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What is the height range you guys use for your go-bar decks? I know this stuff is being discussed in other threads, but what is the general height range you guys use for when you do braces vs. gluing top or back on?

Thanks!

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

Mine is set up to do all sorts of tasks from brace clamping to top and back attachment clamping so mine is higher than most at 36" total possible deck height. because it is so tall I used 3/4" all thread rods for my posts instead of the typical 3/8". I also mounted it on a 20" heavy duty lazy Susan. one of the best thoughts I have ever had

Mine has a maximum of 2 feet between top and bottom plates and can be adjusted to less. The plates are two 3/4 inch thick plywood sheets and 2 feet square and plenty stiff. I got my rods and rod tips from intothewind.com a kite store in Boulder, CO.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Edit. Each of the plates are two 3/4 inch plates.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

On second thought, the rods are 24", so my plates must be more than 24" apart. Maybe 30" is more like it.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Thanks guys! That's really all I needed. Told you it was quick and easy.

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

Only you can work out the perfect height for you go-bar set up. You need to know several measurements first.

If like me you use it for gluing on the top and back as well as gluing braces you need to be able to adjust either the top or the bottom, I decided to fix the top and change the height of the base.

So, you need the length of the go-bars you are going to use for example 24", then the thickness of the radius dish centre say 1/2" (mine are double sided so actually come to about 1 1/4") and also the depth of you usual guitar body say 4". Add together 24 + 1/2 + 4 = 28 1/2". Take off 1" for rod flex gives a distance from top of base to underside of top to be 27 1/2". To brace the plates I sit the dish on a platform of about 4" thickness to get the 1" or so flex in the rods.

My go-bar frame has no side supports being attached to steel brackets on the wall, so I have uninterupted access on three sides, so I had to have the base adjustable. Here's some pictures which may make it clearer:



This shows the top brackets. As you can see for my flat lute tops I replace the dish with a sheet of 18mm ply.



Bracing the top with the dish on it's raised platform.



gluing on the back with the just the dish underneath.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Not so fast: there don't seem to be too many 'quick answers' in this business, no matter how fast the questions go by! ;)

My first go-bar deck was just a piece of 3/4" ply screwed to the ceiling above one of the bench tops. The ceiling was low, but not that low! When I set up my new shop, I made the decks that same height, so that I could use all the old bars, and that's 44" off the bench top.

The longer the bars are, the less force you will get for a given thickness of go-bar. I use 5/16" dowel, and get about 8#/bar, which seems to work well for me. I'll note that the force you get from a go-bar is almost the same from the time it starts to bend until it breaks. At any rate, the lower force might be seen as a disadvantage by some. I feel that it's easy enough to use lots of them, and the low force per bar and tight spacing gives even pressure.   

So, what are the advantages of a tall 'deck' like mine? One is that it gives you more of a range of heights that you can clamp with a given length bar before the bars are bent too much. Another is that it's easy to get at things on the deck; no stooping to get my head under. My decks (I have two) are simply benchtops, and can be used as such when they're not clamping something. Both of them, BTW, are peninsula benches, so it's easy to get at three sides to clean up glue and such. Also, since my ceilings now are higher than the ones in the old shop, I've built the top surfaces of the decks as the bottoms of open ended boxes, and use them to store the go-bars. All I have to do is reach up.

Mine is 32" high from base plate to top plate, and sits on a mobile base that can be rolled into and out of my shop as needed. The mobile base allows me to sit comfortably while using it, and spin the deck as needed for access, etc. The mobile base is a small storage cabinet (flea market find) too.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Still usin' that go-bar deck, Bill?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Still usin' that go-bar deck, Bill?
[/QUOTE]

Yes, to glue plates to the rim. I use a ratty, old vacuum press for braces.   

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Mines about the same size as Todd's. It is on wheels so I can access from 4 sides and have storage. I use shorter go bars to glue top and back so there is no adjusting. Works great for me.





Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......