Woodenspoke

I'm confused but that's normal for me. The rod thread should be constant and the nut moving forward not wood chips? Clamp up the neck with a set of two wooden cauls and a large cross block between the two cauls, Two clamps to hold the cauls and block and one clamp on the center which will be tightened against the block to place the neck in a back bow. Tighten up the the rod nut to hold the back bow in place, and loosen the center clamp. If the back bow does not stay in this position you have a truss rod issue. Dont go nuts with the back bow either with this test. If everything is fine you may want to use clamps to assists tightening the rod in the future and take the strain off the nut to agjust the neck, maybe 1 1/2 turns isnt enough on your strat? remove and lube the nut first. Woodenspoke

My only concern is when you pre fret a neck which hasn't been shaped you may wind up with a back bow if you didn't match up the fret tang and fret slot properly and wind up with a tight fret fit. You will not know this until after the neck has been shaped. If you also installed a one way rod you may be; lets just say screwed. Unless you have predictable results with the wire and slots you cut, as many builders on this forum do, fretting the board may be better left as the last item on your to do list. So if you do have a problem it can be corrected before you get to far along in the fretting process. Just My 2 1/2 cents worth My building process cut wood slap on glue search for clamps while glue is drying curse yourself for not getting clamps ready first pray to guitar gods glue hasnt set yet LOL Woodenspoke

Its harder to work zebra than mahogany. My personal experiences with zebra has been let say less than stellar. Make sure you have a good stable piece of zebra to start with. With 24 frets your guitar weight will be moving toward the headstock if you plan on playing all 24 frets. I would increase the body thickness to add bulk if you are basing your design on a LP JR and need to play all 24 frets. Woodenspoke

Turn the camera around and call it the ICrotch guitar; the vid feed is directly uploaded to Utube during the show. Makes a real statement Woodenspoke (sicko)

I have seen pieces of wood big enough to make into a single guitar. Honestly other than as a "how can I waste my wood project" I see no point other than to see if it can be done. Sustain, will it be better, who knows really, A neck through seems like it would do about the same and others claim it does nothing anyway. What we need is some super rich person with no life to document all the factors for each species of wood, its construction, and hardware selection, so we can make an informed decision on what sound we will get at the end of a project. Your idea just may just turn out to be an expensive block of wood which sounds the same as every other guitar. My 2 1/2 cents worth of no advise. I like the ITar quote Jon, but now they will incorporate it into the iphone so no more guitars, Thanks a lot buddy ,LOL Woodenspoke

I dont remember anything you needed to apologize for in the first place Mike,. That was North of Denver, Fort Collins or Loveland, I am trying to stay away from bigger cities just because I spent so much of my youth in one (NYC). Just to keep this thread on the thread; Moisture Bad; Dry Good (and use voices from Young Frankenstein). Woodenspoke (Bite me)

The only question is it a standard strat body made for 25.5" string lenght dosnt say on the web site? I would check first before you buy it. Woodenspoke

My suggestion is first come up with a design that fits the wood you received and work out what you want to build, then ask specific questions relating to the design you have chosen. I am sure LMI sold you a kit which could be used for many different styles of instruments so first pick a design. Sound like it was more of a Gibson style guitar kit and adding a heel was common. A lot of builders have removed the heel for a more streamlined neck body connection so I would say it really depends on your design choice. Woodenspoke

Mikro; Bite me and no you didn't push my button, and thanks for the bender plug. No one ever has to agree with me thats for sure, abuse me all you want (just no name calling) makes me feel like someone actually reads my posts. I think you mean the southwest desert not the south. Even though cabinet making is based on the same principles we really only have to concern ourselves with the grain oriented in a single direction. Yes I have seen some crazy designs like the Puzzle Bass,I would love to see if the surface is still flat or if you can feel the puzzle edges now. For moisture I use the most up to date instrumentation ever designed. My secret is my special bio sensor, if I can feel its hot and humid outside as well as cool and humid inside my shop (basement), I dont work with wood, unless its with man made materials. So in the late spring summer and early fall I ride my bike instead. It works for me. I am looking to move to Colorado (north of Denver) where I hear the humidity is low, so maybe I will be doing more woodworking in the summer months. I have an expensive moisture meter but rarely use it because I store enough wood that when I get to a project the wood has been in my shop for years not months and has been brought to a stable state. The only time I bring out the meter is when I am cutting a slab that I salvaged and want to make sure its dry enough to mill. Usually it was a neighbors tree I just couldn't refuse taking advantage of. I have 4 quarters (tree quarters) of pear wood that need to be milled, all the ends were sealed when it was cut and they are now around 12%, I have waited over 3 years to mill them. In this hobby patience is a virtue. From what I can see from most first time builders is that they run to the store (or order online) get the wood they need and start the project. I'm not saying it will not work, because I have done it myself, I'm just wanted to mention most pro builders buy materials ahead of time and the wood is left to stabilize in the shop (the shop they build in) long before it is used. Wood moves it is its nature, the object of working wood is knowing the material, its properties (slab cut or quartersaw) and its limitations. There really is no great answer to the question of shop humidity because it involves so many factors. A simple answer is low humidity over an extended period is good for working wood if you have no way to keep your shop conditions stable like me you make the best of what you have. Woodenspoke

