Brian's Guitar from Conception to Birth or How to Build a Guitar in 62 Easy Steps!
2 Glue-up the Body Panels
Now it’s time to glue up the halves. The front of the guitar is book-matched so you’ll want to choose which book-match looks the best; it can go either of two ways. Use the edge marks you made earlier to put the boards back into the original alignment. Imagine that the binding of this “book” can be hinged on the top or the bottom. Open them up each way and pick the side you like best. Once you’ve selected your best face, place a mark across the faces at the abutment of the two boards so they can easily be aligned when gluing. Once you spread the glue you only have a few minutes to work. So prepare the clamps and do a dry run to make sure everything is set up right. I cover the tops of the clamps and my workbench with wax paper to keep the glue from sticking where it shouldn’t. Once you’re ready, smear a little wood glue on one edge of one board. Just like picking your nose or checking your prostate, nothing works better than your finger. I also put a very small amount of glue on the opposite edge just enough to saturate the grain. If you get too much glue in there you’ll have a big slippery, sliding mess (which might be good for sex, but not for this glue-up). Place the boards in your clamps and apply slight side pressure keeping your book-matched halves in alignment. Add a clamp on each end of the joint to keep the two surfaces flush with each other. Use a clamping block with wax paper wrapped around the edges of the boards. Tighten all the clamps a little at a time working your way around. Moderate pressure is all that’s needed. You’ll get some glue squeeze out, but that’s a good thing; it shows that you’ve used enough glue. Avoid the temptation to wipe up the glue ooze. All you’ll do is force glue into the grain of the wood and stain will not be able to penetrate those areas (meaning that would be ugly). Repeat the glue up procedure for the back panels of the guitar, and let everything dry over night.
The next day, take off all of the clamps. Use a scraper to remove the (now dry) glue ooze. As you probably noticed, when you glue something up, it tends to want to slide all over the place. My boards traveled some over the length and they crept out of flush a tad. That’s why you always leave everything bigger until the last possible moment. I trimmed a fraction off each end to square things up. Then I ripped some off of each side of the panel to get it a little closer to actual size. This will help in making it easier to handle on some of the upcoming steps (as well as getting it to fit through my planer). Remember to keep the centerline of your glued-up panels in the center; trim a little off of both sides. Clean up both sides of the panel on the planer with light passes until you reach final thickness checking after each pass with a caliper. If your planer isn’t wide enough to handle the panel or you simply don’t own a power planer, try kicking it old school with a trusty No. 5 bench plane and a straightedge (notice that pile of shavings). It’s not quite as fast, but you’d be surprised at how well the old tools work.
Now repeat all those steps with the top panel: square up the ends, rip to width, plane to exact thickness. Remember to keep the centerline of your glued-up panels in the center; trim a little off of both sides. Always take your time and triple-check all of your measurements. You don’t want to make a wrong cut on expensive wood and have to start all over again. Your patience will reward you. Let’s take some time now for a preview and to get excited about the build. Notice the mirror effect the book-matching gives you. The wood in this photo was wetted down with mineral spirits so you can see what the grain will look like after finishing. This effect will be even more spectacular once the color and top coats go on and it’s rubbed out.