Woodenspoke

In hindsight I only ordered the compensated saddles; but I will be placing an order in the next few days, it usually takes about a month to receive if not longer. I will have some limited stock just because I have a few saddles with defects on one side and they will be cut down to a standard saddle width to remove the defect. I just have to get around to doing it. Standard saddle would be $2.00 each in 4 piece lots sized at 4 1/2 x 7/16 x 9/64 (not 1/8) Woodenspoke

Fret saw 1/4" straight bit patterm bit top bearing pattern bit bottom bearing Jointer Plane ( anybody use a hand plane any more) A palm tree body hummmm??? Woodenspoke

Its always a toss up when using warped wood of unknow age and dryness. I would suggest heating up the piece with a heat gun or high intensity light bulb, and then securely clamping the peice down on a known flat surface using a very thick straight caul, and see if that helps. Bowed side up when clamping. You need to get the blank pretty hot, if you see wisps of smoke stop. Just adding water will not help with a warp and could make it worse. try heating without water first. If it isnt a finished blank then make sure you cant just cut out the problem and sand out the rest of the warp, remember to take into account the radius of your finished fret board? Woodenspoke

Guides would certainly not hurt when using a hand drill. Most hand drill are horrible even at a high price point. Stay away from the Luthier tools gadgets and look for standard drill guides like the ones sold by Lee Valley Tools. You can mock up your headstock and insert these guides and you'll have a drill guide template with no slop. Can also be used for other during operations. They are cheap enough and hopefully they come in a size you need. Guides from lee valley Woodenspoke

Harbor freight (this name alway comes up) sells meters for under $20 which will work fine for checking your work. Mostly you will be checking wiring from point A to point B to see if everything is connected properly (continuity). I like meters that buzz when you have continuity, ooh baby. Most meters will have everything you will ever neeed to work on standard guitar wiring. Plus its good for checking outlets in your shop. Woodenspoke

Rich I checked my template and your right thanks, it should actually read 7/32" wide, they are almost a 1/4" W but not quite. thanks for the low price conformation which is (sold as a 4 pack) $1.25 each for the Standard nuts $1.00 each for Fender sized nuts $2.50 for the Compensated Acoustic saddles (these can be cut into nuts slights larger than the standard nuts I sell) I will be posting Buffalo Horn Nuts and saddles in the next few days at a similar price point if anyone is interested. I can also provide them in custom sizes or larger blanks if anyone is in need of any. Woodenspoke

To all members: Pro Fret Benders For Sale I have started selling Professional Fret Benders on eBay. They are priced at $50 each plus $8.00 shipping within the USA Priority mail . I ship to to the USA and Canada only. Canadian buyers will be charged shipping by their location. These pro fret benders are CNC manufactured from quality components and assembled in my shop. I dont believe you will find a better fret bender for the price. I accept PayPal only no checks or money orders so please dont email me about other payment methods. They are warrantied For one year but should last a lifetime. The bender has been tested by several members of this form, one of which has posted pictures with it next to his Stumac model. You can find his post under a fret bender topic here. Post You can find my eBay auction by looking for user Woodenspoke or search for Fret Bender in the Instrument build area. I am also selling Bone Nuts and saddles. Nuts sized for Fender, Gibson(most guitars), Plus acoustic compensated Saddles. If you are not sure about using a compensated saddle check this forum for info. The are in a rough state and need to be shaped and finished. I am also selling the bone in quantity 25+ pieces; send me a personal message on this form with your bone requirements for pricing. Woodenspoke

Spokeshave's are great especially if you have almost no heel (bolt on neck). Dust or shavings it's still a mess. I use a spokeshave for some neck shaping (one record and one lee valley model). Ease of use depends on the wood species. grain direction and how well you setup the spokeshave and in some small part the type of spokeshave. I also use a rotary rasp on a foredom tool for shaping my necks as well as a pattern makers rasp. It's really a whatever you got that works kind of thing. I try to stay away from a heavy cut rasps for removing wood only because I like power tools and find it more to my style of shaping. Some people have used die grinders from Harbor freight to power shape a neck, cheaper than my Pattern Makers rasp. Lee valley has some of the best spokeshaves along with good prices. I also give them a thumbs up +2. Woodenspoke

