Bill-Murray Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 For christmas, I'm gonna make my dad and bro a slide. Does anybody of any nice metals to make it out of. I was thinking silver (Maybe a little too expensive), bronze, that would be nice. I probably need it sold in the tube form... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 By "slide" do you mean for playing a guitar/dobro/etc ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executioner606 Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 I actually made one in my ceramics class. I should make more because there are so many glazes to choose from the color possibilities are endless. I could prob make some extra cash off of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I made one from copper water pipe torn out of a house. Some swear by glass (actually small glass medicine bottles). Some use copper. Maybe bell-brass would sound good, but do they make that in tubes ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted October 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I'm gonna be making it in my metal working class, so I can't do ceramic or any of that. The mods put that in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Silver would sure be pretty, but it'll cost a pretty penny. http://www.jewelrysupply.com/EJS/sssheet.htm Otherwise, I'd bet any metal would work just fine. Choose something pretty but inexpensive; maybe nickel silver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevan Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 The mods put that in.......because.... I actually made one in my ceramics class. Idea: How about some engraving on it? Name? Celtic symbols? Mudflap chicks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I used a cut off of a bike handle bar, filed it smooth then sanded and buffed it, free and easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Hi, I could be wrong here, but... isnt silver a *fairly* soft metal? It may not take the rigors of Allman borther slide work- I could be wrong, of course. Also, its a drag to polish- it gets tarnished SO quickly... I have a display of my four slides, I have glass, brass, stainless steel and ceramic. I have to say, I like my glass one best, then my stainless. I have found that the difference between them (sound wise) is suprisingly subtle acoustically, but the glass one creates less overtones (less ANOYING overtones, rather) than the metal ones. The ceramic one sounds slightly 'dead'- I dont know why, probably because its essentially dirt . Actually- I think it is a lack of sustain (not a lot, but DEFINATLY less sutain than my glass one- the ceramic is a 'jazzy' slide, if you will. That said, all are great, and I do use all for different purposes. I guess a problem with engraving may be that the surface of the slide would become uneven due to the portions of metal removed during the engraving. You really need a clean, even surface for slide (IMHO)- and the engravings could buzz-saw straight through the strings. If I was to make a slide- I would make it from stainless- easy to use and care for ( polish with a bit of bi-carb soda and water- even works for the sink!), its long wearing and has a great tone. Just my 2c, Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 (edited) I've used pretty much everything for a slide. Its real amusing to watch people's faces when I pick up a coffee cup, beer bottle or Zippo lighter and start into Led Zep's Bron yr-Aur Stomp. So far the best I've used is my trusty old chrome slide. Duane Allman used an empty Coricidin bottle. Muddy Waters showed Johnny Winter how to cut the neck off a wine/whiskey or whatever bottle. You want to stay away from any kind of metal that will oxidize or tarnish, that includes silver, brass, mild steel (unless chromed) and copper pipe. I guess your best bet would be to find some high grade stainless tubing, don't want too much wall thickness = too much weight. And keep in mind what fingers your Dad and bro use for slippin' an' a slidin'. I prefer my pinky. For slides that are too large for my pinky I'll cut a piece of inner tube and wrap it around the inside. How about this? Take the 9/16" long socket from your dad's tool kit and present it to him! Edited October 4, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted October 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Yeah, can't you polish up Stainless Steel to a near mirror finish?? And what about this nickel silver, that sounds interesting too.... The mods put it in, because I had this in the tools and workshop place, and they decided to move it. No biggie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Cavanaugh Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I made a slide out of some galvanized steel conduit. It was scrap that was going to be thrown out in my electricity\electronics class, so I salvaged it. I filed the ends after I cut it and I fine sanded and steel wooled it to 0000 to get the roughness out of it all over. It worked really well! Not to mention, it had a plastic coating on the inside to insult it, so it helped control and comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 I personally really like the look of nickel silver; very chrome look when polished up nice and shiny. Just for clarification, how do you plan on machining this? Metal lathe, or fold sheet, solder/ weld it, and polish it up as a round tube; or just buy the right size tube? Anyway, nickel silver can only be found in sheets AFAIK. If you were hoping for hex or round bar stock, you'd probably have to go with brass, steel, or bronze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted October 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 I can do everything except the metal lathe. It's at the schools shop, and they have all the tools. I'll probably just get a sheet, heat it up a little, then bend it into place. Actually a sheet wouldn't really work, cause I'd have to solder it, but I could grind off the excess. Ahhh decisions decisions. It would probably be too thin to weld Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 Well, the fold/solder concept is sound in theory; I've made countless rings in jewelry class that way. My only concern would be filing the edge square for soldering; it takes forever to do so on 1/8" of nickel/silver for a ring, and that fits in the width of a file. I can't visualize a practical way to do so for multiple inches of edge. If you can work out the solder joint, then the sheet method would be great. You could do stamping or engraving on a flat sheet, then fold it, allowing a lot cooler patterns to be done. Let us know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted October 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Yeah, that's a good idea engraving it before I fold it. I think that's what I'll do. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_paul1 Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Buy a 3/4 x 6" brass water pipe nipple from the hardware store. Be sure to get one without dings in it. Cut the ends off (lose the threads) , file and sand the cuts and polish it on a wheel. Then you can personalizing touches either on one side (not the string side) or around the flat end. Don't worry about corrosion. Worry about a mirror like shine all over. The slide should be just about as wide as the strings on the fretboard, just a little bit wider, or else exactly as long as the recipients' pinky or ring finger. Tone for days, once you get used tothe weight. Ace hardware stores used to stock the pipe nipples that didn't have dings in them. Often other stores have them, but they have gows in the sides from being clamped while threaded. I've used one for five years and I love it. I only recently changed to a ceramic one because of the weight on my pinky, but brass has "the tone". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted October 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Yeah we have an Ace here. I think I'll either do what you said, or try to find some nickel silver sheets. Does anybody know where they are, I can only find the wire?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 http://www.knifeandgun.com/catalog/nickel_...32_products.htm scroll down a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted October 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 I'm lookin at the second from the top. Isn't that a little thin though?? Thanks for the link, I've been googling it and stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted November 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Instead of making a new topic, I thought I'd just revive this one. How thick do you guys think I should do it??? I was thinking 1/8", but was wondering if I could get away with something cheaper?? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Just do the pipe method as guitar_paul suggested. That would be the cheapest and easiest way. Rolling your own might be harder than you think and iff you mess up you're out $10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted November 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm not making them for me. It's supposed to look real nice. Like, let's say, highly polished nickel silver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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