MIMF

Hi, I’ve been building for a couple of years, but haven’t built anything that I thought would be of interest to other builders until now. Attached are some photos of an Archtop with steam bent top & back a la Frank Finocchio. I wasn’t sure what the Guitars would sound like so I was reluctant to put too much work, or good materials into them. The 1st was a disappointment, but the 2nd one convinced me that Frank (and others) was onto something. I've had two professional studio guy's try it & both gave it hi marks - one even used it at a Gig, he was quite pleased. The Kent Armstrong sounded great as well, This process will render a nice sounding Instrument. If anyone is interested I have more photos of the process.

Got a link that describes the process? Not seeing any photos as of 11:20AM EDT 4/20.

Or why not just describe it right here?

I've tried twice to drop in some photos, but no soap. Maybe someone could help. I reduced the Jpeg's down to between 50 & 60 K, but they don't show up. ???
Until then - It goes like this. The Tops are Steam bent in two halves then the center seams are cleaned up & glued together. According to Finocchio a 3/4" high arch is desirable, but I got too much spring back on my 1st attempt & ended up with 1/2" arch. The result was a little disappointing. My second attempt went much much better. A new higher mold & an hour in the oven did the trick.
as you can imagine "It's all in the mold" The current one is made of redwood strips, but a carved or cast mold would be better - my next project.

Robert, we were having some temporary problems with the forum software not accepting new uploads, which has now been corrected. Please try again, and let us know if you have any further problems.

I don't get it ! My photos all claim to be under 70K (IPhoto) but when I try to post them I get the warning that they are too large.

Sorry Robert, I'm not sure what is going on. There is a limit of 3 attachments per post but each attachment can be up to 150k.

Robert, you could try emailing the photos you are trying to upload to me or one of the other staff members to see if we can find out what is wrong. If you click on the "Profile" button for one of us, you can then access the "Email" button. You will need to be logged in to do this.

Thanks Greg, On your Profile page all I see, under "Contacts" is E-Mail, PM, Yim, Aim, ICQ & Jabber. There is no Information following any of these. Could my problem be Quicktime Player, or Flash ?

There is an E-mail button next to the the E-mail label in profiles. Click that and it should open your e-mail editor, if you have one, or you can right-click on it and Copy the e-mail address (it is an HTML mailto: link) if you use webmail. The actual e-mail address is not displayed. Independently of Greg, I also PMed you my contact e-mail yesterday. Send an image to either or both of us and we will try to find out what is wrong.

Hello Robert,

That is awesome to hear. I have been wearing out my set of Finocchio DVD's in anticipation of building an archtop. I would love to see your pictures and ask if this is your first archtop? Did you carve the mold and out of what? I actually called Mr Finocchio and he was a very friendly person who was very gracious with sharing his knowledge. I believe his techniques and results to be of the highest quality and will model my first archtop after his. I am new to lutherie and am currently working on gypsy style guitars a la Michael Collins who by the way is another excellent craftsman and very open to discussion.
Anyway, good luck with the photos. I'll be watching out for them
Regards,

DJ Parker

Here is Robert's guitar.

More Photos

Hi DJ, Thanks for your interest. This is not my 1st. I have built a few others, however this is my 2nd steam bent Archtop. I agree with you about Frank, he's a cool guy. The Mold that I am using is built from 3/4" ply. & redwood strips. It's been reworked several times. here is the latest version.

Glad you got your photo's sorted out Robert!

Hey Robert, What a cool looking guitar. I guess this one has a solid spruce top isn't it? Did you made any laminated ones too?

How do you "press" the top(and back?) onto the mold to force the shape to the top/back?

Glad you got the picture-posting deal sorted out.

Hi Mario, Yeah the picture posting was the result of a SUPER effort by Jim McConkey. The process is pretty straight forward. Put one half of the top, or back into a steam box for the required amount of time, & clamp it to the mold. I have a center line marked on the mold & on the part. I then place the part where it needs to be & use clamping cauls. The most radical bend is at the waist so a little caution is required there.

Paco, Thanks. All solid wood & no grain run out.

I've tried this before, but never got past the trial-and-error stage. Couldn't get what I felt were consistent results. Obviously you've worked out those problems and have ended up with a very nice guitar. Well done, old bean. It's no small feat.

I hope you don't mind some questions?

You must have a way of quickly clamping the steamed wood to the mold? Quick-release clamps? The neck and heel get clamped down first, followed by the waist, upper, and then lower bouts? I'm guessing the picture above shows those clamps replaced with the all-metal clamps that go into the oven?

How long do you steam? How long in the oven, and at what temp?

My own process was a good bit more primitive. I'd spray the board down and wrap it in aluminum foil. Then I'd clamp it as much as possible to the mold and would start hitting it with a heat gun. I'd continue cranking down the clamps and applying heat until everything was fully cranked down, then would continue (I forget how long now) blasting it with the heat gun, then would throw a pile of bath towels on top to hold the heat and let the whole thing slowly come down.

Not a big surprise I couldn't get consistent results, huh?

Steam box? D'oh!

Oven? Double D'oh!

I made a solid mold. It's still around here I think. I'll post a pic if I can find the camera.

Nice work.

Hey Dennis,
Sounds like you've given this some thought . With the right tools the job becomes much simpler. (Sounds like a famous quote doesn't it ). A Steam Box will make your life a lot easier. I've made several because they self destruct. Attached is a picture of one I've been using for a few months, it has now been replaced with a Redwood box.
There really isn't a big hurry when you pull the part out of the steam Box. I now have a box full of steel clamps (Harbor Freight) at the ready. Place the wood on the mold & start, as you said, at both ends & work towards the waist & along the center seam. Finocchio has a steaming schedule for many species of wood. I go for 20 min's per side with Spruce, less with Maple & more with Mahogany. 1hr. in the oven at 200*. On this Guitar the Maple actually over-bent & had to go back into the steam box & no oven. The purchase of the DVD from Frank was well worth the money IMO. I bought mine directly from him.
Frank suggests that a carved mold is better than the one pictured, so I'm doing the next best thing - because carving for and old Man aint as much fun as for a young one.
Hope you continue on with this method, it a lot of fun & a big wood saver to boot.

Good luck with it.