Making a go-bar clamping system - the curious world of flexed pine and fibreglass 

Near the very beginning, I was hoping you'd actually collect some data on various materials vs force- you did not disappoint! Thank you, excellent work!

Thank You so much!! I've thought of building one for some time and you've answered the questions I've had completely!!! The rest can be easily worked out now!!

laughing out loud here With the hammer sounds... great humor inserts!! thanks for your videos they are all great!

Love the sound clips in lieu of the hammering! Nice work. I'm repairing a resonator guitar and might need such jig for installing some bracing.

Great to see how you measure it! I suppose the more it bends, the higher is its force and pressure? So it is important to have the rod's top and bottom vertically aligned, or it would affect the pressure it gives. I also wonder if bamboo or cane or reed would be more elastic than pine, as they are traditionally used for making bows.

Your attention to details and intellectual curiosity is inspiring....thanks so much for sharing

I've used a similar rig for decades to glue bits of marquetry and veneer while restoring historic antiques. It's great for large surfaces where even deep throaty clamps just can't reach.

I've found that adding a "Bullseye" level onto the back end of a power drill is very helpful in keeping the drill vertical.

I am very impressed with what you are accomplishing in such limited space. You are very resourceful and are attempting pretty ambitious things. I have been learning to build guitars myself, and I've been avoiding making a go-bar deck but you showed me that it's far simpler than I figured. And I like that you told us where you got the fibreglass rod from - that was one of my problems - i figured i'd have to be buying those from overseas. So now I'm going to have a go at that too. Thanks for this video.

Great video Susan. The rubber ends are a great idea. When you glue the braces on try using a drinking straw to get the glue squeeze out, it works already well, just cut the end at an angle.

How thick are your fibreglass rods? Didn’t notice you mentioning it. Many thanks.

hi Susie, softwoods like pine have a higher cellulose content with longer cells which is hydrophilic (water loving) which is quite susceptible to deformation if not coated with a varnish. even then, it will be prone to deformation. if you have spruce available, it works a tad better than pine. any hardwood will resist the bending forces a little better due to the higher lignin content and shorter cell structure. ash is as you correctly pointed out the best choice here. it's used for tool handles as it flexes without deforming in the implement when pressure is applied. as crazy as it may sound, but dried yew wood limbs should really do the job. nice job on working out the science of the physics involved! cheers mike

I use my radius disks in my go bar deck when gluing braces, a flat surface doesn't work to well. I have a 15' for the back and 25' for the top, they are both on the bottom of my deck, back to back and I just flipped the stack depending on which side I am gluing. However, I do use the flat side when glueing up the two braces above the sound hole, I do not radius those two braces.

thank you loved the sound of the child laughing. one of my favorite sounds . red oak might work instead of pine . but fiberglass seems best.

I wonder if you coat the pine with fiberglass resin if it would stabilize them?

thank you so much for the video, it was most helpful!

I've used 6mm ply cut into 9mm srrips. Cheaper than fibreglass and provides more pressure. However if you do your construction right, the rods just hold the components in place with little pressure required. You might want to 'sleeve' the trheaded rods with some tubing... you'll find out why if you don't :)

Are the m8 stainless steel rods stiff enough?

ROTFL!!! Hammer noises!! Wonderful stuff!!

How about using more threaded rod with nuts/sleeves on the end so they can act as expansion bars. You could "dial in" the exact pressure you want.

Good video, now where do you buy this magical hammer?

I used to use this type of go bar until I was shown a 2 piece one with a spring. Take a piece of tube (electrical or plumbing conduit) close one end- glue on the cap - drop in a spring- put in a wooden dowel that is whatever length works for your deck. You can adjust the length of the dowel to give the amount of force you want. They are much more controlled and easy to work with than the bendy sticks.

When they tell you to " go fly a kite". ... Check out the kite suppliers as the fiberglass rods are reasonable and plentiful in various sizes...

Thanks for the great video! Susan, do you have any thoughts on whether bamboo might be a good material for the go bars? I'm in Thailand and so surrounded by the stuff. I could just go out back 50m and get all i need. I wonder if it might have the same problem that the pine did with the pressure decreasing over time.

I am currently trying the Roman Blind Rods, I'm thinking shorter rods would be stiffer and therefore apply more pressure!

Dude, what a video

I liked it before watching the video

Now my bloomin' dog is going mad, maybe the hammering is better ha ha!

Even though each of the glass fibre strips is the same length, if the top end is not vertically above the bottom end they are effectively different lengths. Surely that will affect the force they apply.

Homo Ludens, that's what you are! Very interesting, again! BTW for getting the corners exactly at the same height without tedious measuring, put tubes over the threaded rods. Even electric conduit pipe might do if you don't go crazy tightening the nuts.

for long slender columns use Euler's Formula. the Force changes little once a thin column buckles.... almost a constant force spring.....interesting result.

Willow whip for me?

That was suppose to be a compliment in all ways!

very informative and entertaining! If only you did it in a two PC Bikini! :)

Sounds like you need a new hammer Susan :-)

3:00 lol