There are a bunch of potential ways to do laminations of this type – everything from a using a vacuum bag to building a form and using veneer screws to create a press. I don’t have any vacuum press equipment or veneer screws so I elected to make a couple of forms to be used with clamps for this process.

The forms were built out of construction lumber that I laminated together to double thickness and squared up with the jointer and planer. I then band sawed the curves into each form and carefully smoothed the curves to eliminate any flat spots  This is especially important for the rocker form because a flat spot on a rocker will be easily felt when rocking in the chair.  Next, I drilled a series of holes in each form to accept the heads of C-clamps. Along one edge of each form are metal stops (I used some scrap aluminum angle and steel straps that I had lying around). These stops allow the parts to be aligned evenly along one edge while they are being laminated.

As a first step, I laminated a backer strip on each form with the extra strips that I had previously cut.  This allowed be to get acquainted with the clamping process and to determine how much glue to use and open time I would have.  After the backers were dried I cleaned up the glue squeeze-out and trimmed them to be slightly narrower than the finished parts will be.

The moment of truth arrived and it was time to laminate the first rocker. I went about the process of spreading the glue as quickly as I could. I am using Titebond III for the gluing and it does not allow a lot of extra open time – the rockers have 9 strips so I had to move fast.  With the wet stack on the form I went to work clamping – progressing from front to back on the rocker with the stack lightly clamped to the metal alignment strips.  In the end it worked out OK, but let’s just say I had no time to spare when tightening that last clamp and let me tell you, there was a lot of glue squeeze-out! I left the rocker to dry in the form for 24 hours.  Laminating the second rocker went a bit smoother as I was more prepared and familiar with the sequence of operations.

In the picture you can see the stacks of strips for the back braces.  I am using Ash for the two inner strips for flexibility (I am also using original Titebond for this to avoid the dark glue lines that Titebond III would give).  The Walnut strips on the front and back of the stacks were cut in sequence from the same piece of stock to give a visual repetition to the braces when viewed from the front and back of the chair.

The process for laminating the back braces is similar to the rockers except that they are done two at a time – one on top of the other. This process does alter the curves of the top brace somewhat when compared to the bottom brace. However, they are laminated in an order such that the bottom braces (with the greatest curves) are placed toward the outside of the chair and the top braces are placed toward the inside.  This results in a change in the curves that is consistent across the back of the chair. With seven back braces, this arrangement requires four gluing operations with a 24 hour drying period in between each.  While that’s going on, I can move on to some joinery for the chair.

Next up: Joinery for the seat and legs

Building the Go-Bar Deck

There are a few alternative methods that can be used to clamp the raduiused braces to the back. Though, most involve the use of a lot of deep throat cam-action clamps. I do not have any of these in the workshop and it would be a fair amount of work to make them so, I opted for an alternate route.

A very old method often used by luthiers to perform this clamping task is to use flexible sticks of wood or other material to brace the objects to be clamped between between two fixed parallel plates. The fixture to do this is called a Go-Bar Deck and usually makes use of flexible wood or fiberglass rods to clamp parts of the guitar during a glue-up.

I made a very simple version of the Go-Bar Deck with some 24″ x 24″ particle board pieces and some threaded rod. As you can see in the picture (click for larger view) the threaded rod is used to stand off one particle board plate from the other. I did also glue on some reinforcing strips to the bottom of the lower plate as well. The threaded rod is screwed into T-nuts in the lower plate and secured with a washer and nut. In the upper plate, there is a washer and nut on both sides of the plate to lock it into position on a plane equidistant from the lower plate.

Preparing and Clamping the Back Braces and Center Reinforcing Strips

Because Rosewood is a tropical wood it can sometimes have residual oils on it, the first step I took was to layout for the braces and then clean the areas for the braces with some Naptha. This step may not have been necessary but, because the radius on the braces will force the back into a fairly significant arch, I wanted to be sure that there was a good glue bond. However, even with the Go-Bar Deck for clamping, the braces could not be clamped to a flat back so, an alternative was necessary.

