soapbarstrat

StewMac used to sell a special jig that clamped onto the neck. Then along with that, they had a special replacement base for the Dremel router base (the plastic one made by Dremel). And I think you were supposed to use a certain Dremel bit. I made my own version in 1992. It's now missing some parts, and it was never an exact copy of the StewMac one. I wanted mine to work with my own home-made replacement Dremel router base. Plus I wanted mine to have 2 "fences" for the router base to ride between (stewmac one just had one fence) On the bottom I put two nylon rods which sat over the frets (one rod missing in photo). Of course it also took a couple clamps and curved neck blocks to fit against the back of the neck. I even routed 1/8" wide Fender style nut slots with this thing (flat bottomed slots, of course). Probably not the best design, but that's what I came up with as a green 24 year old. I hold on to it just in case, but haven't used it since I can't remember when.

You know me : Mr. Betterholdontoitjustincase In other words, I still have the bubble wrap package from the Enco Gauges. 'KD' is the brand. Part # 161. Says 'made in USA' (real odd for an Enco economy item to be made in USA). Anyway, they have rounded edges and this KD company is who I shot an email to, about one of the gauges having a defect, and they were A++ about it.

You're getting something mixed up. I've never had my hands on *Stew-Mac* feeler gauges. I've had a couple sets from the local auto-parts store, plus the economy set from Enco. They all had rounded edges. (actually discovered a defect with the Enco gauges long after buying them, and the company that makes the gauges totally took care of my problem, without me doing anymore than mentioning the problem to them *once* ) And yes, I still do the sandpaper/feeler gauge combo when I get to heavier gauge slots (I prefer the cut of the sandpaper over the cut the nut files make) I had a famous 'old timer' pro say I was off my rocker about using sandpaper to cut nut slots. Oh sure, that same sandpaper can mill metal frets level, but suddenly can't handle nut materials ?

I sort of remember someone wrote in the 'off-topics' or ' 'announcements' section that they were doing repair work for their local GC. Was quite a while back. Maybe a year ago, or so.

I found it strange that Frank Ford said the torch tip cleaners work great for nut work. I also tried them, and found the larger sizes really only burnish. The smaller sizes seemed to cut slightly better, but then they bent way too easily. Luckily I got a brand new set of torch cleaners for nothing, because some lady down the street decided to throw out her sons old addidas gym bag from the late 70's and there was a brand new set of torch tip cleaners in there (along with a mint Kiss belt buckle and a bunch of 'war hammer' lead figures-- I could evilbay that stuff and probably have enough $ to buy a full-blown set of real nut files (but I pretty much have a complete set already) )

I *think* it was the centerline being glued, when I watched a DVD of a small (but well respected) Luthier building a guitar, and he was using Gorilla glue for at least part of the job. I was surprised to see him using Gorilla glue, but he was quite innovative with his whole operation, so I guess that says something.

Little pieces missing is really not important, if the new frets will cover that up. What you might want to get rid of, is the little ridge of clear finish sticking up where it used to meet the sides of the fret crown. Running a smooth cut file lengthwise down the board, and having the right "feel" while using the file *can* knock those ridges down flush while causing minimal or no scratching on the finish between fret-slots. Using the wrong technique with that file can put horrible scratches all over the place. I'm not going to get into the fact that your fret-board might need to be properly resurfaced to provide a good base for a good fret-job, in which case, some, or all, fret-board finish would be removed in the process. My first maple re-fret was quite a disaster.

I use adhesive scraped off old postage stamps and carefully brush it onto the fret-slot walls with a hair I plucked from my eye brows.

Never used it (that I know of), so can't say if it's good or bad. I did choose to stay away from it, after emailing Allparts and asking what country their fret-wire is made and never getting a response. If you do want to use Allparts fret-wire, see if Brian (owner of this forum), still sells it through his Universal Jems website.

