Bizman62

Now that you said it... I wonder how a porcelain bridge would work. I found out that Gibson had a plastic bridge with a porcelain saddle back in the day, and that it wasn't as good as expected. But how about a compensated porcelain bridge to be used similarly to those used on mandolins? Like a Tune-o-Matic without the adjustability, either with a tailpiece or a trapeze? Have such been ever made? - I already can see some potential issues with such, the glaze would wear off at some stage which would lead to highly increased friction; the exposed abrasive clay would eat the strings alive!

Why is that called go-bar? I know what 'go' means and I know a couple of meanings for 'bar' and even may have a clue why the beverage serving place is called a 'bar' but in this case I have no clue. You aren't going to a bar with your jig, aren't you?

I'm with @ScottR, the woods may not have been equally dry and/or they behave differently with the atmosphere. Either it's a glue line or one or the other wood has swelled a bit. It's always a nightmare to sand the multi-laminate neck through level with the wings. Each and every layer seems to live a life of its own no matter how long the woods have been acclimatized in the very same space.

Try automotive shops! There's all kinds of trim moulding strips in metallic colours. Ebay and Ali also have them,

Exactly my thoughts as well. That's why I was asking. Wax over the Danish oil @Akula mentioned should give the thin finish some protection and could even make the surface a bit harder. Over bare wood, I wouldn't suggest wax.

I've had that happen once and the only culprit I could find was that apparently I just hadn't tightened the bit properly which seems a bit odd since I'm a bit overconcerning with power tools. Although the rust theory would have made me feel better... But there's no rust in the tools of the communal workshop. They're dull and poorly maintained but not rusty. Another option that came into my mind is that there might have been some wood dust clogged in the slots of the collet. That would explain both your and mine cases.

My limited knowledge in your language leaves me puzzled here... Do you mean you'd like to know if wax would improve the finish, or do you mean you'd like us to tell how well you've waxed the instrument?

A leopard cannot change its spots! The pickguard definitely suits the superhero reference you mentioned earlier. And it suits the theme as having "serious" elements mixed with "lighthearted" ones - I can see heraldry, cartoons, flora and finally fauna there. I know and remember that you very much hinted to this direction, yet I was fooled by the seaweed so much that I was actually awaiting green pearl/swirl/marble instead of a fur pattern. That's a balanced piece of hilarious art there, Sir!

Acetone melts the binding material to a mess that sticks to wood like glue. As you've already heard, it can be used for filling gaps which -when you think about it - involves attaching a piece of binding on the guitar. The main difference is the length used. All that said, there's several plastic materials used for binding. I've heard of acetate, ABS and PVC. They all may melt to acetone but I'm not 100% sure. There's also plastics like HDPE that don't melt, otherwise there would be no caps on the acetone bottles! So a little testing is recommendable before the actual binding.

Ouch! There's only one cure I know of and that's to reduce the overall volume by sanding a mil off... Unless, and this is not guaranteed to work, you can wash the surface with turpentine, hoping to make the colour more even? Caution! This is just a wild idea, never tested, based on someone telling how they wash a figured stained surface with alcohol or other solvent instead of sanding.

Anodizing might be an option... Doing at home may not be possible due to the chemicals used not being available for mere mortals but you may find a service provider.

Your weeds sure add a nice twist to the strictness of the red and black!

Welcome! It pretty much depends on what you want from your finish. Crimson high build oil is a good choice for about any wood but as with any oils it will take forever to fill coarse grain and deep pores. As each piece of the same species can differ, look at your limba or even better make a test piece. Instead of Crimson oil you can also use Tung oil or similar wipe on oil-poly mixes - or even mix it by yourself! The basic recipe is boiled linseed oil, turpentine and oil based lacquer, 1 part each. For faster drying increase the turps, for faster buildup add more lacquer.

Me too! That's a homage to the original while still being your very own.

I've read that Terry Pratchett couldn't leave his books, there was always something to improve or add. The publisher almost literally had to steal the manuscripts to get something printed and published. I believe that served us readers better than waiting until his death to get one single almost perfect novel out.

Now that you said it... The human eye likes symmetry and that one can be seen like the lower half is just flipped and turned like the figures on playing cards. A hair in any direction would not have created that illusion as the proportions would have been different. Then again, that looks totally natural as well, seaweed swaying in the subsurface flows can take startling shapes for a second, collapsing back to psychedelic waves.

Had to look for 'Foredom'... Back in the fifties they knew how to make real household machines! In the Big Cookbook of that era there's a bunch of ads on the last pages. One that tickled my imagination as a child was the ad for a food processor with all the bells and whistles a housewife could want - plus a couple of features for the man: A flexible shaft and a palm sized handpiece with a chuck for drill bits and sanding disks. Unfortunately Google has never heard about it so there's no pictures.

