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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on December 11, 2010 at 11:16am

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Hi All.

 

Here is a discussion thread elsewhere on CBN that relates to box building. Read and enjoy. The topic is a bit advanced, but you can come back and re-read it as you gain more experience. It seems each box has a sweet spot where it resonates best and that that is a good place to put your bridge. So, perhaps a better building technique is to first find the sweet spot of your box and then, based on that location for your bridge, determine the scale of your instrument and the fret locations. Just more food for thought.

 

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on December 11, 2010 at 11:47am

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Here is a discussion about using a tone plate in a Cigar Box guitar. First a photo:

And a link to the thread. In December, 2008, Perfesser Blue said: "I have the tone plate demonstrated on the uke I recorded "Ridin' Down The Canyon" with. I have also tried a tone plate with a free floating central tongue that worked well. By and large, though, I have not noticed a huge amount of difference with a tone plate, it's much more important is to have good resonance in your soundboard and bracing." Thanks for the photo, Perfessor Blue... nice concept.

 

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on December 13, 2010 at 4:10am

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Oh, I forgot. The "discussion thread elsewhere on CBN that relates to box building" is titled "Testing a box for bridge placement".

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on March 18, 2011 at 7:23am

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Here are some video tutorials on methods for making "box joints".

The first is a little fuzzy, and the narration a bit dry, but it gives a good outline on making precision basic box joints on a router table. It should give an idea as well on how a router joint template works, as well as how dovetail joints are routed. The second video is an animation outlining the same box joint method on a table saw with a dado blade.

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on March 19, 2011 at 6:29am

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Thanks for the videos. Hope they are good ones. I won't be able to view them until next time I go to the States (or at least leave China - Youtube and all the other non-Chinese video hosting sites are blocked here in China).

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on March 19, 2011 at 8:58am

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Hmm, I hadnt considered that challenge. Sorry to hear it.

If I set up to do something along these lines soon I will take some photos and post an outline of the process. Its really quite simple once you see it.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on March 25, 2011 at 7:38am

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Actually, I am quite satisfied with my hand made box joints using a razor saw, a chisel and hammer. I get really tight joints when I do two boards at a lime and after chiseling out the "holes", flip one of the boards over and fit them together. Beats doing them one board at a time and hoping for the best. I do appreciate knowing about other methods using alternate approaches and tools, including table saws and routers - for the benefit of our other readers. My workshop consists of half my computer desk. So, I'm literally a small time builder and using hand tools suit me just fine. Maybe, one day, I'll find a way to come up with a real workshop.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on March 25, 2011 at 7:38am

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Rand Moore said:

Actually, I am quite satisfied with my hand made box joints using a razor saw, a chisel and hammer. I get really tight joints when I do two boards at a time and after chiseling out the "holes", flip one of the boards over and fit them together. Beats doing them one board at a time and hoping for the best. I do appreciate knowing about other methods using alternate approaches and tools, including table saws and routers - for the benefit of our other readers. My workshop consists of half my computer desk. So, I'm literally a small time builder and using hand tools suit me just fine. Maybe, one day, I'll find a way to come up with a real workshop.

-Rand.