Woodenspoke

I use one of the radiused sanding blocks from stewart mcdonald. If you level the fretboard and install the frets properly, it seems unlikely that the frets will be that bad. I dont get it though, everyone says they use precision flat tools for leveling frets....but arent most electric and acoustic guitar fretboards radiused? It seems using something flat to take material off a round surface would leave too much potential for it to not end up even.

I could go on and bore you all with a lengthy explanation why a long flat tool is the way to go, but I dont remember anyone saying it was the only tool to use in the process.

radius block and compound radius fret boards, Think about it

Woodenspoke

I think I broke my own minimal post wording record who-rah.

Thanks much, I was wondering how far apart the crossmembers would be placed for support. I have to go down to the basement and stack some wood(also it seems as a good place to store paint)

If you dont seal the ends of green wood with a commercial sealer or wax product all the stickering in the world will be useless. without a moisture block the ends will dry faster and split. If you could find a material made of a non wood product I think that would work better than wood as a sticker but make sure you are using seasoned wood not green wood as the sticker. Someone even sells stickers, but that seems like a waste. A PVC Sheet would be thin and cheap. dont make them too big you want the tops and sides open to the air, but again not the end grain.

Honestly I have not heard about spacing but I dont know everything

May 2 1/2 cents worth

Woodenspoke

Well this is my second attempt at a sale or trade on this forum

I am located in central NJ near Princeton 45 min from Philadelphia and 1 1/2 hrs from NYC.

I have several Items I would like to part with starting first with a big item. Grizzly 1012 18" bandsaw includes several blades, New kreig bandsaw fence , several unused parts some mods in VG good shape as is all my tools. If interested I will provide a complete listing. of what I have for the saw. The new Kreig fence alone cost me over $100.

I have already had one member Spazzyone make an offer on the saw then leave me hanging at the very last minute so no more idiots like Spazzyone please only serious takers.

This is a pickup item only bring a Friend to help you (not really that heavy), can be transported in a smaller vehicle since the body is a standard 4 bolt American c style and splits in half.

I have One issue with the saw, I have two lower wheels both of which are not true (front to rear wobble) a new one is $65 and with larger blades installed causes vibration. Grizzly still has parts and manuals on line so you can look up specs without my intervention. A good metal shop could probably fix one or both or the two lower wheels this saw comes with. I have since moved to a different maker and different class of saw so I have really no need for two band saws in my shop nor any reason to have the saw wheel fixed. Takes a max 1 1/4" blade. Comes with other items. With no repairs 1/4" blades run well.

Make me an offer any offer or trade but remember I have a well equipped shop so tools will probably be of little interest unless they are special, but you must pick it up and move it yourself and I will will provide tools for its disassembly. This saw again is complete with mods and upgraded parts. contact me for more specific info.

I also have for sale or trade

Porter cable 6" Random orbit sander VS used very little, PSA Style looks like a mini grinder style see current model 7336. Probably around the first few models made dont have a number handy but has been used little. What paper I have goes with the tool and its probably a good amount, has dust collection port built in. Make me an offer will ship. no case

Porter Cable Model 9444VS (Probably not the same model number) profile sanding kit, missing one angled rubber block other wise used maybe 5 times, in case. will ship make me an offer.

Jorge clamps 11 pieces 3 ft long 3 1/2" deep with pads in excellent condition no rust oiled screw and wrapped for storage about a year ago. They did not fit my needs for length and I went to a Bessy style flat face, again used sparingly no bent shafts but in VG shape will ship make me a reasonable offer.

6 12" clamps sold by Garrett wade bought a while back believe they were made in Germany. Nothing special here just basic smaller clamps again no rust I just didn't like the clamp, some are missing the cheap plastic pads that came with them. I may have more than 6 but what ever I have any reasonable offer accepted will also ship.

PSI branded brad nailer looks like its brand new with replacement shaft in original case, will ship make me an offer.

