making your own hardware

[aeli]

Anyone tried this? Two more weeks of school and exams then I'm free and this will be what I will try. My moms making silver rings and I will try to to perhaps a custom silver tailpiece with her stuff. Maybe later I'll try to do a bridge but it seems to me that it will aquire some practice for the that.

Any suggestions? Is silver a good choice for instance? Actually it is not very expensive. $50 for 4 ounces which will be cheaper than bought hardware

[skibum5545]

I can't vouch for the tone quality of silver, but I was toying with the idea of making a copy of a Badass bass bridge out of a solid chunk of ebony, and buying or making saddles. Silver melts easily and so I would imagine it wouldn't be too hard to cast a tailpiece, if you can make a mold from something. Good luck, and I'd really like to see the results, as I might try something similar.

[truerussian558]

but isnt silver like gold a soft metal, so it might bend and warp under the tension exerted by the strings on the bridge and tailpiece.

[westhemann]

but isnt silver like gold a soft metal, so it might bend and warp under the tension exerted by the strings on the bridge and tailpiece.

yes it is..

[truerussian558]

then i rest my case

[skibum5545]

it is, but what if you were to use sterling (I assume that's what you meant). While not as strong as brass or nickel, it's still pretty strong as long as you make your hardware substantial enough (not like a fender bass bridge or anything).

I haven't tried it though, so take this advice at your own discretion.

[asm]

but to cast something in solid silver i think it would be really expensive. silver sheet or wire is not to expensive, but trying to make a soild thing like a tailpiece is going to take a LOT of silver. and dont even think about trying to melt it from a silver bar, cause if they even sell something like that its crazy pricey. maybe melt down wire or forks or something. lol.

i just think your gonna be surprised how much silver you will need, and how much it is going to cost

[spirit]

Damnit, I was sure I posted in this topic. Oh well, basically, I said, As long as it's hard and strong enough, then I don't see why not.

[soapbarstrat]

Ken Donnel (sp?) had an article in ' The string instrument craftsman' about different acoustic bridge saddle materials. I think he said aluminum and corian( or micarta) were his all-around favorites, but then he did an experiment: he shaped a saddle out of plastic, then had a dentist friend make a mold of that saddle, then pour silver into the mold to make a silver saddle. He said the silver saddle sounded very good.

[pack-rat]

Silver tarnishes easy as well if you can live with that.

[jefm]

Actually I love the way silver tarnishes...it's a really subtle change in patina that will look nice on a guitar

[Devon Headen]

You could probably get some silver table settings at a junk shop, or a yard sale, or maybe even ebay, for pretty cheap.

[aeli]

First I will carve the shape out of a very hard wax kind of substance. Then I will stick it to some kind of a tube and drown it in plaster. When the plaster hardens, the machine will pour the liquid silver inside the mold throgh the tube. The hot silver will melt away the wax that is still inside the mold and the wax will float up the tube due to it's smaller density. Afterwards I will break the plaster, get out the silver and sand it etc.

Unlike skibum, actually I was considering making the base of the bridge out of silver and the saddles from ebony. Are ebony saddles or nuts any good?

[skibum5545]

Well, ebony is wicked hard, so I assume it would be great for saddles or a nut.

[aeli]

I have learn't a lot since I started this thread, and now I know what to do. I will somehow draw a computer desing with a CAD program and then use this machine which works just the opposite way of a CNC, not cutting away, but building layers on top of each other. This way I will have a epoxy mould in my hands which I can then manufacture with. Of course this is an expensive process and I don't know If I wan't to do in for the sake of a few bridges.

If I could get help from you guys, some new ideas, and if it turned out well, I would sell them to the forum for very cheap.

Any ideas for the desing? Just anything. Then I will tell my idea when I have more time.

[Bill-Murray]

Dude, that place is ripping you off. Silver is about $6 an ounce....

[aeli]

Nah, I'm not good with American measures, I just made a calculation mistake probably.

[Wix]

im building almost all hardware for my guitar including a floyd rose sistem check here some of my work :

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...opic=11208&st=0