Beginning Box Building. Nothing too fancy, but functional. For people who don't have easy access to cigar boxes. Other home made non-rectangular box resonator discussions are also welcome.
Location: Planet Earth, but anyone from anywhere is welcome.
Members: 232
Latest Activity: Dec 2, 2022
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Updated: May 15, 2015
Due to my mistake of using the word "Resonator" in the name of this group, there now appears to be two groups of contributors:
1.) People wanting to discuss basic sound box construction (my intended audience):
2.) People wanting to discus building resonator cigar box guitars using metal resonators like what Old Lowe is famous for making and selling:
About This Discussion Forum
For those folks interested in building Resonator CBGs and Resonator Parts, please enter your posts under the Discussion Forum under either the "Resonator parts" discussion, or the "Placing the Resonator" discussion. Also be sure to check out my "Useful Links" which includes links to some interesting Reso-CBG related topics and photos (see below).
Most of the rest of this Discussion Forum is dedicated to people interested in discussing the various methods and styles of box building, including woodworking techniques, joinery, decorating and the like. Maybe we can have a different discussion forum for each style of box (rectangular, circular, octagonal, etc.) We'll see how the group evolves.
Useful Links:
Num. of Sides = Corner Angles
3 sided = 60 degrees
4 sided = 45 degrees
5 sided = 36 degrees
6 sided = 30 degrees
7 sided = 25.71 degrees (26 is okay)
8 sided = 22.5 degrees
9 sided = 20 degrees
10 sided = 18 degrees
11 sided = 16.36 degrees (16 is okay)
12 sided = 15 degrees
15 sided = 12 degrees
16 sided = 11.25 degrees (11 is okay)
Note 1: Plus Shipping Charges
Note 2: Klangbox also makes an interesting low profile magnetic pickup called the "Flatpup 3 Humbucker", which has been well received by some CBN builders.
Started by mitch jones Dec 12, 2018. 0 Replies 2 Likes
G'day all,When I first began to get into this cbg thing, I quickly realised that there aren't any cigar boxes available in my part of the world, & they're too expensive on-line. That meant I had to make them. After my fist "proper" build, I…Continue
Started by Doug Patterson. Last reply by Paul Curry Apr 13, 2017. 9 Replies 0 Likes
If this is not the appropriate place to ask this question, I apologize. I'm preparing my first box for a resonator cone but am unsure as to where the piezo should be placed. Is it placed on the cone itself or somewhere on the box? Any advice will…Continue
Started by Ron Lutz. Last reply by Ken Vickerson Apr 10, 2017. 4 Replies 2 Likes
My very first cbg build is the neck on top instrument made with walnut top, quarter-sawn sycamore sides, cherry back and red oak neck. I did have a couple of small revisions after this photo was made, I added a walnut fretboard and put a veneer on…Continue
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Murdoc_420 Apr 3, 2016. 13 Replies 0 Likes
[Originally Posted: Mar 25, 2011] I have decided to call this the "boat paddle box", or simply the "paddle box" design, because of the shape of the final product. This body style is the traditional body style for stick dulcimers and was…Continue
Tags: sound box, stick dulcimer body, paddle box, canoe paddle, boat paddle
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Philip Hale Mar 28, 2016. 8 Replies 1 Like
Hi All...For a long time I have wanted to build a resonator based string instrument, but I've put it off for a long time because of a poor success rate on prototype builds. I had lots of excuses. Chief among them was the difficulty of cutting an…Continue
Started by Monterey. Last reply by Monterey Jun 28, 2015. 13 Replies 2 Likes
I made a box clamp out of 1" x 1.5" Spruce I ripped from a 2" x 4" on the tablesaw.The back piece is the length of the box. The 2 sides are 0.5" shorter than the sides of the box, plus 1" for the width of the back piece. The front piece is 4" longer…Continue
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by Monterey Mar 9, 2015. 6 Replies 0 Likes
So I've seen a number of builds on the site with solid wood tops such as spruce and was wondering where people get that kind of lumber. Buying thick stock, joining and planing? Online site with soundboard material? Just curious of people's sound…Continue
Started by sasquatch. Last reply by sasquatch Jul 27, 2014. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Let me start by saying that I don't consider myself an expert in this subject, but I have made two very successful resonator boxes with simplest of tools and cheapest of materials.This particular box is made from 6mm ply for the sides, 3mm ply for…Continue
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by gary sheldon Jun 17, 2014. 12 Replies 0 Likes
Was thinking about building my own box and one of the things I like about some of the cigar box builds I've seen is the ability to open the box when the strings are off. Seems silly, but a nice option if you want to swap necks (screwed, not glued),…Continue
Started by Darren Addy. Last reply by gary sheldon May 19, 2014. 9 Replies 0 Likes
I'll start off by saying that this may not be everyone's "cup of tea" and that some people might consider this "overthinking". To that I will simply say that one person's overthinking is another person's "understanding". Let's start with something…Continue
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BTW, Rand; you can cut multiple boards at one time with this jig. Are you still in the US?