Well, you could check out StewMac Trade Secrets volume 15, 6th page. Could save you some guesswork

You'll probably get there by either properly lubing the string slots in the nut (by 'properly' I don't mean hose it down with lube, I mean just a dab of the right kind of lube), or replacing the nut with something like stewmac's 'slipstone'. And there's the fine art of rounding over areas in the string slots, but you have to know what parts you can get away with rounding and which parts you can't. After doing that, and still having tuning problems, the next thing would be the tuning machines. (unless it happens to have a loose neck joint)

I would do fret-work if needed. Swap pickups if needed (need a good amp to even justify doing that). Nut work and setup, if needed. I'd probably flush the pots with deoxit. As for the "do whatever you want" comment (as far as guitar mods go), well, I used to give myself advice like that 20 years ago, and have been haunted by the outcome of that, ever since. I wouldn't go crazy with any kind of oil or cleaner. Lightly damp (water) rag to start (on undamaged paint areas). Damp (naptha) for whatever the damp water wouldn't take care of. Naptha for a good bridge cleaning (with bridge off the guitar)

What I really used to hate about spray adhesive is that I would have to breathe the damn stuff, plus it would stick too well to the radius block and be a lot more trouble to clean off when you changed sandpaper. I only use radius blocks for roughing in a radius (including compound radii- 4" or shorter blocks for compound), and finish with a narrow flat bar on the fret-board wood. I stopped using wood radius blocks to level fret tops long ago, because the precision just ain't there. I mean they're *wood*. Just like I wouldn't make a fret-leveling beam out of wood and trust it 6 months later to be precise. If your wood radius block ends up with a twist or hump or dip, you're probably going to transfer those types of imperfections into your fret-board sanding. You can check some of their accuracy with a straight-edge and precise reverse radius gauge (like an "under the strings" radius gauge). I guess checking for twist is harder and I don't want to go into ways I think one could check that.

Last one I checked had a 9" radius on the bottom, but the actual fret-board radius was 7.25". When I made a new nut for it, I machined a 9" radius into the bottom of the blank with a router set-up I came up with. Many do the same thing on a belt sander. I've done it for years with files and sometimes a drum sander. Less perfect with those methods, of course. I only like to replace a stock Fender nut when the slots are just too low or the string spacing is bad or a chip in the wrong place. But they sound as good as any other material, and are plenty hard.

I don't think I'll ever buy one. Just seems so "trying to wing it, with the wrong tool" to me.

I'm often using a notched Stew-mac SE not only for checking a board with frets, but also a board *without* frets. I mean, even with the notches, I'm still able to see how the majority of the board is. Plus, I can just move that SE left or right to get contact where the notches weren't before. I even often use it for checking the tops of the frets. Again, by moving it left or right. BUT, I have two StewMac notched edges and neither is perfect. One has an annoying side deflection, and the other doesn't seem to be perfectly machined on the edges, so I really never use that one. They sent that as a replacement for the first one with the bad side deflection (and let me keep it). But their replacement is pretty much useless to me. Maybe someday I'll try to tweak it like Woodenspoke did, or maybe sell it to someone who wants to do that. I think you're best bet is to have one really good SE ( 24" seems to work for me for a "main" SE). Then use that sucker to find some really flat glass (get you're set of feeler gages for this- .002" minimum, but I'm mostly using a .0015" for checking stuff like this). Then, when you've got your flat glass and have it set up, so it doesn't defect when putting pressure on it (I do that by making a stack of glass plates, which ends up as at least glass plates 1"-2" thick), you can make your own straight-edges by putting sandpaper on the glass. Or if you can handle buying a good surface plate, do that, I guess. Now you've got your "master" SE for checking how accurate your DIY SE's are coming out. An aluminum notched SE would be nice. Lighter weight, around 18" long, less likely to scratch fret tops. Believe me, after I get all the frets buffed out, I really don't like laying my 24" steel SE on them. It's hardness and bulkyness are sure to put scuff marks or worse, on the frets. That's why I tend to go with the notched SE, 'cause it's currently the only SE I have around 18". Next one down is 12" ; too short for reading a whole neck. As for "reading" from the nut to the bridge, I don't think you need ultra accuracy there. I mean, what kind of "reading" are we talking about in a situation like that ? Maybe determining a neck reset ? you can vary a few thou with that, for sure. Measuring distance from nut to bridge ? no precision ground edge needed there. We're talking about a rule there, not so much a straight-edge. (Actually, my main tool for measuring from nut to bridge is some of those "slats" off of venitian blinds, and I mark a couple marks (and small holes that I can see through) , some with compensation in mind.)

