Acoustic Guitar Construction

I am working on my J185 and have the box built. The sides had some ripples in them at the waist bend which I sanded out prior to cutting the step for the binding. After the binding step was cut I could see that the thickness of the sides in the waist area was probably only about 1mm thick and that you could see the sides flex when they were pressed on with a finger. After a week of thinking through possible fixes I settled on going with gluing thin pieces of veneer to the inside of the waist area. I know that some builders construct by laminating the rims so I would think that this should work with no ill affect other than my aching, contorted arms after trying to work on the inside through the sound hole. Anyone else been down this road before? Any other possible ideas? And yes, I cussed a blue streak for a good 2 days until I finally calmed down. Thanks for the help, Tim

Tim - my sympathies! Definitely a situation worthy of 2 day's cussin'. :-)

If the lams are done correctly - and I'm sure they are - and it leaves you enough kerfing for gluing purposes, it should work fine. I might have tried to laminate not just at the waist, but continually around the rim just for aesthetics, but probably you were able to blend it all together.

Do you have any pix?

I would think that carbon fiber cloth and epoxy would be a little easier especially since it will conform to the side. The veneer would have to be clamped (taped) and I believe that will be a real PITA.

And with the CF you are in the "cutting edge" innovative design arena.

I like Ken's Idea of epoxy and carbon fiber, no clamping or shaping required.

I made this mistake working on my harp ukulele. I had it completely finished, but I was using a new finishing product and it turned the instrument blue. When sanding off the finish I did just what you did, I maybe had a half millimeter. (should have used stripper) I pulled the back and then had an easy time adding an inside veneer. When I put it back together I ended up having to replace the bindings as I did not get them off cleanly.

Working through the sound hole would be tough, (impossible on the uke) I think you would need to make a real tight fitting caul for the inside and maybe the out side (you could possibly use a mold outside). I think it is possible but hard.

I feel for you it is hard to find these issues this far along.

I will keep the carbon fiber as a back up plan, I think the mahogany veneer, if done right, will be very difficult to spot. I am planning for a full on PITA for sure but that's all part of the cost of tuition at the school of hard knocks right? I'll keep you posted as to my progress. Thanks for the info and moral support.

Get a good fit, use CA and hold that patch in place until it holds....done!

Ooops indeed. Since you cannot reach the spot with clamps in all directions, you cannot be sure that all fits snug. Therefore I favor the way Ken advises. Use something flexible with epoxy. It fills minor gaps better than CA. Plus you have more working time to make it look professional.
2ct Herman