Mender

the head stock is angled so i dont think thats a problem, and I'm sure the frets are level. I just don't know what to try next. How important is the nut slot widths. i checked them with a feeler gauge and they're prety close to the string width. I don't have nut slot files, just a saw thats about the right width.

do the strings matter? theyre just regular acoustic dulcimer strings?

Make sure your nut is cut so the slots are lower on the headstock side than they are on the fretboard side. If you have the slots sloping the wrong way, the string will be resting on the highest point of the slot (headstock side) and will vibrate in the slot on the fretboard side. The string must be seated in the bottom of the slot on the fretboard side.

I don´t think anyone can contact you through pm, since you have less than 25 posts. I seem to remember that was the minimun for pming.

Thanks for the info do you know if I can put contact info?

You can put an email address on here, using this method: fred (at) bingo.com

That way, it won't get picked up by any spambots

I like those flames

I have never seen one of these... What exactly is the oil filled feature. Its still an electric heater right?

Yes, it is an electric heater. The heating elements are inside the cavities, which are full of low viscosity oil. The idea is that the elements heat the oil, and the oil retains the heat. The built in thermostat switches the elements off when they get up to temperature. As the oil stays hot, the heater still gives out heat, so the thermostat doesn't have to switch the elements on again for quite a while. This means the heater is much more efficient, and much more economical to run.

It also has the huge advantage that you can use it in a dusty environment such as a woodworking shop without the fear of combustion. Most other types of electric heaters (and even more so, kerosene or gas heaters) can ignite dust easily. I have two of these in my workshop. I have them both on the highest setting for 20 minutes, then turn one off and the other one to low. That keeps me as snug as a bug in a rug

I would lift them out and refret, especially since they weren't glued in the first place. Definitely bend the frets more than your FB radius, and put a little CA glue in the slots. I prefer to press frets in but if you hammer, do like Juntunen mentioned and clamp the frets down with a radius block. You should be able to glue them all in three or so steps depending on the length of the block. Don't be in a hurry and it should be fine.

The fret slots were not beveled, the frets are.

Also used a small amount of white glue.

Maybe the radius of the fingerboard wasn't a constant 12" across the board.

Still think I should tear them out?

As I pointed out earlier, and IPA has mentioned, you need to bend the frets to a tighter radius. At the moment, your frets are straighter than the fretboard radius, which means they will not sit down, so you need to bend them more. To do that, they will have to come out.

The frets need to be curved at a tighter radius that the board you are fitting them to. For a 12 " radius board, the frets should be bent to about 11" radius, otherwise you will have an incredibly hard time getting the frets to follow the curve of the board.

Well, we have a brilliant collection here, and if it wasn't for one particular guitar, I would have found it difficult to decide which one to vote for. Well done everyone, you have done sterling work.

So, while all the entries are extremely good, I simply had to vote for the most stunning design I've seen for a long time, the Scattervarius

Not sure what grit they are, but Chef's Choice is the nearest I've found, and works out slightly dearer than the Stewmac ones, but of course you won't have to pay import duty or extra VAT on them.

http://smallislandtrader.com/kitchen_shop/product/de13840026

The pictures are there now. Excellent work and very inventive methods

Unfortunately, I can't see the pictures, just a load of Photobucket messages saying "Upgrade to Pro today. Bandwidth exceeded."

is there a truss rod in there at all? and arent we looking for a straight neck anyways(no bow)?

I'm suprised that you dont see the truss rod cover.....

I'm surprised as well. It's certainly big enough to see

how do you do the into body strings like this?

Just in case you thought the strings start inside the body, they don't. They are actually all the way through the body, fed through ferrules fitted in the back and front of the body

I would definitely go for a 13" over a 12.5". Many guitar bodies are 13" wide or very slightly under, so you'll be able to put them through the planer.

The question of 3 blades vs 2 blades, I've used both, and find no real difference in the finish, but the 3 blade ones usually have a slightly faster feed rate, so the number of cuts per inch isn't hugely different between them.

I have a 13" 2 blade thicknesser (we call them thicknessers in the UK, our planers are what you call jointers ) http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-axmin.../#bottomsection

I previously had a 12.5" which was good, but the 13" is much more useful A cutter head locking system is a useful bonus.

We don't see Grizzly stuff over here, and rarely any Ridgid stuff, so I can't comment on them. DeWalt is okay, I suppose, but certainly not the same quality they used to be. Ryobi should be good though.

