ScottR Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I'm assuming it was not dry enough either. I was cutting fret slots in my garage in the direct sunlight to begin with. That black wood did get hot. I cooled it and covered it at that point.....but I did notice that was when the demon began to stir. If I ever start building more than one a year, I think I'll have to build a slotting rig like yours or more likely like that slick little rig that DemonX made. Radial arm saws are hard to find these days. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I'm assuming it was not dry enough either. I was cutting fret slots in my garage in the direct sunlight to begin with. That black wood did get hot. I cooled it and covered it at that point.....but I did notice that was when the demon began to stir. If I ever start building more than one a year, I think I'll have to build a slotting rig like yours or more likely like that slick little rig that DemonX made. Radial arm saws are hard to find these days. SR And Radial arm saws are dangerous... DemonX rig is nice. But I hate tearing up a 200.00 tool like that. I think the one from LMI is better if you are planning on doing more scales than just he basics. I have their 27.5" scale and a few other odd ones they supply. Also working on exotic woods (read inherently unstable) in the sun is not the best idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Also working on exotic woods (read inherently unstable) in the sun is not the best idea... Yeah.......that is becoming painfully evident. I'm thinking a number of the battles I've had with builds--some documented, some not--may all lead back to that. As Robin Trower noted between songs on his 1988 Live From Austin CD: it gets warm in Texas, don't it? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Great work so far... You and I seem to be in the same position, desperately needing a drum sander. One day... As far as my slotting rig, works great AS LONG as I don't put pressure on the saw when I pull it through. I need to just pull it smooth. As it's a cheapo saw it's not as rigid as my larger makita which is solid, but cost five times the amount. Re the comment about hacking into a $200 saw, you can prob buy similar in the USA for $50... everything is more expensive over here. Besides, everything I did us reversible except for drilling the holes, but that is minor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Which reminds me I need to get a moisture meter.... The laser ones are the best and most accurate but expensive. The one I use is the prong type. Not 100% accurate, but accurate enough for our needs as in, we want it to be well under 10% content, everything I test reads 3-5% so even if it's a couple percent out it's safe. I tested it on some fresh timber and it read 40% so I know it has variable and not just reading the same all the time. It was only 20 bucks including postage off eBay. You won't get it into a ebony board though. You need to fully shove the two prongs into the wood for a proper reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Great work so far... You and I seem to be in the same position, desperately needing a drum sander. One day... As far as my slotting rig, works great AS LONG as I don't put pressure on the saw when I pull it through. I need to just pull it smooth. As it's a cheapo saw it's not as rigid as my larger makita which is solid, but cost five times the amount. Re the comment about hacking into a $200 saw, you can prob buy similar in the USA for $50... everything is more expensive over here. Besides, everything I did us reversible except for drilling the holes, but that is minor. Thanks, not that there is much that can be seen so far. And yeah a drum sander is looking pretty good right about now. AS far as the $200 saw goes, I was just looking at those a few weeks back, and the cheapest one with rails to extend the cut was right at $199...at Lowes. I didn't look any further than that. Oh well, we makes do with what we has, until we gits more. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Great work so far... You and I seem to be in the same position, desperately needing a drum sander. One day... As far as my slotting rig, works great AS LONG as I don't put pressure on the saw when I pull it through. I need to just pull it smooth. As it's a cheapo saw it's not as rigid as my larger makita which is solid, but cost five times the amount. Re the comment about hacking into a $200 saw, you can prob buy similar in the USA for $50... everything is more expensive over here. Besides, everything I did us reversible except for drilling the holes, but that is minor. I meant the $200.00 miterbox from Stew Mac. Those things are not cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I meant the $200.00 miterbox from Stew Mac. Those things are not cheap. Mine (stewmac box) was the out dated model, you can't buy it anymore. The brass blocks were worn out! I think they were only $99 when I bought it. The saw was two models ago, they don't sell anymore, it was blunt as a butter knife. Sacrificing it really wasn't a big issue. Besides, it's only hex bolts. I can put it back together if I wanted. Can't see that happening though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I meant the $200.00 miterbox from Stew Mac. Those things are not cheap. Mine (stewmac box) was the out dated model, you can't buy it anymore. The brass blocks were worn out! I think they were only $99 when I bought it. The saw was two models ago, they don't sell anymore, it was blunt as a butter knife. Sacrificing it really wasn't a big issue. Besides, it's only hex bolts. I can put it back together if I wanted. Can't see that happening though. Nice then re-purposing makes sense. My original saw is tired and dull as well. Only made it a few years. I have the Dozuki saw now... love it but I don't slot boards with it. I only use it to clean and deepen slots. The new Miter Box is so expensive that people should just buy the LMI version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 The new Miter Box is so expensive that people should just buy the LMI version. I got one of the new ones week before last for my old man. He is starting to do necks in here with me (he was terrified shaping the first few ) Its actually a fairly good piece of kit. I have the previous model & rekon the new one is an improvement. I never even