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Hmm, reminds me, I have a spare Dremel tool..................
Could cut down the puckering in the nether regions.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I just thought of this today. When you have to take the neck off a fender with the slotted tuning posts to adjust the truss rod tape off the strings so they don't pop off.

It worked.

Cool. I sometimes use a capo to do the same thing.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

me too. Same thing if I want to pull the pins on an acoustic bridge for something but don't want to pull the strings like if I need to take a little height off of a saddle.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

C*po here as well and it helps keep things sorted nicely too especially on a 12 when you have to pull the saddle because of course everyone in the world and beyond... wants lower action ya know....

Well this thread got buried, so I thought I would revive it.
When I am installing a rosette in the top, I rout out a small area in the center of the sound hole. In this case the purfling is about .065" deep, so I routed the hole out at about .030". I can keep my eye on the little cavity and make sure I don't sand too deep and go through my purfling. In this case I could just look at the ends of the purfling strips, but most times they are matched up at the ends. This one will be hidden by the fret board extension
Another thing I do is sand to final thickness before I cut out the sound hole plug. I don't know why it happens, but if I cut out the sound hole before thicknessing, the area around the sound hole seems to get thinner than the rest of the top. I know you think I am hallucinating, but it happens.

Here’s a little doodad for making 12 string life a little easier. Just a bag clip and some foam…

That will make 6-string life a lot easier as well. Thanks

I use a length of Velco hook and loop to hold the strings together when taking out pins as well as the capo.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I think I’ve shared this here before, just not in this thread. There are a lot of ways to cut binding and purfling to make a neat joint. I often use Terry’s mini miter box - http://www.kennedyguitars.com/binding-cutting-aid.html

Lately I’ve been using the miter box to get it close and then the last shaving I use a disassembled combo square to trap the binding and keep the cut true and squared up. I cannot remember where I first saw this, maybe here.







Brad


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Just another option. I have always used a chisel in the past but for the last few I made something similar to what Kennedy uses. The jig has a groove for the purfling and I cut both the binding and purfling at the same time. The saw you use makes a big difference, I use a veneer saw and I don't do any additional trimming.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Great tips, Brad and Steve! I use my disc sander to square the ends of bindings and purflings before putting them on the guitar, which works great for the butt end of the top (since the neck end doesn’t matter) and one end of the back, but the other end of the back always has to be done on the guitar. I’ll have to try these ideas out!

Here's one I have to share....
For all of the tops I have joined so I have used the simple method of 3 wedges on a workboard to bring the plates together.
Because there is no top pressure to align the joint, sometimes they are not perfect.
The plate are thick enough that that is not usually a problem.
Yesterday I thought - why not join the plates in the go-bar deck to provide some overhead clamping pressure?
So I did, and the results were perfect! Super easy to do with my existing setup.
Very happy...

I use the tape method but also do that on the gobar deck with a packing tape covered piece of 3/4" x 1" ply (I'm a little sloppy with the glue). The deck is also covered with packing tape under the joint. I see Rob has waxed paper under it.

4 aluminium sash clamps and some of my planes, greaseproof paper on the 18mm MDF underneath is my choice too.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Lots of ways to keep the two sides of the top or back from popping up. I stretch large silicone rubber bands on both sides of the seam, parallel to the seam, anchored by dowels in the edges of the backing board. This provides plenty of downward pressure, but allows the wood to move side to side so the seam can go together well. I’ve used a few different types of clamping pressure, but I keep coming back to simple wedges along the far side of one half and a flat, straight board along the far side of the other half. Effective, easy to modify for odd shaped parts, and really fast to apply the pressure, which is important when you are working with hide glue.

Thanks Don, I like that idea of using those long silicone rubber bands anchored by dowels in the backing board to apply seam pressure..
I will keep that in mind if I don't feel like setting up the go-bar deck only to join a top...