How I split braces

[TonyinNYC]

I promised I would show how I make my brace stock before the end of 2012. Rather than wait until the last minute, I decided to get a jump on things. I will show how I split the stock to get pieces that can then be further milled to a final brace dimension.
Lets begin, shall we?
First I take a big, long block of wood. This piece is about 24 inches long. More than long enough for my X-braces.
Here is a shot of the end grain. Not perpendicular to the top and back sides, but that is OK.


I use a small ax I got at Lowes for about $15. I put it on the block so the tip is between grain lines. In the case of this block, the ax is angled so it lines up with the grain lines. Its best to split the block in halves so there is equal strength on either side of the split. If you make one side of the split too small, you risk the split jumping grains and the wood not splitting evenly. Also, split slowly!


You can see that the block split with the grain, but that the grain is a bit wavy:


I then split that block in half:


Still splitting:


Here is the final piece after the second split. It's about 3/8ths thick:


Here you can see that the face is very shiny. That shows that I split right along the grain, and I also did not jump grain lines:

This piece is big enough to make both legs of the X-brace once I split it in half with a hand saw.

From here, I will run the braces through my drum sander or smooth them with a plane to final thickness. This stock is wide enough for two braces, so I will then cut it in half. Then I use my KMG Universal Brace Contouring Jig to put the radius on them and label them with said radius.

For what its worth, the block in my first pic is actually half of a block I got for $5.00. I had already made the other half into some brace stock. Pre-made braces cost about $20 for a soundboard set, but their quality can vary. I will get two full sets of braces out of this block and they will all be perfectly quartered, so you can see that learning to make your own braces can not only save you money, but guarantee that you get the stock perfectly quartered. That is a win/win in my book!
Please feel free to ask any questions. I hope this was helpful to anyone wishing to make their own braces.

Tony

[Kyle Barbour]

Thanks alot Tony. I almost feel unworthy of such great info. I will probably try this out tomorrow. I was able to start bracing the back today. One of the billets I had was very well quartered so I cut the braces out of it. I used a homemade jig to radius the braces. Glueing them up today using Kens index card caul system. Thanks again.

[TonyinNYC]

Glad the info was helpful. Good luck with your splitting!

[Ken Hundley]

Nice tony! I have always just cut mine, though that has also been for laminate braces. I may have to try this on the next soundboard I make.

[TonyinNYC]

Glad you liked it Ken!

[Tom West]

Tony: Do you check for run out...............???
Tom

[ken cierp]

I am sure Tony will respond but I believe the main reason for hand splitting the billet is that the split runs along a grain line to give you a start point - the subsequent splits will now be running parallel to the other grain lines -- thus taking run-out out of play.