All of these items are for sale or trade in the USA only. I have a full shop so unless the machine or tool you want to trade is unique I would rather take cash or guitar parts or wood. You make me an offer if I like your offer its yours, I dont want to haggle. If cannot find a taker/s within a few days everything will go on eBay to be sold at auction.

Shipping is at your cost (at cost no additioal charges) and all cash offers are payable through My PayPal account or from postal money orders. If you show up with cash I can accept that too.

I will provide info and pictures to anyone who is not just making conversation like Spazzyone did.

Contact me through this forum with a valid email address and your offer.

Woodenspoke

Well this is my second attempt at a sale or trade on this forum

I am located in central NJ near Princeton 45 min from Philadelphia and 1 1/2 hrs from NYC.

I have several Items I would like to part with starting first with a big item. Grizzly 1012 18" bandsaw includes several blades, New kreig bandsaw fence , several unused parts some mods in VG good shape as is all my tools. If interested I will provide a complete listing. of what I have for the saw. The new Kreig fence alone cost me over $100.

I have already had one member Spazzyone make an offer on the saw then leave me hanging at the very last minute so no more idiots like Spazzyone please only serious takers.

This is a pickup item only bring a Friend to help you (not really that heavy), can be transported in a smaller vehicle since the body is a standard 4 bolt American c style and splits in half.

I have One issue with the saw, I have two lower wheels both of which are not true (front to rear wobble) a new one is $65 and with larger blades installed causes vibration. Grizzly still has parts and manuals on line so you can look up specs without my intervention. A good metal shop could probably fix one or both or the two lower wheels this saw comes with. I have since moved to a different maker and different class of saw so I have really no need for two band saws in my shop nor any reason to have the saw wheel fixed. Takes a max 1 1/4" blade. Comes with other items. With no repairs 1/4" blades run well.

Make me an offer any offer or trade but remember I have a well equipped shop so tools will probably be of little interest unless they are special, but you must pick it up and move it yourself and I will will provide tools for its disassembly. This saw again is complete with mods and upgraded parts. contact me for more specific info.

I also have for sale or trade

Porter cable 6" Random orbit sander VS used very little, PSA Style looks like a mini grinder style see current model 7336. Probably around the first few models made dont have a number handy but has been used little. What paper I have goes with the tool and its probably a good amount, has dust collection port built in. Make me an offer will ship. no case

Porter Cable Model 9444VS (Probably not the same model number) profile sanding kit, missing one angled rubber block other wise used maybe 5 times, in case. will ship make me an offer.

Jorge clamps 11 pieces 3 ft long 3 1/2" deep with pads in excellent condition no rust oiled screw and wrapped for storage about a year ago. They did not fit my needs for length and I went to a Bessy style flat face, again used sparingly no bent shafts but in VG shape will ship make me a reasonable offer.

6 12" clamps sold by Garrett wade bought a while back believe they were made in Germany. Nothing special here just basic smaller clamps again no rust I just didn't like the clamp, some are missing the cheap plastic pads that came with them. I may have more than 6 but what ever I have any reasonable offer accepted will also ship.

PSI branded brad nailer looks like its brand new with replacement shaft in original case, will ship make me an offer.

All of these items are for sale or trade in the USA only. I have a full shop so unless the machine or tool you want to trade is unique I would rather take cash or guitar parts or wood. You make me an offer if I like your offer its yours, I dont want to haggle. If cannot find a taker/s within a few days everything will go on eBay to be sold at auction.

Shipping is at your cost (at cost no additioal charges) and all cash offers are payable through My PayPal account or from postal money orders. If you show up with cash I can accept that too.

I will provide info and pictures to anyone who is not just making conversation like Spazzyone did.

Contact me through this forum with a valid email address and your offer.

Woodenspoke

I actually did check a few of them with a machinist's square (best straight reference I have available at home). If I were buying something for the purpose, I'd probably buy a piece of float glass first, or a toleranced granite surface plate (as you recommend) - and in fact I do have a piece of float glass with a bunch of pieces of silicon carbide sandpaper on it for tool sharpening. I just think that if you have easy access to some polished granite tiles they're worth checking out.

