nollock Posted October 1, 2005 Report Share Posted October 1, 2005 How do you go about surfacing a body blank or top? I mean the surface for gluening the top and back togther. I have a thickneser and jointer but neither are wide enough. My first guitar i glued the top and back half pieces together before i joined then into the the blank. I noticed that most people glue the bookmatch together and then glue that onto the body, i cant work out how i can get a good flat surface with the tools i have. I can use a router jig to thickness it but that still leaves it a bit rough. thanks, chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 If all of your surfaces are square and level before you glue the book matched top together(and assuming you glue the top together properly), you shouldn't face too much problem gluing the top to an equally flat body blank. One little trick that helps to get the two book matched top pieces to be perfectly level with one another is to biscuit joint them where you'll be routing for your neck pock or pickups. This way you don't have to worry about the biscuit showing up when you're carving the top; it just gets routed away in the neck pocket anyhow. It serves its purpose well while the top's in the clamps though. As far as leveling a whole body blank goes, I can't give you much advice, I know some people use thickness sanders. I just figure it's easier(at least for someone w/o a thickness sander) to just make sure you thickness plane and joint the sides of your boards before you glue up your body blank. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8rofwyo Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 If you have - or have access to handplanes - your in business as far as leveling a one piece body blank goes. If you have them or can borrow them, then make sure they are tuned and practice on scrap first. Otherwise a thickness sander or 20" planer are the other options I can think of, but they tend to be a bit on the pricey side. Hope this helps, good luck! Nate Robinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Router planers can work (if you build 'em big enough), hand planes are easier and better, and if you're on a budget, and have a nice flat slab of (say) MDF as a tabletop, stick some 80 grit paper to it and do things that way. It's not elegant, but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 I use my router jointer jig. It leaves a flat enough surface to glue after 5 minutes with a sharp jack plane and large flat sanding block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 I tried Setch's method, but I'm just too clumsy to make it work right (or my router's just too damn cheap). No way I'm patient enough (and accurate enough to do handplaning...) Anyway, I asked around and found a cabinetmaker with a thicknesser large enough to handle my blank. That worked just great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nollock Posted October 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 I did try using a plane but couldn't get it to cut fine enough. But it turns out i had been setting it up wrong, i had been puting a 45 deg angle on the blade, oops! So I reground the blade, sharpened it on an oil stole and whe hey, it's taking tiny sub wafer thin shavings off. 10 minutes planing and my blank is spot on. cheers, chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 Aren't planes great? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araz Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 Chris, I designed and built this router planing table. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=18537 It's 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. I do all my surfacing with it from small to large pieces and it works great. You can get very smooth surfaces, specially if you sand afterwards with an orbital sander. It's well worth the time to build it for someone who doesn't have a real thicknesser. Araz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 Yeah, cause I've got a 3/16" spruce top that I'm about to glue on, and it's no that the top isn't flat... it's just that since its such a soft wood with all those grain lines perpendicular to the center line at the edge it's just got LITTLE places where not ALL of it closes tight to a gapless seal (TINY gaps, no bigger than like.. rosewood grain). I was hoping I could just use my palm sander and get all this out... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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