Prostheta Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Sperzels are heavy. That's enough to make me think twice. I've been thinking of swapping out the Grover Rotomatics on my fave acoustic, however I'd miss my Ebony buttons too much. Open gear Hipshots would be hella cool if I could swap the buttons over or get matching ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 I did wonder about the weight as they do look quite chunky. The buttons were the only thing making me think twice about the hipshots. I do also quite like the look of Schaller mini top locking tuners, but I did kind of want open gears. I bet the buttons on the hipshots are swappable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Hipshot do a range of buttons. It's not the most obvious link off their site, however it's there. If you're thinking of buying the tuners from a supplier, just contact Hipshot and ask if you can buy a new set of buttons. They're pretty open to such things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 while the better half has been looking at dingly dangies to decorate the house I've been left to poke around the inevitable olivewood cutting boards and bowels. There's some incredibly nice wood here a lot of quite strong flame and figuring that almost reminds me of swirled paint jobs. Sadly the biggest pieces are still a bit small for tops but I do really like this stuff. Has anyone gotten their hands on boards wide enough for building and if so how does it work? Feels really heavy, oily and dense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 Wow. I had no idea olivewood did that. I've never worked it either, but would agree with you that it feels oily and dense. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 Wee-wa-wee-waa! That's some crazy stuff. Looks like a nuclear waste spill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2016 cool huh. Well I'm back in Wales and greeted by a thunderstorm. Ho hum. The neighbours will be glad I'm back as I reduced the thickness of the mahogany back with the router sledge and roughed out the top. I'll pay a bit more attention to that with the bandsaw closer to the time. The plan is to route a channel before joining and pass an ebony band around the body under the natural binding of the top. If all goes well the ebony should meet up with the heel of the neck given a bit of widening of the channel where body meets neck. Black ebony to Macassar, but under finish I'm pretty sure I wont notive the diference. We'll see how this goes. First things first though - checking for gaps under moderate pressure. Apart from this I've been fiddling with the back of the headstock before getting to grips with sorting out the volute - which still doesn't look right. none more lack..... This is where we're going with this. Couple more layers of black each side. Again, it'll be a close enough match for the Macassar and will be easily able to take the bend. I've dry clamped here to check and thankfully no bending iron shenanigans needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 I'm not doing this again.... Thought Id use the offcuts and rejects from the last lot of binding I cut for acoustics as I didn't fancy trying to bend any of the headstock plates I've got. First glued. roughly trimmed and the worst gaps packed with ebony dust and CA A lot of sanding later and I'm quite pleased with how well this worked, but never again...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 That did come out nice, but I don't blame you for putting that on your never again list. It's certainly the long way around. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 Whoa whoa whoa whoa. If it weren't for the end result looking so nice, I'd never have thought this was a good idea! I am frankly in awe of how well it turned out. Really. Good show old chap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 That's so cool... I would have never expected that to go so well. Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 thanks gents and jolly decent of you to say so Prostheta old bean. bit of a leap of faith when the ca went on there, serves me right for not planning ahead more. I should probably learn not to be so tight with wood though to be fair it took longer to scrub the ebony off my fingers than it did to fill and flatten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 Acetone removes CA like anything. It's just not good for your skin, lungs, DNA, brain or well, anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 Too right. That bit was don outside between showers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 Wow that must have been a pain trying to keep them from sliding off. So many parts to deal with. The results are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2016 Wasn't too bad really. glued two at a time, one on each side until there was a firm tack and added the next couple. The interesting bits were at the edges where there wasn't much of a gluing surface. Got a bit on this thing done today. Flattened the top. Sandpaper and a straight beam. Knackered, but thankful that the joint isn't as obvious as I first though. Think if may have been down to something Scott was talking about in