Gore cutaway OM

[kiwigeo]

Well after about a week of frustration, perseverance and plain good old fashioned stubbornness I finally got the sides bent on the Gore/Gilet style Om cutaway.

[johnparchem]

Well perseverance paid off, it looks good. Are you making the OM 14 frets to the body? I did that by request on a falcate 000. Turned out OK but I like the sound of my 12 fret to body more.

[Dave M]

Good stuff Martin.

I see you are not about to let them get away now you've caught them!

Just think you get to bend the solid linings round an even sharper bend soon.

Dave

[kiwigeo]

Well perseverance paid off, it looks good. Are you making the OM 14 frets to the body? I did that by request on a falcate 000. Turned out OK but I like the sound of my 12 fret to body more.

Undecided at this stage John but your comments are useful thanks.

[demonx]

So far so good, bugger about the "trial runs".

[kiwigeo]

So far so good, bugger about the "trial runs".

Not all bad....I've managed to work up my skills on the bending iron.

[Woodsy23]

I can really sympathise with you regarding the side bending problems. I recently bent my first cutaway sides for a Gore SS design. They were EIR. I increased the radius of the bends at the cutaway compared to Trevor's drawings and the shape is quite similar to yours.

I used a side bender and heat blanket and I can tell you, that method also has its problems. You can't feel what is going on at the tight bends. After using the side bender the shapes were not as good as I wanted so improved the shape everywhere using a bending iron (which was the first time I used one). I concluded that, for me, the bending iron is the better way to go, at least for the cutaway. Next time, I will probably use the side bender and a blanket for the main shape (as I have these) then do the cutaway using the bending iron. That is the way Trevor describes in his book.

So I think your improved skills with the bending iron will pay off for future builds. Having acquired those skills, I would be in no hurry to change to the side bender method.

[kiwigeo]

I increased the radius of the bends at the cutaway compared to Trevor's drawings and the shape is quite similar to yours.

+1 this is what I did...I modified the cutaway insert in the mold twice. The cutaway horn radius on Trevor's drawings are really tight...so tight that only the Australian Tax Office could make wood bend around such a tight radius.

[rocket]

Good one Martin, great to see you get the upper hand with the sides on this build, pity you had to lose so many bits of wood to get there though.
Cheers,,

Rod.

[kiwigeo]

The crash in the price of oil has a few upsides...one of them is spending less time on stinky old rust bucket rigs and more time in the workshop. Managed to get the linings and side splints done over the last week. The linings are lime wood and splints are Tassie Blackwood. The funny looking caul in the last photo is designed to give the side a bit of an outward bow and the instrument a slightly "fat" look.

[johnparchem]

Looking good!

[kiwigeo]

Back glued up, thicknessed and then braced up.

[rocket]

Very nice work there Martin, i like the cauls you've gone to the trouble of making to fit over the braces, good prep, wish i was so organised
Rod.

[Hank]

Nice work!

Can i ask what you used for the back bracings?

Hank

[kiwigeo]

Nice work!

Can i ask what you used for the back bracings?

Hank

Thanks Hank,

Back bracing is red spruce...braces were run over a 45deg cutter on the router table before installation and final shaping.

[blackalex1952]

Martin! Where do you get your limewood?-Ross

[kiwigeo]

Martin! Where do you get your limewood?-Ross

I got it from nasty old Ottos here in Adelaide. Whenever I do a trip to Carbatec on Magill Road I usually pop into Ottos on the way home. The place has gone downhill over the years with not much in the way of tonewood kept on the shelves and any they do have is usually stacked willy nilly so half the top and back sets are warped. For some reason they always seem to have a few sticks of limewood in stock. I use it mainly because it bends fairly easily and the stock I get is in quite long lengths. That said its a bit on the soft side and dents fairly easily....I think there are better woods for lining....Im trying Tas blackwood on my next build.

[kiwigeo]

A bit of progress with the OM. Glued up the neck blank and heel block. I don't think I mentioned this will be a multiscale instrument....this has introduced a whole host of "issues" and complications. The nut is on an angle but the headstock/neck scarf joint is at right angles to neck axis. There are various ways of dealing with this..I chose to go with Dave White's solution of gluing in a small wedge on the headstock. Thanks Dave....a brilliantly simple solution.

[Trevor Gore]

Nice work, Martin. Especially going for the multi-scale.

Back bracing is red spruce...braces were run over a 45deg cutter on the router table before installation and final shaping.

Errr.....Doesn't look like 45 degrees. Maybe 22.5 deg?

I think there are better woods for lining....Im trying Tas blackwood on my next build.

Aus. silver ash works well, if you can get it your neck of the woods.

[kiwigeo]

Nice work, Martin. Especially going for the multi-scale.

Back bracing is red spruce...braces were run over a 45deg cutter on the router table before installation and final shaping.

Errr.....Doesn't look like 45 degrees. Maybe 22.5 deg?

I think there are better woods for lining....Im trying Tas blackwood on my next build.

Aus. silver ash works well, if you can get it your neck of the woods.

Multiscale......ha ha. I feel like Ive just stepped over a cliff. Im on a steep learning curve but it forces me to think hard about the design of the guitar to the point where absolutely everything has to be drawn out full scale to make sure it will all fit together. A couple of days alone were spent designing the headstock and obsessing over string exit angles from the back of the nut. Ideally I would have liked straight string pull on all the strings but that virtually precluded having any curves in the headstock. I compromised and ended up with near straight string pull but a more interesting headstock that matched the curves on the bridge. The bridge.......that took only 2 days to design.

The cutter was indeed a 22.5degree cutter.......as per "The Books".

Silver ash.....there'll be some lurking somewhere in Adelaide. Maybe Ottos have some covered in cobwebs down the back of one of their shelves.