Thickness Sander Continued

As I've said in an earlier post, there is an order of precedence in the building of a guitar. It isn't minutely exact, but from my perspective at least, it is exact enough. It begins with the sound board then moves to the back plate. For the sound board, there are essentially five steps (1) re-sawing the plate to an approximate thickness, (2) edge gluing, (3) refining the thickness, (4) installing the rosette, and (5) gluing on and shaping the ribs.

Re-sawing is a common woodworking operation, so I won't comment at length here. Besides, I think, most buy their plates from LMI or others at the approximate thickness. I do have some redwood, however, that I rescued from the lumber yard that I want to use for plates. Someone must have recognized it as special and pulled it from a decking pile. The grain is close, tight, and the board rings when tapped with a knuckle. I have cut several plates from it, and I plan to use a set soon.

The drum sander is used at step two, refining the thickness. I have used planes and sanding planes in the past. They work well, of course, but planes have their limitations on highly figured wood, and sanding planes are, well, tedious. I prefer to relegate them to the job of finish sanding, working up through the intermediate grits, then finishing with a sanding block on the fine grits. I have made the drum wide enough to accept the full width of the guitar, so I can edge glue the book-marked plates before refining the thickness.

The next step in the construction of the drum sander itself will be the adjustable platen. It should be relatively simple. I see it as a 20x30 laminated piece of 3/4 MDF and 1/4 hardboard, the latter replaceable if damaged. The design consideration was this: the drum itself is 20 inches wide, and my table saw is 30 inches wide. Since I envision the drum being turned by my table saw motor, that seemed appropriate. I will run a rib along the 30 inch side of the platen at about 2.5 inches thick, this to insure the MDF remains flat along its length, with a notch cut where the bolts secure the drum to the arbor. Since my wife will be in Boise this evening, fetching our grand daughter for the holidays, I hope to stop at the Depot or Lowes on the way home and get what I need to make the platen.