A EIR Dred in the D45 tradition

[Kevin in California]

Last night I fit the back to the rims. I did this differently this time, rather than cutting all the way through the sides, I inlet into the kerfing only, then trimmed the braces ends to fit. This worked pretty well, however I had more difficulty keeping the size of the inlets to achieve a tight fit. Half of them are wider than the brace. I will probably cut a little tiny piece of hog to fill in the space where needed because I usually get a very close fit in this area. I like how the back seems to fall into place better and although there is a little bit of side to side movement, it is easy to get centered. I may do the same technique when fitting the top, but I may not. I took some pics for those of you who are new to this and I'll get them posted tonight.
Next comes getting the top made. I should be able to join it and get the rosette in this weekend.

Kevin

[TonyinNYC]

On my last two guitars, I did not cut the shoulder brace pockets through the sides. I only inlet them into the linings as you did with your back. I also took great care to make sure the pockets were very tight with little to no play in them. I used those pockets to locate the top for gluing. Once the shoulder brace popped into its home, I knew the top was centered, and located precisely. It's a good method!

[Tim Benware]

On my last two guitars, I did not cut the shoulder brace pockets through the sides. I only inlet them into the linings as you did with your back. I also took great care to make sure the pockets were very tight with little to no play in them. I used those pockets to locate the top for gluing. Once the shoulder brace popped into its home, I knew the top was centered, and located precisely. It's a good method!

Yes. That's how I've done all mine. I like it a lot. Same for the back braces. None of my braces go through the side.

[Kevin in California]

Got a few hours in this past week and today and made some good progress.....for me at any rate.
The pics tell it all. I fit the back to the rims, and for a first, I inletted the braces into the kerfing and did not go through the sides. I had a little trouble keeping the kerfing from breaking away at the kerfs...I guess that gives a vote for reversed kerfing huh! Anyway, the fit is fine, and I might go in with some little pieces of mahogany to fill in the gaps next to the braces.
Got the top joined and the rosette in. It turned out pretty good. I have a couple of places where the black of the BWB strip on the inside of the abalone ring that is a bit "feathery". My abalone was not perfectly sized width wise and in two place (these places), there was a slight gap of about .004"that I filled with glue. Not sure if these feathery areas are because of that but I suspect so. The abalone is beautiful and was way less expensive then what I've used in the past. I was going to put it all in place and flood with superglue, after I spray shellac in the channels, but I am still afraid of the yellowing from the superglue, so I used LMI white glue and put it in the channel as I laid in the purflings with the shell as I went around. This worked just fine. For the single rings, I used this time a .055" bit for the channels as in the past I used a 1/16" bit and it is a skoosh too wide. Well the .055" is a skoosh too narrow, but at least I could widen it a bit, which I did and I got really clean rings.
Got the lay out for the braces traced and the maple bridge patch glued in place.
Whew! Grandkids are coming this week so I don't know how much I'll get done the next month.....not much I suppose.

Kevin

[Kevin in California]

one more showing my brace pockets

Kevin

[dave d]

Such clean work; very nice Kevin. Bonus marks for getting double-duty out of the arbor press!
Can I ask how you smooth the abalone after it's glued in to the rosette channel? Scraper, or sandpaper?

[peter havriluk]

Kevin, I noticed in one of the photos the circle cutter you used - - - looks like Dremel's basic circle cutter attachment attached to (what else?) a Dremel tool. That seems as basic a toolset for that job as exists. Can you comment on it?

Thanks very much.