Acoustic Guitar Construction

Back braces are glued in, and initial shaping is done - just set the sides on to get a sense of the thing.

Trying to decide how much to shave the back braces. I know Brian Kimsey has, at times, suggested thinning the back two braces on dreadnoughts - is there value is thinning those back two on a 00-12?

Nice work Mike.
Taller and thinner is better IMO.

I suggest and supply narrow tall braces (in the KMG kits) for all models including "D" The 3/8" tall x 3/4" two long braces seen on Martins (in my opinion and what I've seen) seem to have a tendancy to flatten out and loose the contour. I have even experienced having seasoned pre-carved braces of that type loose contour while on the shelf! -- thus my decision to go to the tall style. 5/8"- 3/4" x 5/16" or 1/4". I guess a space alien could hear a difference in sound quality if there is any.

With that I'll leave them tall and thin, as they are.

Looks like you are nearly ready to close. All the work looks great and very clean. I keep looking back to your first post and every time it says My first guitar build ...

Beautiful work! The Two Cherries curved chisel was the first chisel I bought for my first build. I use it all the time, but need to read up on sharpening thinking about water stones. JAck.

Jackspt28 - having tried many types of sharpening/honing stones - coticules, US and Japanese synthetic, US naturals, and films/papers - and really refining my technique honing straight razors, I am strong proponent of lapping film.

Using a series of lapping film grits, and $1 piece of marble from the hardware store, you can put incredible edges on woodworking tools. I no longer use them for razors, as they can be too "sharp" in a technical sense, but wonderful for tools.

You can see the fine plane shavings in a few photos in this thread - sharpened with film.

PM me for any details, or if people are interested I can start a thread in one of the tool sections - I'll be honing a new blade from scratch in the coming week or so.