I build only in the winter, early spring late fall months. If you think humidity is not problem in a shop you are wrong big time. Fret a fingerboard when the humidity is high and chances are you will be leveling the fret ends when the wood shrinks down in the dry winter months. Wood comes in a dryness state from a source generally at 12% the day they ship it. After that its subject to the same humidity issues as it is in your shop. Without climate control the wood will swell and shrink given your humidity levels. I live in the NE and summer is a No building time without climate control. Humidity is a serious issue and should be addressed in everyones shop or home shop.. Woodenspoke

40,000 posts on glue, what a sticky mess Titebond or a similar glue is your best bet (PVA), Color brand setup time matter little. Coat both sides of each piece before clamping a thin coat do not go crazy. I like to clean up as much squeeze out as possible before it sets up so keep a damp rag handy or scrape it down when the glue dries. A personel preference. Dont over tighten the clamps or you will remove too much glue and weaken the joint. There are many other glues and other industrial adhesives outside the scope of this lengthy discussion. Buy a fresh bottle is my only advise and if you are unsure of your abilities use a slow set version. Woodenspoke

I have a real thickness sander, it requires two belts; one drum to sand and a wide slow belt to drive the wood. The issue is driving the wood across the belt sander while not having to hand feed it. The idea is easier than the execution using such a small device. Rails and a flat surface to hold the board seems a more logical solution while moving the belt sander, plus you can sand a wide Board. Woodenspoke

Every week someone seems to want info on a drill press. A good hand drill costs $250 and a basic drill press should be at the very least double that. Bench top or floor standing they both do the same job. If you need to drill out a hole at the bottom of a glued on necked instrument and need the room to attach the full guitar then a floor standing models the way to go. I refuse to give buying advise other than this info 1. Buy a $60--$99 drill press and you will join the many people crying because it broke, it's unstable, uses a $5 chuck etc. Its cheap because it is a piece of garbage plain and simple. Why do you think the price is so low. 2. weight and depth are important and will save you a lot of setup issues. 3. The chuck, the most important piece of the Drill press seems to be a mystery to everyone (never comes up). An accurate chuck alone costs $200 plus. Most $400 - $500 drill presses come with $30 chucks and they should be replaced (my experience) look for a keyless chuck for only a few dollars more but worth the additional convince. Exppect to pay in the $50-$70 range for an accurate keyless chuck. 4. The bigger the drill press the larger the bit size you can use safetly. 5. Check for runout with a test indicator if its way off send it back. My 2 1/2 cents for what its worth Woodenspooke

We have a taker if any thing changes I will repost Woodenspoke

The simple fact that oil stones wear is a problem. They also do not always come flat. Its the reason SM sells a diamond leveling block and a flat edge sanding beam used with Peel and stick paper. I think length equals a better full fret job any way. You would be better off using a flattened piece of wood and sand paper. Someone I know uses 1 " strips of glass attached to a straight board as the surface. Stay away from things that wear and unless you have some oil stone leveling experience my vote would be no on the stone. Woodenspoke

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First I have never used the fox bender but have constructed one, Just waiting to pay for a blanket but I have used a pipe bender before so I have experience bending sides, not that it helps you. I'm confused about using aluminum, I was under the impression that you should only use Stainless steel or a spring steel which both return to a flat state after bending. Aluminum bends and generally stays that way, and you say its super thin so how could the aluminum apply the necessary pressure across the face of the side during heating? I rented a Robert Mays DVD about using the fox bender and he used two blankets (this was his method) and I remember him bringing the wood up to temp several times before he turned off the heat. He was meticulous about the temp being just right and the number of heating cycles, or the wood would not shape properly. It was not the length of time spent in the bender after heating that was a factor in making the bending process work but the number of heating cycles and temperature at the peak and valley of these cycles. Maybe someone can remember the exact sequence. This post confuses me. Hopefully my confusion has drummed up some answers to your problem. Woodenspoke

Go with the router inlay kit, yes the fit is tight but you just do a little hand sanding around the edges of the plate, Its a lot less work and more accurate than some of the methods I have read here. Comes with instructions so it's easy to do. Mattia gave you a link or try pricecutter.com which is generally cheaper all around for router bits. I always make my cover plates out of the same wood as the back. Woodenspoke

