pariah223 Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 I am about to brace up my soundboard for my first acoustic, but i do not have radius dishes. I am the type who likes to build everything i can, even if it costs more in time or materials in the long run ( i just like building stuff). So im curious to see what everyone does to make there radius dishes, so i can start dabbling in that area. thanks! Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Mattia posted a really good picture of his rig up some time ago, can't remember where he posted it though. Maybe he will be along shortly. I use the same basic setup he uses, two rails that have the radius you are wanting hold and guide your router over your dish blank. You need to keep the blank centered and still be able to spin it. This can be done with guides around the blank, or you can attach it to a disc that is held in place with a centered dowl. You spin your blank and move the router closer to the center as you progress. I got tired of spinning the blank by hand and attached a motor (dc with speed control *you need it to spin fairly slow and easy so the router can do its job). I also attached a dust collector to pull as much of the router leavings as I could (routing dishes is messy). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pariah223 Posted February 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 so what do you make your dishes out of. im guessing mdf, and the thickest i can get locally is 3/4 inch. that somehow dosnt seem thick enough tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carousel182 Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 3/4 mdf with another layer glued under it is perfect. it actually doesn't go into the second layer, its just their to make it stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Honestly, just check the MIMF.com or google 'dished workboard' and you'll find descriptions and instructions on building dishes. Plenty easy. And yes, two layers of 3/4" MDF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pariah223 Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 can anyone tell me why some dishes are circles, and others are shaped like guitars? I assume its the same idea, just easier to center on a guitar shaped one? As you can see, i know nothing about sanding dishes or go bar presses. Im an electric builder. Thanks for telling me to google dished workboard. I have searched radius dish, sanding dish, and other things similar and found nothing as good as what i found with dished workboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 can anyone tell me why some dishes are circles, and others are shaped like guitars? I assume its the same idea, just easier to center on a guitar shaped one? As you can see, i know nothing about sanding dishes or go bar presses. Im an electric builder. Thanks for telling me to google dished workboard. I have searched radius dish, sanding dish, and other things similar and found nothing as good as what i found with dished workboard. You should look into the building process. It would make more sense to you. A workboard with a radiused surface has its purposes based on the style of building and how you want to build. Personally I use molds and round radiused sanding dishes for my builds. I used them for clamping, glueing braces, sanding the rim, marking the profile (referencing the radiused dish). Really unless you know how you are going to build and what jigs/molds/forms you will use. You won't know what to make. As Mattia mentioned look up building dishes at the MIMF. You can also look around at the OLF( www.luthiersforum.com ) in the tools & jig section. Getting a book or video would be a smart idea. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pariah223 Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 i got another question that i just don't know where to look to find the answer. I understand that you clamp a soundboard into a radius dish using a go bar press, and that you have braces with curved bottoms and that is what makes the radius. The back is straight forward because all the braces go straight across, but for the top, there is the x brace, as well as a bunch of other little braces that connect as well. Is it just the x brace that gets the curve since it pretty much goes the across the whole guitar? or do the little ones also get curved a little. If i had to guess, i would guess only the ones that go across the whole soundboard get the curve because the little ones dont span enough distance to really make up much of a curve? Let me know if i am thinking correctly. Thanks in advance Rich because I'm sure you will be answering this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 i got another question that i just don't know where to look to find the answer. I understand that you clamp a soundboard into a radius dish using a go bar press, and that you have braces with curved bottoms and that is what makes the radius. The back is straight forward because all the braces go straight across, but for the top, there is the x brace, as well as a bunch of other little braces that connect as well. Is it just the x brace that gets the curve since it pretty much goes the across the whole guitar? or do the little ones also get curved a little. If i had to guess, i would guess only the ones that go across the whole soundboard get the curve because the little ones dont span enough distance to really make up much of a curve? Let me know if i am thinking correctly. Thanks in advance Rich because I'm sure you will be answering this Actually I radius everything (with the exception of the transverse* if I use one that area flattens out). The radius is always the same in the dish, so it just seems odd to force a flat brace down. Granted after you shave the finger braces you are not going to have much brace left to try to flatten the radius if they were attached flat. I use a simple jig to shape the radius of my braces with a router, so it is not much effort to just radius the lot(you can find the jig in the OLF's jig section). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pariah223 Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 i knew all it would take is someone telling me something totally obvious before i would realize it. a 25 foot radius is the same no matter what the length of the piece is, duh on me. ITs amazing the things i overlook sometimes, makes me think im slightly challenged sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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