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Woodenspoke

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Everything posted by Woodenspoke

  1. If you doing dot inlays you need to spend the money on good brad point drill bits. Standard brad point bits are garbage. I have used Lee Valley brand with good success. I never use my dot drill bits on anything else in my shop. You can buy them individually in English or metric sizes. The run out on your drill press should also be minimal, if you dont know what this is or how to check it you are already in trouble. I always prep dot inlays while the board is in a raw state with the frets cut. The layout is scratched into the board along with a center line. With a good ruler and an awl I make a small hole in the proper position, small hole Then I use a fence on my drill press to make sure everything lines up. The fence not the hole is the center line, the whole is the distance between two frets. Double dots will need the fence readjusted two more times. The side of the board I used for fret cutting and marking is always against the fence. If I make a mistake I can adjust the taper of the fret board a bit but I have never had to do this on my own work. Keep the side you are marking from labeled or put several small saw cuts in the other side on waste wood as a marker. Dots do come in standard or undersized. If you are doing maple never buy undersized dots.
  2. Changing paer is a pain +1. even harder if you buy uncut rolls like I do.
  3. I am not a nub who has never used a panel saw, a 1 hr blade change..really.??????. The word "delicate" honestly makes no sense to me, its "accuracy" I strive for. Sawing is in itself not a delicate process no matter how small the cut. Chop saws are not delicate tools nor are they extremely accurate or made to be.. IMO. Fanned frets yes thats a reason to choose one tool over the other but you did not show a fanned fret sled nor mention that fact until now. My point is you made a decision I would not have, which was to use a chop saw over a table saw.
  4. A crack in a billet and a split in a thin board are two different entities. You will never get a billet crack back together again says Humpty Dumpty.
  5. I will assume you are talking red vs white oak as the differences are huge (at least to me) and my experience white oak is not cheaper than lets say maple. All oak stains my hands from the tannin in the wood. I think red oak is cheap looking and filling pores on the wood is just a huge undertaking I would rather avoid at all costs. I have a stack of red oak in my shop that will alway be for other projects. You have to say to yourself if manufacturers do not use oak on painted guitars because its cheaper there must be a reason. Learning about the properties of a species is knowledge that will allow you to make informed decisions on the section of woods you want to use in guitar construction. Every species has its positive and negative aspects as does oak. Most hardwoods are suitable for guitar construction, but not all hardwoods are used for guitar construction...
  6. I have a large collection of hand plans and always head for the drum sander to do most of my work. Nothing like it for guitar building. I use hand planes for joinery or removing material where a drum sander cannot go. I suggest you buy a used plane on ebay, and save some bucks. Put the rest of the money towards a real drum sander. Every time I see those open roller table top sanders I have to laugh as there is no way to properly thickness a board. As has been said drum sanders will snip the end of a board, its not the sander but the first feed roller that spring down (once the wood passes) and causes the wood to jump up into the drum as the pressure is released on one end, this causes snipe. Using some scrap wood behind your expensive guitar wood .will eliminate most snipe. Even pine will work, stopping the roller from dropping abruptly. You do need to support the wood as it comes out the other side as well.
  7. If you have a good table saw why would you make a jig for a chop saw?
  8. Gummed drum sander paper needs to be replaced immediately. If the paper rips its the wrong stuff or its not on tight enough. These rolls are always cloth. You can buy paper at Klingspors as RestorationAD said. Buy it in large rolls and cut to size to save money. You cant cheese out on a drum sander, you need fresh paper available always. Any resin build up will burn your wood, not a good thing. you also will need several grits from 60 to 120 if you use it to level figured wood. I even have 36 grit for heavy duty removal.
