Sunday, March 16, 2014

Acoustic Repair/Plate jointing jig

I got a 12 string Yamaha acoustic in for a back replacement, neck reset, and refret.  It looked like the guitar got thrown against a wall or something.  The back is cracked in a place where gluing it is not an option, so it was recommended that the whole back get replaced.  I found a good set of quartersawn Honduras Mahogany for it, but the supplier hadn't put an edge on it.  These pieces are a little thinner than I typically get, so I wasn't able to put them through an electric jointer/planer.  Don't want to risk them shattering themselves, so I made up a little jig I learned about from a PBS show that uses mostly amish style woodworking techniques.

The idea is to use a level with sandpaper glued to it to slowly flatten the edges for joining in the middle.  I just used the flattest pieces of scrap wood I have for holding the wood down and keeping the sanding beam level.  Takes a while to dial in the edge, but you get super clean results with it.

I'll post up pics of the guitar later, my camera battery died right after snapping these 3.