Kerfing & Cradle

I have made some progress on the guitar, but not as much as I would hope.  I traveled to Denver last week end to attend to family business, but I have installed the kerfing.  My jig for making the kerfing is multi-purpose -- basically my cross cut sled for my table saw.

The saw sled has an auxiliary fence clamped to it with a brad nail driven into the bottom.  You can see that the brad is about 1/4 inch from the saw kerf, and the depth of cut is set just shy of the 1/4 inch thickness of the kerfing strips.  I cut the strips on my band saw (now working!) and run a plane over them to remove the saw marks.  One set of two strips, for the back, is cut from walnut, the other set is cut from redwood, for the soundboard.  For the first cut, I push the strip up against the brad, make the cut, adjust the depth and cut and run it over the blade again if necessary, then set the kerf over the brad, make the second cut, and so on.  It's tedious, but it works.

When I've cut the strip, I run a plane over the back until it is paper thin, then do a test fit, cut it to length, and glue it into place with a whole bunch of spring clamps.  When I glue it in place, I leave it slightly proud of the side, and level it down after the glue has dried.  It looks like this when its finished.  I'll do some additional leveling when I'm ready to install the back and sound board. 






















In the meantime, I have started on another project.  My youngest son has commissioned me to make a cradle for my newest grandchild due in April.  I've opted for a rather simple design, so I will let it emerge as I go along.  Today, I succeeded in purchasing the wood (cherry) and gluing up the end pieces. 

While the glue was drying, I cut the four rails for the sides, and the slats that will go into one of the sides.  I have a trick for installing the slats.  I cut a 1/4 inch slot with my dado blade along the length of the rails.  The slats are set apart by spacers in the slot, so they are perfectly spaced, the spacers provide an attractive shadow line, and so all is good.  Unfortunately, I came up a little short on the amount of wood I bought today, so I only have enough for one set of slats, for one side, but you can see rail design, and the slats.  I hope to finish the ends, and one side tomorrow, so I'll have more pictures.