Progress on L-0 Style Guitars

Things are going good with these three.. Same body shapes different backs and sides and different bracing patters but all Sitka tops.

One of the goals of this build set is to refine and update a few procedures to work better with the space and equipment I have.. One thing that is very useful in building that I don't really have room to leave set up is a go-bar deck. So trying out using a vacuum bag and radius-ed work board to glue on top and back braces.

L-0 "H" bracing in a vacuum bag

Start of a double "X" brave in the bag

Bending sides

Completed double "X" glued to it's sides

Closing boxes

The Weekend's Progress

So things are moving along, the back braces are carved on the tenor and the back is not glued on the sides. All the top braces are glued on and ready to finish voicing the top.

The bindings are bent and since I had the side bender set up the parlour guitar's sides and bindings are bent as well...

Using a go-bar deck to clamp some of the
top bracing

Back now on the sides

Top and back together

The parlour's sides resting in the form

Side Bending

The next step in Rick's Tenor is to bend the sides, actually you could to several things next but I chose to bend the sides. It's my first time bending Walnut but it is suppose to bend easy and it did.. I also bent the Maple bindings. The process went well with no surprises.

I use a Fox style bender with a heating blanket and controller

After bending the sides are cut to length and placed in the form to help them hold shape until the end blocks and linings are installed.

Wrapping the sides for bending, parchment & foil

Sandwiched in the bender, spring steel - side - blanket - spring steel

Temp going up, max set to 290 which I did not even get to bending

Bend complete

Sides all trimmed and in the mould..

Next step will be routing the mortise in the neck block and gluing the blocks to the sides

Side Bending

So these are the first sides I've bend on a Fox Style bender all the others have been on a pipe. Things went pretty well except I got a some scorching of the inside face. Too hot a setting I guess, the good news is the sides bent very nicely with little spring back, I also bent the binding since I had the bender set up. I'm happy with  the bender I got from Blues Creek Guitars and the other parts from LMI, the controller and blanket.

Prepped to bend, a sandwich of wood and heating blanket between two steel slats

Bent and cooling off

The results, glued to the blocks and out of the form for a photo.