Does anyone have a handy method for making those little wood diamonds for seam reinforcement? I made few by marking them out then cutting and sanding, maybe some sort of custom mini miter box would be better. Consistency would be nice. Any ideas?
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Double Bass Seam Diamonds
- Thread starter ctregan
- Start date
well if you want a t grain over your crack then its a bit challenging, if you want cross grain(if i recall the correct method), depending on how big you want them youll have to find your lengths, these have to all match, so for example, cut a piece of straight grained spruce one inch thick into a long rectangle, then you have to make / marks, one with black sharpie going one way one with blue going the other way, measure an inch on it long ways to make sure your all square there, now when two x's connect you will have a diamond, cut all your blues, then cut all your black, and there you go, you have a uniform set of diamonds, i really dont recall how my boss does it, so this me trying to remember something logicly, if it works...I THOUGHT OF IT FIRST!! haha
edit: Aren't these usually glued first and then cut to shape? If you shaped them prior to installation, wouldn't clamping be a bit tough?
Jake deVilliers
Commercial User
- May 24, 2006
- 6,349
- 607
- Disclosures
- Owner of The Bass Spa, String Repairman at Long & McQuade Vancouver
I can only speak for myself but no, I shape them first and glue them on. I'm mostly placing them inside instruments through the sound hole, so post-installation shaping really isn't possible. 
The instant tack and subsequent 'suck' of hide glue seems to obviate the need for clamps on these little reinforcements.
The instant tack and subsequent 'suck' of hide glue seems to obviate the need for clamps on these little reinforcements.
I made mine from spruce for the top, willow for the back. 3/4 to 1" strips about 1/8" thick. Then I figured out a good angle on the power miter box and made sure that the cut side was the same length as the adjacent side and then clamped on a stop so I could whip out a bunch of diamonds fast. This way the grain is slightly off vertical when glued on the center seam. On my new construction I fit and clamped them, then shaped them later with a chisel and sand paper.
