Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Well even after all this time I am still getting tripped up by Visual analyser. Apologies if this is obvious to everyone else but... I have been getting good consistent results for the main peaks in terms of frequency but virtually no info on the other expected resonances. See second figure. Reading...

Well after the usual delays and scares along the way I eventually finished the Fleta style classical that I started some months ago. I started before I had absorbed the Gore Gilet book so didn't follow their methodology fully but pretty much stuck to their design. I strung it up. It was very 'dry' i...

Woodsy

Oh no no no! This is hard enough already. I have enough questions buzzing around without someone actually thinking up new ones!

Dave

Trevor thanks that was just what I needed.

Dave

I realise this is a very old thread but I have just started trying out the idea of falcate bracing and the spruce that I tried bending, for the slow curves on the primary braces, just laughed at me and split. So I wonder if anyone has found a more consistent timber available in the UK for this use? ...

This may not be quite the right place for this but I couldn't see a more appropriate one. Having finally finished my Fleta type classical based on the book design I am trying to explore the issues with it. Today I have been measuring the stiffness of the top in order to get at the monopole mobility....

First thanks to all for the development work on the jig. I have built something looking a lot like Trevor's finished product. The idea of putting the mass actually through the dial gauge is a stroke of genius. Second I am assuming that the measurement is done on a strung up, tuned guitar? Sorry Trev...

Thanks for that. It is clear you can get it in Oz but I have never seen it offered by the tone wood suppliers in the UK.

Trevor as ever your guitars look wonderful, and Jim that was interesting to see the stained sinker. That is an awful big cutout for the neck to sit in! Dave

Redwood is mentioned as a top wood. Is this Sequoia? I am fascinated by the story of the sinker redwoods in N American rivers. Drowned perhaps would be a better description. Again when people talk of Redwood is it the sinker Redwood that is generally meant or is freshly felled redwood available as a...

Trevor thanks for that.

Given that it is clearly at the heart of your methodology I was indeed showing my ignorance!

I guess that the mixture of mental work along with the attempts at accurate woodworking is something we don't often attempt. Well that's my excuse.

Never mind I am catching up Dave

Frank thanks for the detail. I started my build before I had gone properly through the design book and before I had got a grip on VA. I chose a conservative thickness for my Engelmann top of around 2.2 using the brace designs as per GG's Fleta design. Your figure of 1.87 for the top sounds tremendou...

Woodsy, Trevor For someone exploring this area for the first time this was a really useful thread. You have been exploring exactly the sort of things we beginners are stumbling over. So, having cracked getting the spectra and looking at how to manage the resonant frequencies I wonder what happened n...

John that stream of information was fantastic. I have been building a classical, also following the Gore/Gilet book and have been documenting with photos and notes, really for my own benefit though may put some up here, and I am aware how much extra effort is needed - Find the camera, adjust the lig...

Well Stu I am a big user of 'folding wedges' as the furniture makers call them. I guess the advantage of your quoins is that they stay open once they've been expanded. No chance of them slipping apart and losing the pressure as does sometimes happen with wedges... Dave

Yes I tend to string the wedges up to the birsdmouth I think it's called so that I can find them when needed, then hang the lot up out of the way.

I think this is an interesting area for all woodworkers. The trick being to grip, often awkward shapes, with the minimum of time spent clamping and unclamping. It is often useful to see what was used in the past when workshop equipment was simpler. Below is what I was using today to reduce the width...

Frank I have also recently finished the box on a Fleta and my resonant frequencies are also high. I wondered where you went from there? More thinning of the top? Reduce braces? Did you get it finished and what resonances did you end up with? More importantly if you did finish did it sound good? Chee...

Matt I had to search a bit here in the UK. Most of the plastic hinges that came up were like ordinary butt hinges with a hinge pin. I eventually found a couple of sites listing them as caravan accessories - presumably because of the damp. This was one of them for people in the UK: http://www.leisure...

Jeffhigh thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I am already getting something more realistic. I also eventually found Dominics instructions on VA. I 'm still learning how to get around these forums. Cheers Dave

Hope this may reach the right people. The post title says it all... Well I really need some help here. I am trying to analyse my resonant frequencies. I have a closed box but I really need to be able to this through the build. I have tried to follow all the guidance in the GG books and have tried to...

I was struggling to keep the purfling and binding lined up at the centreline at the base of the box.

What worked for me was a little stop block taped dead on the centreline. Then I could push the binding and purfling against it while fiddling with strips of wood, strips of tape and glue everywhere.