Michael Minton
Forum Replies Created
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If it is moisture given up by the wood or surrounding air that got trapped in the lacquer, you might mix a tiny bit of lacquer thinner and retarder, put a dab on a q tip, and hit a tiny spot and see it that helps.
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Doug’s solution is genius.
If you want something easier (but not as permanent and multi-purpose) you could glue the two brace pieces together to recreate the full curve, and use that piece as a routing template for a flush trim router bit. You could double side tape a brace blank to the top, and use a flush trim bit with a bottom bearing on a router table to recreate the curve. You’ll have to figure out a way to clamp this safely to present it to the router bit so you don’t get your fingers anywhere near the cutting surface. Maybe you could leave the brace quite tall and then cut off the excess on the non-curved side after you created the radius.
If you send me the chord length (the x distance of the brace, not along the curved edge, but just the straight line across) and the height of the arc (measure from point to point across the chord length, the height of the arc is the amount of the “bulge), I will do the calculation and send you the radius.
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A gap like that will happen if the notches for the x-brace aren’t cut perfectly. I don’t think filling the gap would do anything helpful, but it does suggest the x-brace isn’t going to be as stiff as it should be. And that X is probably the most important load bearing point on the top. Ervin Somogy (and several other great builders) convinced me of the importance of putting a 1.5 to 2 mm patch over the halves where the notching has interrupted the joint (across the open notches). See Somogyi “Making the Responsive Guitar” p. 43. Make the patch the width of the x brace, about 20 mm long, and taper down the ends.
