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fryovanni

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Everything posted by fryovanni

  1. Well it has been a while(haven't had much cutting time), but I have let the Woodmaster CT chew on some more wood. At last count I think it was up around 1000 cuts. I ran about another 300 cuts, so it is up to about 1300. I feel like it is having more trouble with cuts than it used to, although it is still cutting nice and true. I am going to retire it to backup status after I chop up a stack of billets I have waiting(don't want to change the settings until I finish, because it makes sanding much easier when all the slices are the same thickness). I have a new Woodmaster CT that will take its place. So lets say the CT should be good for well over a thousand cuts(I feel absolutely confident that is a conservative number). At a cost of about $100 welded for an 18" bandsaw the cost per. cut is around ten cents. Of course, I did run more like 1300 cuts, and it still cuts as good as most non-carbide tipped blades(on their second cut). I suspect it will keep cutting for at least the life of several more regular blades. I think it is safe to say the Woodmaster CT is a bargain as long as your saw can handle a 1" carbide blade. I am not really interested in using the Trimaster at the moment(too much trouble changing the blade everytime I am ready to run rosewoods or oily woods). It is going to hang for a while as a 2nd. backup to the old Woodmaster CT. Peace,Rich
  2. Most woodworking stores that sell aftermarket parts sell bandsaw tires. I don't live in AUS, so I don't know what stores you have locally. You can order from Rocklers, Woodcraft and other US companies(shipping is expensive, but the parts are light weight and small). Rich
  3. There have been a few topics about this subject. link link link Lots of feedback from users in those topics, as well as debates(+/- to each tools ability) and methods used to achieve different tasks. That should give you all the answers you are looking for. Rich
  4. Pariah223, Purfling is usually done with straight strips. You simply break and miter the pieces in curved sections. There is a tiny gap when you do this, but it is very slight. In most large radius areas you can use pretty long strips and still keep the gap minimal. It is not really as difficult to work with shell to do this. Certainly routing a quality ledge for binding is the more difficult challenge. Buy up a hanndful of shell(MOP supplies has pretty reasonable prices per. inch) and you will see what I mean. Killemall8, The round part of that rosette is simply routed with a regular router, a spiral downcutting bit, using a pin I drilled into my router base and centering hole. The inlay part was marked after the piece was assembled with CA. I cut the pattern with an exacto knife(full depth* .06") in the soft spruce. Then I used a spriral down cutting bit to route away the majority of the material(within about 1/8-1/16" of the cut pattern). Then I used a small chisel I have to break away that tiny bit of wood between the routed area and the cut pattern(actually works very well and is super clean and easy, most importantly low risk with a soft wood like spruce). Rich
  5. ? ? You only frequent this forum to sell wood? I find that hard to imagine. There isn't much to be gained by selling a little wood, and a fair bit of work as well as time spent. If dealing with selling wood is frustrating skip it, or wait until it is less frustrating for you. This is a builders forum though, so why avoid the forum if you like building? Do whatever makes you happy No point in doing anything less. Rich
  6. It is a pretty good idea for you to do your homework if you are going to cut up and sell the wood. If it is offered as instrument blanks, be sure you know what is needed for it to be suitable. If it is not suitable for instrument parts, maybe it is suitable for turning, boxes, pens, or other craft wood applications. Most wood is not best suited for "instrument" parts, it is only a small portion of it that fits the requirements. There are some who will use lesser grades(some who understand what they are doing others who don't). More than a fair number of people have taken every scrap of wood they can cut to parts dimensions and called it instrument blanks. It is a poor way to go and is hardest on the buyers who are beginners and would not know the difference(they put their trust in the sellers knowledge). There are a lot of uses for most bits of wood, even if they are not instrument related. Find the right home for it, and people will be happier. Not meant as a critique of the wood you are getting ready to cut up(I have not seen what you have). Just a suggestion, so you and those you sell to are happy Rich
  7. For a soundhole, it is easiest to buy pieces pre-cut to a radius close to your needs. You will likely need to do a little break and miter if it is not exactly the radius you need(not the difficult). For a body(purfling), I use all straight, and break and miter. Installed;link Rich
  8. Koa is VERY tuff on tools. It is a deceptive wood, the texture says Mahogany, the weight is more Walnut(or slightly higher generally). The impression I get is this should cut like butter, but man it is pretty tuff stuff when the blade hits the fibers. Rich
  9. Very hard to say. It looks to be cut from a small tree very close to the heart. Your not going to see much of the flat grain pattern you think of when you think of Ash. Honestly it could be several species just glancing at the pictures. Rich
