ibnaz5150

Hello folks......I plan on using epoxy mixed with some rosewood dust for my pores. Should this be done in a few steps???...ex. top 1st then sides...then bottom. What's a good method for applying to the sides??? I plan on tru -oil for my finish.....should I seal the body 1st prior to filling with epoxy? Thanks, Tom

I ended up buying the dewalt (D28110) for 59.00. I cut some steel with it already..she has some balls! I don't mind the extra expense compared to a harbor freight grinder. Think this will do a fine job and should last me awhile. Thanks for all the input!

Thanks for the feedback folks....there all in the 50-60.00 range. I wish I knew this tip earlier. I dumped 50.00 on 2 files . I can always use them somewhere. This angle grinder looks like it will take the fun out of things !

Thinking of picking up a 4 1/2 angle grinder for contours. I'm looking at 3 ......dewalt,makita & milwalkee... I have various tools from each manufactuer and I'm happy with all them. It seems I can't go wrong with any of the three however anyone with experience with these may have a different take. Let me know what ya think. Thanks

The piece I have is qautersawn.....I had no intentions of buying this . I initially went to pick up some ebony that was a super steal. By the time I got there the 3 pallets they had of it was already bought and shrink wrapped . Should be a pretty piece of wood with finish on her. I have to attend the pores before tooling it.

Funny I took a few chunks out of my knuckles today with a rasp . My worst was using my cordless drill. Bit snapped of the screw....so the force of me driving the crew resulted with a broken bit 1/4" into my thumbnail....felt real good considering the bit was spinning. That one hurt!

Hey guitar2005...I used a 1/8" cutting depth template bit. You can snag one of these from routerbits.com. I made the inside route for the electronics cavity. The rest came with a kit. I have to make a dimarzio hum route.has some pretty tight corners. Most likely have to use a 1/4" straight bit and ride the shaft along the template. RGGR.....it's funny you mention wenge! I have a blank already to go....I posted some probs with it however. Dummy me wiped my glue joints and I have some glue way down in the pores. Tried every solvent out there.also tried steaming it out. I'll have to pick at the pores with a magnifying glass and pin.........or lose a 1/16 of an inch running it through a drum sander. Here's what I did today..took me 6 hrs..not too bad . You'll notice a few tear outs I'm in the process of filling....fortunately their not on the face. http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...0/tummyfile.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...ummyorbital.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibnaz5150/annj.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibnaz5150/rosetop.jpg

Thanks for the positive comments folks..... I'll thank whiteside router bits and taking several shallow passes to make the routes clean. The 1/8" template bit is the ticket for the recess plates! Far as the dust factor.....not much of a system other than my shopvac with a hepa filter. I also wear a dust mask. I cut the sides only and left the mass around the neck pocket prior to routing the neck pocket to avoid tipping. Far as the jigsaw cut.....I used a marker for the outline and cut slightly outside of that. However I ran into the wander factor when I cut out the horns. My goal was to leave a 1/16 to 1/8 of wood outside my actual line. Then use a 2" flush trim bit to square up the edges. Well I thought I was getting a deal when I bought a bit off of ebay for 12.00. Funny cuz whiteside wanted 40.00 for theirs. Needless to say the bit off ebay is junk! I ended up using the robo sander in my drill press to get the final shaping...slower yet safer! The body is heavy.....I'm at 6 lbs 5 oz. I have the contours to do and a hum route so that will take off some but my guess she'll be on the heavier side when done. My finish will be tru oil....not after a high gloss but a satin close to the wood type of vibe. I plan on using epoxy with some rosewood dust to fill the pores. Anyone see a prob with that and the tru oil??? I could always use a waterbase filler with some transtint added. I like the magnet idea erikbojerik...thinks it's a good idea too to keep the plates thicker. I used ebony from stewmac and the trem cover is slightly warped after shaping it. Thickness on the ebony plate is 3/32. I hurried and put a few coats of oil on them to prevent anymore movement.Thanks for tip biliousfrog......angle grinder seems to be the ticket. Seems to be fast with good control. Unfortunately I don't have one. May borrow one for the next project. If I like I'll defintely purchase one!

