Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by jawbone on June 20, 2016 at 4:11pm

I make my own boxes, just because I can't find a ready supply of CB's, plus I find them fiddly to work with, plus I have a forest full of trees and a bandsaw. I don't do anything fancy, I did a couple with dovetail corners but switched to butt joints with dowels. The sides are about 5/8" thick and 2" high - the boxes average about 8 x 12" unless it is for a licence plate or whatever. 

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on June 20, 2016 at 11:03pm

I just bought some oak plywood 1/4" to start making my own boxes, like Jawbone it's tough to get a good ready supply especially of common size boxes. Many of the cigar bars around me will sell the empties but I found I get what the church ladies don't pick up and what a couple other builders pay extra for certain boxes that the bars hold onto for them. I've tried to find a supplier of raw boxes or someone to build them for me at a low cost but haven't done so well so I decided to attempt hacking out my own this coming weekend and see how it goes. Haven't found any good plans or tutorials, so maybe someone else has or has seen something.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on June 22, 2016 at 12:11am

This drawing is for a reso with a dovetailed neck.To make a neck through,substitute a plain top and miss out the neck and tail blocks.You wouldn't need the back bracing either.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 22, 2016 at 7:24am

I make my own boxes for license plate resonators... I typically use 1/4" hardwood (same as my fretboards.) I use a corner clamp to ensure they are square and just butt them up. A piece of rectangular scrap fills the corners and makes then stronger...

John

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Permalink Reply by Grandpa on June 23, 2016 at 10:08am

As with John Sawyer's reply I make lpg boxes from 1/4" red oak plywood, which I sometimes use for the bottom also. Other times I use paneling and in one build I used twin matching plates. As John stated, a scrap glued into each corner, and also one appropriately placed to screw down the license plate. Box is painted or stained, sometimes distressed with chain or chisel and a jitterbug sander.

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Permalink Reply by gary herget on June 22, 2016 at 10:58am

I use door skins to make LPG's, just put bracing in the corners and you're good to go.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 23, 2016 at 5:33pm

I normally use door skins for the bottoms.  Glue them up, and then cleanup on the belt sander.

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on June 24, 2016 at 1:37pm

I use 1/4" wood for the sides. I have used both pine and oak. I like spruce tops. I cut 1/8" slices off of a 2x3, plane the edges and glue them together. I make the back similarly, but with whatever wood I am using for the sides. The fronts are glued on and the backs are screwed on. The box sides have a simple 45 degree cut at the corners and corner blocking. I glue a rim round the back of the sides to use as a base for the screws for screwing the back on.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Giesey on June 25, 2016 at 2:42am

Thanks for all the replys. Lots of good ideas!

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Permalink Reply by Sharecropper on June 25, 2016 at 10:45am

Home Made Resonator Boxes 101, v.2.0  This link is to a group on this site.   Lots of info. there. 

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Permalink Reply by Brett Giesey on June 27, 2016 at 2:47am

Sounds good. I like the idea of lighter. My first attempt I just cut out the body from a 2x12 and cutout the middle, guitar shaped. Glued on the top and back. Looks good but heavy! Thanks for the replys.

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Permalink Reply by JL on June 28, 2016 at 1:24am

I bet it doesn't suffer from being headstock heavy, lol

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