Home depot and Lowe's in the US will sell you one tile if you really need one, but I still say stick with glass .You can also see if there is a business that sells store shelving, they sell tempered glass which I have used successfully for flattening tools. If it drops your a little safer off and its not really expensive if you can find it locally. But for flattening frets you really need long and narrow, make a deal with a glass shop to cut some 1/4" scrap for you

Woodenspoke

You could always use a good pair of cutters for other jobs around the house if you decide not to cut fret wire. Pulls out nails too.

Woodenspoke

My recent experience with granite tiles matches Setch's - my mother just redid her kitchen with nice granite countertops and granite tile backsplash (it's not actually granite as it's black, but it's similar enough in general properties that the people who sell it call it that. I have a friend who is a geologist who told me what it actually is, but I can't remember now). If I had an extra one of those tiles or a piece of the countertop I wouldn't hesitate to use it for anything that required a flat surface. I would be very surprised if the surfaces had more than a thousandth or two of variance from flat over a tile or over a foot of countertop. They are as near to dead flat as I can measure.

The tile surfaces on the backsplash are not all perfectly coplanar, there is variance of as much as 1/32" or so on a couple of tiles on the backsplash, but the individual tiles are flat as anything.

I'm just providing my experiences setting tiles.

If your tile looked like the first notched straight edge SM sent me it looked flat. But when the NSE was held against a known flat surface you could have driven a car under the bow in the center. Looking and being flat are two different things. FYI the NSE was replaced without apology it wasnt perfect untill I flatened it on my surface plate but the second one came in at specs and required a small amount of work to remove the high spots.

If I had a choice I would buy a piece of glass rather than look for a flat tile. Remember these are tiles they are not made to a specific tolerance. If you dont have a surface to reference from, then you are even more likely to have no idea what you have.

But it's only my 2 1/2 cents worth of advise so dont let me stop you.

Woodenspoke

Glass is usually pretty flat on it's own - float glass is the flattest, but plate is still pretty damn flat. Not as good a surface plate, but probably as flat as a jointer or table saw top. Marble tile is pretty damn flat too, and a lot of tile places will let you have a piece for free if you ask nicely. Don't use regular tile though - that's cast and glazed, not ground and polished like marble.

You say marble tile is pretty flat? My brother is a tile layer and he could probably hook me up with a nice piece or two for free.

CMA

I have installed marble tiles, limestone, granite and I can tell you from experience I would not use one as a leveling surface. that goes for any tile made from any natural stone or any other tile polished or otherwise. They are made to walk on or keep out moisture period. If your brother is a tile layer he will tell you how much time he spends trying to get the potato chips he works with to look and lay flat.

A granite surface plate yes, 3 times as thick as tile and machine ground to thousands of an inch tolerances and for a small one they are cheap, but never use tile. Stick with glass as a cheap alternative.

Did I mention dont use tile

Woodenspoke

That's the plan Setch, bought the $5 deals at Harbor freight and will go to town with the belt sander before I use them.

I just hope the steel in the HF is worth your time and investment. If the steel is soft you might as well have gone to HD and ground down a pair of channel locks.

Good luck

Woodenspoke

For $5 the only way it's not worth my time/money is if it's a total failure. And regardless, I have more time than money, so I don't mind spending a little time working them over on a belt sander before I use them.

I just loaded up on birthday cash, so i'll be ordering the rest of my fretting tools within the next day or two, so I expect to know within the next month whether or not I made the right choice. If it's an utter failure i'll be sure to let you know.

Honestly I can never figure out that logic that your time was less valuable than your money, ever hear the phrase"time is money". If the thing fails no I dont want to know; because I have a good pair of channel locks I know work and will last almost forever.

