How do I fix this wavy side..

[rangerdave1]

I bent some Cherry sides and got some waviness in the lower bout.. Any way to fix this? Happened both sides but only on the lower bout.

I am thinking of trying to flatten it with a flat iron using a round pipe to support the inside of the side.

[Crafty Fox]

Would it be possible to scrape & sand them flat?
How thick were the sides? I do mine at around 2.5mm.

[rangerdave1]

I thought about that but I’m sitting at 2.2mm right now and the wave/ripple is about 0.3mm deep so if I scrape flush, I’ll be at 1.8mm or so. Not sure if that will be thick enough and don’t have any experience doing this, well other then one build... It’s a shallow body and only about 100mm deep so I might be able to get away with a thinner side because of the shallow depth. I could also add some ribs on the inside to give it some strength but wonder if its worth the risk. Especially since I’ve only just started this build.

[RodC]

One way I've seen it done is to put in support bracing where you need to sand things thinner.


Then you can sand down to 1.5 or so.

Caveat - I haven't done this myself, just talked to people who have.

[rocket]

If you flattened the side sufficiently but it ended up a bit too thin you could laminate another thin layer inside.

Cheers

Rod.

[Steve.Toscano]

Scrape / sand and a few extra low & flat side braces is the way to go. If you end up at 1.8mm that's fine.

[simso]

You could just leave that alone and take care of it in the finishing stage. Apply a few coats of sealer and lacquer and then flat sand it

Steve

[rangerdave1]

Thank you for the suggestions. I went ahead and glued the sides together, installed the neck and tail block and kerfing. I will scrape the worst out until i feel its getting too thin.

Dave

[ospandrade]

Hello everyone!

I also had the same problem with the Brazilian rosewood sides. I believe that it was because I kept the sides for longer than necessary and I also should have wetted the sides abundantly, I should have just sprayed water with a fine, spreading spray.
I tried to correct it using the scraper, it improved a lot but it wasn't perfect due to the sides being 2mm thick and also the sinking was very significant. But structurally it didn’t compromise the structural integrity of the guitar, I put transversal reinforcements on the sides, this will further guarantee that there are no future problems, at least I hope so.
Thanks!

[Dave M]

So how did it go? How did you treat it?

I think that we all get this at some point. I have done the reinforcement inside and lots of sanding externally. I have also just left them. It is a hand built instrument I would say!

What is perhaps a bit surprising is that these small blemishes don’t really malter too much so long as the instrument sounds and plays OK.

If people know it is not factory produced they will accept some minor imperfections.