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Glued in the bevel this last weekend while I was working on the rosette. Test fit and glue.



Since my tops are dead flat I put the bevel in slightly above level to have some routing room.



After it dries I route and sand to my final profile.




Normally I would now reinsert the sides into my radius / profiling molds and take them back to spec with the router, like in my SC Prototype build, see below...





But I have the backs glued in so it wouldn't fit into my molds. So I spent an hour + hand sanding and radius dish sanding, that sucked!!! Note to self, check your steps before moving forward!! I'll get it next time.

Todd,
Ok, let me make sure I'm understanding this just right. First off are you setting the bevel slightly above the rib edge or below? Because the level in the picture shows it below unless the whole table is on a slant or I'm missing something which is a possibility.
On your profile/radius mold. Are you first leveling the top lining and then putting in a tapered/profile insert and flipping the ribs over with top down and then tapering the back? I'm also a bit confused as to how you get the radius angle on the lining that will glue to the back. Is there something I can't see in the photos. Or after you profile the side are you just doing a quick sanding on a radius dish to establish the radius in the top of the linings and tail block and neck block?
How do you like that PC laminate router also?

Hey Chris,

Set the bevel slightly above the ribs. When I took the pic I pulled my hand away and the weight of the level must have pushed it down.

And the trick to the molds is, There's 2!! Top Mold and Back Mold. The Back Mold has my back taper and radius built in, which you can see in the photo with the router on the mold. It tapers just more then 5/8's of an inch from front to back and was machined to have a 15' radius built in so I can run my router and size my sides to just above where they will end up in final form before I glue in my kerfing, and then when the kerfing is in I re-run the router to put the radius in kerfing. I also glue in my end blocks with this mold.

The second mold has the front to back taper and 15' radius built into the insert in the bottom so after I've radius'd my kerfing and sides I can flip them over into my top mold and the radius on the back makes the kerfing act like a clamp and I can flush route my top kerfing, bevel, and front fall away at the same time. So I have no variation when it comes to the next guitar everything is dead on and even. This usually orks unless you glue on your backs and take away all flex from the sides!!!

The laminate router is perfect. I leave that bit in it and only use it route off back and top waste and this step too. It can't change speeds so your stuck with lots of power all the time and the height adjustment is fine for me as I don't need to finesse my height's at all, I either need more or less. So all in all I love it for what I use it for, but that's all I use it for.

Oh! Two molds. That's a pretty cool setup. I'm planning on building 4 of my sloped shoulder Dreds, P-45 . I might have to give some thought to building something like that. Thanks for getting me straight on it.
Sometimes you just need an extra arm to get some of those pictures.
I wanted to know if the bevel insert and the way you do is your own method or is that also the way Kevin Ryan does his too. When I do mine I want to make sure I give credit do to the right people. Like should I call it the Lunneborg method or a Ryan/Lunneborg method?

Nice work Todd! I always enjoy your builds, and the neat and tidey work you do is just great.
Thxs
Hugh

Hey Chris, I have no idea how Kevin actually installs his. I just know that my finished look is like Kevins, Brian applegate told me how to do some of the up coming steps to get a cleaner result, but I mostly made up the rest. I saw a picture of Kevin's insert in my FBJ (Fretboard Journal) article and saw Brians' insert just after he'd CNC'd it but hadn't cut it out of the block or installed it, and went home and made my own. I look at pics and get general tips from guys who will share and fake the rest. I'd go with a "Ryan" bevel and if anyone asks how you can say I showed you how to goof it up just right!!

If you wanna see how I build the molds check out my SC Prototype build here on the forum.

Thanks for the "neat and tidy," Hugh. I don't think I'm clean enough yet, but I'll get there.

T.

Whatever happened with this guitar? Have you made any more progress on it? Dennis showed me this awhile back before I was even a member here and I remembered being fascinated with the idea. While searching for some nomex info on here today it came back up and thus renewed my interest in this design idea. If I'm not mistaken you'll be at Healdsburg too won't you? I look forward to talking to you about this!
Chris

Found a crack in the back wood right by the center seam so I need to creatively hide/repair it with a fanned out backstrip. So it's sitting on the shelf until after Healdsburg.
It's the one without a neck, although the neck and bridge are done and ready to go once the body is fixed and bound.