I have enough HF stuff to qualify as a HF junky. Mostly secondary tools, metal working, air tools, gear pullers and the like even a few air nailers. Just got a HF pin nailer for only a few bucks. yes you do compromise on some quality but if you are not a professional and will only be using the tool for your hobby go for it. I also have a HF mini mill which I have converted to CNC for guitar parts and the like. I also see Central Pneumatic (CN) air tools selling for twice as much on other sites. I paid $14 for an air pencil die grinder, which sells for over $50 on another site, same HF CN branded tool; a good tool to convert to an inlay router. I have found Grizzly sells some of the same chinese HVLP guns cheaper than HF, but with less color (who cares). The difference is grizzly also sells filters and parts are in stock. Woodenspoke

Some hand planers come with blade setting jigs and rely on fresh blades to work properly, some newer models have reversible disposable blades. I don't know what sears model you own which may help someone answer your email more precisely. My first suggestion is to replace the blades if you have such a jig, or better yet look for some carbide blades to help reduce sharpening and your blade setting interval. On my jointer I use a magnetic jig that holds the blades at the proper height and side to side alignment, you must also make sure the Head (piece that holds the blades) is in the same position for each blade setup. I have marked my jointer fence of this alignment and use a wood wedge to hold the head in place. You can make this jig with 4 small magnets and two very straight pieces of wood, metal or plastic but it must be stiff. two magnets for the blade and two to hold the pieces to the bed, my jig has magnets that are flush to the surface of the jig. Other aids will be necessary to align the head during the setup. You can alway try a indicator on a magnetic base but I found it took me longer to set the blades that way and you still have to align the head. If you have to resort to spending more than $50 for any solution I would suggest a re-conned planer with disposable blades. Look on amazon. Woodenspoke Woodenspoke

I did some web checking after the posts here and read that the LVLP guns don't have a very good pattern (that was the general complaint), That means for a sunburst job it may be an issue. I have used HVLP without problems but I am changing to a top fed gun and retire my siphon feed. I only have a 5 CFM capacity so HVLP is better for my uses plus they are almost as cheap as the standard guns now days. On the general price issues I think for HVLP Grizzly is cheaper than Harbor Freight from what I have seen. Woodenspoke

The new sears are just Chinese clones. If you are going that route just get a Grizzly, because if you have a problem down the road you will get immediate service from grizzly and they always have parts in stock. I may not have loved everything I bought from them but when I needed parts or assistance it was immediate. it's worth the few extra dollars for the support alone especially if the products are almost identical. I would rather have a European style frame as an option they should be stiffer but the performance depends on the saw itself. I'm not knocking sears. Do your own comparison shopping just putting in my two bits worth. Woodenspoke Grizzly Top 14" saw 2 HP $800+ Grizzly lowest end 14" saw 3/4 HP $335 Same top of the low end 14" saws with cast iron wheels and 1 1/2 HP sweet$500+

