Prototype Two

Here's prototype two.

The curved support for the guitar body adds considerable stiffness to the legs. Also the neck support is much more secure in that it is deeper, however there is not enough contact area for the attachment to be a simple glued joint. Have started to think about the need to provide cushioning so that precious guitar parts do not knock against the wooden framework. At this stage it is just pieces of cork strategically glued into place.

I am not happy with the "four piece" design (two front legs, back leg and neck). It looks ugly but it is really useful to get the dimensions sorted out. It seems obvious now to make the back leg and neck from a single lamination, onto which the legs can be glued up.

The design challenge at this stage is to understand the exact shape of the back of the guitar to ensure that contact is only made at the right points. I.e. as little as possible.

Now that I have something "workable" I am looking more critically at the footprint and the angle of rake. Both of these are essential to get right as they determine the stability of the stand.

It already seems that steam bending is never going to be the way forward so all thoughts are now heading towards laminated strips.