  10. If you want the finish David achieved, why not ask him what he used. He is a very nice guy and I am sure he would be happy to tell you. Go right to the source, takes the guess work out of figuring these things out. Rich
  11. Walnut and Maple are nice woods. Hard Maple is very stiff and dense, Black Walnut, Red Maple are pretty stiff and dense, Claro Walnut and Silver Maple are a little lighter but still stiff, Western or Bigleaf Maple is lighter and less stiff yet. You have a wide range of material there. I tend to not like Silver Maple. You can often spot it because it will have bits of brown streaking(not ray flecks), and sometimes you will see a greenish discoloration. I think it is too heavy for it's stiffness, and often is not very stable(likely because of odd growth patterns more common to silver). I really like Claro Walnut because it is lighter than Black, but seems to be similar in stiffness and strength. The coloration from the minerals in the soil it picks up here in Oregon and N. California are flat out amazing at times. Good quality Red or Rock Maple make amazing electric necks. Alder is a great wood as Wes pointed out. Easy to work with, easy to get, med. light weight. Great body wood for sure. No point in overthinking though, as you could likely overshadow any differences in the wood with things like CF reinforcement, the weight of your tuners, shape of the neck, size and shape of the headstock, shape of the wings and or carves or cavities, and so on. Not to mention other hardware and electronics. As long as you stay with good clean cuts of somewhat traditional woods the differences will be subtle and vary with other design considerations. Now if you want to make an oversized Lignum Vitae body and mate it with a Basswood neck, or vice versa. You may have to really put more thought into that choice of woods. Rich
  12. Canary wood really has a cool look when it exhibits streaks of dark red against the yellowish color of the wood. I think your right, it seems to be a very tuff wood. Rich
  13. Koa is much as Mattia noted, similar to Mahogany. It is a bit denser, and you can really tell the difference when cutting Koa vs Mahogany. It is a bit softer than I would prefer for a bridge. I might consider alternatives such as maybe Goncalo Alves(which has can have a very Koa esc. look to it, can be very curly(at least I have a bunch that is very curly) and has great strength and density for fretboards or bridges. It seems to have a very nice rosewood like tap. Rich
  14. At the dimensions listed and price(before the generous discount), that is about $15 bd. ft. Which is EXTREAMLY fair for well dried machined body blanks. Even if you bought the wood at a good prices for lumber, there would be very little left to pay for the added service. Good quality geniune Mahogany is getting harder to source also, and the price is rising quickly(it is on CITES now). Take advantage of the offer. I doubt I would be able to justify machining, taking pictures, billing(deducting the cost of PayPal if used), packing and shipping not to mention the cost of aquiring(gas, shipping, time to select) the wood and storing it till it is stable, possible losses due to raw dimensions not being 100% efficient for what will amount to maybe $15 give or take a few bucks. Those overhead costs are key in driving up the cost with reliable dealers like LMI or Warmoth(they are not really making a killing, just companies trying to make a reasonable profit after paying operating costs). Rich
  15. Adam, If your talent is in cad and design(great skills), maybe you should pursue prototyping to work out any bugs in your drawings, then pursue selling full scale plans. You bring designs to the table, and there could be a market for that. There is an investment in prototyping, but after you have confirmed your drawings are fully buildable you would have a product. Plotting is cheap, and you could easily control your costs from that aspect. Your investment would be MUCH lower than attempting production(either way you have to prototype and develop a design, no way you could go into actual production without it). In the end you would probably make more profit for yourself selling your drawings(your design itself) than your cut of profits from production(which would be a small percentage because your a small part of the process, unless you invest heavily in tooling and materials(which extends your risk, and like you said the material and production is not your forte). The value in hand made guitars is in the builder. Which includes the builders design skills as it relates to function as well as asthetics. It also relates to the name and reputation of that builder. How profitable it is relates to the builders abilty to market, control costs and efficiency as well as what the market will pay for the instrument. Even a design that is potentially appealing and tested functionally by prototyping is just a small part of the equation, and may be cost prohibitive in production. I suspect any builder looking to actually introduce a model would prefer to make it their own, so they could use their skills to make it viable and at least have a chance of marketing it. It is an extreamly hard task for a very talented builder to make a living as a luthier, adding the burden of design fees that the competition does not have may make it impossible for them to make a go of it. Rich
  16. Actually, I think Brock(OLF) bought that one. I will probably dig out a couple more sets of that landscaped Coco for the next OLF swap(usually around November), everything is stacked away at the moment so that I have room for the stock I am sawing. Actually, I think I have a couple more billets of that stuff that I have to saw up also(but I will have to check its moisture level). When I get ready to load up pictures and such for that swap, I will forward you a link so you can pick whatever you want. Rich