Any practice on scrap in not a waste in my book....better on scrap than on your actual piece. Neck construction can be pretty involved. Besides the specialty tools alone to do it well can run some bucks. For those reasons and lack of experience I'm personally holding off for now.I do know a few thousandths of an inch off your fretboard slots can be disaster! However LMI and stewmac sells them pre slotted.

Been a long haul.......since June actualy. This is my 1st body . got bored to death with warmoth bodies... besides it denting my pocket pretty good. I got this wood for 90.00. I'm sure a solid rosewood body runs a good penny...think in the 400.00 range....not too mention hard to find one to build a ibanez body. For those reasons it led me to this. I attached several pix to share my methods and progress. I'm about to dive into the contours(tummy cut & arm rest). I obtained two decent files recently. I plan on using those and my bench belt sander inbetween. Any tips or other methods appreciated cheers http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...0/jigsawcut.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn.../robosander.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...forstnerbit.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn.../neckpocket.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...0/tremroute.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...rearcavity1.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...templatebit.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...avityplates.jpg

Original floyds aren't cheap....if buying new they range anywhere from 160.00 to 200.00. If your thinking of doing that keep in mind your route and measure to be sure you'll have a good fit......I found out the hard way that each bridge varies in dimensions. You can check floydrose.com for specs.There are so many copies of the floyd and my veiw on that is mass produced crap. It's a way for the company to shave expense...good for them not so good for you. I played my share of copies and truthfully never had a prob. Main differences for me using a original vs a copy is it sounds better,functions better and last much longer. Your cheapest route to go may be to take it into a local tech. Get it intonated .....strobe tuned,shimmed, truss adjustments & new set of strings.I'd also mention the tuning instability when hitting the bar. Once your all setup properly it's basically string changes from there on. String changes get easier and faster in time. Think this very issue bothered so many players that it discouraged them away from it. Yes it requires a bit more setup than a fender trem or hardtail but I can't think of a better bridge that stays in tune after so much bar abuse!

Thanks Magnus...it's 5/64's off center according to the template....think that would be a big ouch when I strung it up only to find my low E off the fret board. Good thing I double checked measurements before I dug into it. Guess lesson learned here is never trust someone else's work. The bridge is a original Lo pro floyd....if you go to floydrose.com the only similarity in route comparison to a original is it's ream distance and reams for the actual bushing. Everything else is off somewhat. Probably could dump a lo pro in a regular floyd's route however the route would look sloppy. It's these little invariences from ones bridge to another that can kill ya!

Curious..........what make is the guitar and bridge???? There are many knock offs of the floyd bridge and there's nothing like the original.exception would be ibanez's edge. You only need to snug the lock nut clamps.should be 3 of them. I worry using a longer bolt may have dug into your nut shelf. You must of really reefed on that to get it to pop off or a inexpensive locking nut. Things the others have posted works as well.....ESPECIALLY stecthing the strings before it's clamped! There is another gadget out there called a tremsetter although I think it's another issue.

Defintely practice on scrap!!! Do it till your comfortable with what your trying to achieve. More repatition will only polish your skills and give more confidence. Like yourself I built many warmoth's and after 5 years of that it was time to make my own. I'm cheating a bit where I bought some templates....ibanez in this case. I'm doing my 1st body at the moment and still running into pitfalls and it's to be expected. I don't think I'll get into necks just yet....lack of speciallized tools and mostly experience in construction.....afterall it is a critical piece of the guitar. If I could reccommned another book...."Building electric guitars" by Martin Koch. For me much more informative than Melvyn Hiscocks book Happy building :D

http://guitarbuildingtemplates.com/ Got mine there!