I own at least a dozen HF tools most of which work thats all I can say about them, when it comes to instrument tooling I usually bite the bullet and spend the bucks. We are talking a $15 difference here. If your experiment fails than expect the channel locks to cost an additional $5 plus shipping plus your time, Oh wait your time isn't valuable I forgot.

Sorry I'm busting your hump no offense personally I just want to point out that not every deal is a good deal.

My 2 1/2 cents worth.

Woodenspoke

Jon, I hate you you lucky bastard.

Woodenspoke

Cool, cool, my brain is fried right now from working on my finals for the last few days straight, so my posts are worthless. I cannot quite remember how those strings load, I wanna say they either have holes just below the saddle screws in the bottom/base thing or the saddle screws are hollowed enough to allow for strings to pass through, not quite sure though, that second one might be my mind wandering with ideas. Anyhow, 3 screws will be fine, there are plenty of decent bridges that are attached like that. It looks nice and clean, as I said there is a similar hipshot one I like, the base has a little curve on it and has edges all the way around, but its similar. Can you find out what its made of? Best of luck to you. J

PS>Thank you Greg, I looked but couldn't find a pic like that, which is what I had in mind. Do you see the holes in the base Greg that I was talking about in the first pic, which makes it look like a string thru. As I said, it could be my mind and eyes are just fried.

And here's a link to a different typs of top loading bridge, which requires a small channel under the bridge Top loading hardtail

I cant see anyway that the strings will pass cleanly through to the rear way too much saddle in the way. The holes must be under the saddle in a slot style configuration.

As far as sustain goes I am still waiting for the final word from up above what really does work and I will follow those instructions to the tee when they are revealed to me. Everyone seems to have there own what will work best theory. I am waiting for the big book of debunked guitar building theory before I will commit to any answers on sustain changes.

A have a bridge where the holes are on the rear of the angle behind the saddles but the saddles are cut to allow the strings to pass through to these holes. I use one on my neck jig surrogate body. See picture below same as the picture link from GregP

Woodenspoke

I started my construction on a neck-thru Firebird this weekend and I decided to go down the to local Guitar Center to take a look at one up close. Upon inspection, the neck appears to be at a slight angle relative to the body to account for the heighth on the bridge. My question is with a single piece neck-thru center section, how does one achieve that angle?

One potential way I thought of was cutting the fretboard at the angle but that could lead to all sorts of undulations.

Any thoughts from out there?

Thanks

Man it's not rocket science just angle the neck where it meets the body. if you have no real plans and are doing this on the fly i suggest you make a plan first and mock up the one piece neck on a piece of paper before you cut it. You focus on the neck and surface where the fret board is glued up so its flat and at the correct angle. Then focus on the bottom side of the body connection of the through neck so thats flat. Two areas where you should be able to flatten a through neck with limited tooling. Once you glue up the body flatten the top of the body neck joint and carve the neck.

Making an angled fretboard is not suggested and has nothing to do with undulations what ever that means. If you already glued up the neck without plans to angle the neck I suggest you start over or use a different bridge.

Woodenspoke

Woodenspoke, as its a neck-thru the neck and the body are one in the same. The templates I purchased are only of the neck thru and not a set neck option. That would have made it much easier.

I also considered the solution J Pierce offered and gluing the wings on at an angle. As I thought about that method, the risk of the pieces slipping while being clamped popped into my mind. I guess if I really wanted to stray and create something more unique, I could go with a different bridge/saddle option and remove the string angle.

Thanks for the suggestions

Sorry I have built instruments and many of them, I generally start out with some sort of plan to begin with then create a set of forms. Since I have a well equipped shop I dont have to guess as to what I am doing at any point in my project. For the most part I dont have the time to research this board to see what others have posted because generally I have been there and done that so for me I just add my two cents where I feel comfortable. yesterday I was in a pissy mood and saw a few posts which for the life of me I couldn't understand how these people expected to build anything given the questions should have been answered in the guitar building book they should have bought before they started. So if my answer offended you I apologize. This was not directed at you the book comment.