  17. Rich, I'd like to know your opinion on rosewood vs ebony bridge. Since rosewood is lighter and still tough, isn't it more suitable than ebony? But ebony seems to be standard on hand built guitars. I've been thinking of building my first kit guitar (OM size). What would you recommend? Thanks. Alwz I like rosewoods a lot. I am not dead set against different ebonies at all(and Ebony when well dried is very stable). Both of these woods have a range of species that vary in properties. Ebonies can range from Nigerian/Gabon to new Guinea(weight, hardness, resonance vary), generally on the heavy side though(which is perfect depending on what you want). Rosewoods range from ultra light EIR to African Blackwood(as heavy as ebonies). I have also run across other species that certainly meet the requirements and range in weight(pau ferro, goncolo alves, purple heart, shedua and so forth). There are a LOT of options that are certainly viable. Some of the woods that I have stashed for my personal use(note; I like to have a range of weights and color options) would include. EIR(Dalbergia), Pau ferro, Hard Maple, Goncolo Alves, Kingwood(Dalbergia), African Blackwood(Dalbergia), Cocobolo(Dalbergia), Honduran Rosewood(Dalbergia), Madagascar Ebony, Mac. Ebony, Burmese Rosewood(Dalbergia), Snakewood, Pink Ivory and a few others that are not coming to mind(they say the mind is the first to go ). I want the wood to be tuff, machine well, and seem resonant to me. If it meets those requirements, I am looking for a range of weight in my finished bridges that varies from about 15 grams(ULTRA light) to 40 grams at the most. In my mind I only think in terms of light(15-25grams), medium light(more than 25 less than 35grams), heavy(35-40gram). Weight is what I like to try to control in a bridge, and what I prefer depends on the application(I look at Soundboard/bracing/bridge as a balancing act, wanting them to all be kinda in check with each other). No heavy bridge with a lightly braced thin soundboard, or featherwieght bridge on a very stiff beefy soundboard. The worst top I ever put together had an extra stiff bracing configuration with a thin soundboard(somehow it made sense in my mind at the time, to save lots of weight by thinning the board and using really tall thin braces, there is a point where you run into trouble doing that). It is good to hear your interested in the bridge. I think many overlook the bridge as a fixed variable or "off the rack part". Even after you install a bridge it is something that should be dialed in to your top. As Mattia always says, it is the biggest brace on your soundboard(and we pay a lot of attension to braces). Rich
  18. I have never sprayed my epoxy finish, but I do use it as a filler/sealer. Usually FP after the zpoxy(my first choice for finish). Just be sure your using a finishing Epoxy. It dries much slower(nice self leveling), and can be thinned. When applied thin with slow set, it is very easy to control and get a nice level base. It fills really well when you can work it into the pores, I am not sure how well it would fill sprayed. Rich
  19. If your talking about a body blank for a solid body. The question is silly, because regular butt joints have been and are the standard. Nothing wrong with biscuits, but certainly not needed.
  20. Guys, I think he is saying he installed a one way truss rod(not going to help if he has a back bow condition), had a problem in winter(generally a dryer season) with the neck going into a back bow condition, he tried to level the fretboard(I would assume it had stabalized to the ambient moisture levels at the time) and was successful. Now moving into a wetter season the neck is moving into back bow again. I think you need to be darn sure your problem is not coming from lifting frets or some other source. If it is seasonal changes. I would consider allowing the neck to "season a bit more" so to speak and note the actual changes. If your absolutely sure this is the source of the problem and that it is not causing other issues such as twisting or what have you. Then you could pull the frets and put the neck in a jig and build in tolerance that will prevent it from reaching back bow, or you may even choose to pull the fretboard and replace the truss, then re-assemble and adjust. Like I said be sure you know what is really happening before you try a fix. It is kinda odd that the string tension was not able to keep it out of backbow after your fix. Of course I am not sure what the condition of the wood was at that point, nor what the condition is now. So you are going to have to watch and figure out what is happening. Keep in mind relative humidity relates to temp. as well as moisture content. If you have the guitar in a heated space(generally several degrees warmer than outside) the air will hold moisture well compaired to outside. This is often a factor in why summer and winter are so different(of course moisture vapor averages vary as well). If the neck wood was relatively stable when you worked on it. It is pretty supprising the seasonal change would be so great as to overcome the string tension(oops. I guess I already said that ). Rich