Go to http://www.stewmac.com/fretcalc.html and enter the scale length of the guitar, number of frets, and calculate. At the bottom of the list you will find the distance from the nut to the Floyd Rose studs

That's a sweet looking conversion

Never made one (I'm going to make a 12 string thinline tele soon though) but it's been done.

Dream Guitars

And God be with you during and after your surgery.

Thanks IPA. that sounds really sweet. The comment in that link about being as easy to play as a 6 string confirms my assumption about the short scale being an advantage

The surgery went well, and the pain is subsiding now, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can start playing and building - and typing with two hands

Looking ahead to some time after Christmas when I've recovered from my operation, I'm considering building a 12 string solid (or maybe chambered). Having built a 12 string in the past, and played many others, all with a 25.5 inch scale, I know it takes quite a bit of pressure to hold the strings down. So, as my left hand will be comparatively weak, I'm thinking of making my new build a 24 inch scale so the string tension will be lower. I've built 24 inch scale 6 strings before, quite a few in fact, and fitted them with 10-46 gauge strings, and they have still had lower string tension than a 25.5 incher with 9-42s on.

So, the question; has anyone ever made a 12 string with a 24 inch (or shorter) scale? If so, were there any problems with string vibration causing the "string twins" to interfere with each other? If nobody has built such a geet, does anyone think string collision will be a problem?

Any input would be much appreciated

I got a wild hair to build one of these, having never seen one in person. Got the measurements and particulars from web searches and photos. This is a scrap wood build, and the hardware is mainly what I had lying around from past builds. The HB is a Chinese made Ebay find that was $12 IIRC, the nut was bone and was the first one I've ever slotted (I don't think I'll be doing that again) and I bought a bridge from Ebay as well but due to faulty measuring on my part, I was unable to use it. Total cost including the bridge I didn't use was less than $40 easy.

-black walnut neck and body midsection

-maple sandwich body wings

-jatoba fretboard

-maple backstrap on headstock

-Grover tuners

-Chinese humbucker

-bridge from Tele, cut to fit

-Tru-oil finish

full front view

full back

front body

bridge

being picked on

Not sure how to post the pic rather than the link .

If you click on "Reply", you will be able to see what I have changed from your original post to directly display the photos

Wow. That is an excellent camouflage job

I've done it both ways, and found it is much easier to clamp the wings on if you glue first

The only problem is, as it is a cavity body, it could end up a bit end up neck heavy.

Awesome! As long as there isn't any play in the spindle you'll get more of use out of it than a robosander.

No play whatsoever. This thing is as solid as a rock. I'll let you know if it has stood up to the strain when I've contoured a dozen bodies and necks on it (which will probably take us into the year 2014)

Ah balls. Well when I get space I'm going to try and go down the road of this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jovs-10...nder-prod21607/

rather than this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jbos-5-...nder-prod21290/

Despite Wes saying he finds the smaller tables more useful, I think that adding fences onto a large table along with offset inserts gives plenty of options. Plus I found the VRS-1 fairly easy to stall.

Due to a serious lack of work space, I can only have a benchtop model. Also, due to an even more serious lack of money, I've just ordered the cheapest one available in the UK http://www.angliatoolcentre.co.uk/woodstar...k-pid23833.html

Obviously, it won't be as powerful as the more expensive ones, and the table is a bit small, but as I don't build a lot of guitars, it should last me quite a while, and I can always make an extension table to go round it

EDIT:

Well, it's arrived (ordered yesterday afternoon). As expected, the table is ground aluminium and it doesn't tilt, but that doesn't worry me. I've tried it with the 2 inch bobbin on a lump of oak, and I can't slow it down, and the finish is very good, so I think it was a useful bargain

You can get an oscilating spindle sander with several sleeves in all different sizes at most places for around $100...

I wish we could get them for that sort of price in the UK. The cheapest oscillating spindle sander I've seen over here is £259, about $420! We seem to get ripped off with most things in the UK

What's the price of the VRS-1 from machine mart?

That's a bit cheaper, but it's £211.48 including VAT, equivalent of $340.45 US so still a huge ripoff

EDIT: That one has been discontinued anyway according to Machine Mart.

You can get an oscilating spindle sander with several sleeves in all different sizes at most places for around $100...

I wish we could get them for that sort of price in the UK. The cheapest oscillating spindle sander I've seen over here is £259, about $420! We seem to get ripped off with most things in the UK