another thread about sanding a slight bevel to the edges when jointing. Frets in too after taking down the fretboard thickness slightly rardiusing to 16inches and flattening . all seemed to seat fine except for 14th which went in and came back out a couple of times - thankfully no chips. Surprisingly no hammer rash either. I don't think the slot was big enough. Not sure if this is the best way to do it but I nipped the tangs from the ends of the wire, filed smooth with a dremel and hammered in. Couple of firm taps on the edges to seat and then go to town on the middle. Small drop of ca wicked into the join between the overhang and the binding and nip of the end. Couple of slots needed deepening, but no issue with a Japanese saw. If I do any more of these I may look a fret press, but for the time being, hammering seemed to work OK.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 19, 2016 Report Share Posted June 19, 2016 4 hours ago, 103801061982 said: If I do any more of these I may look a fret press, but for the time being, hammering seemed to work OK.. Progress looks excellent For a freshly cut fretboard, I prefer hammering rather than pressing because - with the hammer left, hammer right, hammer middle - you get the barbs to insert vertically and then slide across horizontally, locking them in. But what I do nowadays for a belt-and-braces approach is: run a tiny bead of Titebond along the tang; then hammer; then just clamp a radius block onto the hammered frets while I'm preparing the next one. By the time the next one is ready for hammering in, the glue in the one I've just done has already grabbed so I then hammer that one in, move the block up one fret and repeat. I'm sure the learned folk around here have even better ways that they will hopefully share Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 19, 2016 Report Share Posted June 19, 2016 Protip: take a piece of aluminium or steel that goes "ting" and go along each fret, tapping them from side to side. Listen for the tone it returns. A badly-seated fret sounds dull. It'll tell you if it's bad. Then whack the bejeezus out of it until it sings like the rest. Kind of like how it was at primary school. Fret rockers are great for this. You heard it here first. Lastly as an aside, I'm thinking of modifying a Bessey ratchet clamp as a fret press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted June 19, 2016 Report Share Posted June 19, 2016 As for glue, the guy that has been bending my fretwire for me runs a local repair shop in Tulsa and he showed me the way that he has been doing it for 25 years, this is how I've been doing mine. Hammer all of your frets in and leave the ends long, after all are in flip the neck over and drop a dab of ca glue on the tip of each tang, the glue goes down into the fret slots and once it's all dry just clip your fret ends and bevel the frets by that time the majority of the glue is gone and just sand off the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2016 Sounds like we had similar schools pros . I'll try the tap test tomorrow. So what are the advantages of pressing in frets ignoring stray hammer strikes? Tim, tried this method on my last one too, but was far too heavy handed with the glue and ended up with a good deal on the board. This one went a lot smoother. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2016 OK so we seem to have passed the tap test. I received a bottle of Angelus leather dye in the post this morning and have had a bit of a play around. This is far more fun than it deserves to be. Are there any recommendations on sealer for natural binding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 20, 2016 Report Share Posted June 20, 2016 The comparative differences between hammering and pressing are fairly simple; enough that either method are just as valid really. Pressing ensures they they go in with the correct radius which is why I prefer that method from a personal standpoint. You ask different luthiers, you get different answers. Shellac is good for masking off natural binding, however test it out first and get familiar with its use. If you lay the dye on thick, it can still wick behind the shellac and alcohol in dyes can melt the shellac. You're best off using a thinner cut. I'd try a 1 to 1-1/2lb cut (weight of shellac flakes to a gallon of alcohol) to encourage deeper penetration of the wood surface. Mask well and don't test on your workpiece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 20, 2016 Report Share Posted June 20, 2016 8 hours ago, 103801061982 said: I received a bottle of Angelus leather dye in the post this morning and have had a bit of a play around. This is far more fun than it deserves to be. Everyone should do this at least once. It's crazy how much fun it is. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted June 21, 2016 Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 21 hours ago, ScottR said: Everyone should do this at least once. It's crazy how much fun it is. SR I hope to get in on this fun soon.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 21, 2016 Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 Ah, you crazy kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.