BTW, it sounds friggin' good also. And 93 db acoustically.
I had to leave out the chapter on assembly and glueing. There is a 4K character limit on this site.
Maybe later. It is important.
Thanks, Rand.
I made my own jig and used a router for the finger joints. Actually, I made a previous jig which wasn't too successful. That first jig used a Rotozip tool which I found kicking around in my van. The tool didn't work, so I knocked the rust off it and did something to the switch and made it work. The box in the photo used that jig. The Rotozip tool expired on the last finger joint. Off I went to the hardware store and bought a router and bit. Of course I had to make a new, improved jig to fit the router base.
The jig screws to the piece of plywood that I call my work bench. The wood to be finger jointed is fed into the jig from below. There is an alignment guite sticking down to help keep things straight.
There is a router guide on the lh side. I make the first cut. There is a backstop to keep the router from eating into the jig. There is also a routed out slot in which I put a sacrificial 3/8" dowell. This prevents "breakout" at the back side of the cut.
Now I am ready for the second cut. I put another 3/8" square dowell about 6" long against the router guide. I have a bunch of these dowells and they have all been measured and sanded to exact size. I use a digital caliper - $20 some bucks at Orchard Supply. I mark the dowells so I know which face has been sanded to perfection.
Now I flip the board properly after cutting all the slots. Properly means I take the board out, flip it backwards and put it back in. If you rotate it left or right you will have an alignment mess on your hands when you try to put the box together.
Now you are ready for the next board. Assume the first board (s) were sides, now we are ready for ends.
I put the wood in and now I take out a spacer that I made out of 5 or 6 Starbucks stirrers glued together. It is exactly 1/2 the width of the 3/8" spacers-3/16". I forgot to tell you that I am using a 3/16' bit.......Wait, I am forgetting the sizes. What you need to do is make a bunch of blocks exactly twice the size of your bit and one block exactly the size of your bit.
So, on your end piece, for example, you make the first cut using the smaller spacer against the fence. For the second cut, you leave the smaller spacer in and add a larger spacer.
This is all about not having to trim the sides to match the adjacent side. When you make one you will see what I mean.
After building the jig, get some cheap lumber. I use 3/16 pine; and make yurself 5 or 6 small little boxes for practice.
.
I guess you didn't expect a book, but I will send this now with a couple of photos. I have to go to happy hour soon. Let me know if you need clarification on anything.
.
The birds eye maple looks beautiful as well.
Hi Gary,
Love the finger joints. Are you using a router table, or a hand held router with your router jig to make these finger joints? I suspect a router table is unlikely if you are still building your instruments in your boat. But, I don't understand how a finger joint jig would work on a hand held router. Maybe you can give us a more detailed account of how you are doing them. I only made 3 or 4 boxes with finger joints before I gave up on them (too tedious to do with a hand held razor saw). I also think the finger joints add a lot of "class" to the build.
-Rand.
TN, thanks for the compliments. I do appreciate it.
Gary
Damn! You're good...
Also--I like "faux." It adds a little class...
Started by Doug Patterson. Last reply by Paul Curry Apr 13, 2017. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ron Lutz. Last reply by Ken Vickerson Apr 10, 2017. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Murdoc_420 Apr 3, 2016. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Philip Hale Mar 28, 2016. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Monterey. Last reply by Monterey Jun 28, 2015. 13 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by Monterey Mar 9, 2015. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by sasquatch. Last reply by sasquatch Jul 27, 2014. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Barsymes Cratchnee. Last reply by gary sheldon Jun 17, 2014. 12 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Darren Addy. Last reply by gary sheldon May 19, 2014. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Michael Fred Johnson. Last reply by Michael Fred Johnson Apr 29, 2014. 11 Replies 4 Likes
Started by martin baker. Last reply by martin baker Apr 29, 2014. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Rand Moore Apr 28, 2014. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Started by David Ford. Last reply by Barsymes Cratchnee Jan 8, 2014. 14 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Tom Walters. Last reply by Rand Moore Jan 1, 2014. 7 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Bert the Welder. Last reply by Mike Strehlow Dec 5, 2013. 3 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Richey Kay. Last reply by Richey Kay Nov 9, 2013. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Rand Moore Nov 4, 2013. 6 Replies 1 Like
Started by Richey Kay. Last reply by Richey Kay Nov 4, 2013. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rand Moore. Last reply by Rand Moore Aug 22, 2013. 9 Replies 0 Likes
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