I know what neck through body is, several pieces of wood or a single piece glued together transversing from the headstock to the bottom of the body. If I missed neck through as something else please let me know. This option is generally started with a pattern which will require oversize pieces to create a neck angle and headstock from the glued up stock. Once you have this large piece of glued up stock bandsaw out the shape (minimal description) or use whatever tools at hand.

Now you have a roughed out through neck. Its easiest to flatten the bottom where the body wings are glued to the through neck so start there. then use the template to make sure the top of the neck where the fret board will be glued is at the proper angle and flatten that. It is easier at this point since you will be adding a truss rod using this surface. If the angle needs to be adjusted later you will still have some wiggle room. Again two areas which are easily flattened after the shape has been rough cut. Once the wings of the body are glued flatten the top of the body neck joint and you should be ready to start finish shaping. yes there are a lot more steps involved because you have pieces already protruding from the top and down at the head stock and the whole process does require more work and maybe thicker forms for the body shape and pickup routing work.

Again if you had thought about the project, the neck angle would have been incorporated into the template for the through neck. As far as wings at an angle idea sure if you have enough wood to change the angle of the bottom if the through neck where the wings are being glued onto. You cannot just glue wings to a board at an angle, you will have the make the angle first on the through neck and flatten it then glue the wings. Again with out a template you will never know if all this will work. I dont believe a slight change in overall angle will effect the strenght of the through neck only the absence of enough wood will be an issue here and for some reason I believe you did not leave yourself any extra wood to make these changes. Laminating additional pieces to the top or botttom will result in these pieces having an angle and honestly will look weird unless you are painting the guitar.

I hope I have confused you even more my 2 1/2 cents worth of advise.

Woodenspoke

I used alder with ash top

the top being 3/4 thick and it takes more time to carve it out and the finish is fine as long as you do a good job at sanding.

Ash is a hard wood used in making baseball bats and also guitars. With glue it can be put together with all sorts of other woods even itself. Generally it's painted because its usually flat sawn boring. Olive ash on the other hand has some lovely texture but I have seen very few instruments made from it.

What I am saying is you can do whatever you want as a topper even yes use more ash. If you keep it natural I would go with a lighter wood such as maple.

MY 2 1/2 cents worth

Woodenspoke

Is there a minimum thickness recommended under the fret slot?

I think I slotted too deep and wanted to see if the fretboard can be saved.

Thanks,

Mike

I think as long as the fingerboard isn't hanging by a sliver of wood you are good to go. Black epoxy seems like a reasonable filler. Once the finger board is glued down it will be a lot stiffer, use the epoxy filler during fretting not before unless you like cutting fret slots. If the board isnt ebony make up a colored epoxy to match the wood and clean it off before it dries, you may want to add some wax to the surface of the fretboard on each side of the fret just in case you need to scrape off epoxy in areas you missed.

You did not say how much wood is left under the slot? Again if you hold the board only on one end and it bends towards the floor in a nice curve, I would scrap it and start again. If it stays straight you should be ok just fill the slot and use a depth stop next time.

Woodenspoke

I started my construction on a neck-thru Firebird this weekend and I decided to go down the to local Guitar Center to take a look at one up close. Upon inspection, the neck appears to be at a slight angle relative to the body to account for the heighth on the bridge. My question is with a single piece neck-thru center section, how does one achieve that angle?

One potential way I thought of was cutting the fretboard at the angle but that could lead to all sorts of undulations.

Any thoughts from out there?

Thanks

Man it's not rocket science just angle the neck where it meets the body. if you have no real plans and are doing this on the fly i suggest you make a plan first and mock up the one piece neck on a piece of paper before you cut it. You focus on the neck and surface where the fret board is glued up so its flat and at the correct angle. Then focus on the bottom side of the body connection of the through neck so thats flat. Two areas where you should be able to flatten a through neck with limited tooling. Once you glue up the body flatten the top of the body neck joint and carve the neck.

Making an angled fretboard is not siggested and has nothing to do with undulations what ever that means. If you already glued up the neck wothout plans to angle the neck I suggest you start over or use a different bridge.