Many luthiers will use a radiused dish for the purpose of backing the back plate to maintain the needed arches. Two of these dishes would be required (i.e. the back a top have different radii) and I do not have them in the workshop. They can be made by dishing out MDF with a router and a jig but, I was not too interested in the copious amounts of dust this would create. My alternate approach was fairly simple. I created some strips of hardboard to place under the edges of the back plate so that when the braces were clamped to the back the appropriate arches would be formed into it. In the picture, you can see the back with the four main braces clamped in the Go-Bar Deck. I used 5/16″ wood dowel rod with rubber screw protectors on the ends as the go-bars. You can also see the strips of hardboard under the edges of the back to maintain the necessary arches in the back.

Because this was my first attempt at this, I decided to clamp just the four main braces as a first attempt. It’s amazing how much even clamping force can be applied using this method. Because the wooden dowel rods were under a fair amount of pressure, I made sure to wear eye protection during this operation – I was concerned that one of the go-bars could shatter while I was working on this. In the picture you can see what the back looked like after the glue up of the four main braces was complete. In the second picture I attempted to show the arches that were forced into the back during this operation.

After the clamping of the four main braces was completed, I still needed to add the center reinforcing strips to the back. The process for this was the same as for the braces. Though, I did add some spring clamps for the two end strips because they tended to slide around a bit when the go-bars were applied to them. I think that my concern regarding the wooden go-bars was a valid one because when I returned to un-clamp the center strips in a few hours, I found two of the wooden go-bars broken and lying on the shop floor! Luckily, this must have happened after the glue had already set, so there was no issue. However, I think I will attempt to find some fiberglass alternatives for the clamping of braces to the top.

Shaping the Back Braces

The back braces were rough shaped prior to gluing them to the back plate. However, the idea behind bracing a guitar is to achieve a strong, stiff back without adding excess weight. The shape of the braces also affects the sound of the guitar and how it will project when played. These braces extend all the way to the ends of the back and will intersect the sides and kerfed linings. So, they needed to be trimmed down to about .100″ at their ends. I did this with a sharp chisel and a caliper, checking the thickness as I went. After that I did a quick sanding of the braces just to clean things up.

Next up will be the bracing of the top and assembling the back and top to the sides. That effort will also call into play some unique clamping requirements. I’ve already started gathering materials to accomplish that task. Until then, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at thecraftsmanspath@gmail.com or leave comments or questions here using the comments link at the end of the posts.

Assembling the sides

The two Rosewood guitar sides are connected with to two Mahogany blocks. One block for the tail of the guitar and one for the neck location. The neck block has a mortise for a bolt on neck (some guitars may use a single large dovetail joint here). The tail block is just a raduised solid block to match the curvature of the sides. These two blocks must be glued to the the sides precisely at the center of the body and as square as possible to the edges of the sides. This is especially true of the neck block because this setup determines the eventual set of the neck on the guitar. Because the neck block must eventually be glued to the guitar back and top, it must match also the angles formed by back and top. So, it is machined with a 5 degree bevel to match the back and a 1.5 degree bevel to match the top.

The two guitar sides are machined flat on the top edge and have a radius on the back edge. To start the assembly, the centers of both the neck and tail blocks were marked with a pencil. The pattern of the top of neck block was outlined with a knife through just the top layer on a piece of cardboard. This relief was created so that the 1.5 degree bevel of the neck block could extend below the cardboard surface allowing the block to sit square to the workboard. The sides were placed flat side (top) down on the cardboard and the blocks were aligned to match up with the seams created by the sides. It took a few dry fits to align the seams as well as the top and bottom edges of the blocks with the sides. After these dry fits it was time to do the glue up. This started with weighting down the sides so that they would remain stable during the glue up.

