OK, I been slackin'
Well, actually I have been working on this, but just not posting as I should. So I will post some progress - The Back Braces
Now, this is a small guitar, but it does not want for back braces. The original has 5 back braces, and I am following it as best as I can
Here are the mahogany brace blanks, same wood as I made the neck out of
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/whitespruce/guitars2/227backbrace1.jpg)
I laid them across my radius dish and marked the curve with a pencil. Then I rough planed them to the line and finished them with sandpaper in the dish mold
I glued on the center reinforcement strip and made one of those sanding gizmotches to round it down. I think it was Dave L that I copied this from
Then I laid the braces on and marked the center strip with a knife cut where I had to chisel it out
Here is the chiseling
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/whitespruce/guitars2/227backbrace4.jpg)
One thing to mention again...the back is cocobolo and I just glued with Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue and I did not bother to clean off the wood first. As you can see, the center strip did not just pop off - I had to shave it all off...
...and then scrape the last bit off with a razor blade
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/whitespruce/guitars2/227backbrace5.jpg)
So forget all the acetone, fresh sanded surface, epoxy crap and just get some Elmers. Oh, and I joined the back plates with the same glue and the joined back laid around the shop over a month before I glued on the reinforcement strip...and it did not come apart
So here it is ready to glue in the braces
And the actual deed
The glue is dry and I gotta start working these down
First order of business is to thin them down a bit
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/whitespruce/guitars2/227backbrace10jpg.jpg)
Big pile of shavings
Then I taped over the center strip and started rounding the braces
I taped all along the braces for the final shaping and sanding
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/whitespruce/guitars2/227backbrace12jpg.jpg)
The shaving pile got pretty big...I probably took off at least half of the brace wood
So here is the final result
I have a lot more done, actually will be closing the box maybe tomorrow, but I gotta edit a bunch of photos before I can post any more. Got a new camera and just figured out how to get the photos onto the computer last night.
So, more to come
G