That trick I came up with, where I spin the jaws around and can then clamp a 12" wide panel, became very handy when I had a back problem and wanted to avoid bending over for a few days. I had to sort through some small parts, so I just used the panel clamped in the vise as a table to sort through the parts and was able to keep my back straight. I also realized that one of those wooden wheels off some junked patio furniture makes a great added spacer to get the vise raised up about another 2". Had a center hole already in it, of course. I have two different holes in my benchtop for mounting the vise, depending on what I'm using it for (well, since that "benchtop" is actually an old solid-core door, one of the holes is where the door knob used to be (then another 3/4" hole I drilled near the corner) Harbor Freight should have offered these vises. I think plenty of average DIY/ "woodworking" guys would have bought one. Popular Mechanics Magazine even listed this vise as one of their favorites. Hmmm, what else ? Ok, I like to store all my extra small rubber-bands on the handle of this vise and also keep magnets stuck on it, so I know where they are. But I have also stuck useless refrigerator magnets on the rails. Somebody please steal my vise before I come up with something else.

If you've got a local Woodcraft Supply, you could avoid shipping by buying this same patternmaker's vise there. You could also check it out first and decide if it's worth the money. Maybe they'd let you weed through 'em. I once put a want ad on Craigslist for this kind of vise, but that went nowhere. But I'm pretty sure someone on another forum said they bought one through craigslist. I have to admit though, some of the things I see done with this vise with guitar building/ repair makes me laugh. I'm talkin' "why the heck would you need the guitar held in THAT position ?"

A hard plastic will work fine. I have made them out of Lexan. Look at it this way : Does anybody ever use a plastic face hammer to hammer in frets ? (yes, many do) I once made some out of MDF and they did not work well enough for me.

What I'm really curious about is if this was just a case of a distributor discontinuing sales of that vise, or if the actual factory that makes them has decided to stop making them, in which case I'll kick myself for not buying a couple to resell later, if they'd become hard to find. That happened with another "guitar vise" Stewmac sold for a while, long ago. It was a telescoping ball-joint vise. Much different than the patternmaker vise, in design, but very similar with what you use it for. Much more expensive too. Stew-Mac was selling them for $350.00 or somewhere around that. Then they stopped being made and now people pay at least $1,000 for a used one WHEN they can even find one for sale.