The tail block was glued first (with the neck block just dry clamped to the sides). As you can see this took quite a few clamps in a small space – two of these needed extra deep capacity as well (it looks like some creative clamping solutions may be necessary before this project is completed). Gluing the neck block followed once the tail block assembly was dry. Again, a lot of clamps and extra attention to detail were required to get the neck block set as precisely as possible so that the eventual neck set on the guitar will go smoothly. We’ll have to wait until later in the project to see how well I did in that department! In the picture you can see the completed glue up of the neck block, the tail block and the sides. Also in the background are some parts of the cardboard form which I’ll talk about next.

Building the cardboard form and waist clamp

Often, guitars are built using a specialized workboard or custom wooden form. The kit that I started with has a very economical way of creating a workboard and form. This was done with a flat workboard, two cardboard cutouts that mirror the shape of the guitar body, a couple of wood blocks and a shop made waist clamp.

The two cardboard pieces were cut to match the shape of the guitar body. The first piece was inserted into the body over two scrap pieces of 3/4″ material. This was done to elevate the cardboard so that there would be room to attach the kerfed linings to the edge of the sides later. I made a couple of wooden blocks to stand off the second piece of cardboard from the first. One block in the upper bout of the guitar (the smaller section of the body) was 2″ high and the second block in the lower bout was 2 1/2″ high. This offset is because the body actually has a taper – the body is deeper at the bottom than at the top. The blocks were glued to the lower piece of cardboard and then the top piece of cardboard was inserted and glued to the blocks as well.

The second part of the form is a shop made clamp that slides over the waist area of the guitar body to keep things stable. I built this clamp from some scrap MDF. I simply cut the shape out on the band saw and then radiused the inner edges so that it would slide snugly over the waist without cracking the sides. With the inner cardboard form and the waist clamp installed, the assembly was fairly rigid. At least, rigid enough for the next step.

Attaching the kerfed linings

The top and bottom edges of the sides require some material to be applied to both support the guitar body as well as to add a gluing surface for both the top and back of the guitar later. Because of the curves in the sides of the guitar, these linings are kerfed with a narrow saw cut at even intervals so that they can bend with the shape of the guitar. The linings were not long enough to make it around an entire side of the guitar so they were installed in two pieces.

The kerfed linings needed to be attached about 1/32″ of an inch above the guitar sides. This was done so that they can be sanded flush to the top and bottom at the appropriate angles later. It does not require much pressure to clamp these linings to the sides. So, as you can see they were clamped using ordinary clothes pins – though, there were a lot of them! This was done by simply applying a sparing amount of glue to the backside of the lining and then applying the clamps one by one, carefully aligning the edges (1/32″ proud) and making sure that there were no gaps between the lining and the guitar sides. As I mentioned, two kerfed linings were required for each side (top and bottom) for a total of eight linings. In the photo you can see the the glued up body with the completed linings.

Just a note about glue. As you can see in the picture, I am using original Titebond I for this project. Traditionally a luthier would use Hot Hide glue for an instrument. This is done both for its strength as well as its reversibility (i.e. the ability to take a joint apart later if necessary). It is also important to use a glue that creates a very rigid glue line and does not exhibit any creep while making an instrument. Hot Hide glue has all of these properties. Liquid Hide glue is kept in a liquid state by adding Urea and as a result looses some of its strength making it useless for an instrument project. I do not typically work with Hot Hide Glue so I chose the next best choice, Titebond I. Titebond I is the best choice of the aliphatic resin glues for instrument making. It is not nearly as reversable as Hot Hide glue but, it can be reversed. Where Titebond I is better than other versions of Titebond is in the glue joint it produces – it is very rigid and does not exhibit creep. This will ultimately result in a stronger and better sounding instrument.

I spent a considerable amount of time scraping and sanding all of the parts of the table. There were areas on the legs where the knees transition into the posts that needed some cleanup. I carefully worked these first with a card scraper and then followed up with hand sanding. Of course, the rest of the table also required a bit of sanding as well. Because all of the parts had previously been smoothed with a plane and/or and scraped, my sanding schedule for the table started with 150 grit and finished with 180 grit. I tried going to 220 grit but, it seemed to be burnishing the Cherry so, I do not think I will continue to that fine a grit. When all of the sanding is complete, I will give the table a thorough vacuuming and then a final rub down with Naptha to remove all traces of sanding dust and to determine if any areas need further attention.

