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We chose to build a mold as described in Jonathan Kinkead's book "Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar." To begin the process Dominic cut a template of half the body of the guitar from plywood. Here he is seen doing some final shaping of the plywood template. (We visited a friends workshop to use his router table for this work.) |
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Using the plywood template a Plexiglas template was cut using a router with a flush cut bit. The reasons for building the Plexiglas template were to give Dominic some experience using templates and routers and also to provide a nice tool for viewing suitable top and back wood. |
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To build the mold, four pieces of 3/4" plywood were screwed together. The Plexiglas template was used to transfer the shape to the wood which was then cut on the bandsaw. |
| This process resulted in four pieces of wood which exactly represent the shape of the body. |
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To build the mold the four pieces of plywood were spaced with 2" blocks along the outline of the body. |
| A view of the blocks placed around the perimeter of the body prior to attaching the other side of the mold. |
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The completed mold halves. |
| The completed mold. Note tabs at the ends of the mold which are bolted together during construction. |
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The completed mold with clamping caul. |
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The completed mold with side clamps. |
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