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top too thin?
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=27264		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Bailey [ Tue May 04, 2010 6:39 pm ]
Post subject:  top too thin?
Western R Cedar top with rosette already set and final sanded thickness is now .078.....after attempting to sand out a crater gouged into one side of the top from my thickness sander. The sanding belt evidently slipped slightly and somehow overlapped itself on the drum. ARGHHHH!
Anyway....It is for a OM build and still has some lengthwise stiffness...but side to side is pretty floppy. I've never done a top this thin. Will taller X bracing work on this thin a top?....or will it just end up sagging between bracing down the road?
Is it possible to veneer the backside of a top to build it up..

Do I just toss it?

Kent
Author:  Ti-Roux [ Tue May 04, 2010 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
First: WRC for an OM?

Second: I think .78 COULD be okay for a classical, with an appropriate bracing pattern, but, for an acoustic, with all the tension on pulling the bridge, i'm not sure this will be enough to prevent the top to distort.

Third: Veneer the top? If you check the price of a WRC top, versus the price for the veneer, all the process to do this, and all the acoustic properties you'll loose, I'd choose to grab an other top. But you can keep your top and make for experiences of it, or simple do 2-3-4 ukus or 2 dulcimers!

Good luck!

BTW: I really hate drum sanders Eat Drink
Author:  Steve Saville [ Tue May 04, 2010 7:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
This is the second time in a week this question came up.

Best advice - buy another top.

Sorry - I know that's not what you wanted to hear,
Author:  TonyKarol [ Tue May 04, 2010 8:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
And exactly whats wrong with WRC on am OM ??? .... Jim Olson has made a career out of a slightly larger body size with WRC on top ....

I have made some killer fingerstyle OMs with WRC ...

back to the topic .. thats touch thin .. wouldnt go under .100, but even then that has to be a stiff top to get that thin for me ...
Author:  Bailey [ Tue May 04, 2010 8:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
I sorta expected this......... BUMMER!
I think I might use this top for a classical experiment. It was an experimental top anyway. 2-- (2 1/2") upper bout sound holes on each side of the fingerboard and 1-- (1 1/2") in the normal soundhole location. I have more cedar tops....that's not the stinky part....I did 3 rosettes using a highly figured and cherished piece of Cucumber Magnolia.

Better to know this now rather than slowly watch a new guitar morph into some contortion once the tension is applied.

Thanks everyone

Kent
Author:  DennisK [ Tue May 04, 2010 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
What about cutting the rosettes out and inlaying them whole, into a new top?
Author:  Ti-Roux [ Tue May 04, 2010 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
TonyKarol wrote:
And exactly whats wrong with WRC on am OM ??? .... Jim Olson has made a career out of a slightly larger body size with WRC on top ....

I have made some killer fingerstyle OMs with WRC ...

back to the topic .. thats touch thin .. wouldnt go under .100, but even then that has to be a stiff top to get that thin for me ...


I wasn't a blemish... I just never saw (or never noticed) a WRC top on SS guitar. I'm really sorry if it sounded bad! oops_sign [uncle]
Author:  Bailey [ Tue May 04, 2010 9:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
I'm afraid my rosettes are too thin now to transplant. One more sanding with a new top and these rosettes will be toast.
AND....I built a cutaway Curly, spalted, Mango OM with cedar top...and love how it looks and sounds. Very stiff top.
Kent
Author:  Bailey [ Wed May 05, 2010 8:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
Just so happens I have 8 more cedar tops staring at me this morning....One sitka ..2 englemans..2 sinkers...and a beautiful tight grained, stiff, hemlock top I've had glued up for 2 months now that is tempting me. This hemlock is very unusual 20 count and extremely stable and has a nice (between sitka and cedar) color. I have 150 BF of this exceptional hemlock just sitting there...and nows's googa time as any to try it out. Since this is a experiment guitar....why not!

KB
Author:  stan thomison [ Wed May 05, 2010 10:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
wrc work great on OM/000 guitars. Have several out there as with SJ's. They make a very nice sounding fingerstyle guitar or for that matter flatpicking. In my opinion would replace it.
Author:  Howard Klepper [ Wed May 05, 2010 12:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
If that's the most work you ever have to throw away, you will be ahead of the game.
Author:  coke_zero [ Wed May 05, 2010 4:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
I just bought 4 WRC tops for this reason, they are cheap and as a total novice I'm sure to make mistakes, so I will rather use WRC than something more expensive.
Author:  jfmckenna [ Thu May 06, 2010 11:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: top too thin?
Save that top if you ever want to experiment with double tops.
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