#1-Kerfing — tyson hand-did

Kerfing | Kerfing is a strip of notched wood with a sloped profile that is glued around the sides of the guitar at the rim in order to provide more surface area for gluing the top and back plates onto the sides. Kerfing can be made from several different woods - mahogany, spruce - but for this build, I am using cedar. It is a fairly easy process to glue on the kerfing but it takes about 100 clamps!

Once again, trying to do things on the cheap, I used basic clothespins reinforced with rubber bands:

Since the kerfing is already fairly flexible, I just applied wood glue to the strips then set them in place and clamped them down with the clothespins. They are glued a little proud of the edge because both the top and back sides will be sanded on the radius dish to have everything at the right angle when the top and back are attached.

The next step will be to notch the sides so the back braces will fit through the kerfing cleanly when the back is attached.