Devon Headen

You don't need a router table. The -only- things I used a router for on my last build were the pickup cavities and neck pocket. Obviously you can use it for a lot of other things, but I don't use it more than I need to. I honestly don't see how I ever got by without a good bandsaw, though. I think with a drill press and bandsaw + some hand tools, you can do 90% of the roughing process (which ends just before binding, inlaying, and finishing for me).

You shouldn't be paying that much for a dremel. I got mine with the flex shaft and a ton of bits for like $70. I think it's the same as one of the ones StewMac sells, but I don't wanna look up their price. Also, digital calipers aren't a neccessity. I actually prefer my regular dial calipers to those. Much less to go wrong, and I don't have to worry about batteries.

If you're anything like me, you'll just procrastinate for months and months and never actually get around to refinishing it. I say finish it now and -really- enjoy it later.

Can't tell for certain from the pic, but I think that's gonna have enough life for another fret dressing. I'd say don't expect it, because you never know what you're getting in an online auction, but don't be too suprised if you don't have to refret. A lot of that looks like grime anyway.

Sounds about right. Look at pictures of control cavity routs to get the idea of how it should be shaped to have wood to screw in to. The rout isn't usually the same shape as the cover.

They are two totally different machines. A band saw has a circular blade that travels in a continuous downstroke. A scroll say has a short, straight blade that attatches above and below the table. The path of travel on the scroll saw is up/down, but it only cuts on the downstroke. The advantage of a scroll saw in this situation is that you can pierce the plate out of the back. There's no way to make that cut on a bandsaw without cutting in from the side of the plank.

Touche.

OK, I'm through. I just like saying 'touche' .

Ok, that's what I thought after your first post. I don't get what the cover is screwed onto, though. If you cut a section of the back out, there's just gonna be a gaping hole underneath, right?

What I've done and will do again on bodies without caps on the back (because frankly, I don't much like capping backs. Mahogany, ash, limba, beautiful in their own right, and deserve a good showing off) is scribe around the pickup cover, use a dremel with a very fine bit to route through, clean up a little, and bind the cover to 'fill' the gap. Works nice, even works on carved backs (although it's a tad fiddly).

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I don't quite get what you're saying. Can you try describing it a different way? Thanks

I read all that and didn't get any pictures?

EDIT: always hit refresh before posting. When I loaded the page there were no replies, and now I look like a moron repeating what everyone else already said.

Two pack car poly is probably the paint best suited to guitars that an average jow can spray. There is some certain safety equipment you need to use it (forced air respirator), so make sure you know what precautions to take before you decide to use it. I think most auto paint places carry it. Don't mistake it with the single part car poly, all of it I've used has taked forever to dry.

Mattia said he didn't use StewMac's, Wes. I don't know about Mattia, but I know David Myka uses tubing made for kites. You might google (or froogle) kite carbon fiber (or graphite, not sure what that stuff is sold as), and see what comes up.

That depends on the size of your carbon fiber rods...

I've been here for a long time, and I've never seen anything like that.

You'll be able to see the grain a little bit through the dye. You need to spray some black lacquer on the back if you want it to be solid.

Duh, forgot to post my main question. Are the stewmac metallic dyes really superior to all other dyes? If so, why?

I guess that means it's nitro based. It took a couple've days to come off when I intelligently practiced on scrap without any gloves on. I always assumed it was lacquer based until reading that little blurb in Grizzly. Looks like they put the wrong thing in their catalog.

I already have 3 colors of McFadden's liquid dyes, and I need some more colors for an upcoming project. I'm pretty sure since I've already got a base of colors with the McFadden, I should just stick with it. I've only gotten one problem with it. In the catalog I ordered it from it says, "assorted water soluble concentrated dyes," but on the bottles it says it's nitrocellulose based. My question is, what should I be thinning this stuff with? So far I've just been using lacquer thinner for wiping off excess, but does anyone know whether I can use water? I guess it doesn't really make much of a difference, just curious as to what the base actually is of this stuff.

The fretboard adds a lot of thickness to the neck.

I've never done it, but I'd say give it a shot. I've lit celluloid before (assuming that's what you have, because stewmac doesn't even sell it anymore), and it didn't explode or anything. Just have something on hand to put a small fire out just in case.

When my dad ran one, they solved that problem by just charging the cumstomer for a new blade if they hit a nail.

I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with it, I was just saying it didn't quite suit my tastes. If it gives him what he wants tonally, that more than compensates for a slight visual imbalance (again, my opinion).

Not too fond of the shape, but then again, probably most body styles I wouldn't like mirrored. The craftsmanship looks excellent through the whole guitar. It has to be great to get shots as close as you did and have everything still look clean. The only other thing I didn't like was that I thought you should've make the carve deeper so that the 'binding' wasn't so tall.

My father used to run one of those. You can get some nice domestic woods for yourself with it. You can also make some pretty danged good money sawing for people. Is that one of the fully hydraulic models?

Done

Did you get an e-mail saying you had new ones? What makes you think you have PMs? It's been working fine for me.