fookgub

Good advice, though I don't really intend to use this as a pattern bit. I bought it for jointing and planing. I just finished up jointing some test pieces, and I have to say I'm very pleased so far. I found that 16k RPM seems to be about optimal... it starts to vibrate beyond that. I rarely have the need to joint anything beyond 2" thick, so this little setup should be pretty helpful.

Interesting reading, thanks! I'm hoping to give the bit a try this weekend with some soft maple I bought today.

2" cutting length by 1" diameter. I bought it for jointing body blanks in my router table and planing in a jig similar to this one. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what sort of speeds I should run this bit at. Some of the references I've found online say 22-24k RPM, but that seems pretty fast to me.

I hope it's better than the one I had.

Funny you bring up Racoons and air nailer! Last year I had Racoons in my attic. no access to it. So my brother-in-Law and I parked my truck next to the house with my compressor in the bed and my Paslode framing gun loaded with 3 1/4" nails and drank beer and ate chicken until the Racktycoon came out of the eves. Yes, I had wired the nose back on the nailgun and had a semi auto nail gun. And yes I shot the suspect. He was found later(postmortem), nailed in the back of head, dead in the next door neighbors yard. One of my most BUBBA moments. It was great!!!!!!! A real feeling of GOTCHA!!!! It only cost me about 4K to repair the damage that he had done in the attic after he was gone. Man, somebody buy this guy a .22!

Maybe you should try smacking your neighbor around for having no common sense. If I want something from someone that's using a power tool, I wait until they're done.

I doubt it matters. You could try it in both positions and see if you can hear a difference. I bet you won't be able to. If it really concerns you, I suppose it's probably better to use it as a tone pot. Many (most?) carbon pots are specified for +/- 20%. You're within that range, so I don't see any point in returning it. Even if the seller takes it back, you've got no guarantees that the next one will be any closer to 500k.

Yeah, me too, minus the drunken enthusiasm (which really has no place in a woodshop). The chuck on my drill press stopped falling out after I bought an OSS. I have been known to chuck a chamfer or roundnose router bit into my drill for use as a countersink, but that's very different from actually trying to route with it.

+1 on that. Drill presses just aren't designed to take much sideload. Even drum sanding (like with a robosander) is pushing it on my drill press. Also, 3-4k RPM is too slow for even the largest router bits. You won't get a clean cut running them that slow.

The angle probably doesn't matter. The pickups don't care, and the only person likely to notice is the person playing the guitar. So, if it doesn't bother you, I don't see a reason not to use them. On the another hand, you haven't bought the rings yet, and it seems like it wouldn't be much more trouble to just buy the right ones instead.

We're talking about pickup mounting rings, right? Stew-mac doesn't seem to sell the flat ones in plastic, but they have them in metal. Either way, I recommend a different supplier, since their metal rings cost a fortune. I like Guitar Parts Depot (http://www.guitarpartsdepot.com) and GFS (http://store.guitarfetish.com/), but I don't know if they ship to Australia, or if it would be worthwhile even if they did. Maybe try your local guitar shop or Allparts dealer.

So the nut has the right hole spacing, but the holes are off-center with respect to the nut? Odd... But with so many companies making "Floyd Rose" hardware, I'm not terribly surprised that it doesn't fit. I bought a conversion nut from Allparts once that came as two pieces: the nut itself and a metal shim. The holes were such that it was impossible to line up the nut and shim flush with each other, regardless of the neck to be used.

Yeah, those saddles don't and aren't supposed to have grooves for the strings. The strings are held in place (sort of) by friction.

Well, I ended up buying it. Got it for $168 shipped off Amazon. Seemed like a decent enough deal. The table is big... much larger than my old one. The fence is plenty sturdy, and very simple to adjust. I had to drill a hole in the mounting plate for the above-the-table height adjustment (which, by the way, is freakin' sweet), but that was expected and only took a few minutes. Overall, I'm real happy with this little Christmas spending spree. Now if I could just find the time to use my new tools....

