Chladni patterns - useful for voicing?

[John Link]

Has anyone employed Chlandni patterns for tuning top braces? Or any other purpose? Or know anyone who does?

[Herman]

There are several sites that show the Chladni patterns. But I never heard or saw some use it for tuning a top.
A sign on the wall to me.

For me it would not work for sure. My mainbraces have a touch of dome and the particles would be all over the place. But not on the top.
2ct Herman

[ken cierp]

I can see the value of this process if trying to duplicate/clone a given guitar. Herman does make a good point (never checked patterns) -- I think?

[Herman]

In fact Ken, I did once make a chladni pattern. More out of curiosity than out of a serious approach. And it worked. Cannot find the pics, otherwise I could show them.
I did the test with plain flour. If the guitar wasn't in dead horizontal position, the flour was off in 2 seconds. Eventually I made a mess on the atticfloor. (While singing jingel bells....)

[John Link]

Thanks for the input folks. Michael Collins has a DVD on his site about using Chlandi patterns but it is not clear how they might work. I appreciate your comments and conclude that their utility remains unclear. Instead I ordered a MAG-ic Probe Electronic Thickness Gauge. Pricey, but it delivers hard measurements that do not require interpretation. I like to thin the edges after the box is assembled and feel I always chicken out before I should. This little tool should help. Would also be useful for some of my remodel projects, a few of which have gotten out of hand. In theory, it should also measure exactly how many mils a finish adds, and how much it shrinks as it cures over the longer run.