Post #17 - Assembly prep - rims and back brace profiling

In preparation for the soundbox assembly, I had to set the rim height.  I followed the suggestions in the Cumpiano chapter on rim assembly for steel strings.  The tail block defines the height of the rims from the tail block to about 2" below the waist, called the "peak".  From there, the rims reduce in height generally linearly to the head block.  I scribed the line on the interior of the rims to help guide the process for plaining with the block planer.

Below is a picture of the rough shaped-rim.  I'll take some critical measurements and fine tune, and it will be ready for the kerfings.

In preparation for shaping the kerfings, I had to put together another jig - a radiusing sanding stick.  I generally followed the suggestions from this site for building one.  Below you can see the two sanding surface blocks glued to a 2' piece of stock.  I used shims to set sanding angles at approximately 1.5º and 5º.  

The last piece of preparation was setting the back bracing profiles.  Below you can see the braces before profiling.

Here are the braces after rough shaping with a chisel.

Here are the braces after clean up shaping with a block sander.

Here are the completed braces on the back.