In the picture (click for larger view) you can see the Queen Anne Side Table in its current state. All that remains for the construction is to put a decorative edge on the top, attach the top to the base and add the hardware. Speaking of hardware, I recently ordered a set of drawer pulls and a matching escutcheon from Horton Brasses. The style is reminiscent of the hardware typically on antique Queen Anne furniture and should work nicely on this piece.

I have also started to consider how I will finish the table. Most Queen Anne furniture that you see is stained dark. Generally for Cherry, I like to use a natural finish allowing the wood to oxidize over time with exposure to sunlight, darkening naturally to a rich patina. However, for this table I am considering adding just a slight bit of coloring with Garnet shellac to even out the tone all of the components.

A quick primer on shellac:

Shellac is a universal binder and a very good finish in its own right. The substance is made from refining and drying the secretions of the Lac bug which is found in India and Asia. Essentially, any finish will adhere to shellac and shellac will adhere to almost anything. Additionally, shellac serves as a perfect sealer between different stages of the finishing process. For example if a dye or stain is used and then sealed with shellac, none of the dye or stain will be removed when the topcoat is applied. One important thing to realize is that only dewaxed shellac will support all topcoats. Most pre-mixed shellacs (aside from Zinsser Seal-Coat) contain wax and will cause problems with adhesion when another topcoat is applied. Shellac that is purchased as dry flakes is dewaxed and must be dissolved in denatured alcohol to produce the finish. Because alcohol is used as the solvent, shellac has the benefit of drying in minutes. Also, shellac has the properties of dissolving into previous coats effectively creating one single thicker coat when multiple coats are applied.

Shellac solutions can be mixed to different strengths or concentrations. This is referred to as the “cut” of the shellac – the premixed stuff is usually about a 3 lb. cut which would equate to 3lbs. of shellac flakes by weight mixed in 1 gallon of alcohol. I usually mix to around a 1 or 1 1/2 lb. cut. This produces a good workable consistency and fairly light coats. I only mix what I will use within about 6 months because shellac in the liquid form has a limited shelf life after which it will have a tendency to not dry or harden. For me, this means a 1 lb. cut is 2 oz. of shellac flakes (by weight) mixed with 16 oz. of alcohol (by volume).

There is nothing real scientific about mixing shellac – it will work no matter what strength you mix it to. It’s easier if the flakes are ground to a fine consistency before dissolving in the alcohol. Using an old coffee grinder would work well, or you can do what I do – put the flakes in a plastic bag, seal it and then hit it with a rubber mallet until you have very fine pieces left. Put the alcohol in a glass jar, add the shellac and seal the jar. Swirl the mixture around every half hour or so for about the first four hours and then let it sit over night. The next day it should be ready to use. The last step before use is to strain the shellac mixture through paint strainer or coffee filter to remove any impurities left after the refining process.

I took some time to create some finish sample boards from scrap Cherry following the same sanding schedule as the table. On the left half of the top board I used Watco Natural Danish Oil followed by two coats of Garnet shellac and then a top coat of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. The other half of that board did not receive the Watco. On the lower board I used Boiled Linseed Oil followed by the same sequence of Shellac and Arm-R-Seal with the right half of the board not receiving the BLO. Sorry for the picture – it does not really show the variations too well. I am considering the using BLO/shellac sequence because it is not showing the blotching that the Watco seems to. Some of the Cherry on this table is a bit curly and may be prone to blotching – I do not want to obscure any of the curl in the boards.

It’s very easy at this stage of a project to speed through the final finish preparation steps and finish process in an attempt to get the thing out of the shop. I always find myself battling this. In the long run it’s always best to spend the necessary time to prepare the surfaces as well as possible and to test all of the finish steps to assure a desired end result. Of course, this takes more time and delays moving on to the next project but, in the end it yields the best results.

