Acoustic Guitar Construction

Hi Dan

Are you planning to pore fill the wood with zpoxy or CA? I read some people who have concern with the pore filling with those glues as it might not be compatible win the finish, so I also wondered if there was value to "pore filling" the interior sides of the wood with an epoxy for strength and to prevent cracking and then use a more normal pore filler on the finish side.

Would be interested to hear What you are planning as I am going to be doing my own ziricote build soon.

Thanks,
Kristen

Kristen,

I think I'll be using Zpoxy for my pore fill.

I'm unsure how an interior pore fill would contribute significantly to crack resistance to the sides, and hadn't planned to do so.

With the really clean bends I was able to do with the sides thinned to .080", the reverse rounded kerfing, and spruce side reinforcements, the sides should be plenty strong, and have good support.

I'm likely going to continue using shellac/ french polish for my final finishes, and from what I've read, there are no compatibility concerns with the Zpoxy and shellac.

We'll all be interested to see your Ziricote project come to life!

I'd stay away from CA as a sealer or pore filler -- I know its done but also read of plenty of cases where the top coat does not adhere in the long term. There is a complete CA finishing system top coat and all available -- that would be fine, but its not something I'd use. The advantage of course is short cure and dry times.

Zpoxy is not a glue it is a product made to be used as a filler be it fiberglass, wood or a combination of both. I have personally contacted Pacer regarding compatibility of Zpoxy and nitro lacquer and was assured that they are indeed an excellent match. I would suggest that communication with Pacer is a good idea to verify compatibility with the coating system one plans to use.

Thanks Dan and Ken. I look forward to seeing how you approach the finishing (when you get there!)

Kristen

I prefer to hand plane the radius in my top and back braces. Moving forward I'm going to build a simple jig to make this step just a little quicker and more precise.



And gluing up the x-brace. Coming from the KMG process, I still use card stock radius cauls. They work really well, and I make up extras or different radii whenever needed.

For go-bars I'm using simple oak strips, with lightly rounded edges.





A 16" fretboard radius block works great for putting a gentle radius on my back strips. I run masking tape down both outside edges of the block, protecting the back from the abrasive. When the edges of the block touch the back I'm done.

Blue Pau inlay for the rosette, purfling, headstock and the fretboard.

How do you build a guitar?
Simple. Just remove everything that isn't essential.