One thing about bandsaw's is you get what you pay for. Take if from a real looser when it comes to selecting a bandsaw. Don't assume the tension screw will be long enough to get the 90" blade to proper tension, on saws that size the tension screw is short because you cant mount larger re-saw blades which needs longer tension screws. I started out with a 12" Craftsman in the 80's with an aluminum corrugated top and the corrugated top was a real pain in the butt. I was so frustrated one day I almost filled in the slots with epoxy then looked at the cost.. The cuts were lets say just ok at best and the motor didn't work for re-sawing things like 7" maple. Blades were hard to find, only sears sold them and they were expensive because sears is expensive when you compared things like blades. I scrapped that saw and bought a cheap 14" Bandsaw made in Taiwan which was just a piece of garbage, after two tears I scrapped that saw too. I finally bought a Grizzly 18" Bandsaw (Older C style which they no longer sell) and have been suffering with it now for 10 years. With 1/4" blades the machine is fine, but for re sawing it's a beast. The lower wheel is not perfectly true which makes the Bandsaw shake on larger blades. I have replaced the wheel but the new one was only slightly better (aluminum wheels). I like the size but not the saw. I have also found ball bearing guides to be very noisy and not worth the extra money or added any real value to the bandsaw. I am looking at $2000 band saws now to replace my grizzly as a final solution to my bandsaw dilemma, Laguna and Minimax both sell Italian manufactured rock solid Bandsaws. But most hobbyist cant afford a 220v 800lb monster. The grizzly will be delegated to tasks such as cutting up scrap wood for the garbage bin and other lesser tasks. If you do have bucks they also sell a 14" saw, one of them does. I am saving my pennies for the new saw later this year. For a first time saw, and if you are serious about your work, minimal size should be 14" and it should take 93 1/2" blades (a universal standard). Unless you want to buy a blade welder or order custom blades when you can no longer find blades. Don't assume your saw will be a standard model in a few years. Grizzly sells several 14" models which have been updated over the years and should work just fine. But you are looking at the $400 range. You can also re-saw hardwood with most 14" bandsaws and if you have an expensive piece of wood that is a big help. Riser blocks are available to increase the re-saw capacity in the future. The bandsaw should be one of the most used tools a luthier's shop so don't cheese out you'll regret it. Take it from me it could be the best or worst tool you will own. Woodenspoke

I havent heard that its good to know thanks. woodenspoke

One thing I found with a direct drive or oil less compressor is they are noisy. I gave my old oil less away to a neighbor and I am now using a belt driven compressor which is much quieter (bought used from an auction) but they are more expensive. I eventually want to ditch this compressor for a 60 gallon model with more CFM's at higher pressure. Don't forget about some sort of in line water vapor filter which is a must when spraying. I suggest the LVLP (low volume low pressure) version of that spray gun, costs a few dollars more but is worth it especially of you spray inside, use a small compressor or don't want to waste finish LVLP Gun. This is on my to buy list. I have also found the critter spray gun to work ok, it is easy to clean and is good for smaller jobs but its not gravity a feed. I have heard of good results with some of the self contained HVLP (high volume low pressure) units but I have not tried one myself. Link They only downsize is you can only use it to spray and I use my compressor for alot of things other than spraying. Woodenspoke

I figured I should at least post some of my work If I'm going to respond to emails here. The guitar is nothing special and was a design test. Maple top, mahogany back and neck, full binding except the headstock. Locking tuning pegs and some Gibson pickups I scrounged up in my shop. PRS string length. Water based lacquer finish (ahh). Pickup rings are ebony and its a semi hollow body. Its ok, plays well but it was a prototype for the design so I didn't really put too much effort into it especially with the electronics, as you can see. The design was a success, and I was happy with it, but it still needs a few tweeks and another set of patterns and a full set of CAD drawings. The pictures are not the best sorry I was in a rush. The finish is not dull like in the pictures. Took two weeks to build including the finishing. I probably build two a year now, because of other constraints (a job). Woodenspoke

I almost had an overarm pin router. My farther had one made by Shopsmith from the late 80's. It wasn't part of their multi tool line but was on a tall stand and fit his porter cable router. When I finally went looking for it a few years back, the upper arm was gone. He lost it in a move to a new home. It was a pretty hefty and of all the tools he stopped using that would have been the sweetest addition to my shop. The only one within reason (price wise) is the Grizzly, that I know of, but its $600 so its a luxury tool for most, but it does have an air actuated lift and plunge arm which is nice and leaves two hands free to move the piece. The table could be slighty larger. Grizzly Overarm Router Woodenspoke

