Richlite & primary bracing

[jamtor]

Hi, and happy new year! I have 2 questions

1. Has anybody tried Richlite for a bridge material ? Felt very light and should be strong enough, i guess.

2. Before i rabbet the part of the primary braces that goes over the bridgeplate, is there suppose to be space between the underside of the primary braces and the bridge plate or should it be air tight? i'm guessing airtight, but the book doesnt metnion this and it was unclear on the photos. just want to make sure.

thanks!

[johnparchem]

Hi, and happy new year! I have 2 questions

1. Has anybody tried Richlite for a bridge material ? Felt very light and should be strong enough, i guess.

2. Before i rabbet the part of the primary braces that goes over the bridgeplate, is there suppose to be space between the underside of the primary braces and the bridge plate or should it be air tight? i'm guessing airtight, but the book doesnt metnion this and it was unclear on the photos. just want to make sure.

thanks!

I would not use Richlite as for anything on a guitar. It is a paper product. I have played with rocklite https://www.rocklite.co.uk/ which is compose of wood fibers made to have wood properties.

Based on the question for the bridge plate, I am assuming a classical where the center fan braces cross the plate. Those should be tight enough to get a good glue joint between the brace and the plate.

[Trevor Gore]

I've never tried Richlite or Rocklite, so no view from me on that.

Regarding the rebates, classical or steel string, they should be tight. Don't forget the thickness of the carbon cloth in the SS situation. One way of getting the rebates to fit well is to leave the braces a little tall, cut the rebates a little deep, but evenly. (The rebates can also be cut with a router). Then plane down the bottom of the braces until the rebate fits well. You need to get good contact of the bottom of the braces on both the sound board and the bridge plate.

[jamtor]

[/quote]

I would not use Richlite as for anything on a guitar. It is a paper product. I have played with rocklite https://www.rocklite.co.uk/ which is compose of wood fibers made to have wood properties.

Based on the question for the bridge plate, I am assuming a classical where the center fan braces cross the plate. Those should be tight enough to get a good glue joint between the brace and the plate.
[/quote]

how did you like the rocklite soundwise? heard it mills like wood

[jamtor]

I've never tried Richlite or Rocklite, so no view from me on that.

Regarding the rebates, classical or steel string, they should be tight. Don't forget the thickness of the carbon cloth in the SS situation. One way of getting the rebates to fit well is to leave the braces a little tall, cut the rebates a little deep, but evenly. (The rebates can also be cut with a router). Then plane down the bottom of the braces until the rebate fits well. You need to get good contact of the bottom of the braces on both the sound board and the bridge plate.

thanks! great to have this confirmed

[WilliamDavidReynolds]

I would not use Richlite as for anything on a guitar. It is a paper product. I have played with rocklite https://www.rocklite.co.uk/ which is compose of wood fibers made to have wood properties.

Based on the question for the bridge plate, I am assuming a classical where the center fan braces cross the plate. Those should be tight enough to get a good glue joint between the brace and the plate.

I agree, I’m agreeing with experience,, the manufacturer of Richlite markets Skatelite for sheathing skateboard ramps, they market in many other ways too. Cutting boards too.
First off it’s not green, it’s poison basically, I’ve puked green slime during a skatepark build from all the skatelite dust, and we had masks on. It’s resin and a phone book compressed basically. Great for machining, tool makers/ Boeing/machinists use big chunks of it for modeling parts.
The material itself if durable outside and can fail. When it is under failure stages it delaminates sharp bible-page thin knife sharp layers, which I believe would be the eventual case of used as a bridge.
There is a guy in Austin Texas who just built the best looking headless electric guitar with the richlite as a laminated top and it looked really good, I can see it’s use there being legit. It’s also pretty heavy considering, I’m basing this weight on carrying 4/8 sheets at 1/4” thick compared to 3/4” ply,, basically the same strain carrying them. But on acoustic you’re talking a piece of toxic plastic glued to the guitar.