Template Material

sharp21

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What material is good for making up the template for the mold & bending form? I was thinking about gluing the drawing onto a piece of plexiglass then use that for tracing onto the birch plywood?
S.
 
I like 1/4" Plexiglass or like materials for templates. As you can see thru it, it is very useful to be able to lay upon a top, or back plates to find the absolute best place make your top or back. Also nice to ride a flush cut roller tip router bit along. Drill holes to mark braces.

An Ideal Template Material
 
anything 1/4" will work as pattern for a flush cut router bit. I use hardboard/masonite. Easy to cut and sand to the line. Plexiglass would be nice though....see the grain pattern while laying out the top and back
 
I cut out the pattern from the plan and glue it too a piece of thin stiff backer paper that comes out of the glossy print photo paper package. Not the photo paper but the stiff piece that's included in the packaging at the bottom of the stack. It's very easy to cut accurately.

Then I use this template to draw a line directly to my half side mold of 3/4" birch/maple plywood. After deducting the required amount for the bending package (about 3/16" - 1/4") I sand the mold to the pencil line and then use this one piece to make the other side of the mold with a router and piloted router bit . Now the two sides match each other. One can use these pieces to make the plexiglass template. I don't like sanding to the line on the plexiglass as it has a tendency to mess up the line. I like to use the router on the plex then it comes out cleaner without a fuzzy edge.
Hope this is helpful! :cool:
 
I cut out the pattern from the plan and glue it too a piece of thin stiff backer paper that comes out of the glossy print photo paper package. Not the photo paper but the stiff piece that's included in the packaging at the bottom of the stack. It's very easy to cut accurately.

Then I use this template to draw a line directly to my half side mold of 3/4" birch/maple plywood. After deducting the required amount for the bending package (about 3/16" - 1/4") I sand the mold to the pencil line and then use this one piece to make the other side of the mold with a router and piloted router bit . Now the two sides match each other. One can use these pieces to make the plexiglass template. I don't like sanding to the line on the plexiglass as it has a tendency to mess up the line. I like to use the router on the plex then it comes out cleaner without a fuzzy edge.
Hope this is helpful! :cool:

That makes good sense.

Pete I watched that vid when you first put it out & was going to watch it again before I got started!

For the bending form how do you figure out how much extra to take off, to compensate for spring back? Or is it just a little off either end & a bit in the middle?

S.
 
Good question.....and you could probably really dial it in if you used the same species of wood each time, but as I don't it varies with each. I bring my lower and upper bout in by about 10mm where they would butt up against it's mate. The waist wouldn't be that much, and I find that I will usually touch it up on the bending iron.
 
No adjustment for springback. You get all the factors right and it goes like a dream but each piece of wood is different. Since I enjoy the Zen of hand bending, I only mechanically bend my sopranos.
 
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