Have some issues here ! I bought a template off ebay a few months back. I'm at the layout stage and I scratched my head at least 200 times on this templates dimensions and centerline. I got out a digital caliper ...took the bridge apart and proceeded to measure and measure and measure some more. From a few books I've read to my understanding I should measure and find the center of the bridges string spread....in this case should be between the 3rd & 4th saddles. I attached a few pix ...1 with template on centerline and second and correct me if I'm wrong but what I believe to be the right measurement. You can see and it measures 5/64's off the templates centerline.The lo pro is offset and my guess is whoever laid out this template did'nt compensate for that or it was a floyd knock off that the measurments where taken. Take a look at pix and let me know which is the correct center.. http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn.../tempcenter.jpg http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/ibn...mpoffcenter.jpg Thanks Tom

.....think most of these problem areas could possibly be between the clamps and wood where I could'nt wipe. Then again wiping immediately like I did did'nt help the situation.This is my 1st time using wenge and I thought I'd be O.K. pore wise. My rosewood& walnut blanks turned out fine and I did them the same way.If I had to compare pores here this wenge reminds me much of ash. Thing with ash is you can visibly see the pores better since it's a lighter wood. I may try the pins and needles along with a magnifying glass....I'd probably lose an 1/8 of an ingh chasing this with a sander...will get it worked out! I appreciate all the feedback. This is how we learn...

Well no luck with the iron and paper ....although that is undoubtfully much more effective than a solder gun and damp cloth! I tried a few more solvents with no success. Think I'll have to run this piece over to my local lumber mill and have em run it through thier thicknes sander. One thing I will not do again....wipe my glue joints. Fine with closed pores but not a go with wenge,ash etc etc.

I tried the cloth and soldering gun last night....no success. Possibly not enough steam generated that way? I'll try the paper technique.

why did'nt I think of that! I'll give it a go with my soldering gun and a damp cloth...let ya know what I come up with. Thanks for the tip!

Curious here...has anyone tried to mix black transtint dye with epoxy? I know you can add this to a grain filler to make it black.

Hello folks, have a problem ! I have spots what I've guessed to be wood glue in my pores. I've tried paint and varnish remover with a stiff wire brush, alcohol,mineral spirits,laquer thinner,glythol eyther and still no luck. Any suggestions??? Thanks Tom

Not an expert here by any means but wow that does'nt look good! I'd be skeptikal even painting it solid.Scarf joints are difficult to begin with. Generally the joint needs to be tight and most important strong! Many will plane both surfaces to ensure a tight fit...then comes another tricky part as to clamping it without the two surfaces slipping. Not to bash you here but always check your joints for fit prior to gluing them up. Hand planes are super for this work!

I hear what your sayin.I had a custom neck built for me a few years back. Ebony board with only brass side dots. The brass is hard to see in darker lighting.Never thought I'd have a problem with fret markers. I wound up installing some 3mm dots to the face to keep me in track in the higher region as well. LMI is a great source for dots! They'll also have the right size bit for whatever dot size you desire. In your case I would keep it the same or go slightly larger. I'd than drill through some scrap wood..different pieces to compensate for the narrower frets. Use these for templates to drill out your old markers. Drill press with a stop would be great for this.However it can be done with a hand drill and a stop for your drill bit. If you don't feel comfortable with this ..take it to someone experienced. Should be a minor expense. BTW I happened to see these funky fret markers a few years back that were actual tape dots. Don't know if that would be a option for ya but would work...for awhile i think.

Thanks for the input folks! I think I could live with 1/4 corners. I was'nt sure about running the 1/4 shaft along the template. What is the safe rule for extending the shaft from the collet if need be? If I use plexi will there be any prob with the shaft riding on it. I'll have to shim the template up 5/8" for my 1st pass since my cutting lenght is 1" on the bit. In the long run I think this will be easier than running rails, besides that I'll have a template to use in the future. Thanks again Tom