Woodenspoke

That's the plan Setch, bought the $5 deals at Harbor freight and will go to town with the belt sander before I use them.

I just hope the steel in the HF is worth your time and investment. If the steel is soft you might as well have gone to HD and ground down a pair of channel locks.

Good luck

Woodenspoke

Have a look here:

http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?128@37.3T...wol.4@.1dcfa8a0

I have the shop fox and it works fine attached to a cheap motor and stabd with a riser box to bring the arbor higher up.

I wish the shaft was longer but it works. Didn't find a better arbor for the price and the picture from MIMF seemed like your time would better be used buffing rather than building a buffer from scratch.

Woodenspoke

I'd go for it if I lived in the states. I'm sure with just a bit of TLC it could be a good workhorse. The crack in the handle shouldn't be hard to fix. Better hurry up before someone takes it for the BIN.

The only thing I see thats funky is the rust on the blade. I assume that is the top of the blade. If the plade is pitted on the flat side it will need to be replaced. I seem to remember most planes used to cost a fortune a few years back I think the hype has gone out of the market big time. If you dont want to loose it BIN and stop asking questions. Replacements blades are available . As long as the body isnt cracked its a winner and the body looks in fine shape.

Woodenspoke

I bought a whetstone ( 600 grit ) from Axminster in the UK a while ago ( http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-DMT-Dia...tones-21925.htm

) Apart from the available grits being different, I think they're the same as the ones sold by StewMac, also by Dia-Sharp.

Stewmacs version :

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...t_Levelers.html

My plan is to use the 600 grit to level my compound radius frets. Not something I've ever done before but I balked at a £90 quote I got from a luthier!

[edit - I should've written 'leveller' in the topic line!]

First its labeled "fret leveler" by Stumac in reality it is just a diamond sharpening stone (which sounds like what you have)and can be bought in any good woodworking catalog. What grits I do not know since it depends on the dealer and I guess country, 600 grit should do just fine. DMT is a high quality company who I would rely on for accuracy but they are expensive. If you have one already it cant be any worse or better than buying the SM version

Stumac may quote accuracy figures and ship you a lemon. I had them replace a notched straight edge because the thing came in with a huge bow through the center, not really quality control if you ask me. Received no apology when I wrote a letter to the president Hosteler; expressing my dissatisfaction at receiving sub standard tools. Unlike most people here I have tools accurate enough to measure specs of other tools. The second notched straight edge was not perfect but within SM specs, it had been opened and checked before they shipped the replacement. I did flatten it on a piece of granite surface plate to dead flat but the first one was so bad as to be unsuitable for checking an instrument. Everything SM sells should be checked before use. My word of advise to all SM buyers.

On a positive note I did buy the SM leveling beam and it was dead flat on both sides. Maybe I just lucked out.

I have heard other SM stories so it's not just me.

Ok now that I have bitched about SM and agree that you probably have a proper tool, the reality is how bad is your fingerboard and do you have the necessary information to properly check and level the frets? thats why your local luthier charges so much because he hopefully has the proper tools to do a complete job, level the frets, fingerboard, truss rod, intonation and maybe a nut replacement. The $180 charge (converting pounds here) could have been just a standard job estimate who knows what else is wrong. IF its just a high fret than it should be a no brainier but be aware not everything is just a black or white issue. man I am even boring myself sorry.

An a alternative to the diamond grit find a 1/4" thick piece of glass cut to the right size and use PSA paper.

Woodenspoke

oak sg pics

heres my thread with pics so you guys can see if someone could tell me what kind of oak it is i would be really happy im not 100% sure.

Your Picture is too far away to see the grain and the color of the picture does not help. If the wood color has any red to it is red oak. Red oak is a more common wood in general in most local lumber dealers. Workability is similar but white oak has a slightly larger open grain than red oak and is sutable for outdoor furniture. I guess if its white aok you can use the guitar as a paddle if you are ever up strem without one LOL.

