Side cut, Neck material cut, and solid lining

      Mostly, I did parts making for side, neck, blocks, and linings. Side material cut for fitting to a mold. Side cut is a very important process to make precise shape of the side. Particularly, cut-a-way model requires precise cut for a good fitting to the mold. I cut neck material for the neck and blocks. Material is an old grows Spanish cedar (Cedoro). I did rough plane using a hand plane, and then I used a jointer for precis cut. Now, row materials are ready for parts cut. I also completed the solid lining make. 

     Next week, I make neck block, cut-a-way block, and tail block. Them, I will assemble those blocks to the side in the mold.

Back Brace and side lamonate

      Back bracing was done, and side laminate work is ongoing. I installed Sitka spruce lattice bracing to the back. I have been using 12' radius for the back doming. I also have been using the lattice bracing for stable back and clacking prevention. Lattice bracing makes more stable back to maximize sound reflection from the back. 

     Side materials were bended. Cut-a-way side was laminated. I used Epoxy for this laminate work, because the Brazilian RW side has many pin holes and clacks. Epoxy laminate technique enables to use troublesome materials. Side materials do not have significant sound character definition. Virtually, any side materials make similar sound characteristic. Side requires solid support for the top and the back. Therefore, laminated side makes much crispier sound character with minimum weight increase. 

     Next week, I will make solid linings and blocks for the side assembly. Then, I will move to the body assembly work.

Top making part-2

 Top making is completed. Final tuning for scalloping is also done. This is my standard X-bracing using Adirondack spruce and Brazilian RW bridge plate. Back bracing material is also cut. Back uses the Sitka spruce for the lattice bracing. Center strip installation is done. Back bracing install will be done next week.

Top making part-1

 I start top making. I changed the bracing material to Adirondack spruce. Originally, I cut Sitka spruce; however, the material quality I cut was not good enough for this built. I just received Adirondack top and bracing materials from the old standard wood in Fulton Missouri. They have some of  the best Adirondack and Red spruce materials. Also, Carpathian spruce for this built is one of the Red spruce species. It makes sense to use top material and bracing material from the red spruce. Photos shown below are the top making. Bridge plate is Brazilian RW. I did vacuum clumping for the bridge plate assemble first, and then I installed the X-bracing second. X-bracing assembly is a tricky process, because I have to apply the glue for both X-bracing and the top. This is an important technique to avoid glue voiding issue. Glue should be spread without any non wet spot. Vacuum clumping makes the best gluing quality, because of the even pressure and vacuum environment for the glue curing.