@curtisa went more into depth in explaining the scale length math. Regarding the scale template possibly being incorrect, there's a couple of explanations: As you bought it from a reputable british vendor, it can still be stamped wrong, saying 25.5 when it actually is 24.75. Mistakes happen... It is 25.5 and the first notch is for cutting the nut slot instead of the first fret. I've let a luthier cut some fretboards for me with his special tools and the first slot on the boards is for the nut, located an inch from the end of the board for crack safety and versatility. Just a side note: I bought a double sided notched straight edge from Banggood. It's for 24.75 and 25.5 but I couldn't make it match with any of my guitars. At some point I realized that it starts from the second fret! It's a long way from China so there's lots of time for moisture to condensate and seep through any wrapping. Fretboards aren't too expensive in Europe either, Madinter and Maderas Barber in Spain will deliver faster than any Chinese shops. That said, it's good practice to let any wood acclimatise in a well ventilated place before using. Even more so if it has been wrapped into plastic for a long transport. Finally, if you order a hand made guitar from a luthier it can easily take at least a year, easily two or three years until you get the finalized product. There's so many stages where the project just sits due to settling or drying - starting from choosing the woods and letting them acclimatise to the workshop environment to see if they start to warp. That alone can take months!

Congratulations for a win well earned!

I had to google for ACM boards... The sandwiched idea is similar but the polypropylene version used a much thinner sheet of polypropylene in the middle. It actually looked like 3 ply aircraft plywood, the total thickness being about 1.5 mm or 1/16". The laptop stands were imported, not my invention. By searching I think I found the very product on Ebay, the name Hylite for the material rings a bell and is similar. It was almost twenty years ago...

Ooh this is going to be so exciting!

Hmm... 2x324 mm should be 25.5" but if it doesn't match with the template... Can you check the fretboards against a guitar? The Chinese don't always understand the difference between 24,75 and 25.5", they often tend to copy the descriptions from another product. Another thing that popped into my mind is how the nut has been marked: Are you measuring from the end or does the first slot actually mark the nut location to suit various thicknesses of nuts? If the frets are unmarked that might be the issue. A photo might help! If you can straighten the bow against the neck with the fingers of one hand gluing and clamping should take care of the issue. You say that they were wrapped for months which may have caused the warping because of humidity not having been able to stabilize. Put a few pencils or other slats on a flat tabletop, lay the fretboards on them, line another set of slats on the fretboards and lay a heavy board on top. Let them acclimatize for a couple of weeks, ensuring good airflow on both sides, and see if the problem goes away. If not, you can try laying a damp towel on the cupped side for a while to see if it helps.

Not steel and wood, though? Back in the day I tried to sell laptop stands made out of a polypropylene sheet laminated between two aluminium sheets. An interesting product but it didn't sell. The material was actually more interesting...

Thanks, your explanation makes sense. I didn't think about strength that much, only in the meaning that he told that his works didn't split which usually is the issue with green wood especially if you just cut a disk and turn it into a plate or bowl. Also I guess (just guess) that there's different levels of disintegration depending on how long the fungi have done their thing. As far as I remember he mentioned that the wood had not even changed colour yet or drawn the fancy black lines so most likely there wasn't too much weakening involved at that point.

To me that looks like you've sprayed a little too far away, which has enabled the lacquer droplets to partially dry before hitting the surface. Spraying is a dark art, the unholy trinity of temperature, thinner and distance. A change in one requires some testing to get the other two right. Humidity, ventilation and air pressure add complexity to the formula... If it's cold, the lacquer is stiff so you need to add thinner for an even flow and a short enough drying time to prevent runs, and then find the right distance to keep the lacquer liquid until it hits the surface If it's hot, the lacquer is more liquid and will dry faster so less thinner is needed. Again you'll have to find the optimal distance. If the shooting pressure is low, the droplets run slower allowing them to dry during the travel. Again, test. Regarding sanding, I've always sanded lacquer wet since it both seems to be smoother and keep the dust out of my lungs. Use a block on flat surfaces and be extra careful not to sand through the edges. Use no pressure at all, the weight of the block is plenty enough, also flush the paper and wipe the slurry often. My choice to start with might be 600 grit, 400 might be too aggressive and 800 too slow which could make you use too much force, causing the abrasive slurry lumps make deep scratches. Your aim is just to knock the tops off of those micro lumps. If you manage to level the surface to a satin matte you're golden.