  9. If you draw a 12" arch And take the longest piece of the inlay set which is approx 1.3 " the distance from the top of the arch to the inlay is approx .02. Meaning you will loose .02" on each end (This is just an estimate as I am no math teacher). That is if you correctly cut the inlay slot and make sure you are not removing material from the center of the board you should be OK. If you use a compound radius even better as the longest piece is lower on the neck. Unless you expect to cut through the inlay abalone as mentioned is not translucent like MOP and is more forgiving if you are getting close to the other side of the piece. The only issue is if the pieces are not similar on both sides as the pattern can change. Its nice to have the extra .01" but honestly if you make a mess of it: .01" is not going to help you or make it that much easier
  10. Been awhile, sorry the first post in months is a commercial. I have sourced a USA supplier for block inlay and Gibson 335 style split sets (10 position for the split set not 9) in both MOP and imitation Turquoise.I have listed both of these items in my eBay store The Luthier Store (link is in my signature below) . Under woodenspoke user ID. If you are interested in multiple sets I can work out a deal. All US shipping is free. Unfortunately if you are overseas the postal service has just jacked up the rates. I am currently selling these sets at $36.50 US. The reason why I am touting these sets is they are edge ground not cut like most sets. The corners are crisp and perfect. This is top of the line not made in Asian using old school methods.
  11. I am never sure how action will be on a particular guitar. I repaired a broken plywood Davis flying V a month ago, a free repair for a friend. The headstock was smacked backward and a split ran 6 " down the maple neck, but the board was still flat.. After spending way too much time gluing the neck, replacing the nut and setting the neck angle (shims were missing) the action turned out super low. I spent little time cutting the nut slots as I had already exceeded the cost of a replacement guitar if I was actually charging them. Sometimes you never know what you will get. Dont think they even know how good the action really is now.. Oh well. I have built some guitars where the action was not as good (in the past).
  12. Its a mess that will never be a usable guitar. I support Swedish Luthier when I say it was a good learning experience now move on.
  13. Interesting. Looks like you have your work cut out for you. My only comment is that knot in the billet scares me a bit. Considering the amount of compression wood that could be around your neck headstock area I would take it slow and leave a bit of wood on that spot while you are doing the neck. Let it sit for a few days before you go to town finalizing dimesions. If it moves you may have nothing to work with.. Just a thought.
  14. I agree with cSuttle. I would not suggest a gap between the fret tang and the inlay. It is the fret barb that holds in the fret. The thickness of a piece of inlay is generally larger than the distance between the bottom of the fret crown and the top of the barb. If the barb is not seated onto anything your fret may pop up or be spongy. Adding glue is an option (I use it regardless) but I would just take it slow seating a fret into an inlayed neck especially without a fret press..
  15. I would probably rule out that it was something you introduced after the process was finished. I would tend to believe it was something in the finish that surfaced over time. I have not heard of such a thing happening that long afterwords. But maybe it was something you didn't notice was happening until much later once the finish was polished. My first though would be something got into the finish such as moisture from inappropriate filtering of the compressed air. now it is slowly oozing up through the finish. I am not an expert this is just my first though.. But if you dont have a good filter system on your compressor..bingo...
  16. we use Dye on fretboards not stain. Not sure why you would need to darken a walnut FB? The only stuff I have seen sold is black which does not need a finish. The brand name escapes me at the moment but Stumac sells it.
  17. As far as I am concered its just like fretting any other neck. Then you seal it with laquer. I have never heard of anybody trying to install frets over lacquer.
  18. Sorry I didn't read anything past the first post. If some of the posts said what i am about to say. First you idea sounds sound but the two strips of wood used plus 3 minimal cross pieces are way to small and the distance between clamps too far apart to make this anything but a non starter. I dont suggest anyone follow this procedure. If the table was perfectly flat why didn't you just flip the neck and clamp the thing up 180 deg with the FB facing the stone? That would have given you a much larger clamping block using the neck itself. If you cant afford more clamps buy a bigger wood block that cannot flex under clamping pressure..this is one of the most important glue ups on a guitar dont wing it. sorry to be a downer
  19. To answer the OP when you remove a neck and the strings most likely the trussrod has been adjusted to compensate for the tension of the strings. So my answer is NO the neck should not be sanded until the trussrod tension has been released.and the neck checked for straigntness. Readjust the TR if it is way off and before you sand. When you are finished you will again need to adjust the TR once the strings are back on. Maybe someone said this maybe not. As far as the SM neck jig all it does is position the neck to simulate string tension without the strings, which also accounts for a TR under proper tension. I am trying to clarify some comments that were all correct. This allows a finer adjustment of the neck as you cant sand a FB with the strings on and under tension. Without the instructional viseo its hard to picture what it does and why you would want or need one. People fixed FB and refretted guitars long before this device, but it is a tool that make the job easier.
