GuitarGuy

I've used their silicone, top notch stuff. A little in the pricy side tho.

sweet! thanks! Thanks for the offer as well garehanman.

I'll do it for you this weekend if someone doesn't beat me to it.

Thanks I appreciate it greatly!

If any of you guys have the stew mac version. If its not do much trouble could someone measure the brass radius inserts for me. Length and thickness and depth it sits into the caul.

Its cheap thin inlay usually. If if it ever gets delivered. I made a resolution a while ago with ebay, never buy anything from the far east. Some are good deals but the net gain is you get screwed more often than not.

Yep, milled one. I used wood as the radius. It works ok but it dents a bit. I'll prob make some brass ones at a later time. If you want one made PM me.

I had 2 Lado, Strat and Elite and they are awesome, but with minor troubles in the paint, and i know that Lado is one of the most complete Luthiers in guitars and basses.

Whats a "complete luthier"???

Sounds like a magazine.

Did I mention I like it?

Thanks!

You didn't happen to take pics of how you did that carve did you? I need to do something like that with my guitar but haven't decided how to go about doing it.

All I did was rough out the shape in pencil on the top. I then freehanded it with the die grinder, a rasp would suffice. Then I used the good ole sanding stick to make the bevel have straight lines. The plywood was unforgiving in that respect. Because the lines give a clear indication of how true the bevel is.

And how about using a center-punch and brad point drill bits.....?

I dont like brad points, cus if its off, the full diameter has started cutting and you're comitted.

Use an 1/8" pilot hole. make sure those are lined up. Once they are perfect, touch the full size bit to the work just enough to make a dimple. and see if it is centered on the hole. If not move it a bit and dimple again. You can keep moving the hole until you get to the outside edge of the bit and it actually starts cutting. Much more forgiving. And practice makes perfect. Just my way of doing things, whatever works for you.

It also helps if you draw a reference line at the full diameter of the hole so you know if you're out any.

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement everyone!

What's her name?

Also, I'd appreciate if you can let us hear how it sounds like?? I'm dying to hear it, also what pups you using with it??

Didn't really name it, The exploder was the first name but it didn't so I dunno.

The pickups are ones I got from Metal Matt, im not sure what they are. I was going to rewind them but judging by how hard it is to get them in I might just let sleeping dogs lie.

It sounds good, when I get home from work I'll see if I can get an audio file going.

I would expect the neck to fare OK with the carbon in there - It may be more flexible than a hardwood neck, but the carbon should keep it stable regardless.

No carbon, Those are oak strips. I prob should have gone with carbon, or aluminum bars. But oh well, I wanted to keep it to wood that was totally not good for building.

How did you get the pickups and controls in there by the way?

The controls were from a backplate, the backplate has no screws. How it holds the backplate on is....magic.

The pickups were not fun but a heres a run down of installing them. I put one screw and a spring in the cavity and held it in place by putting a strong magnet beside the head of the screw. Then I dropped in the pickup. Then the tricky part. I wrapped a masking tape loop around the pickup to have a grip on it for somthing to lift it with. Then i tucked in the spring for the other side and dropped the screw through the spring and held that in place with another magnet. Then I lifted the pickup with the masking tape up to the screws and turned them in. The tape just pulls right out when you grab an end.

I made that sound easy, trust me it wasn't.

Finished the guitar for the most part, minus the back plates and the finish. Its strung up now and the neck looks normal. It tunes and plays nice. The one thing I did notice is that you can bend a note by flexing the neck. We'll see how that pan's out. I'll let the neck settle a bit and find out how it fares. I found a dead fret on the high e, ill fix that when the neck has proven itself.

I will never do recessed pickups again without a back plate. It is a job and a half to get the springs in and the screws started for the pickups. There must be a trick to it that im not seeing. Maybe to glue the springs to the top so they are suspended in the cavity. I dunno. Major PITA and not worth the trouble.

I used the die grinder to cut a recess into the electronic's cavity so I could bolt down the output jack.

