Dakota PARLOR, Assembly Instruction Manual

GLUING THE SOUNDBOARD 

_____21.  Be sure to keep the spac-

er block firmly clamped to the frame 

for this operation!  This will help 

hold the shape of the body as you 

apply clamps.

Test-fit the frame on top of the 

soundboard without glue first, to see 

how the braces fit inside the kerfing.  

Trim the braces as necessary.

NOTE:  If you plan to cut pockets 

into the kerfing for the ends of the 

main X braces, this will take some 

time for trial and error fitting.  

Plan out your clamping method and 

assemble enough clamps (or Bun-

gee cording) to do the job before 

you begin.

We show two ways to clamp the 

body down against the soundboard:

20 clamps, as shown in fig 21a, or 20 feet of light bungee cord-

ing (available from Musicmakers), as shown in fig 21b.

If using the Bungee cord method, put screws around your flat 

work surface at an angle, about 2-3” apart, for wrapping the 

cord.  If you didn’t make a 22” X 28” clamping board, you can 

put the screws in the edge of your smaller plywood instead of 

4” away from the guitar as shown. 

Fig 21a

spacer block

Fig 21b

When ready, spread glue all around the edge of the guitar frame 

(including the kerfing), and put the frame back on the sound-

board, making sure there are no obstructions preventing a nice 

flat fit.  
If using Bungee cord, tie a loop at 

one end, hook it on a nail and work 

your away cross the instrument in 

spider web fashion to press the 

entire frame down firmly against 

the soundboard (fig 21b).

_____22.  When the soundboard is dry, remove the clamps and 

turn the instrument over so you can start working on kerfing 

for the back edge.  Begin by leveling the edges of the ribs and 

corner blocks, using your long flat sanding block (fig 22).  

The goal is to eliminate glue blobs and other irregularities that 

will interfere with a good fit of the back panel.  You’ll be sand-

ing more after the kerfing is installed, but you’ll use a curved 

sanding block next time.

HINT:  Leave the spacer block in to stablize the frame as you 

sand, until you get to the heel and tail blocks.  You’ll need to 

remove the clamps in order to sand those areas.

PREPARING THE BACK

Fig 22

11.