MIMF

You might remember last month I posted about my plan to build two similar lightweight 000 sized guitars from butternut and Engelmann spruce, one with a traditional center sound hole, the other with multiple sound holes and an asymmetric bracing layout. At the time, I said I’d post periodic updates. So here’s the first update and current state of the builds. Both tops and backs are fully braced and voiced. One set of sides are bent, profiled and have neck block, tail block, and linings installed. Ready for the first (center sound hole) body to be assembled.

For the curious, the butternut I have for the sides is perfectly vertical grain. The waist and upper/lower bouts bent without a hitch on my fox-style bender. The cutaway was a bit problematic. After trying a couple of different things unsuccessfully, what finally worked was to thin the side to .075” and completely soak the cutaway area in water for a couple of hours. I was then able to successfully bend the cutaway on a hot pipe using a sopping wet paper towel to provide plenty of steam. I did end up with a tiny spot of compression on the inside of the cutaway bend but I should be able to scrape / sand a bit to remove that. So far, so good.

This weekends job, assembling the body of the first of the butternut twins. Excess trimmed from front and back, braces trimmed to correct length, serial number label installed, linings notched for front & back brace ends, front and then back are glued to the sides.

Some builders use their go-bar deck when assembling the body but I prefer using spool clamps. I feel it gives me a bit more control and allows me to flip the body over during assembly to verify that everything is lined up properly.

The body of the second twin gets assembled.

The 000 twin bodies.

I built a dulcimer with butternut. There is something about the feel and color of that wood I really like. Maybe just that my Dad loved the trees - I’m sure it’s something to do with it.

Those are nice looking instruments. I especially like the sound hole treatment.