Recess

Jack installed

I installed the string trees and filed the nut

String trees

Pictures of the start of the electronics

Main cavity

3-way switch

Body shot

Down the neck

I would do it in a silicone mould or a fibreglass mould or somthing like that. The problem with acrylics and epoxies is that theyre brittle and if they get hit theyll flake chunks off. Kinda looking like a split piece of flint stone. Thats why fibreglass weave is added to fibreglass parts.

There are some hi impact resins available but im skeptical wether you would find a clear version.

Epoxy cures from the hardener. So I dont see why thicker would be a problem. Worst problem would be too much heat causing the cast to crack.

All strong glues use the electrical forces between molecules. There is no other way. You can call it chemistry if you want; chemistry could be defined as the study of the many many ways the electrical forces among atoms and molecules behave.

Epoxy is not designed to be used only in situations where you have to fill a gap. Its mechanical strength is great enough so that you can use it this way. It works fine with very thin layers, too. How could it not? The adhesion is molecule to molecule. A thick layer filling a space requires the glue to have mechanical strength as well as adhesion.

Blame fine woodworking.....lol

Guitarguy: titebond makes a chemical bond? i've never heard that before.

Read it somewhere, fine woodworking mag i think but i could be wrong. Ill see if i can find it. Its the reason why wood glue doesn't hold well to metal or other non wood items.

Edit: Didn't take long to find it.

The best of fine woodworking: Basic skills and techniques 2005

"Mechanical adhesion:

When two boards are clamped together, wet glue flows into the pores of the wood. When it dries, the hard fingers of glue lock the boards in a weak union."

"Chemical adhesion:

Positively charged hydroxyl groups on the wood's surface are attracted to the negatively charged carbonyl groups in the yellow glue in a process known as hydrogen bonding. This is the main force that makes yellow glue a strong adhesive."

Might add that wood glue makes a physical and chemical bond with the wood fibres where epoxy would be purely physical.

(have you been to an auto body shop? All the bondo and glass work is done on open bays

Thats really funny you should mention that considering I grew up in one. Played with primer dust. The whole deal. I've never had an alergic reaction to any of it. But.....My old man has been in the business since he was 14 he's on permanant disability. For bone cancer. And hes worked in a fibreglass shop for about 5 years while he was living in Quebec. Making everything from fenders to flowerpots. And he dosn't smoke or drink. And my grand father a blacksmith turned autobody. Died of liver failure. Read into it all you want but its a russian roulette regardless.

As far as the data, actual undustrial fibreglass is fairly new. Invented in 38 and not in any real production until the 50's-60's. The long term effects data has not even surfaced yet.

I never said don't do it I just said be careful.

Man I work with fiberglass all the time, considering I do custom car audio for a living... it's far from deadly, that is unless you get it in your mouth or something.... if I get it on my hands I just use acetone to take it off....

Come back in 30 years and tell me the same thing.

I've cleared over model car decals with 2 part poly with no issues. I have yet to try the home made ones.

Alluminite

Craft casting

All of the blacks i've seen are opaque. I have yet to find a transparent one.

Keep in mind these dyes are made for each brand of resin so if you decide to mix with another brand resin like bondo. I'd do a test run first.

Fibres yes, the respirator isn't going to do crap for isocyanates. And wear nitrile gloves and clothes you plan to toss. If you decide to try this.

i've had a little experience with fiberglass like you're describing. you first paint your epoxy on the surface that you're putting the fiberglass sheets on, then apply the sheet and then squeegie it off fairly smooth..after that hardens you then you apply more epoxy to fill the grain. it's messy and takes some getting used to before you get a smooth application. i honestly don't think that it would add much stability or strength to a project because even after it's completelyl cured it's relatively flexable unless several sheets are applied.

Correction, very stong! Hockey sticks are made exactly that way.

Aside most resin's are not clear. They have an amber tint. But they can be tinted with polyester based dyes to get any color you want. The resin gives off isocyanates equvalent to 2 part poly. And the glass fibres are deadly to your lungs.

Other than that its pretty straight forward to apply. The resin hardener ratio needs to be exact.

Heres an entire kit from Norton, sans toothpaste

Eastwood Buffing kit

Heres a way to calculate spindle speed for milling, also aplicable to a router. Keep in mind a lot of it has to do with how fast you cut with the router.

Spindle speed

A furnace filter is generally what is used.