Manzer wedge

[Kevin in California]

How hard could this be if the back is slanted. Seems pretty simple.

[Dave Bagwill]

Yep, I think it is pretty simple as far as the slant goes. Radiusing the resultant rim to 15' could be done manually with a radiused bar.

[Kevin in California]

Are you going to build it? I hear if you build it, they will come.......who "they" are in this case I have no clue.

[Dave Bagwill]

I am going to build it yes indeed. Got a buyer - fingers crossed - if he falls through I may commission the thing out to the new "boutique" guitar store in town, the owner came to the shop and expressed some interest. Of course, they will hide my guitar off in a corner next to the capos, the guitar polish, and the gig bags. :-)

[Bob Matthews]

I always pre-profile my sides before bending and I work out my profiles using a radius dish and a solid mould.

I tape around the inside of the mould and then set the mould on the radius dish. If you then take a 'penny' washer, you can scribe a line onto the tape by using a pencil through the hole in the washer and running inside the mould. (I believe this is standard practice for finding side profiles).

Now, depending on your wedge amount (I usually have the bass side 1/2" thinner and the treble side 1/2" thicker giving a 1" wedge across the body) I will then use packers on the treble side of the mould to raise it up by 1". You may then need a much bigger washer to be able to scribe the line - I just use a small block of wood and scribe along the top edge of it. I also feel that by adding the same amount to the treble as I take off the bass side. it keeps the volume of the closed box more or less exactly same as the original plan.

So long as when you remove your tape from the mould you all ways reference from the straight edge of the tape, your profiles will be as close as you get them before bending.

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[Dave Bagwill]

Makes a lot of sense, Bob, thanks.

[Dave Bagwill]

Ok, some first steps - this will be a j-45 +/- :-)

The green sticker has the letters 'AP' which stands for arm pit. This is where I want the player's arm to be playing over a 4" side instead of almost 5". I am lowering the total volume of the box, and this is what I want.

So I taped a piece of kerfing right under the 4" line to allow for the back thickness, and a piece of kerfing directly across the body at the height of the rim at that point. Then a piece of kerfing at the tallest part of the headblock - which is being re-purposed from a sad build a few years ago. Then something wild and furry intruded and wanted worship for a couple of minutes.

I cut out a piece of pegboard to fit inside the rim, and rested it on the three taped kerfing pieces.

Then I used a half-pencil to trace the line all around.

I have no idea if this is right - if you see any glaring flaws, other than the messy shop and the animal who tried to ruin this, please let me know. tomorrow is the day for rim trimming!
Thanks