Long answer....... Well we are all assuming we are arching this guitar top ? To me LP style can mean anything. For all its worth you can just cut the angle in the template on the table saw as I have suggested, why risk the body or top. Yes the technique you mention is the right one with regard to clamping (screwing) the top plate and raising the blade through the cut. You must also have a rock solid saw, a dam good blade, no runout and a real good fence. This is why people build jigs and use routers for operations like these since a good table saw is not in most PG members budgets. If you want to use the table saw I would personally complete the body glue up first, thickness sand the blank flat then do the pocket angle, Just clamp the entire body to the fence and then use the table saw. Dont band saw out the shape until afterward and square off the face to your centerline so you have a flat surface resting against the top of the table saw. You also dont want the body using the blade insert as an alignment surface so dont clamp it to the fence over the blade. I could bore you with alot more details but if you do cabinet work this should make perfect sense. Woodenspoke

Sorry I'm a little late to the party, I use a CNC for metal work so I am familiar with the whole setup thing, Someday I will get that CNC router but for now its just a small mill. I just wonder why you cut the frets after you glued on the neck, (I see a headstock attached) would seem simpler if you just made up a jig for cutting a blank board long before its been shaped and glued. If the machine screws up then you only mess up the board not the whole neck. If I am wrong about your setup never mind ignore me. Woodenspoke

Woody hopefully you didnt use a table saw to cut the neck pocket. Just make a template shim it or sand it down to the proper angle, you say 4.5 deg , use a router with a bottom guided pattern bit. I would gestimate 90% of a guitar is shaped with a router after the rough design has been cut out. You dont need fancy jigs just a piece of MDF will work and a few clamps or double stick pattern tape. This is one joint you dont want to have to repair. Same goes with the pickup holes and electronics cavity. Use a fostner bit to hog out some wood so you dont have to do it all with your router. You also would want to do a pocket like that before you carve a top so you are working on a flat surface woodenspoke

huh? OK....FWIW I posted a tutorial about how to use these to radius a fretboard. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=30108 Ok I believe you it works and from your pictures extremely well. I bow down to the bits. Saves on shop space too. BTW nice angled fret board in the post you linked, beautiful work. FYI I would use a split fence with the bit one slip and the board is toast relying on just the guide bearing even with that huge block of wood. With a fence on both sides of the bit you eliminate any chance of damage to the fret board and you can eliminate the guide as the only point of contact (less work sanding afterward). My two cents for all its worth. The only real issue here is price, even for a guy who dosent always care about price but quality, its a lot of cash for a few router bits. Plus if your sharpening service screws up, your screwed too. Honestly if I had to choose between the bits and the grizzly radius belt sander the grizzly sander would win out. It does more and only the belts wear, If I only wanted to use one radius than buying one bit would be cheaper. So I agree with Mattia they are nice but it has its limits for some of us. Woodenspoke

Poplar is for pallets and basswood is for carving. I think we have given these two softwoods even though they are classified as hardwood, way too much attention as a quality guitar wood. Too soft and in my experience lacking the tone I want from an instrument. But advertising will make anything sound like its the greatest thing to use since sliced toast. I admit it's cheap and easy to work and for a prototype mock up go for it. But personally it's not my cup of tea o'l chap. Woodenspoke

You can buy the saddles and build your own plate or buy a compensated saddle which is very wide and lets you move the intonation point back and forth across the face of the bone. Its unfortunately not the easiest thing to do, unless you have a Peterson tuner or other accurate method to determine intonation and a set of adjustable wires (used to locate the intonation position), so you can reference before you cut up the saddle. I would suggest you use a standard set of electric saddles like GregP suggested, build and mod your own plate to make it custom. Your not going to try building your own tuners too are you? If you were adding a piezo pickup then I may say go with the saddle method. Woodenspoke

I have upgraded my bandsaw and I'm selling my home and going west. I dont need a second bandsaw any more, It's aGrizzly G1012. Full owners manuals are available online from Grizzly.com so dont ask for basic info just do your own research. Comes with complete saw and what ever other parts and blades I have which is in the plenty range, most of them new. Some of the parts are new updated parts or like the tension rod modded to work properly. plus an additional set of roller bearing guides if you like noise. I have other stuff as well and whatever I can find that goes with the saw goes with the saw. The saw is not perfect, I have two lower wheels both of which are not accurate (properly turned) and with a larger blade installed causes random vibrations. I gave up after ordering the second wheel and reinforcing the base but still larger blades are a problem. It cuts fine though and I mostly use 1/4" blades which the machine likes (no vibration) but the blades I have go up to 1 1/4". There is a hole for dust collection in the front lower cover with a 5" flaring. Everything else about the saw is fine, I just couldnt take the vibration part any more and bought a Laguna. Possibly a machine shop who can handle an 18" whell on a lathe can finally fix the lower wheel (two included) and get it to work as it should. I am 45 Mins from central Phili PA and close to Princeton university in NJ. You must move the saw yourself from my basement shop, up one flight of stairs (can be dissembled have all the tools, so you would not need to bring any). can be moved by two strong men without disassembly. Am I looking to trade for something or sell it for cheap. Wood is always a welcome addition to my shop (hardwood) guitar quality even better. fret wire or anything you cant use and I can, related to woodworking or guitar building. Best offer or trade gets the saw. No resonable offer refused. woodenspoke