A new OM about to be born

[GaryDavis]

Thanks for this. What are you using under the top (other than the towel) when glueing the braces on with the go bar deck?

Gary Davis

[Kevin in California]

Hi Gary.
That is a radius dish on the deck. I made it years ago. Double sided 30ft and 15ft radiuses.

When I first started building I used the stacked card method to support the top and conform to the braces while gluing up. That works but just can't compare to the ease of using a dish.

[GaryDavis]

Thanks Kevin. i'll look into acquiring a couple.

[Kevin in California]

I got the top braces all carved and pretty today and closed up the box.
A couple of pics showing fitting the top. I used tabs one either end glued under the rim to position front to back.
I'll usually use little blocks glued on the top that fit on either side of the neck and end blocks that help position and center the top. This time my fitting of the brace ends went so well I didn't need to do that.

Top in the gobar deck. The back is already glued to the rims.

Tomorrow I'll trim around flush and work on the end wedge. It will be curly Koa to match the back strip and the binding to be scheme.

[Kevin in California]

The box is complete and now top and back trimmed flush with the router.

Then I started gluing maple strips to the bottom of the curly Koa binding going on this guitar. .020" maple gives a nice thin accent on the sides.

I cut the maple from a veneer sheet and use clothed pins to clamp the strip on the binding leaving gaps so I can wick in CA glue. Hit it with accelerator flip it over, wick in the CA there, flip it over again, remove the pins and finish wicking CA. I'll run these through the drum sander to even it all out and thickness to .070" which is what I use for bindings when I'm doing abalone purflings.

I also made a Curly Koa end wedge that I'll install tomorrow.

[Kevin in California]

Got the body all leveled on the sides and the end wedge installed. Looking sharp.
Checked my neck angle. It's on the money and 92 degrees. Top is nice and flat where the fretboard will lay. I I have about 1/8" over the saddle area now. With a 5/16" fretboard and a 9/16" bridge I should end up with about a 1/8" exposed saddle at set up. (fingers crossed).

[peter havriluk]

What a beautiful job!