  21. First, your probably just seeing glue that filled the gap. Ebony is usually easy to fill cleanly(it is pretty much jet black on black), but good for you it sounds like you did a very nice job. As far as expansion. Sure wood swells that is a no brainer, and dead easy to test. How much expansion will be limited(you are not making a lot of wood swell and thus your expansion will be limited to a small percentage of that volume), and also will vary depending on the angle of the grain(longitudinal expands very little, radial more, and tangential orientation should swell the most). For those reasons I would not opt to rely on it. I would still opt for a glue that would fill well and adhear to the material I am inlaying(Titebond doesn't adhear to shell very well for example). Rich
  22. Looking good! I like the shape of the body and cut. Some really like more rounded bods, but I like a little more squared ends at the neck and tail(hope that is a fair description). Your work is always so clean and tasteful. Very impressive Rich
  23. There are different issues to deal with when drying wood, and a lot of the issues deal with the state the wood is at in the drying process. Any kiln you put together has to be able to adjust for these issues to regulate your rate and risks. Remember wood has to wick the water out from the core, and that is the trick. When wood is green, it has a high moisture content. The shell will obviously release moisture faster than the deeper moisture in the core. You need to allow that moisture to wick its way to the outer shell so it can release. If you block that ability for water to wick to the surface you trap the moisture(case hardening). Keep in mind drying damage also relates to this uneven rate of drying. As the wood releases moisture it shrinks, this means the shell will shrink and the core that has not been able to release its moisture will not. This gives you a picture of what is happening to the pressures in the wood initially. As this process goes along, and given the core moisture is able to continue to wick at a fair rate the core will start to lose moisture and shrink. If the outer shell has become rigid from becoming extra dry it will hold firm(kinda like a ring around the shrinking core). This is where you go from shell damage to core or heart damage. From my experience it seems like this transition generally starts in the upper to mid twenty percent moisture range, and settles in the mid teens or there abouts. So consider this generic picture of what is happening when you decide on how you want to speed the process. It is all about finding the spot where moisture is allowed to wick quickly and not do too much damage by building to much stress. The greater(to a point) the difference in dryiness you have between the shell and core, the faster the core moisture will wick to the shell and release. The greater the difference the higher the difference in shrinkage(core to shell) and thus the more damage you will see. This is why you will often see logs allowed to air dry for a spell(get some of the initial drying out of the way as gently as possible). Then milling to ruff dimension(allowing for shrinkage, damage, and distortion). Early in the kiln the process is mild, to limit the stress and in so limit damage. When the wood has become fairly dry, the schedules become more aggressive, because the volume of water being wrung out so to speak is smaller(smaller shrinkage=less potential for stress). They can get very aggressive at times(when the wood has become very dry) forcing the wood to an overdry state, and then condition it back up to closer to equilibrium(at the very peak of heating during these overdrying schedules, you may even crystalize or set the pitch). The schedules for drying vary, because you are looking for a sweet spot(damage to rate the wood can release moisture). Drying Cocobolo on a schedule for certain softwoods is likely to lead to high damage rates. Getting aggressive with Cocobolo too early can lead to case hardening which will halt the drying. These schedules are a bit of an art(knowing your kiln, the wood, your climate, and where the wood is at(in the drying when you recieve it). You should be able to look up schedules that people have used, and recommendations for many commercial woods(exotics may be more hit and miss), based on the kiln set up they use. Personally, I would and do defer to a slower less agressive rate if I am not sure( I am not about to risk my high dollar or hard to impossible to replace woods, because I am in a hurry). You will make the process less damaging and minimise risk. Remember, some woods will have high drying damage even when mild air drying is used. A lot of the learning is going to be school of hard knocks, and will cost you $$$ in drying damage. Just remember not to blame the wood when you push it too hard and get heavy losses. Also; Regarding the solar kiln(plastic bag). The concept is good and works fine. The beauty is that it regulates itself. If you add air flow you lose the regulation, by allowing for more transfer, you add more air volume you increase the amount of moisture pulled from the shell during a cycle(more stress). With a method like this, you are able to use heat to assist in drawing moisture, but in cycles that limit the imbablance. Low cost, straight forward, self regulating, elegant for the small volume of wood. The one caution would be to be careful with light colored wood and warm moisture in a sealed bag. This can lead to mold and discoloration. You have to stay on top of the process, of course at any time you can just pull it out of the bag and go back to air drying(kind of cycle at will). Rich
  24. How many ounces do you really think your going to use? White MOP is pretty cheap, of course if your covering the entire fretboard with solid shell it would add up. The white MOP I have recieved from MOP supllies has been pretty nice-link Mixed $8.70 oz. and Large closer to $11 oz. Rich
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