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DC Ross

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Posts posted by DC Ross

  1. Thanks guys. I went on to use it for headplate veneers, and the outcome was perfect. I forgot to mention that the white rectangle bit in the pics is a scotch-brite-type pad. After using it for these first few times to allow more space around the air valve, I don't think it's necessary and just adds another step.

    The air consumption is very little and is only running for a minute, so this would even work with a small pancake compressor. For a minimal outlay of cash, I'm very, very pleased with the results.

  2. I've been wanting a vacuum bag system for quite a while, but the price has always put me off. $450 for a decent one from Rockler... Yikes. I saw this refrigerant vacuum pump at Harbor Freight and knew I was on to something:

    http://www.harborfre...tors-96677.html

    My wife bought these clothing storage bags a few years ago, in an attempt to declutter her closet:

    http://www.bedbathan...sp?SKU=16698563

    With those two pieces, and my existing compressor making the three major components, I dug through my box of miscellaneous fittings and came up with this contraption:

    002.jpg

    IIRC, it's comprised of a 1/2" to 3/8" reducer, a 3/8" ball valve, a 3/8" to 1/4" reducer and a quick disconnect. The 1/2" to 3/8" reducer fit into the vacuum port of the bag perfectly, so it just needed some epoxy to glue it in.

    I also put a quick disconnect on the vac pump:

    003.jpg

    After a couple promising test runs, I tried it for real:

    005.jpg

    The bag was punctured where it was going over the sharp edges in the roughed-out control cavity, so I patched it up with some packing tape and gave it another go; this time with some protection. I used thin shelf lining foam rubber, since it's what I had lying around, and placed a square of wood over the control cavity opening:

    008.jpg

    The bag held vacuum overnight with no leaks at all, and worked a treat.

    010.jpg

  3. I have a floyd rose routed body from them. Absolutely terible, there was splintered holes through the trem cavity route and the other routes were all wonky and off the centre line.

    You are essentially buying a useless plank. :D

    +1. A customer came to me with a box of GF parts/body/neck and asked me to assemble it for him. The centerline was off, the bridge pickup route was too big and encroached into the trem route, the body wood was similar to alder, but much, much softer. In the end, he ended up paying as much as he would of for a higher-end Schecter.

  4. You should be proud to provide high quality at a low price for now.Plenty of time to jack things up as your demand increases..

    Not necessarily... If you're asking $750, you'll start to be known as a sub-$1000 builder. If, after a few years, you price your guitars on par with other boutique builders, people will still think they're getting a $750-quality guitar. Take Schecter for example; they are not a lot of dough. If they came out with a $2000 guitar, I doubt anyone would buy it since in everybody's mind, they make "lesser" instruments due to their prices.

    Be honest with yourself; if you need to improve to compete with factory-quality instruments, you probably shouldn't be selling them as a business. It's another thing if you're selling to your friends and just want to help support your hobby.

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