Take a trip to your local wood store and see what it matches up to, even home depot has red oak in stock.

Woodenspoke

hey guys i just started working on an oak sg and i had a quick question has anyone here used oak for a body and how does it sound.

thanks in advance

Read or white oak two different sounds and properties. I have been planning a rift sawn white oak acoustic for some time, back and sides. the woods beautiful. but for a neck I would pass using it as the grain is just too open. Red oak is just boring, I have seen very few boards that I would consider using. Expect to fill the grain before finishing. As far as shaping it try wood working tools. LOL

Woodenspoke

Hi all,

got a bit carried away carving the top of my latest guitar and I've left my sel a problem with my jack plug hole.

Basically I'm looking for any help you guys can give me so that I can remedy the situation.

I had thought about a barrel type jack plug but I fear the hole itself would be too large.

It always amazes me that most people cant see whats if front of them and provide idiotic fixes. So you screwed up the top and now have a gap.

First remove the plate it's useless now. As Prostheta said mark around the plate and inset a contrasting piece of wood to fill the gap or a similar piece to the top but dont reuse the plate. make the patch look like that was your intent all along to insert that jack into a contrasting piece of wood shaped to fit your body. NO screws. hard to tell what contrasting wood to use since you show only a small section of the guitar.

Glue on some wood and carve a design over the hole.

Ugly inlay over the gap?

Good luck

Woodenspoke

Me, I'm think of replacing my cheap 'n' nasty drill press with a mini mill. Should do what I want for drilling, and add milling to the mix and I'm certainly happy.

Going to buy a dedicated oscillating spindle sander (little one) so I can retire the drill-press mounted sanding drums, which aren't doing the quill any favours.

I have a CNC'd HF mini mill and the full capabilities are lets just say 4" x 8" of travel. Unless you are working on just hardware look for a larger drill press. Before I CNC'd the mini mill it was the best dam small metal drill press I ever used, (I dont know why the CNC drilling is worse) but unless you are just drilling tuner holes your $400 would be better spent toward a monster drill presses with mill like features.

Woodenspoke

Well, it's drilling tuner holes and bridge holes, mostly, but I do want to give metalwork a shot, and potentially CNC it in future.

The main reason I'm not looking for a larger, heavy duty drill press is that I'm very strapped for space; tiny shop, already a bit too full, and a floor-standing press simply won't fit, and even a hefty table mounted model (requirement for any upgrade: that I can reach the middle of a standard sized guitar to drill string-through holes and the like). I'm swinging by my equivalent to Grizzly on Thursday, checking out the mill as well as their alternatives (machinist's drill presses, f'r instance).

FYI Cummings tools sells the Mini Mill $399 mini mill. Really called the Sieg X1. Dont get the MT model grizzly only the R8 collet model.

Woodenspoke

Me, I'm think of replacing my cheap 'n' nasty drill press with a mini mill. Should do what I want for drilling, and add milling to the mix and I'm certainly happy.

Going to buy a dedicated oscillating spindle sander (little one) so I can retire the drill-press mounted sanding drums, which aren't doing the quill any favours.

I have a CNC'd HF mini mill and the full capabilities are lets just say 4" x 8" of travel. Unless you are working on just hardware look for a larger drill press. Before I CNC'd the mini mill it was the best dam small metal drill press I ever used, (I dont know why the CNC drilling is worse) but unless you are just drilling tuner holes your $400 would be better spent toward a monster drill presses with mill like features.

Woodenspoke

Thanks for the tips Woodspokes, I'll definitely keep them in mind!

That's a great find cherokee! But my Dad, who is funding this venture, doesn't like to buy used tools (or even refurbished ones). When it comes to tools, he doesn't really care about price that much (unlike me) as long as the tool is quality. I guess that is a good thing though.

We'll probably go out looking around soon and see what we can find.

Thanks guys,

CMA

The current issue of FWW rates table top drill presses.

Woodenspoke