For years, I have been working with the standard table on my drill press. As you can see in the picture, I simply clamp a straight board to the table and use it to align the work piece that I needed to drill. However, the table is fairly small, and there is no zero-clearance support below the point where the bit exits the work piece – so, I always either have to put a piece of scrap below the work piece or I risk having tear-out on the exit side of any through-hole being drilled. On top of that, the board that I typically use for a fence is a piece of scrap 3/4″ stock so, it is low to the table and does not offer good support for pieces that are being drilled on edge. This setup is functional, but certainly not very efficient or convenient.

During my recent efforts to clean up the workshop, I came across some scrap stock from an old TV stand. It was melamine coated particle board. Rather than dispose of it to get it out of the way, I decided that I would finally make a simple drill press table and fence and I thought that this melamine piece would make a good table base. So, I grabbed a couple of other pieces from scrap bucket and set off to building.

Because the melamine had exposed particle board edges, I used some scrap Oak to trim the edges of the table base so that they could take some abuse from stock being loaded on and off the table during drilling operations. Nothing fancy here, I just attached the trim pieces with glue and some finish nails.

Next, I needed to determine how to attach the new table to the existing metal drill press table. I did not have any t-bolts or anything similar on hand so, I decided to dome something simple with wood. I created a simple bracket in an “L” shape that would allow me to attach the table to the drill press by attaching the lower part of the “L” with screws. To do this, I marked the size of the actual drill press table to the bottom of the base piece. Then, I cut some runners (the vertical part of the “L”) equal in size to the thickness of the metal drill press table. I attached them to the underside of the table base with CA glue to hold them in place temporarily and then shot some finish nails from the top. I probably should have used screws here because the melamine chipped out a bit from the nailer – but, it was no big deal I just filled the holes and moved on.

So, how is this thing going to stay on the drill press, you ask? Well, a couple of swipes from a block plane on the runners took off less than 1/32″. This is enough so that when the botoms of the “L” are screwed to the runners, the table base will tighten up and be very secure. The last step in preparing the table base was to create a mortise for the a zero-clearance insert that would be flush to the table and replaceable. With the router I created a mortise to allow for replaceable 1/4″ hardboard inserts. Next, it was time to move on to building the fence.

Again, I was off to the scrap bucket to find a couple of pieces to use to create a fence for the new table. I wanted a taller fence than before (again in the shape of an “L”). I found a piece of maple for the fence face and I had an off-cut of melamine that would suffice for the base of the fence. Last, I needed some pieces to support the vertical section of the fence and keep it square to base of the table. The fence supports came in the form of some scrap Oak cut to size to fit the fence. The fence face received a half circle cut-out to allow for the drill press chuck to have access to work pieces that need to be drilled close to the fence. Also, as you can see in the picture, I chamfered the inside corner of the fence supports so that they would not interfere with getting the fence face square with the table base when they were attached.

I used the new table base with the old fence clamped on to drill and countersink a series of holes in the fence face and fence base. I attached the fence face to the fence base with screws and then I chamfered the bottom of the fence face so that there would be some clearance for chips when it is used. Next, I attached each of four fence supports being sure that the fence face remained square to the base of the table all he way across its width. As you can see in the picture, I used some strips of paper to shim each support piece for a perfectly square result.

The last thing to do was a little sanding and to wipe on a little shellac to protect the fence and table trim pieces from moisture. You can see in the picture that the table insert is off center from the drill bit – this is to allow it to be rotated counter-clockwise as it gets perforated by the bit to expose a fresh zero-clearance surface as needed. Of course, it is also able to be replaced as needed.

So, this was by no means anything fancy. However, this simple upgrade provides a great deal more utility to me when using the drill press. I’m not sure why it took so long to get started, but completing the project only took a few hours once I got rolling. I may take a few additional steps to enhance this table even further but, for now this simple upgrade is a huge improvement. Of course, there are more opportunities out there in other corners of the workshop just waiting for action!

Please feel free to e-mail me at thecraftsmanspath@gmail.com with questions or leave comments here using the comments link at the end of the posts. I’d like to hear your thoughts!