Comment

Comment by Brian MacLean on August 7, 2014 at 1:31pm

Oh yeah, it was only supposed to be 5mm deep and It kept getting deeper after I had my crazy idea to widen the slot to accommodate the thin wood insert. Lesson learned, stick to the plan. No freestylin'.

Comment by Brian MacLean on August 7, 2014 at 1:27pm

Thanks! That bow tie looks like a mighty strong idea, and it looks sharp too.

I know what you mean now, Oily! It was a bitch, hah! I have some thick black felt glued to fill the gap behind the thinner part of wood, mostly just to cushion it from breaking, Im gonna risk that it's strong enough the way it is and hope for the best. I can't wait to start my next build, now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing. My original idea was to slot only the main box side and make the thinner insert flush with the neck but at some point while I was filing I had a change of heart and didn't quite think it though. Here's hoping'...

Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on August 7, 2014 at 10:57am

Comment by Bad Finger (Eric) on August 7, 2014 at 10:56am

If you were really overly concerned about strength, put a bow-tie between the two pieces as well.  They aren't too difficult to cut with a chisel.

Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 7, 2014 at 10:26am

Side gap. I realize you have a thick box bottom, with a thinner box insert as you go from the base of the heel upward towards the fretboard. Just seems from the pics that that would be a bitch to cut with hand tools.

Comment by Brian MacLean on August 7, 2014 at 9:56am

Oily, do you mean the side gap or top gap? The side is my slot for the bottom half of the box, my intention was to make the rounded heel look cleaner against the box. The top gap is just cosmetic bevel from the edge, I've since filled it with wood filler so it's not noticeable. I'll post more photos soon.

Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 6, 2014 at 3:20pm

Brian,

I realize you're gonna overlap the top joint with a mahogany fretboard. That will def strengthen the join.

I was worried about the side gap. It looks huge in the photo, but may just be cosmetic.

Comment by Brian MacLean on August 6, 2014 at 3:08pm

Thanks for all the advice and kind words guys! Ron, I have my mahogany fretboard to overlap the gap. It's not much of a gap(bevels on the edges) its as flush as I could make it without taking off too much wood. I only own hand tools haha, also I'm a beginner word worker. Maybe for the next build I'll invest in some modern tools.

Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 5, 2014 at 12:46pm

Relieve the neck beneath the soundboard about 1/8". Leave about 1" of wood in from the overlap, then start your relief there. Do the same at the tail end. How are you gonna fill that gap in the neck?

Comment by Uncle John on August 5, 2014 at 12:37pm

Nice work, man.  I think that should be strong enough.   And it ought to still sound decent acoustic and great plugged in.