Creating The Template

Template Design

So I decided that I need to try some sort of work out and see how suited I am to working with tools. At the same time, I wanted to try something simple and inexpensive, so I decided to fashion the guitar template. I had already created a diagram about the dimensions of the template (following Guitarmaking) that you can see on the right. Note that in the book, the author only provides the precise length of the upper bout (6.875") but the positioning of the lines denoting the bout widths are not specified. I decided to eye-ball it -- it is "my very own", isn't it? As in the diagram, I placed the upper width line (5.875") slightly above the center of the upper bout section. I placed the lower width line (8") about 2/3 of the way down the lower bout section. Just eye-ball it, everything will be fine. I hope.

Tools and Materials

I went to my local lumber/hardware store in Astoria and purchased:

• a 36" metal ruler ($4),
• a 8" 200 nm general purpose mill file ($8),
• a run-of-the-mill Stanley coping saw ($8)

I also had some 1/16" and 1/32" precision rulers lying around. I also needed pressboard for the template material, so I stopped in the warehouse and asked. They cut me a 24"x9" piece of pressboard and just let me take it away. I'll get them next time!

Measuring and Drawing

Ah, how quickly one forgets his school days and

how much of a pain in the butt is measuring stuff with a ruler. I tried the absolute best I could, but even so, the pencil marks were thick and I constantly had to re-measure my lines. It's virtually impossible to get a proper right angle without a square, but I improvised with a heavy piece of wood that I had: I would prop it against the trued edge of the pressboard and then place the 36" ruler flat against the straight edge of the wood block. (That's the black wine bottle holder in the picture.) In the end, it was not clear whether the pressboard itself was off-kilter or the tools were imprecise (probably the latter).

Also, I noticed eventually that the 36" ruler had some extra space ruled out on one of it's ends, creating an error of as much as 1/8".

I sketched the curves out by hand, as prescribed, and then thickened the lines. I found a soft artist's eraser I had lying around to be handy for erasing erroneous pencil marks from the pressboard. All of this was fairly quick, probably about 30 minutes with all the marking and erasing and remeasuring.

Time To Sew... I Mean, Saw

I had to saw in sections, or else the coping saw would get stuck. In the next picture, you can see the first section coming off. The saw has this switch where you could change the angle of the blade and this really comes in handy sometimes when your saw is heading for a close call and you need to rapidly change direction.

As you can see I stayed pretty far outside the lines because I was really afraid of ruining the project. Later, when I became acquainted with the speed of filing and felt more comfortable with my control of the saw, I went back and trimmed some more off the edges.

This sort of saw generally is pretty violent to the edge of the pressboard, and the cut comes out rather rough. Of course, another problem was that I didn't have any sort of clamp and had to hold the template down with my hand. This resulted in the saw jumping occasionally. Note to

self/users: get yourself at least some kind of clamp.

Filing The Edges

After doing this for a while, it became apparent that (a) it would be pretty difficult to get a nice smooth curve in the waist (that is, that ingroove between the two bouts) with a flat file, and that (b) using this sort of rough file wasn't going to result in nice, clean edges. Therefore, I had trudge back to the hardware store and buy:

• a rounded file ($5),
• a fine sand bar ($2).

I didn't buy sand-paper because that shop didn't have anything to put the sandpaper on. The sand bar worked beautifully and the edges came out pretty smooth.

Almost Done

Here is the almost-finished product, just needs some finishing touches.

A "Cumpiano"-Style Guitar Workboard

From a forum, here is a picture of the guitar workboard described in Guitarmaking.

The forum poster writes:

You don't need a mould to build a guitar. The traditional Spanish method, used by most of the great classical and flamenco builders of the 20th century, is to assemble the instrument freeform on a flat workboard, or "patron."

[...]

The cork and paper "shim" on the top of the patron is designed to allow for the slight arch cut into the bracing of most classical soundboards.

It's a proven method, well suited to small shops with few power tools.

Here's Cumpiano himself, building a koa steel string.

More Detailed Overview of the Soundboard Construction and Tools List

Here's a great and detailed overview of joining the soundboard and bracing it.

What a great resource! He goes through the whole thing in great detail, from examination of imperfections, down to the joining mechanisms. I'm going to take some notes here.

Materials

• A bookmatched guitar top blank. The "top blank" are the two plates that will be joined together to create the soundboard. "Bookmatched" just means that the pieces are mirrored and otherwise identical.
• Yellow glue. I'll have to return to the discussion of which glue is best.
• Brace and patch stock. This is the wood that will make the braces on the inside of the soundboard.
• Assorted cauls.

Tools

• A bench plane. This will be used to reduce the top to the proper thickness and to smooth the joint between the plates for better gluing.
• A shooting board. (See image.) Since I'm not going to be able to afford/house a proper jointer, we'll need a method to create the joint evenly. We'll return to reassess whether we need a shooting board a la Guitarmaking.
• Carpenter's framing square.
• Assorted clamps.
• Razor saw.
• Chisels and (woodworking) knives.
• It seems like having cabinet scrapers will be a good idea, too.

I'm beginning to understand, without ever having touched one in my life, why the planes come in different sizes. The larger numbers seem to be larger and are better suited for larger pieces of wood. Imagine using a tiny, tiny plane on a huge, huge wood surface. It is likely you are going to work unevenness into the wood.

And speaking of bench planes, check out this video about how to use one: