tdog

I know this is not useful, but that's funny as hell. Too many dudes are all sexual about tools. ← HA!!!!....That is great!......But, Remember that your tools will never cheat on you.

"The fact is, and I'm sorry to say, figured maple only comes from soft maple. If someone has tried to sell you curly hard maple, I'm afraid you've been taken." mistahj.....Not true!..... Soft curly maple is Eastern Red Maple for the most part. Most soft maple comes from the Pennsylvania region. Hard maple is sugar maple and tends to thrive in slightly colder regions like New England and Michigan.....Soft vs. hard curly maple is an aplles to oranges issue.

....The new pine for a guitar question!!!!!!Now why would you start a post off with a statement like this?.....The man is asking a question. Does a tighter or larger radius make for easier chording? I personally find a flatter radius preferable for all my playing. I'm going to aplologize up front for this one, Devon, but you post on any topic just for the sake of posting. If you are stating only that it makes chording easier, you ought to elaborate. Acoustic dreadnaughts and jazz guitars tend to have flatter radii....Does this make for easier positioning on complicated chords? If this is true, then solo work should be easier on a..... say 7.5in radius..... Then I guess SRV's #1(which I have been up-close and personal with) should be a better guitar for chords with its very flat fingerboard. Violins and cellos have a very tight radius...it is easy to tell why......I'm a little annoyed right now, so I'm not going to go on....Flame me if you want (I'm not going to come back to this thread because I've said what I felt I had to say)......I'm just trying to point out that we should not attack or be a smart ass to anyone for simply asking a question and how rediculous some responses can be. BTW.....Speaking of pine......Did you ever use any Alaskan Black Pine? If you have, the "pine question" becomes less humorous.

Excellent post! The Blue handle Marples ARE a great value....and a pretty good set of chisels.....They put to shame a set of Stanley's. Interesting point about the third world craftsmen.....Imagine what kind of work they could turn out if they had access to top shelf tooling. Better tools don't make you a better craftsman or artist, they make the work more efficient and precise. Reminds me of amateur motocross riders who think that if given the factory bike of the top pro rider, they could actually beat pro, if the pro rider is riding a stock bike. The top pro is still going to smoke them riding a box stock machine. It is much the same as a guitar player thinking he could sound like Stevie Ray if he were playing SRV's Strat. Stevie Ray would still sould like Stevie Ray if he were playing an old Silvertone! It ultimately comes down to the abilities of the rider or the guitarist......or in this case the craftsman using the chisel.

I've been to Costco....The tools aren't great....But you have to remember that many tool manufacturers make several different lines of tools. The Marples blue handle chisels are not as high of a grade as the wooden hoop handles chisels. When you buy router bits, don't buy the cheapest, because there is a reason for the cost being so low....these bits usually are made of low grade carbide. Inexpensive does not always mean a bargain.

Doc...I'm glad that someone else appreciates fine tools......I have my full set of Marples (wooden hoop handles) 1/8in up to 1 1/4in of Sheffield Steel...You can shave with these chisels!.....The downside is that I paid several hundred dollars for them. I wouldn't dream of shopping at Costco for fine tools....But Sam's Club does have a really nice rolling tool chest in stainless steel that looks interesting......It looks much sturdier than my 4 stacks of Craftsman tool chests.

I'm familiar with Liberon lacquer burn in sticks, but not their dyes. It sounds like you are after a color similar to the red of a Gibson SG or Les Paul Jr. There are several good "recipies" to achieve this red in the Stew-Mac book "Guitar Finishing, Step by Step". If you had this book, it would take much of the trial and error out of your project.

hendrix2430.....What kind of dye did you buy? What is the name brand and specific color.....Is it water or alcohol soluble? How was it applied.....spray or rag....if you spray an alcohol dye, it may appear cloudy. I have color chips that I have made on mahogany possibly in the color(shade and tints) that you may have in mind. Phyfe Red and Cuban Mahogany are 2 great reddish colors that may work well for you. It sound by your description, that you may be using a scarlet red or brilliant crimson. These dyes should be applied directly to the wood surface(at least that is my prefered method).....Depending on the dye, they can be mixed in the lacquer. Aniline dyes do look strange when they are dry, but come to life once the finish is applied.

Purpleheart most certainly can be used for fretboards.....even the splalted sapwood will work well. It is hard and very stable in use, as you probably already know. When working with any wood, certain precautions should be taken. Although purple heart is not considered to be toxic, the use of a dust mask would be wise. I have been told that the tiny white streaks that are sometimes present in the p-heart is a form of silica. Here is a link to a chart of woods and their toxicity. http://www.susquehannawoodturners.org/Toxic%20Wood.htm#p

This is a total waste of time and bandwidth.

Pearwood is very dense and strong.....Many 'a bar rail have been made out of pearwood.....It is sometimes used as a substitute for ebony....after a little black dye, of course......If it is properly dried, it should be a faily stable wood. Elm....forget it for guitars unless it is burl.....Not a very dense wood and has a very open cell structure.....not very strong......All my experience is with American Elm, there are other varieties and may possess much different characteristics.....It can be pretty squirrelly, though. I have an elm tree on my property and after every storm, some major branch is broken.....I think I'm going to take the chainsaw to it before something else breaks off and hits my truck. Yew is a softwood......sculptors may love it because of its carvability(is that a word?!!!), but I doubt luthiers would, unless it has the qualities for acoustic instruments.

Just for the record....Bocote is not a member of the rosewood (Dalbergia) family. Bocote(Cordia Tricotoma) is closely related to Ziricote and Pau Ferro(known as Santos or Bolivian Rosewood, but neither is a member of the rosewood family). To the topic at hand....I have used a mixture of equal parts boiled linseed, white shellac and denatured alcohol as a sealer on Bocote. It does afford some protection but does not penetrate deeply as has been discussed. I used this method with letter openers that I made using Bocote as the handle material.....the finish seemed to hold up well after the openers were handled many times over the years. Multiple coats and a good wax buff after the Tru-Oil should give use a decent finish.....You may want to build up the initial coats with a weak mixture of the Tru-Oil and mineral spirits( the wipe down with acetone or naptha before application is a good idea)......The big name wood turners will apply the first coats of their finishes(Waterlox) diluted and build a good base for the final coats. George Nakashima used to use a 1:1 mix of boiled linseed and varnish on his furniture.....of which much of it was Rosewood.....usually East Indian. But again you won't get a great deal of penetration in the most oily woods. Scott Rosenberger....Where have ya been! I'm almost ready to place another order.....Need anything?

He signed it with a silver marker(the marker itself was silver, and it wrote silver) that I'm guessing was a paint pin. I have a squier that I can ruin, I just need to know what to look for. ← You can find a paint pen at any artist supply store......You don't have to try it on your squire to see if it will work.......you can write something on a paint can and experiment if you have to......You only need to see if the lacquer or poly will dissolve the paint pen markings. Then again,if it is paint pen, you maynot have to do a thing to it for permanence. Let us know how this works out...I'm curious.

It all depends on what the autograph was written with. When I first started building basses, I wanted to sign the back of the headstock. I first used a Sharpie and lacquered over it.....The lacquer started to dissolve the Sharpie ink as soon as lacquer was sprayed over it.........I since use a paint pen. Do your own experiment.....Take and mark something with a Sharpie an try some Poly over it.....Poly may not dissolve the Sharpie ink.

House of Kolor is the company/manufacturer......Kameleon Kolors are the paints. http://www.hokpaint.com/scripts/depot.exe?...hokkameleon.bbx

Anytime I find a good source for wood or tooling or some other such supplier, I make a file in the "favorites" tool bar on my computer. I have at least 50 different websites under the file name of "WOOD". Then I don't have to do any searching for threads or do any Google type searches if I can't remember a web address. Here is another place to get some terrific wood in the Boston area. http://www.righteouswoods.com/

And don't forget......... http://www.curlymaple.com/

If you can possibly afford it, get the plunge base kit....YOU WON"T REGRET IT!!!! Life will be some much easier when you have to rout any pickup or control cavity.....All it will take to convince you is the first time that you try and lower a fixed base router onto your workpiece and it catches and then, your bit tears up some expensive wood or a template. Doc and Phil Mailloux are right......Just Do It!!!!! Besides.....You can't have too many tools!!!!! I have 6 P-C routers and a Bosch and all of them are workhorses.

Try here for some good info on patinas. http://www.secure.sciencecompany.com/thesc...tina.cfm?SID=1& Or go to the artmetal.com forums. Tri-Ess Sciences can also be of help.

If it is indeed true Braz Rosewood, the cost could be prohibitive. There are many different types of rosewood...tulipwood and kingwood and cocobolo are all members of the rosewood family and grow in Brazil(very little cocobolo). The question in my mind is ....why would you want to use a very rare and beautiful wood(not to mention expensive) on your first build? The CITIES ban does not make it illegal to sell Braz RSWD that was imported into the states before the treaty was in effect. It prevents the harvesting and import of this species after the treaty was enacted. You will see much Braz RSWD for sale stating "pre-ban", which is perfectly legal. Do a search for CITIES Treaty of 1992 and I'm sure you will find a ton if info.

Gilmer is a major supplier and much of the wood that you see through the smaller dealers is actually imported through Gilmer. Other posts refer to the $65 price for mahogany body blanks....Let me know....I have 8/4 Hon Mahog body blanks which I'll sell for $40+actual UPS Ground shipping. As for Rockler and Woodcraft....They are not lumber specialists....You are better off dealing with a Gallery or a Gilmer because wood is their main business...not small tools and pen parts.

Gilmer

You don't have to make your own dye at all, although you can get exactly the color you want by doing so. Lockwood's has nearly every color in the rainbow. Here is a link to Constantines, which carries a very limited inventory of the Lockwood aniline dye.....There is a bright blue offered .......A few years ago I bought out a woodworking store's inventory of Lockwood dye.....I have over 150 different colors in water, alcohol, and oil type powders. I have Bright Blue, Peacock Blue, Royal Blue and Emerald.... thats just what I can remember. I haven't made any color chips, but I'm thinking that Lockwood's Peacock Blue is the dye or very close to the color of the "Sapphire Blue" guitar. http://www.constantines.com/index.asp?Page...odID=2001&MMP=1

I've worked with a lot of spalted beech over the years. It can be difficult to work, depending on the degree of spalting. If it is great looking wood.... buy it for a future project....But for your first build use something else that will be easier to work without the long learning curve....you'll be glad that you did.

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure. They are all my handy-work. The last photo shows my set up. http://www.geocities.com/tdog197/DCP_1228.JPG http://www.geocities.com/tdog197/DCP_1221.JPG http://groups.msn.com/GuitarGallery/shoebo...hoto&PhotoID=42 http://groups.msn.com/GuitarGallery/shoebo...hoto&PhotoID=72 http://groups.msn.com/GuitarGallery/shoebo...hoto&PhotoID=88 http://groups.msn.com/GuitarGallery/shoebo...hoto&PhotoID=89