daveq Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 My drill press depth stop suddenly broke loose and the hole for my inlay went off center (and too deep) . The biggest problem is that it went off center. I didn't realize it until after I had glued in several dots of abalone and sanded it down. It's the 21st fret (of 24) and it's off by about 1/32 (or a little less). With the strings running alog side, I think it will be an obvious sore thumb. I'm not experienced with inlay work. The other dots are going in fine but the 21st keeps calling me and driving my insane. What would you do? Should I crack the neck over my workbench and burn it? Should I dare to take it back out (it is super-glued in) and do something to try to hide/move it? It's Brazilian Rosewood by the way. By the time I'm done with it - it will look more like a rotten log. If you can give me some suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 umm... well if you're not to confident about your skills of removing it then, why not run with it, offest the 19th dot to the oposite side the same amout then the 17th to the same side as the 21st? do kinda like a sutble zig zag thing? or maybe make the offsets a little bigger with each hole you drill and just alternate the side it gets offset to too so you have like this arrow or tornado kinda shape? instead of a borring straight line now you can be creative! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 Nah don't burn it or throw it away... use a block design like Gibson uses that should cover almost anything up.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 i think the only person who will ever notice it is you.think these big guitar manufacturers never do anything off center?i know it's not ideal and the reason you are building it is to do it the best you can but i think a completely flawless guitar is pretty hard to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 I don't understand why your depth stop caused it to go off center to begin with but, if you're only off center by 1/32", I would suggest pop out the inlay (shouldn't be hard, super glue doesn't really glue shell worth a damn, it will probably pop out cleanly) Then fill your hole with a rosewood plug that fits tight, and redrill your hole in the correct location and replace the dot. You'll probably never see the mistake yourself even after that. To pry the old dot out, I would try using a really small flathead screwdriver on the side that you have to move the hole towards (that way any mark you make in the rosewood will be covered when you put the dot back in in the correct location) or if you have extra dots just drill out the old dot, wear a mask though, abalone is toxic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 Thanks for the replies everybody. Although I do get pretty pissed off when these things happen, I try to make it a rule to react slowly to bad situations. I have cooled off a bit and went ahead with the other dots. It actually looks better with the other dots in (in their correct places). I don't know what will happen when the strings are on it though. What happened is: the depth stop has a button on it that allows you to move it quickly. It snaps in place, and then you can adjust it like a screw. I think the button never snapped in place before I started down with it. I pulled a bit too hard and when it gave way, the whole table seemed to nudge a bit since I was leaning into it. It's actually a good drill press (Delta - largest bench size available - I think). It was just operator error. Does anyone know how to get the abalone to really shine it's best after sanding / steel wooling? I use 0000 steel wool and it looks OK but I think it should look better. Thanks again for the replies. I really needed someone to help calm me down. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 Does anyone know how to get the abalone to really shine it's best after sanding / steel wooling? I use 0000 steel wool and it looks OK but I think it should look better. Dave www.stewmac.com Product called Micro Mesh, goes to 12000 grit, makes very shiny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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