You are exactly right. All you need to do is leave the the wire the goes to the switch on the jack unconnected. Now wire the negative lead from the battery to the ring terminal on the stereo jack, just like you normally would. I'm saying this from memory, so I'm not quite 100% it will work. But I'm fairly sure it will. It's worth a try, anyway, you certainly won't fry the preamp or anything if it doesn't work.

Didn't we already do a "Dragonforce sucks" thread? Ahh... yes: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=25017 I find it rather strange that most of the Dragonforce bashers focus on how they think Herman Li is overrated, instead of the fact the their music, as a whole, is incredibly lame.

Sorry about that earlier post. Sometimes I just tend to grab an idea and start running with it. If you want to start experimenting with this idea now, you should probably forget about USB and all the stuff I said above. Here is my suggestion: Individual piezo transducers are the way to go, and I think Greg's suggestion of looking into the Graphtech line is a good start. Each transducer will need its own preamp. Google "Tillman preamp," and the first hit will be a nice little single FET preamp that works pretty well. Simple enough that you should be able to build one for each string. Note that all the preamps can share the same battery (and by association, the same ground), but everything else should be separate. Once you've got the saddles installed and the preamps built and working, you need to get the sound into the computer. I'll leave you to your own devices on a cable, except to suggest that you should buy something that's shielded and meant for audio. There are a number of DIN style connectors that would be worth checking out, because your guitar should have some sort of jack on it (verses just pigtailing the cable). Mouser and Digi-Key are the best places to start looking for this kind of stuff, at least in the US. To actually get the sound into the computer, where you can do something with it, I recommend you start with an off-the-shelf solution. Finding a sound card with 6 inputs might be tough, but I think the M-Audio Delta 1010LT will fit the bill. You will want to check this out first, though. If it was my project, I would terminate my cable with a DIN connector into a breakout box that has all the leads necessary for hooking up to the sound card. Anyway, I don't know if that will tell you anything you didn't already know. Getting this to work from a hardware perspective shouldn't be too difficult, but there are many finer points that you will have to learn along the way. I can't help you much with the programming side, as I've never worked with either AISO or DirectSound before, but this should at least get you started with sound coming into the computer.

I'm not very clear on what you're looking for, so let me see if I have this right. You want to have six separate channels of audio, one for each string, coming into the computer via USB. Right so far? This is a complicated project. You can't just send audio over a USB cable. You will need to digitize it. This is not quite as simple as it sounds. Say you were going to build a circuit to allow you to do this. At a minimum, your circuit would need: A/D converters to digitize the incoming audio from each string. A microcontroller to construct packets, do general bookkeeping, setup I/O, and whatever other stuff you'll find you need. A chip to allow the microcontroller to talk to the computer over the USB link. This isn't strictly a necessity, but it's much easier than actually rolling your own USB interface. Plus all the "glue" to get the chips to talk to each other, some sort of power supply, maybe external clocks and/or memory depending on what sort of microcontroller and A/D you use. This would require a multi-layer PC board, and most of the parts will be small surface mount types. If you don't feel up to doing the layout (I sure wouldn't!), there are companies that will do the layout for you. It will cost, though. Getting the board fabbed won't be hard, but it could be costly, especially in small runs. If you can't solder SMT, then there are people that can do it for you. Again, it won't be cheap. You still need to be able to draw up the schematic, write the embedded code, and troubleshoot the device when you find out the first prototype doesn't work right. Drawing the schematic isn't quite as simple as it sounds, either. There are a number of ways to attack this problem, and some trade-offs involved in each way. You need a firm understanding of mixed-signal circuit design and embedded programming to make this work. I'm not trying to burst your bubble or anything, but you don't sound ready for a project like this. This would be a good-sized undertaking, even for a hardcore electronics DIY'er. It requires skills in a number of areas, specialized equipment and software, and time and patience. Maybe there is some sort of multi-channel USB sound card out there that you can use instead? If we were to build something like this at work, there would be at least three engineers on it, plus techs and stuff. That's just for the hardware. You still need to write computer-side software for this stuff, too. Well, I don't know if this answers your question or not, but at least it's something to think about.

No, the old Craftsman table I have won't fit the Ridgid unless I drill some new holes in it. I'm fed up with the non-flat surface and worse-than-useless fence on it anyway. I'm starting to think I should just build a table, but I can't seem to find a fence for it. Most of the standalone fences I've found are very expensive. I'm sure they're nice, but as a hobbyist, I have to draw the line somewhere. I'm actually thinking about one of the Bosch router tables. I've seen this one at Lowes before and it seems nice. I'll have to give it some more thought.

Thanks for the support, guys. Carl, I'm sorry you took my comment like that. I really wasn't trying to be a smartass, but I guess it's hard to tell sometimes over the internet. Anyway, I exchanged the router today. The new one works great, but the whole experience has just made me glad I bought it locally instead of on the internet. The Ridgid really makes my old Craftsman seem like a toy in comparison, though. Next up, I need a new router table. I haven't decided whether to buy or build it, though. Building would be a no-brainer if I had a tablesaw, but it's a little tougher without one. What do y'all think? Are there any decent prefab ones that won't cost me an arm and a leg? A decent jointing fence is a must.

I don't know anything about ceramic tips, but a minute doesn't really seem that impressive to me. Any soldering iron should heat up in a minute, and if it takes 12 minutes, it belongs in the trash. If you want super fast warm up, buy a Metcal. Mine heats up in seconds. They're intended for production work, way overkill for hobbyists, but beautiful irons nonetheless. I've been there before with the Radioshack irons... I owned three before I finally stepped up to a decent soldering station. Any quality temperature controlled station will be light years ahead of an unregulated iron.

The model number is EB44241. Not sure why that matters, since Ridgid only makes one OSS. The total came to $385 including a 10% off card I had, but I only paid $85 out of pocket (thanks Mom & Dad!). Unfortunately, the router has to go back. The plunge tends to stick in the "down" position, then pop back up forcefully and unexpectedly. It's not just annoying, it's dangerous. I'm sure Home Depot will let me exchange it. Otherwise, it's a very nice machine.

I spent my Christmas gift card at Home Depot today. Got a Rigid OSS and a Rigid 2 1/4 HP router with plunge and fixed bases. I tested the OSS, and it seems to work great. I won't actually get to try it on a guitar body for a couple months, though. The router is awesome... much nicer than my old Craftsman. The plunge action is a little stiff, though. I'm going to use it a bit and see if it loosens up. If not, I'll exchange it for another one. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/tools2.jpg

Weller makes good, reliable irons, and you can't really go wrong with one, but I feel compelled to mention the Xytronic stations. I bought one about four years ago and it's performed flawlessly ever since. I don't think you can do better for under $100. I use mine for a lot more than guitar work, and it will cover a ton of ground if you know how to set the temperature and which tip to use. GFS, of all places, is selling them now at a very good price: http://store.guitarfetish.com/soirandac.html

Here are some pictures of what happened. When I put the guitar up to cure it was virtually flawless. After a week it had started to develop some light cracking. I started wetsanding it anyway, thinking that I would put it together temporarily and refinish it in the spring. The cracking got progressively worse over the next few days until I didn't even want to put it together. Notice how the clear has pulled away from all sharp edges, dragging the color coat with it. This was most apparent in the heel area, but it happened all over the guitar. I have a couple theories about what happened. First, using shellac as a base was unwise. I don't think shellac is compatible with this stuff. Second, I think I applied too much varnish too quickly. I applied three heavy coats per day, one hour apart, and sanding between the coats. I did this for two consecutive days (six total coats), which resulted in a very thick build. I think the first few coats of CV didn't get a chance to cure well enough. There are some pinholes in one of the pictures. Also, I think that I simply built too much clear. The total thickness was much thicker than the lacquer jobs I've done before, and also thicker than the manufacturer's recommendation. There were a couple things I really liked about the CV. It levels beautifully (I level sanded the guitar starting with 1000 grit, and it only took about 45 minutes). It cures hard and clear, and it cures quickly. For now, though, I'm going back to lacquer. http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-cracked2.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-cracked3.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-cracked4.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-cracked5.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-cracked6.jpg