Solid Linings Part 1

 

Welcome to my first tutorial.  I create my solid linings in a different manner than some others I have seen and I wanted to share my method. Part of the process in making them also includes laminating my double sides so I included that as part of the tutorial.  If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

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I begin with two sets of sides, which are laminated to form the double sides, and then three other sides, which are laminated to become the linings. For the double sides, I make my outer side around .045” thick and my inner side about .035”. I adjust the outer measurement based on things like the weight of the wood or if I know the guitar will be either used roughly or babied. The three other sides I thickness to around .095” or so. There are .1” veneers available from http://www.certainlywood.com that work excellent for this application (and the .06” available for inner sides). In this case, my outer sides are Guatemalan Rosewood and all other others are mahogany. The photo is of one set of double sides and the linings bent to fit within one an other.

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The next step requires an outer form of the side template. Mine is made from ¾” plywood. It should be an exact template of the outside of the guitar and a little wider then your side thickness. In this case all of the sides are roughly 4" wide and the template is 4 ½”. This next photo shows the two sides and the linings being clamped dry to determine where the best position for the clamps will be. I bend them all on a pipe to force them to shape a little but the less force the better. The waist is the difficult part to get tight. The outer bouts will generally lay down fine if you work from the waist out.

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Once I know where my clamps will go, I am ready to begin laminating. I’ve used Smith’s all wood epoxy, the WEST systems, fish glue, and LMI white all successfully for this operation.  For the double sides I like to use Smith's all wood epoxy.  I prefer it to the WEST systems because it is quite a bit thicker, easier to control, and less messy. LMI white was the most stressful because of the quicker set time. For the lining laminations I use fish glue mostly because it seems like it will add less weight to the guitar in the end and once I slice the linings (this process is described later) I can correct small gaps if they occur. I use a nice even layer of epoxy on each mated surface for the double sides and for the linings I put a heavy layer on the insides of the outer layers and none on the middle layer. Here is a photo of the epoxy spread on the double sides.

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When doing these laminations, I place wax paper under the double sides and another layer between them and the three lining sides. It’s helpful to tape the double sides together at the waist and ends to prevent them from slipping when they are clamped under the lining sides. Here is a photo of all five layers clamped up.

 

 

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And here is another close up. It is worth it to take your time here and get everything clamped and mated as best as you can. The fact that there is no squeeze out means I probably did not use enough glue. I like to see a little bit.

 

 

 

 

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And here is a shot of them all laminated with the double side sitting on top of the lining side. You can see well they mate to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

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