  20. I have used some pretty crappy bits before but the blade would go long before the shaft broke(OK I have never broke a router shaft ever). I will surmize that SM buys their bits from china and then over charges you for that cheap chinese bit. I would call them as it is carbide and should last till there is no blade left not when it shears off. In the future I suggest buying a name brand router bit for doing the job. Other than the speciality binding bits LMI and SM sells I have stayed far away from what they offer as there is no manufactuer mentioned. The other issue is shaft size. There is a reason 90% of my bits are a 1/2" shaft. Makes me feel safer.
  21. how about some Pict's. Actually I have been collecting parts for my CNC router project and hop to at least have all the parts but the ball screws in a month or so. Since I work for an automation salvage company most of the items are scrap or obtained at scrap value prices. It should be a pretty heavy duty unit when I am done. Debating if I should scrounge up servos or stick to the steppers I already have. It is wood after all. I qill take some pictures of the pile of parts when I am read to start.
  22. First I have the Larry Robinson videos but they do not show someone getting inlay ton to a pre-radiused guitar neck. If you want to learn how to inlay then the video will be a help. The only difference inlaying into a pre-radiused board and a radiused board is the radius. To eliminate the radius had two pieces of wood to each side of the neck and a larger dremel base to span across the board. This way your dremel is always flat. It will take a bit of work to work out setting up the wood on each side. If you leave in the frets it will be even harder. Almost impossible.
  23. Question is are you binding the guitar on a completed neck or prior to attaching the fingerboard. As was suggested wood binding should use wood glue while the fingerboard is off the guitar. A simple set of wood cauls and clamps work fine. Once the fingerboard has been glued down to the neck it becomes a bit more difficult and tape is the easiest method. Epoxy is also a good substitute here. I would not use CA glue becuse I dont feel comportable about the long-term stability of the product. You always have two choices when doing binding. The first choice being cut the slots first, install the binding, then clip the fret tangs. Second is cut the fret slots, then hand slot the binding and live with the frets showing on the edge of the fret board. Either method is easier with the fret board unattached to the neck.
  24. I keep reading your question which brings up a whole host of other questions about what you are trying to do. Full sheets half sheets and archtop or contoured surfaces. Maybe if you just asked us about what you are really trying to do it would be much easier to understand the application qnd the question? Here is my two cents if it even makes sense for what you may or may not be doing. Most people who use veneer do so because wood is expensive. Book-matching two identical half's is the reason to veneer. There is no way I can reliably say you can glue together two veneer pieces without special tools then apply the veneer as a single sheet. I have bought it this way but its not a standard everyday item. Since most guitar bodies are two pieces it is easier to glue each half of the veneer topper onto each half of the body then glue the four pieces together all at once. 1. glue veneer to each body half 2. glue body together ligning the top surface carefully . Again this is assuming you have two sheets of a book mathched veneer set. If you have a single sheet be aware you need to apply even pressure across the whole guitar body. It is easier to do that in half a body. Each method has some pluses and drawbacks. If you rout through a veneer layer that is on top of a routed cavity you can chip the fragile veneer. there is nothing underneath supporting the veneer. If its on top of solid wood there is no chipping as said before and this is what people do when the build. As far as curved surface a vacuum pres is the only reliable method that will ensure even pressure over the body. I know of no other way to apply veneer to that kind of surface.
  25. I have tried many different polishing products and methods and by far a large stationary buffing system is best. I use menzerna only. there is a world of difference between a high speed spinning buffing wheel and using pads. Why spend the money to buy a buffing setup. 1. its sooooo much faster. I can buff a whole guitar in avery short order like 1/2hr 2. The prep for buffing is less than a pad buff. So you sand less with higher grits 1500 is more than enough. 3. the thin wheels get into areas a buffing pad cant like around the neck body area. In fact I have never missed a spot I needed to hand polish. Bottom line is if you want a factory finsh use the same method, buffing on a wheel. There is other more technicial details between the two methods but for keeping it simple, it is just easer to do the job well and not really hard to master. I have showed students how to buff in under 10 minutes. I made my buffer from parts I bought probably cost about $150 with 12 " wheels. Not much more than my Porter cable hand buffer costs.
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