Well, not much interesting stuff going on at this forum, and I just got done working my ass off, so yeah, I'll talk about this vise somemore, maybe until someone beats me in the head with it. Yes, you've got the mystery wood jaw faces held with 4 little wood screws on each side. Well, 10-24 machine screws also fit through those same holes, so if you want you can make a mess of different jaw faces with machine thread inserts in them to swap different kinds of jaw faces. I heard one guy has a jaw face with the shape of a pickup rout sticking out of it, so he can hold certain guitar bodies in the vise, and doesn't have to worry about not cranking the vise tight enough, 'cause the specialized jaw face is added insurance that the guitar body won't suddenly slip out of grip in the jaws. You can have some jaw faces with medium grit sandpaper attached for working with rough stock (jaw faces with some grip. Cork too, as mentioned. One guy has a 1/2 neck profile in each jaw face to help hold a guitar neck better. I've seen pics of one of thise vises in Charles Fox's shop with some way bigger wood jaw faces. Then there's the idea of making thinner jaws. When Stewmac first started selling this vise (they first saw this patternmaker's vise being used at Umanov Guitars in NYC (Michael Gurian turned Matt Umanov onto it)), they had a full page ad in their catalog for this vise and it includes this tip : " Tip : We've found the wooden jaws on the guitar repair vise can be thinned down to 1/2" for that little extra capacity (a full 7-1/4") without sacrificing jaw strength..." Then, yesterday, I came up with another trick to add more capacity : You can remove all bolts from a rail at a time (leave the other rail mounted and you can do this while the vise is mounted normally on your bench-top), then , move that rail until the hole that was closest to the handle is now lined up with the next hole over. bolt 'er down. Then repeat on the other rail, then replace that end through bolt. BUT, you will run out of thread if you keep opening the vise as far as possible, so watch that thread and make sure plenty of it is still engaged inside the non-moving jaw casting block. I think I had over 7" opening when doing that, and that's with the stock wood jaw faces. I guess you'd get close to 8" with thinner jaw faces. Here's a stewmac email thing about this vise : http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/promo/ts0016_bigredvise A few photos down, it looks like Dan's vise has some extra holes in the rail on his vise. I wonder what the hell that's all about ? Ok, maybe my final tip : You can mount this vise through the hole of the table of a large drill-press. At least I can on my dril-press.

One thing I was annoyed with was that when I'd clamp some things, or close the jaws against each other, There was a pretty big gap at the top of the jaws, while the very bottom of the jaws were touching. Like this. So, I did a quick "fix" by shimming one jaw at the top with a piece of a CD. Like this. You can also get some extra "capacity" by spinning the jaws around. Like this. Well, at least it works when clamping something around 5/8" thick. Like this. Also, these bolts suck. They did on mine anyway. I know some guys fix that with lock-tite or something like that, but I gave in and bought the upgrade kit from Stew-Mac to replace those bolts with a better system. Have not had a camera since I did that mod. If I did have a camera, I could show where I had to grind away some high areas of the castings, between the machined areas that the rails sit against. The handle is held with a roll pin, which you can carefully knock out to remove the handle. I then put either teflon lube or graphite grease on the bearing face end of the handle, then put it back on.

*If* the slots really are slanted too much or something like that, I suppose you could do the old dremel fret-slot routing deal. I think it was a #111 Dremel bit (not 100% sure on that number) that I used to open them up with. I'd take that new Dremel bit and run it against a fine grit stone to make it a little smaller, but it would still rout those slots out to something like .030" wide. I would think if you held the Dremel down firmly (I'm talking Dremel with a router base), it's routing would square up your fret slots. Then you could make a bunch of fine dust out of fret-board scrap, and mix that with a good epoxy and make a paste to fill the slots, and press and hold the frets down until your glue/paste sets (wax fret-board first, to help pop excess glue off later). Let me clarify that I don't like enlarging the fret-slots like this anymore, but could be just the thing for a salvage mission like this.

Can be slanted slots, and/or I've seen the actual tang on some fret-wire slanted a little. Mike Stevens even talks about that on one of the Erlewine vids and shows how he'll hammer in the fret with a bit of a sideways motion to try to get that tang to straighten while it's being driven into the slot. But, I thought most of the wire being sold these days seldom has that problem. I press my frets and check for any gap under the fret crown and board surface with a .0015" feeler gauge. If that feeler fits under the fret crown, I'm not happy and take action to get rid of the gap. And that's where it really helps when you have a fret-press that can move over to either the treble or bass side and concentrate pressure on a needed area. But if you've got no gap on one side, then I guess you've gotten them seated down as well as the fret-wire or fret-slots will allow. LOL ! I just noticed Shred's signature. Did you come up with that ? I know some people who should get some "help" like that . Hahahaha

Next time make or buy a StewMac knob puller, and if the same thing happens, well, then that was the only way to get the knobs off some crapola pots.