Acoustic Guitar Construction

Well I've realized I'm already out of step. Reminded to myself to read things a third time.

I glued the back kerfing first - was very diligent about making sure I had my neck and tail blocks centered and square to the board, all looks very good. In rereading the instructions I see that it was recommended to work on the top kerfing first - leveling the top of the rim, gluing kerfing level wit top and then working on back kerfing.

Any specific concerns with the order I've done this?

The reason the top edge kerfing is done first is that there is no vertical bending or shaping of the kerfing -- its all on the same plane and after insatllation the the rim is stiff and not likely to have twisted/distorted. The back edge on the other hand requires some manuvering of the kerfing to follow the complex shape -- if harm was done (it would be minor) its too late now -- move on.

Thanks Ken. It does appear that any distortion must have been very minor as things seems square up nicely once flipped over.

From here on out I've decided to write a check-list after reading and rereading the instructions, to be sure I am following the steps exactly.

My shellac and curved 16mm Two Cherries chisel arrived this week - now I am set to install the rosette (shellac to seal the rosette channels) and glue and shape my braces.

As well I'll be gluing in the side reinforcing strips later this week.

I recommend lacquer (as used by the Taylor factory) to prevent staining the sound-board with CA. Also, I am not a fan of shellac (except for complete French Polish) since it shades/tones the wood and depending on thickness adds different color values to the areas where it is applied -- I'd rather not deal with the sanding problems that occur down the road, and some times do not appear until late in the finishing process.

My herringbone rosette is in, glued and scraped and to my eye looking really good.

My HF calipers have as many miles on them as almost any tool in my box. Yet another great use, as recommended by Ken in his Success Kit instructions, is to measure the height for each of the side reinforcements for a perfect fit.