February 1999
The February meeting was held at the shop of Paul Hass, Dave Krause and David Brooks.
In spite of having a dead battery and being stuck in the middle of nowhere on the
road between Federal Way and Seattle in horribly rainy weather, Jay Hargreaves (J. T. Hargreaves Basses and Guitars)
delivered a fine demonstration on the versatility and ease of vacuum clamping. Using
a clamp based on Richard Schneider's design (Jay was a student of Richard's and is
currently finishing 3 of Richard's uncompleted instruments), Jay discussed the
construction of the clamp and how he uses it for both guitar and bass building. The
dished base that he uses for the clamp is not totally spherical like the radiused dishes
that LMI sells. It is flat on the upper bout where the fretboard attaches and
domed on the lower bout. The boundary between the 2 surfaces is feathered by hand to
provide a smooth transition.
Jay also showed the bridge clamping setup that they use for the Kasha/Schneider style
bridges. One unique feature of this method is the foam pad that is used to apply
even pressure on the bridge. Without the proper padding to spread the forces evenly,
Jay said that the vacuum pressure can break the bridge or the guitar top.
Finally, Jay showed us a clamping jig that he uses as a hold down for tops and backs
while working on the braces. A gasket in the shape of the guitar body sits on top of
a large plastic plate. Grooves are cut in the plastic to provide channels for the
air to be evacuated through so that the suction pulls the work piece down onto the gasket
and seals the vacuum so that the plate is held in position while it is being worked on.
Now if it would only suck out the chips and dust as well, it would be the perfect
work table.....
Here are some photos from the event:
