Lex Luthier

Okay, then make a poll, or something.

Just PM or email Brian. I'm sure he will make a link on the main site, or even publish the whole page.

Thanks, I just PM'd him with the link.

there are so many builders in here that school me to the point of tears. I.E vendel crow lex luthier litch wes...you! everyone! im no master luthier!

Thanks buddy.

Snork, the guy who learnt me how to build guitars is a master luthier. It is so great to have someone like him around to give me advice. It's a good thing you found someone who can help you and from who you can learn. Please keep him as a friend and take his advise seriously 

Yeah, I gotta "mentor" too. I found him a few years after I started building, but I've learned ALOT from him - I even WORKED for him for five months right out of highschool!

anyone got any oppionon on those concave fret dressing files? the purpose made ones...

They're expensive - that's my opinion.

You can do tha same thing with a file that has teeth on the face of the file only, like I do and learned to do from a luthier. Take any small file and grind the teeth on the edges away. You just shape the fret while you are dressing it, leaving a small amount of unfiled fret in the middle.

i thought that you didnt need to use a glue. what if you need to take the frets out?

You don't need to use glue, you usually don't, unless the slot has widened. If you need to remove the frets, you use a soldering or clothes iron anyway, to heat up the oils in the board so there is less chip out, plus the heat will terminate any glue bond.

DANG! I spelt "guage" wrong throughout the entire tutorial, I have to fix it!

EDIT: All fixed

I think I understand what you mean. I couldn't get a good picutre of it, so I drew what the but end of the neck of my bass I'm currently building looks like.

The grain is symentrical

For fretting, I think:

Fret pullers, which can also be your fret end nippers

Fretting hammer, 8oz with plastic or nylon head is best

Long flat "bastard" file I thinks it's called, for leveling

Small file with edges ground smooth for taking the corners off the fret ends

Masking tape

Long level or staing egde

For dressing frets, I like to mask off the entire board, except for the frets, use a file with teeth on the faces only and re-shape the frets, then use 320grit sandpaper to remove the file marks, then 600grit to remove the 320grit marks, then 0000 steel whool the polish the frets, so I'd say get some 320 and 600grit sandpaper, but that's just my method. I use the same file for filing the fret ends as dressing.

I have made a tutorial for making radii gauges with a router, and I was wondering how, or if, I can get it published on the main site in the tutorials section, probably under Tools, or Misc. Do I need to email it to Brian or somebody?

Thanks

Making Radii Gauges with a Router.

Here it is!

It's a 6" X 99" Horizontal/Vertical Edge Belt Sander by Strike. The whole belt sander portion actually flips on it's side, instead of the table tilting, and the belt actually ostilates(sp?) too. I've been playing aroung with it a little. I took the back cover off, so I don't have to always remove it to change belts, and the dust chute cover is off, for now. I also made some adjusments to the table, to make it raise and lower easier.

i read somewhere that ebony tends to break up when you machine it, it is a very brittle wood.

Yes it is, but it's still nice to use as a fingerboard wood - it's my favorite.

Both. I have a large plunge router that I use freehand and in a table I made. I find most commercial avaliable router tables are REALLY small, so I made my own. I used an old desk, so my table surface is almost 2' X 4'.

I use my router freehand for routing cavities in bodies, and I use it mounted in the table for profiling necks and bodies.

I got over 10% off the price because of my "connections", plus I got a free sanding belt and a block of belt cleaning compound because I took the floor model! It's too late to play around with the thing, I'll post pics tomorrow!

Do you all prefer to use like a belt sander or sanding disc to sand/cut out the arm rest/chest-belly area?

I use a hand plane for the arm rest area, takes me only a few minutes to do. For the belly cut, I've done them by hand with chisels and spoke shaves, and also on the drum of my belt sander.

*crops and prints*

easiest 1000$ i ever made

LOL!

Who's the suit on the cover?

Had to do some - William Lyon Mackenzie King, he was the Prime Minister of Canada back in the earlier half of the 1900's.

lol fair play

ive held 600 GBP which thinking about it is probablly worth more than that pretty little pile you got there on the global market lol, i love holiday jobs

You're right, 600GBP is over $1400CDN.

Currency Converter

It's really the only choice I think for hollow bodies/acoustics. 

Never used it at Northwood Guitars. Northwood uses the two glues I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, Titebond I and Cabinet makers glue. Titebond is used for pretty much everything, except the cabinet makers glue is used on bridges and necks because it is less elasticy than Titebond.

I'm buying a new tool today and I can't interac anything over $500, so I'm just gonna pay with CASH.

No one here uses Hide Glue?

I've used Titebond hide glue when I was making a violin. It's nasty stuff, REALLY sticky, like epoxy, and it also smells bad.

I've used Titebond and also this.

i once wore a 2 foot tall sombrero and a poncho to high school.all day long and noone said anything.

LOL!

That is amazing...

Dido