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All this talk about making notches for braces... I had to do tonight, so I thought I'd post a few pics.

I followed the method Cumpiano describes on the very first guitar I ever made and I knew there had to be a better way--that was awful.

So here it is, pretty simple.



A laminate trimmer with 1/8" downshear bit stuck on a long board. The board is longish so I can lay it across the rims to follow the trajectory of the brace.



Last picture shows the finished back braces installed and a notch in the linigs up on top. I don't bust through the sides because I find it helps to locate the top a bit for more easily for gluing.

Bob,

Cool! Simple, and effective.   

Thank you.

Jeff

Jeff, my pleasure. Cutting notches now takes me about 15 minutes.

Bob, please explain how you get the braces to the precise size to fit in there. TIA?

I align the plates and tape them firmly in place. I then use an exacto knife to mark the rims by lightly pressing the blade against the brace and making a single cut onto the top of the rim.

Once the brace locations are all marked on the rims, I flip over the mold and mark the braces with a pencil line against the linings.

I then pull off the tape and make a new mark 3/16" beyond the pencil mark which is my cut line. I then pare the end of every brace to 0.100" which is the depth at which I set the router bit.

Back to the rims. I place a straight edge across the rims that follows the path of the brace to make my pencil marks. I then mark them in such a way that I always "take" the pencil line with the router.

You can either either always "leave" the line or "take" the line, but you gotta pick one!

Hope that's clear.

Bob, Thanks! Your pictures and explanation are much appreciated.

Bob I do just about exact the same but I clear cut the though the sides and cut the braces flush with the router after gule-up and before routing for binding.

This is great Bob,
I just happen to be at this stage with a build and this technique is a good one to know.
Thanks for the great pics.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com