taught of the LMI unit But still. Im trying to figure out how to build a gang saw from an old table saw I have here. Cant quite get my head around it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Well if someone wanted to mimic what I built but without the mitre box, they could simply add a timber back panel to the base plate so they have a straight edge to push the template up to, and use a nail driven into the baseplate as the slot position marker. I considered this but was easier to pull apart what I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Well if someone wanted to mimic what I built but without the mitre box, they could simply add a timber back panel to the base plate so they have a straight edge to push the template up to, and use a nail driven into the baseplate as the slot position marker. I considered this but was easier to pull apart what I had. I was thinking the same thing. All you really need is a square back fence and a correctly placed locater pin for the tmeplates....and a saw that lets you set the blade hieght....depth accurately. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 When I took the fretboard out of the clamps it had gone back about halfway to flat. I marked the back and sanded it the rest of the way flat. next I lined it up to the neck blank and drilled register holes in the waste area. I set paneling nails and clipped the tops off. I spotted some silicon in the trussrod channel and laid the rod in. Before doing that I lubed the treads with Vaseline and added a thin coat to the top of the rod. This is a double action rod from Allied Luthiery btw. I covered the rod and channel and access port with a thin clear tape which I trimmed to 1/16th" of the channel. I coated the live area liberally with T-88 epoxy. The lube keeps the tape from sticking to the rod. The tape keeps the epoxy off the rod. The epoxy will fill any gaps-- however minor they may be, and act like the fillet that Allied recommends. The T-88 is great for exotics. It has a very long working time and doesn't care how oily the wood is. You should always start training your guitars early. Just like you should play music for your kids beginning while they are in the womb (mine got massive doses of Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top--now he is my favorite companion to go see live music with)you should get your guitar used to the music it is being made for during its formative stages. This is the blues machine that is priming my lumber for its new life. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Fret board glue up. I think the clamp police will let me slide on this one. Out of the clamps and cut to shape. The neck is finally liking more like a neck than a floor joist. I know I posted earlier that a drum sander would be real nice to have.....it still would. But there is something very satisfying about squaring up and shaping wood by hand. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 While the fretboard was in clamps, I went back to cleaning up the body outlines. I decided the bass horn needed some modification. So I did. Man! It feels real good to get some carving tools in my hands again. I can't believe how much I missed doing this. Long tenon neck with a 3 degree angle and a 15 degree headstock with a step down. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 You should always start training your guitars early. I do the same thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 You should always start training your guitars early. I do the same thing +1 I teach them heavier stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idmicheal Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 So what happens when I listen to Economic history lectures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 So what happens when I listen to Economic history lectures? Your guitar turns into a sitar. SR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idmicheal Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 So what happens when I listen to Economic history lectures? Your guitar turns into a sitar. SR Burned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I had kind of a strange week for building. I got a little bit done several nights after work, which is new, but there is now light later into the evening, according to our clocks. Then I had a four day weekend, since I took a couple of days off to entertain my parents who had come to visit. Four days of no building till about the middle of today. I finished rough shaping the headstock and started rough sanding. I'm slightly modifying this from my previous headstocks. Just a little. I did buy a new toy that I've been wanting for years. A floor standing drill press. That was a lot more of a challenge to acquire than it should have been. This, on the other hand was relatively simple. I've been looking at these at Harbor Freight for years thinking how useful it would be if I had a big drill press. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I decided to go ahead and add the side dots while the side and top of the neck was still still square. I put them right down against the edge of the fretboard join to insure room for the radius. Then I went ahead and located and drilled the tuning machine holes before the headstock was completely thicknessed. It is very difficult to get a backer block behind the holes with my carve, so this allows me to clean up any minor tear-out as I get it to the final shape and thickness. That milling vise made lining up the bit to the punches a breeze. I am very impressed with it. As it turns out, I had no tear-out at all. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazygtr Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Workingman Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Nice and congrats on the new tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I love my standing drill press. Its so handy for all sorts of crap. I used to have a milling vice like yours untill I dropped at the top of the stairs in the workshop. It had split the bottom runner by the time it stopped on the floor But then I came home to find it back on the drill with 30 inch of travel on the bottom runner. The joys of having a mother who is a machinest/welder I realy dig the way you do those headstocks man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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