Continuing on the Back

Now it is time to brace the back of the guitar. This is mainly done to strengthen the very thin wood. For the parlor guitar, I will be using three different braces. Many guitars have four. However, since this guitar is extremely small, it is only necessary to use three.

First, I built the braces and flattened them out. This wood was from the same stock as the neck and was spindle sanded down to make the scallops. Additionally, the base of the braces were flattened on the granite block (with a piece of sand paper).

The process of gluing up the braces is very similar to that of the top. However, since these braces will be visible through the sound hole, I decided put on some tape to limit the amount of excess glue that gets on the back.

Once everything was all set, Titebond was applied to the surface of the braces and then placed in the correct area of the back. It was then placed in the Go-deck and the rods were place about an half an inch apart. These braces were left in the deck for about an hour.

Next, it was time to make the center reinforcement strip. This strip is used in order to strengthen the glue joint between the two book-matched sides.

As before, some masking tape was used in order to limit them amount glue on the wood that will be visible.

Again, the Go-deck was used in order to put the correct amount of pressure on the braces. In the picture to the left, you can see a few different things. First, you can see that the braces have been shaved down in order to reduce the amount of wood that is on them. Additionally, each piece of the back strip, you can see has been numbered in order to make sure that I do not mess up the placement of the pieces.

Again after another hour or so, the back is pretty much all set and ready to go. The only thing that needs to be done is some final sanding. That will be accomplished prior to the glue up of the back to the sides. That will come a little later.

As you may notice, the back is much simpler when compared to the top. Next on the docket will be bending the sides.