M_A_T_T

Guitar Building as a Career? Take a business management course, or something similar. Building guitars for a living isn't just sitting at a workbench making guitars all day, you have to know how to properly run a business. Knowing how to building high quality instruments is just half of it.

I always thought you were 15, sorry.

You should have had a look through a their catalogue before going in.

This used to be me, but I changed my name and here's my newer website.

That's what I do, though I only use two grits, 2500 & 9000. No water either. I have the sheets sitting on a piece of glass on the corner of my workbench whenever I use my handtools so I can quickly sharpen them when necessary, which takes a few minutes only. If you do go with the honing papers, get like five sheets of each, they go quick.

JUST to keep everyone in the loop....... JEFF LITCHFIELD aka Litchfield Custom Gutters, aka ACE Litchfield, is currently making a guitar for the band... THE DONNAS. He is currently trying to sell his "firewood with food stains" to unsuspecting children. Yes, children... on the Donnas forum. As usual, ive pointed out the faults with his workmanship and design flaws which will most definately render the guitar.... let me say that again.... which will render the "firewood with food stain" an absolutely useless, unplayable, piece of crap.... with food colouring. As usual..... the members of the donnas forum, think i am being a little extreme, and they are taking "Ace's" side. ← That thread was just closed. But I think they got the idea.

I have that. Mine came with infeed/outfeed tables, and some rolls of abrasive. Don't really have any advise as I haven't used it alot yet, except get a dust collector. Also, I never set the depth gauge on mine, I prefer to use digital calipers. Try to only take off 1/8 of a turn of the height adjustment knob at a time, or about 1/128", with wide pieces.

I remember. I was here through all that stuff, as well as the BS on the other forums. My old posting ID was Lex Luthier, but I don't like that name anymore.

RasaGuitars - Perry (roads56) isn't trying to be rude or anything, it's just that we've seen what can happen when somebody comes on here as *******CustomGuitars when they're not actually a professional builder.

I use these: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...004&cat=1,43072 The 5micron & 0.5micron. I put the sheets on a piece of glass so they are dead smooth, and can go right from a fresh grind to a *mirror* finish in minutes. I haven't had as much luck with gouges as I have with chisels, as chisels are easier being flat, but these work great.

Actually, I dont think I used any on the last bass I made, and it was fine.

Hot glue is glue-gun, right? I don't think I'd use it, as it's not as 'rubbery' as silicone, and I'm not sure if it would stick to metal as well as silicone. Silicone is to prevent the truss rod from rattling, if anyone is wondering.

Yup, and that experience coupled with the researching I've done since building it has given me the knowledge & courage to take on one straight from rough wood.

You could say that, but look at the price of these: http://www.houseoftools.com/subcat.htm?cat=9053 Specialty and good blades are always expensive.

Reminds me more of a viol de gamba, but I think those are closer to the size of a 'cello.

I just checked with the metal pattern aligned with the drill bits, and the line aren't off at all, really. It was more so the extra bits at the corners weren't bent exactly the same, but I have since trimmed the corners, and they are now fine. Had they been off, I would have shaped the maple ribs them selves. The ribs are 1mm thick, and it would have been fine to shave them down slighty where they are glued to the corner blocks...but it need not be done.

Because so many of you guys have been viewing my journal (thanks for the interest) my monthly bandwidth has gone up from 59% to 78% in one day! Because of this I reduced the pics to links, except for the first pic in each post. I just finished re-grinding & sharpening my gouges, so I should do some more on it today, maybe get the other side roughed out, and post an update.

What's the brand? A cheap saw will have bad blade tracking and a really small motor. I used a 9" for a while to cut out bodies & necks, it worked okay with a harsh blade, like four or five TPI skip tooth.

I'm working with a Pau Ferro board now for my latest project. It's been very easy to work with so far. It cuts well, sands easy, and looks purdy. ← Pau Ferro is my new 'favorite' fingerboard wood. I used it to make a new fingerboard & tailpiece for my chinese 'cello. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/mma...llo/cello84.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/mma...llo/cello86.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/mma...llo/cello88.jpg

Sorry. The site was on fullserve, and I don't have it backed up anywhere. EDIT: I guess I *DO* have it backed up somewhere! New Guitar Building Tools Page

Thanks, though I haven't been up to much at all. Aside from starting this violin, I was building two 'ukuleles, but I wrecked the sides when it came time to bend them, so they are stashed away on 'hold'.

Hi there. I used to post here as Lex Luthier, but I can't get into that acount anymore, not to mention I HATE that name now, and have grown to like M_A_T_T that I use on a few other forums. Another reason I haven't been posting is I have not had much interest in electric guitar/bass building lately, I've actually been seriously interested in the construction of violin family instruments for maybe a year now. I've done lots of reading of different books and checked out sites on the net relating to it, and finally started one from scratch at the beginning of this month. You can see my progress here, it's kind of an online 'journal'. Ongoing violin making pictorial. If you have any questions/comments, post them here, as only I can post on the journal. I know it's not a guitar, but I figure some people may find it interesting. Thanks...it's nice to be back.