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Over-bowed braced top and back...how to fix??


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Hi everyone,

New member here, (Scott Milligan from Toronto, Canada) that desperately needs help. I'm in the middle of my second acoustic build and unfortunately am dealing with an extremely over bowed top and back because I didn't keep an eye on them while storing them for a few months since I last was building in March.

Is there any way to bring them back to their original radius (back 22, top 28) so they will fit my sides? I've been told a couple of days back at the same relative humidity level should do it. Problem is I braced it in March (at likely 30-35) and now it's July and I'm having trouble getting the humidity level below 50 with the AC cranked and the dehumidifier going non-stop.

I've included a photo of the gap between the back and my sides to show the issue.

Any help is appreciated!

Cheers,

Scott

 

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The humidity has been a curse this spring for me too, and June was the worst.  I have a ceiling mount shop heater that I built a shelf under for curing coatings, speeding epoxy cure etc. and the gentle heat coupled with your AC would really do it, if you had a low temp heater hanging over the top.  Lower humidity will work too, but just take longer, but it will work.   

Its hard to believe that it can go back, but it will, once dried.  I'm sure the humidity up in Toronto has been as bad as here.   

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I am just winging this out there- I assume you have a go bar deck or similar set up- can you place the top back in the radius dish- then starting with the middle only- brace the top in the dish- let it sit for a few days- then work out from there and gently get the top back to the correct radius- monitoring the humidity the whole time of course. Repeat for back or if you are lucky enough to have two go-bars/radius dishes do a dual set up. It would take some time to do- but you could gently coerce that top and back into shape that way (I think). maybe I am off base here- 

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I guess the other question would be what glue did you use for the bracing - titebond or hide glue?  Either will move a little with heat, (hide obviously more, and possible for full delam is hot enough).  So consider the heat part with glues.  If it were at perfect radii when glued, then adjusting humidy back down should be fine, but I am concerned about micro shear / creeping of the glue joint at the braces, considering there is a lot of shear stress on them right now.  

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