MegaMold additions

[peter havriluk]

I'm not sure if what I did with my MegaMold deserve to be characterized as 'additions', but I did deviate from Ken's original: I swapped the machine nuts on all the uprights to wing nuts. One less mechanic'c tool needed. And I made a standoff for all the spreaders to elevate the spreaders up from the bottom. I used a scrap of 3/4" particle board shelving to make standoffs to raise the spreaders higher on the sides. A 1 1/2" hole saw made the standoffs in a few minutes, and I used longer carriage bolts to allow for the thicker spreader sandwich. I think the mold works better and the cost is peanuts. Seems nicer.

[Dave Bagwill]

Good thinking

[peter havriluk]

Standoffs for the spreaders seem to be changes in the right direction. Used them today. Ken's design avoided turnbuckles, I suspect to retain in-house production as much as possible, and elevating them brings them closer to where turnbuckles and cauls would pressure the sides. There may be a point of diminishing (or maybe compromised) returns, as the upright posts pivot at the bottom, and raising the standoffs increases the spreading force against the posts. This was designed by a skilled engineer, and may be a lot more balanced in its performance than a casual look suggests. But it's entertaining to use and reflect on how it works.

[Tim Benware]

I see you've been using your MM. I actually made those changes a few years ago to mine. I did find though that I needed the nuts that came with the mold on the 8 spindles on the neck block end of the guitar when building the smaller (thinner) body sizes or my sanding dish would sand the tops of the wing nuts. I don't use Ken's supplied sanding bar for profiling the sides (only the neck angle) so if you just use the sanding ar yu may be OK with the wings nuts but I'm not sure about that.

The other mod I made to my MM was putting a metal sleeve into where the post comes out. The wood did not hold up and started to tilt. The sleeve keeps things vertical.

[peter havriluk]

Tim, I'm using the mold for the third time. Cloudy memory suggests what you said about wing nuts. I think I removed the uprights at the front when I sanded the rim and avoided the interference that way. I think. I'm talking myself into making a 'normal fixed-shape mold to use for rim buildup. Ken's mold is so flexible that setup is a lengthy process for me. But for sanding the rim and setting the complementary neck angle on the body, I find it valuable.

I'll take a look at my center post array. I hadn't seen a problem there, but I'm also using the original, and relatively light, sanding bar. If I was using a dish, perhaps I'd see the post mount get overloaded.