightly enough that it won't come apart even if shaken. | Here all the braces are laid out on the top before gluing. | |