For those of you looking to use Phenolic I would stick with a linen version LE. Its the highest quality and comes jet black or buy it from someone selling it as a fingerboard. Paper is the cheaper Phenolic. I don't remember Linen showing layers when I have used it for jigs.That black router plate you probably own is Phenolic if you think you have never seen it before. I cant believe you can fret the board by any other means except with glue. Phenolic chips easily if you have ever tried drilling any. Like carbon fiber it may seem flimsily but its stiff when glued in place. I have never bonded it to wood so I don't know what you would use, Epoxy? I will have to find a scrap piece and try press flitting a fret in, then check for excessive back bowing. Woodenspoke

Another Idea for $23 plus shipping Lee Valley's Veritas 24 " aluminum straight edge. Since its aluminum you can cut it with any saw, preferably a table saw. Mark the fret positions, cut it, and you have a very accurate straight edge made from a straight edge. You can also trim this one to length, a truly custom tool with no skimping on quality. Link Lee Valley Aluminum Straight Edge Woodenspoke

Another eBay Disaster. I started looking again after the last two eBay URLs were posted Fret bender with kit If you have ever used a bender before the biggest problem here is the wire goes down not up. I especially like the last eBay bender " $175" (for rich folks) looked like a tricked out super bender. Hey we are only bending fret wire not going to the moon. I think Jays bender is a more practical design. I remember seeing a whole array of benders on ebay over the years which is why I think Stumac continues to sell theirs with impunity(no real competition). GB

The only problem with those rollers is the depth, you need a pretty deep guide bearing to span the two slots. I don't think Stumac used any off the shelf pieces, The original was a brass roller and the new one I read is steel with one slot not two. Your best bet is to find a local shop and have them make one for you. I am lucky I have a metal lathe which makes items this like this easier. If you do have your own lathe I suggest 12L14 steel which is very easy to machine into a roller on any lathe. I cant believe a machine shop would charge you very much for a roller from scrap. The hard part is walking into the shop and asking how much. Woodenspoke

You don't need to have a roller that has any curve. Any bearing will do just fine. Its not the shape if the guide rollers but the ability to roll when pressure is applied to them by the main roller. Try skateboard bearings (or any small bearing)and resize the screw to fit the hole. If you look at the picture in this thread of the Stumac bender it has flat bearings. Just adjust the plate for the differences in size. The most important issue in jays bender is the washers. I would look for a more expensive washer with more exact specifications (military specs). In the US, MSC has a great selection and I believe you can order some washers individually. You want a smooth outer surface. The inner washer should be around .04" or 1 mm in width. If you can find a thick outer washer you are set, I would look for at least double the thickness of the inner washer. The difference in the two washers, inner washer to outer washer diameter should be at least a .02" or 5mm difference. You want to have a slot that is at least 2.5mm or .1" deep. I hope this helps. GB

Why would anyone pay $103 when the stumac is under $100? GB

I tried to find out some information in the Stainless steel alloy used for the wire with no luck. It must be a machinable grade otherwise it would be impossible to work. What I was trying to say earlier is if you happened to use stainless for lets say a re fret job, it would be a pain especially if you have to modify the wire. Even with carbide tools the additional forces needed to reshape the wire would be alot greater. I don't believe a diamond file would be necessary to remove barbs, just a lot more time and effort. I have read that you need a perfect fretboard because you do not want to have to recrown the wire? There is always the new Gold copper alloy wire which I have never used but is sold bu LMI. I hear its somewhere in between nickel silver and stainless. I'm not sure I like the gold color. Next it will be titanium wire and strings. lol Putting the finishing touches on the bender tomorrow. GB

It would be a real adventure to shave down the barbs. Iif you had to how would you re-barb the wire? Seems like an a lot of problems could crop up using stainless. Does it at least have a standard tang, not that any wire could be deemed to have a standard size tang. I will adjust my bender for a 5" to 6 " radii a minor modification to the plans. GB