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Laminated Sides


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I am thinking of a 12 string acoustic fir my next project.

Rather than heat and bend the sides I thought of getting 0.6mm thick veneers and glue together 3 or 4 pieces to make the sides.

0.6mm veneers will bend easily enough, clamp 2 together in a body mould and add others when set.

What do you guys think of the idea ?

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I am thinking of a 12 string acoustic fir my next project.

Rather than heat and bend the sides I thought of getting 0.6mm thick veneers and glue together 3 or 4 pieces to make the sides.

0.6mm veneers will bend easily enough, clamp 2 together in a body mould and add others when set.

What do you guys think of the idea ?

Bending the sides would be easier than what you are thinking about doing.

Peace,Rich

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Jaycee,

The reason I believe it would be kinda complicated. You have to keep the wood locked in place tight to a mold to maintain square and shaped sides. Then while it is locked in you would have to add glue then clamp the sides evenly to get good compression and continue to maintain the shape. This would have to be reapeaded and I would say your chances of having an uneven glue joint or warped/twisted side would be high. In the end you would have a plywood side also(for what thats worth). Make a side bender(several economic ways to build them), or build a bending pipe with an inexpensive heat source. Bending is not as hard as people think. Wood fibers are held together by a substance that is much like hide glue(to illustrate). Like hide glue it becomes pliable at a given temp(usually around 250 deg.F give or take a few degrees). When you heat wood it to that temp. the fibers move easily, and like hide glue the wood sets when it cools. I think people get confused about how this works because of the use of steam or soaking, and maybe they have tried bending wood that was not up to temp with no luck. Give it a go you will see just how easy it is.

Peace,Rich

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I am thinking of a 12 string acoustic fir my next project.

Rather than heat and bend the sides I thought of getting 0.6mm thick veneers and glue together 3 or 4 pieces to make the sides.

0.6mm veneers will bend easily enough, clamp 2 together in a body mould and add others when set.

What do you guys think of the idea ?

Jaycee, While I think that bending the sides may be less work, I would think that lams would work as well. Espesicially if both sides are the same contour. I would make the lams oversize and cut it down the middle then run on a jointer for the width/thickness. This would give you 2 sides equal.

I hope I'm making some since as this is how I have seen bent lam rockers made for chairs. So if the rockers or (sides in your case) need to be 2in high and 3/4 thick then the lams are made to the curvature of the form 3/4 in thick and 4 1/2 high. Then run through a bandsaw to make 2 pieces 2 1/4 wide/high, then jointed to 2in. Now they are a perfect match. well just my thoughts!!!!!!!! Hope that helps and if not just think I'm just a rambling old fart!!! LOL:)_)))))

Mike

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OK Thanks guys some more food for thought. Maybe I might try bending and see what type of results I get. As you pointed out Rich I ( as well as others it seems )do have this impression that bending is harder than it actually is .

But then again I thought building a guitar was going to be harder than it was.

I suprised my friends as well as myself

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Hi Jaycee, I found the part of bending the sides for my archtop to be an enjoyable task. In his book "Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technology" Cumpiano writes: "in few other woodworking experiences do you so directly work the wood with your bare hands. And he is absolutely right! -Vinny

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Hi Jaycee, I found the part of bending the sides for my archtop to be an enjoyable task. In his book "Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technology" Cumpiano writes: "in few other woodworking experiences do you so directly work the wood with your bare hands. And he is absolutely right! -Vinny

I am thinking of tracking the book down and getting it as a few forumites have mentioned it in thier posts

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you absolutely promise to send it back, I'll post you my copy of Cumpiano's book.

If you don't send it back, I'll come down to Wales and half inch all your sheep :D

Thats a great offer thanks.

I have to make sure my sheep are secure first, :D and I am going into Cardiff in the next week or so which will give me chance to check the library, they had a few guitar making books in there but I can't remember which ones they were.

But I may yet take you up on your offer

P.S. Just don't send the crazy cat 'round with the machine gun

Cheers

Edited by jaycee
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I live in Barry about 8 miles from Cardiff, so it's only 20 min by train, easier than taking the car i'm in there every couple of weeks any way

I just went online and they list it and it says thats it's available.

Great idea I wouldn't have thought of checking online thanks

I checked online to see if my local library has the book and they do. Only thing is they are closed until January because of moving into a new building

Edited by jaycee
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