Construction Log for KMG J45-Style Dreadnought

[TonyinNYC]

Great work and excellent pics! I have gotten lazy and use my phone for progress pics. I should bust out the good camera from time to time.

[dave d]

More photos of the bracing process.

Using my small ruler to line up the location of the notch for joining the x-brace pieces.

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Line marked.

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Now joining the vertical lines across the top of the x-brace.

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x-brace pieces glued together, but not glued to the soundboard yet.

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Gluing on the bridge plate.

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Placing the clamping cauls (3x5 cards) on the workboard.

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Now with the bridge plate glued on and used as the anchor point, glue on the x-braces.

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Top bracing glued and carved.

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[George]

Fantastic!!! I’ve learned a lot from viewing your logs. I just ordered a J-200 kit,,,, inspired by your last build.

Thanks for posting such great pictures.

George

[TonyinNYC]

Very nice job on the lap joint. That is one joint I take extra time with to ensure it is nice and tight. I like when I need to sand the side of one brace to make them fit together.
Is this a KMG kit? The bracing has such tight grain lines. Looks like top notch stuff. One time, I placed an order with Ken for something, I forget what, but in the conversation we got to talking about bracewood and such. Ken sent me some of his reject braces to use for whatever I wanted. He rejected some because of pitch pockets that were revealed in the milling process, some had a small grain deviation because of the proximity of a knot when the tree was whole, but all in all, I have been able to salvage a lot of the brace stock by making shorter braces out of them. All of the brace stock has straight, tight grain, exactly what I would pick for my own use, and all of it was light and strong. I wonder how much material Ken rejects because it does not make the cut (see what I did there DaveB?).
I have yet to see a bad piece of wood in any of his kits that have been built here.

[dave d]

Yes indeed Tony, that's a KMG product. All of the bracewood is great. And so are the rest of the components of course!

[dave d]

Time to update my building log. Most photos are self-explanatory, but if you see something and think "what in tarnation is he doing there?" then just shout.

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a nice snug fit around the rim

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And voila, the back is suddenly glued on too. And the overhangs have been trimmed off with a router and a flush cut bit.

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Thanks for looking.

[dave d]

With a wipe of a rag dampened with mineral spirits the grain of the walnut sure looks fantastic.

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Preparing to cut the binding channels.

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This would work better if there was a router attached to it. :)

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I tried using fiber-reinforced tape this time. It works quite well.

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As I try the fit of the binding and purfling, I make a note of where I could use just a smidgen more depth, and use either a small plane or sandpaper to tweak it.

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