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This looks like a really nice way to do the edges of a guitar. I have no idea how luthier Daniel Brauchli does it, but i sure would love to know how. Any Ideas?

Is the back done the same way? You could accomplish that same no-binding finish, using the Romanillos build method, where the sides are butted to the edges of the top. The purfling could then be set in a channel around the edge, and that would clean it up to a perfect match up. I suppose, you could do the same with the back, just inset it instead of overlapping it. It would be tricky to accomplish the gluing of the linings, and they would have to be pre-shaped. for the doming of the back.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

You would want the side cleaned up and sanded to remove any irregularities before you cut the channel for the purfling so your guide bearing wold not cause a problem with the channel being wavy due to a low spot in the side that the bearing ran through.

Kind of a cool look

That is pretty cool looking... it looks like the top was inlaid into the rim.

Were I to try it, I might glue linings into the side, mount the rim onto a mold having a top level with the top of the rim, and use that setup to route the linings to a consistent depth using a binding cutting setup. Then cut out a top and glue it in. Finally, a purfling channel could be cut and purflings inlayed.

Of course, I'm just speculating on what I might do; I have no idea how Brauchli does it.

With the back/rim assembly held firmly in a mold or fixture
attach your linings inset the thickness of the top from the upper edge. Glue a series of identical riser blocks on top of the linings that will raise the edge of the untrimmed top above the upper side edge. Rough trim and glue the finished top in its final position on top of the blocks. Using a router set up with a bearing guide to make a cut equal to the thickness of the sides plus any purflings, trim the top to size using the edge of the side as a guide and the blade clearance such (you need to regulate the heaight of the riser blocks appropriately) that you only cut and thereby precisely profile the top.
Pop the top off through the riser blocks, dress the top and linings, cut the brace notches and glue the top by dropping
it into the recess.
I once replaced the top on an old Martin Uke with this technique and I believe that Taylor uses it all the time for top replacements.......the advantage in repair is that you can preserve the original top bindings and finish. Used in building it can obviously create a different edge treatment...........I'm not sure if this is exactly how the pictured guitar was done but this is the way that I have done it.....

This is a quote from Daniel's website



So I think Waddy and David are right in their identification of how this would be done.

Very cool look. So, would the purflling be inlayed before the top was installed?

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I would think, after. Then it would cover up any imperfections in the match between the top and sides. It would also save some time in not having to be quite so perfect in the top / side match.

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Waddy

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I really like this technique.

Thaat's not an electric - Daniel makes acoustic lap slides.

Surely there's more going on here though. Unless he makes incredibly thick sldes, the rounded top edges of the sides are the normal thin sides bent into that shape against the linings. So he would have to have rounded over linings with a rabit edge for the top and purfligs to sit in, bend over glue the sides to the rounded over bindings, route the edge of the sides for the top fit and then do what David describes above.

Clever stuff

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

The sides aren't bent at all over the linings, but are rounded after assembly. The purflings
do cover the joint between the top and sides, but not because there is a sloppy joint or alot
of gaps. Daniel Brauchli is an incredible builder with skills that will boggle the minds of most
others.

Ron Thorn of Thorn Guitars developed a techinique for inlaying his tops into the body, but
he's building electrics and is a very talented CNC programmer/operator. There are absolutely no
distinguishable gaps between his tops and side edges. Taylor recently started doing the very
same thing almost ten years after Ron started it. The technique gives the appearance of binding
being present when the edges are, in fact, part of the body slab.

In the case of Brauchli's guitars, the sides are bent just like any of us builders bend our sides
and the top is very accurately cut to sit down in against the linings as they're set to a depth
away from the edge equal to the desired thickness of the top. It would be impossible to create a
bend over the linings at the radius that is present there.

With the radius cut on that exposed edge, we're getting the illusion of the side being much
thicker than it is.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Kevin,

Thanks - I couldn't figure how you would bend the tops of the sides. The optics are fascinating as from the photo the sides where they are rounded look much, much wider than 2mm or so. Still clever stuf

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Fantastic.

I do like this technique, I've been trying to figure out the most efficient method all day.

The purfling channel I assume would be routed afterwards, and hide a multitude of possible 1/64th gap sins (better add a few of these ) between a trickily cut top and the sides......

David LaPlante posted a tutorial on how it would possibly be pulled off using elevators of some sort
to lift the top in order to use the outside surface of the sides as a guide for the depth guide or bearing
while its profile is cut t follow it exactly.

With the bearing allowing the cutter to reach in far enough to allow the top to fall inside the sides
with the addition f the width of the intended purfling lines there will be no gaps to speak of since it would
be nearly impossible to cut too deep.

I like the look and like everything I've ever seen built by Daniel Brauchli. He has always reminded of
Fred Carlson with his very creative and completely unique designs. Both are inspirational to no end.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars