Trimming the Soundboard

Assuming "the soundboard will have to be trimmed" means "do it now," I set out to trim it down to size.  The instruction manual does not offer any hints on how one might accomplish that, so, taking no chances, I elected to use a cardboard template, an X-Acto knife, an Exacut with the wheel cutter attachment, and sandpaper.  The first thing I did was trace the shape of the soundboard onto a piece of cardboard and cut it out.  At that point I was able to slowly trim the straight "north" and "east" sides of the cardboard until it fit the case perfectly.  I then laid the cardboard template on the spruce soundboard and drew lines where the soundboard needed to be trimmed.  Laying a long metal straightedge along the line on the right ("east") side of the board, I cut a scoring line with the X-Acto knife. 

This cut went across the grain, so after cutting a good deep score, I switched to my Exacut with the wheel cutter attached to it and deepened the cut until it went through to the bottom.  Perfect!  I repeated the routine on the top, or "north" end of the board.  Since I was cutting with the grain, this took a fraction of the time.  The board was still (purposely) a hair too large, so I sanded the two edges until it fit perfectly.

Confession time.  When I glued the long hitchpin rail, I didn't notice that it was a fraction too long.  Two possible remedies:  try to trim/sand it or cut a small notch in the soundboard to accommodate it.  I chose the latter, and it looks fabulous!

The BBB rocks!

You've got to wonder if the Better Business Bureau's suggestion that I seek legal counsel had an effect.  Suddenly, three months after they were last contacted by me (four years since initial contact) and two months after they were first contacted by the BBB, Zuckermann decided to respond. They are claiming I never answered their emails and that their policy clearly states how missing or incorrect parts are handled.  They apparently are awaiting return of the parts I do have for inspection and replacement.  So, I merrily shipped them off today to Stonington, Connecticut.

Ya know what?  I'm just so happy that I finally got some action on this, I'm not going to play the blame game.  If they want to put the onus on me, I'll be magnanimous and let them.  How did Phil Collins sing it?  "I don't care anymore."  Just send me my blasted stand!  If it ever arrives, my whoop will be heard for miles!

The case is finished!

Well, except for decorative molding.  The final step was to mark the hitchpin rails and glue them into place.  The manual describes a rather silly (to me, at least) way of marking these rails by placing the blueprint over the pieces and then "feeling" them into proper position.  My word, not theirs.  I simply cut out the rails from the blueprint, thus creating a template to lay neatly and cleanly over the wood.  If Zuckermann were smart, they would include separate templates for this purpose.  It would cost them less than 10 cents.  I marked the rails with a pointed tool, 

and then I taped the cutouts back into the blueprint.  Actually, before I began the project, I went to our city hall and had them run a copy of the blueprint on one of their big machines designed to do just that.  Eventually, I hope to have enough money to have it professionally framed or mounted because it would make a cool piece of wall art.

Following the manual's directions, I took my #57 drill bit, a skinny little hair of a bit, and drilled through three of the holes in the bass hitchpin rail and six of the holes in the longer hitchpin rail.  I made up some padded 3/4" nails with the provided cardboard squares, two per nail, applied glue to the bass rail put it into place and used the padded nails to clamp the rail down.  I did the same with the long rail.  The manual didn't point out that one should not center the nails on the pads because the holes on the long rail are not centered. The cardboard will actually push the rail away from the spine, even if it hangs over as little as 1/64", so that little tidbit, as obvious as it may seem, is worth a mention. The holes in the long rail are so close to the spine, it's a real challenge to drive the nails in, even using a nail set to get your hammer above the rim of the case. Nevertheless, I gave it my best. Here is the result.

When the glue is dry, I'll cut off the cardboard, remove the nails and move to the next task which will be fitting the soundboard.