Acoustic Guitar Construction

Going cross-grain might help (pushing the stock from front to back). With some of these rotary planers, the instructions even state to do that first. Whether cutting cross-grain or lengthwise, keep in mind rotation of cutters. Feed the wood into/against the cutters. Mentally divide the planer head i...

Works best with a separated fence. The video by O' Brien is pretty straightforward and that method works well.

ok, major beginner Q's as usual. How straight does the edge need to be? I don't have an engineer's straight edge, do I just assume that the MDF is cut straight? Or the pine piece for the edge? I would guess they are both 2-3mm out over the 30" length, is that close enough? If you're talking ab...

Yeah, Mike, that's the thread. It started pretty much like this one- interest in guitars absent of binding, best methods to accomplish, and possible detriments. In that thread, Ken mentions that rather than thinking of the binding itself as the contributor to altered acoustics, it's the joint create...

Can't imagine one using it to intentionally refine acoustics; I'm sure there may be some who believe otherwise. Personally, I view purfling as providing an aesthetic element. Binding covers the endgrain of the plates (endgrain usually finishes differently than the face), so it could also be consider...

If no adjustability planned into the project, I could easily see where CF would be a suitable material to incorporate into lighter neckstock. Have not done any comparison between stiffening materials (CF vs. metals). Maybe the CF might come out ahead in the strength-to-weight department? It does mak...

Likely to be another one of those never-ending controversies.

Which came first- the chicken or the egg?
Regarding the use of CF in the neck, what was the original purpose of the truss rod- increased stiffness or adjustability?