Quarter

There is some nice wood hiding in there.

I'd first try finish sanding it then wet with some mineral spirits to see what you got.

Nice wood choices .. thats going to finish out sharp

First accept that the first one is never perfect.

It can turn out great, but there is always a learning curve doing something for the first time.

Just saying, don't set yourself up for a fall.

What can help a ton is as you go, practice your technique first on some sacrificial pine.

Aluminum is fine for a shield, no need to do anything with it.

Another good soldering station is Hakko. I've had a Hakko 936 for 10 years now and it has been great

http://www.hakkousa.com/2006/detail.asp?CI...1250&Page=1

That came out great!!

Nice find Jeff

Its a fine line between just bashing a company because your not happy or letting others know of a serious problem to avoid.

I for one am glad that I got the heads up as I was about to place an order with these guys.

Thanks jmrentis ... you should give building one a try, they can cover just about any music style and are a lot fun to play.

The fret markers are made from some thin sheet aluminum and the dot bezel surrounds are 1/4" ID aluminum tubing.

Its a 25" long scale finished in Tru Oil.

They look like really easy projects for a beginner to get their feet wet on.

They can be a fun and easy project for a beginner or pro too. Anything from a board with strings to whatever you can dream up.

Easy projects, possibly. But that there lap steel is very, very nicely executed indeed.

Thanks, it is much appreciated

Here are a front and back shot that shows the rip and flip grain pattern a bit better

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How about a lap steel for something different. Its a fun build and design possibilities are endless.

Here is one of my latest

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Thats looking great

That looks great, nice choices

Poly Carb in 1/4" thickness should be very stable, I don't see why it wouldn't make a good tool.

Then again, I've been wrong before

I've been thinking about getting one of the Ridgid oscillating belt / spindle sanders

I too like the Paduak top idea. Add some bocote accents like knobs etc to tie it all together.

That turned out great, nice job

Nice score

Don't forget to wear the mask when working it, Coco dust is nasty.

I've got a set of the Norman files and they work great..

Here is a link to his Ebay member page, it may be more stable over time.

http://myworld.ebay.com/norman_1957/

Freud makes some reasonably priced and very good 10" thin kerf blades.

I'd pop one out a measure it. If its a small diameter one, then change out to a thicker bushing.

Lots of good advice so far. I'd echo going with something not too complicated for the first one.

Maybe a LP Jr or something strait forward and fun like that.

Save the exotics and the "perfect" build for your next one, yes there will be a next one.

Once you start building, there is no turning back

Take a hand plane, flatten out the cut, then glue a long wood trip to it.

Or, continue to not listen to advice and continue with your train wreck.

Looks like your stain needs some red brown in the mix for a better color match.

To get the least noticeable look, you are going to have to strip and sand the entire neck down, then dye / color it all together.

Darker colors will tend to hide the glue line more if thats where you want to go.

Maple burl might make a nice top with snakewood