Florentine Cutaway

[Herman]

The building procedures I follow are quite common. Pictures of that you can find in books like Kinkead and Cumpiano. Therefore I did not make a log before. But now I'm about to make a M-Jumbo with a Florentine-style cutaway. Of this procedure there are only few pics around. So Kevin pushed me recently to make a small blog of making this cutaway. Scared of the severe consequences Kevin would put on me, here it is:

First I drew the layout of the guitar on the inside of the top. I decided to go for the Taylorstyle, with the cutawaypoint at the 17th fret. and with the inside of the cutaway ending just under the fingerboard at the 12th fret.
Take in account that the sides are 2 mm thick (5/64").



The neckblock was made as usual on the bass side.



The neckblock on the treble side should get the same curve as the sides. Since the end of the cutaway must end under the fingerboard, you should decide what width the fingerboard gets at the 14th fret (here 58 mm, 2 1/4"")
Please don't mind the stains on the top, it's just a bit of sealer to prevent denting.



The curve projected on the neckblock:



Not a good pic, but I took the bulk of on the end of my beltsander. Hey, am a pro or not?



Next, the art of finding an object that has the same curve as the envisioned cutaway. Deep in the dungeon I found n old paintcan that does the trick.



Sticking some sandpaper to the can and off we sand. Again: Professional attempt.



Now and then checking how straight and perpendicular all is.



Checking on the layout:


Endresult, not that bad at all.

[Kevin in California]

Awesome start to your cutaway Herman. Hey, were can I get those sanding jigs (paint can, etc) for my shop? :>)
Thanks for sharing this build with us, we all admire your finished work so it will be a lot of fun to see how you build them.

Kevin

[Kevin in California]

By the way, when I built my one and only cutaway dred I was so worried that when I got to mounting the fretboard, it would not line up right over the edge of the cutaway. This was probably my most stress part of any build, but I was lucky it turned out just right....or maybe I just planned it right, but I sure was stressed.

Kevin

[Herman]

Kevin, one day you will receive a can from me. About the allignment of the fretboard: I plan to taper the fretboard after the neck is proper and offset is made. At 58 mm width, no one will notice a 1 mm flaw. BTW: The bridge and its stringwidth is made after finishing. Ya, me master of cheating.

[John Parchem]

The block looks good. I found that the eye will not notice 57 mm vs 58 mm but it will notice a 1 mm asymmetry across that width especially if the 1 mm changes the fret board taper only on one side. What you have looks great and matches the plan you have drawn on the top. Playing-wise I like where the cutaway flows into the neck, without having a ledge and a classical heel.

[Herman]

John, me too. The plan is indeed to end the cutaway under the fretboard. The design of the heel is still subject to discussion with the orderer.

[Lonnie B]

Herman; I love the paint can. Once about twenty years ago I was living in the desert of Arizona. I was building a mandolin. I used the bottom of a butter tub to get the bout curves. Forgot what I used for the cutaway. Excellent Job my friend.