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06-22-2008, 05:16 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Syracuse N.Y. | | | How strong is a kerf joint?
I did a kerf joint on the back plate of my bass project. Which led me to this question; how strong is a kerf joint? and how does it hold up over time? seems odd because its only a 3/32" sliver of wood with a bead of hide glue. Do they ever get cleated?
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Last edited by ctregan : 07-05-2008 at 07:47 PM.
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06-22-2008, 05:21 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Syracuse N.Y. | | | Heres a couple more photos. (it still needs to be trimmed up a bit).
This was a lot of work.
Last edited by ctregan : 07-05-2008 at 07:47 PM.
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06-22-2008, 03:16 PM
|  | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | | If it were mine, I'd brace it right across, or at least use some sturdy cleats. |
06-22-2008, 04:19 PM
| | AES Fine Instruments | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brewster, NY, USA | | | What is a kerf joint? |
06-22-2008, 05:10 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NorCal | | | Kerf joint?
A joint with kerf in it? 
Is that the what the kids are calling it these days?  |
06-22-2008, 05:14 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NYC | | | Looks to me like it's sawn halfway through, bent, and glued. |
06-22-2008, 06:26 PM
| | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | | A kerf is a saw cut. I think what Arnold is questioning is whether it's actually a "joint".
When i do a back bend like that, I re-cut the kerf with a back-saw once the plate is bent; this makes the edges of the cut parallel, then I fill the kerf with a strip of wood, a bit like inlaying purfling. Plane flush and brace or cleat. My cornerless bass is done this way and I'm not sure whether it needs to be braced. I am thinking of light bracing "just in case".
But if the bend is actually two separate bits of wood cut on a slant and glued together, that's a joint, but a scarf, not a kerf, and would need reinforcement.
Last edited by Matthew Tucker : 06-22-2008 at 06:29 PM.
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06-22-2008, 06:27 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham AL | | | Youll know after you smoke it! |
06-22-2008, 07:31 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NorCal | | Hey maaan, that's some gooood kerf!  |
06-22-2008, 07:31 PM
| | AES Fine Instruments | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brewster, NY, USA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker  But if the bend is actually two separate bits of wood cut on a slant and glued together, that's a joint, but a scarf, not a kerf, and would need reinforcement. | Would it be a scarf a kerf or a butt... 
Last edited by arnoldschnitzer : 06-22-2008 at 07:34 PM.
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06-22-2008, 07:40 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: emmitsburg, maryland | | | was it a struggle to close the hinge? did you hear or feel noticeable protest from the wood..am i wrong in suggesting not doing a thing with bracing untill your fitment is correct w/ top & sides..and that being the case maybe brace at the bouts and one over the center joint...i have faith in NY cherry. |
06-22-2008, 07:43 PM
| | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer Would it be a scarf a kerf or a butt... | or a smerf or a barf or a kutt ... |
06-22-2008, 10:07 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Syracuse N.Y. | | Quote:
Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer What is a kerf joint? | How about a "Kerfed bend"?
It is still one piece of wood (barely), with a bead of glue inside the kerf holding things together.
It makes me wonder if the hide glue will shrink and expand with the wood?
I was considering cutting the back and reattaching the angle with some kind of splined joint; it seems like it would have been more structurally sound but less pleasing visually. |
06-22-2008, 11:08 PM
|  | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | Seeing as how that 'joint' is all end-grain, I'd be doing something to help keep it together. 
Maybe a series of little angled cleats? |
06-22-2008, 11:11 PM
| | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | | No don't do that, glue's not a good filler. I suggest you do what I said before - cut through the kerf again gently with a panel saw just enough to clear out the glue. you can clean out the channel with your purfling pick. Then make a thin strip of wood to fit nice and snugly and glue it in place. That way you have full thickness backing for the thin bend, but retain the integrity of the long grain fibres (what's left of them).
Or just glue a brace along the bend. |  | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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