tdog

Concerning the routing of the channel for the hot rod truss.....I've read all the posts on multiple passes with undersized bits and all the rants on the over-priced inferior-quality Stew-Mac router bits.......Here is the deal.....The Hot Rod Truss requires a 7/32in channel, right?......I just measure the brass blocks on a 24in rod and that's the correct measurement.......@5.54mm......Why not just get the correct router bit and save a lot of extra work! Whiteside makes a solid carbide 7/32in straight bit for @$17.......catalogue #sc13.....These bits are of the highest quality.......If you can't find a dealer or find them on the internet...send me the $$$$ and I'll get it for you!....I'm usually at my supplier on Saturday mornings. http://www.whitesiderouterbits.com/catalog/CatalogHome.asp Frued also makes bits in increments of 1/64in......Home Depot may even have a 7/32in straight bit in their frued display case. Remember....WORK SMARTER.....NOT HARDER!!!!!!!

What Rhoads56 said.....Take a single edge razor blade or a utility knife blade, hold perpendicular to the binding....actually, it should work best held at a very slight angle...... and lightly scrape away the dyed areas of the binding. With a little practice you will be able to determine the necessary "touch" and angle to remove just the right amount of binding and not dig into the plastic itself. The blade can be held between your fingers or a holder can be made to hold the blade so that only a certain amount of blade is exposed, incase you have to protect other areas of the body from accidental slips......such as colored lacquers.

I have used redwood burl for a few projects...it is a beautiful wood for a top wood....It should be fine used over a mahogany back....Here is a curly redwood bass made by Carey Nordstrand. http://www.nordstrandguitars.com/assets/im.../Hajime/hh1.jpg

Here are a few pics of my slot cutting rig on my tablesaw. There are 3 pics...just forward from the link.....You might want to check out some of the other stuff on the site.....some very cool old guitars! http://groups.msn.com/GuitarGallery/shoebo...oto&PhotoID=113 Greg

I use my templates with a table saw....safety is always my first concern....but I feel comfortable with this method....

Here is the scoop guys! I have templates from both LMI and Stew-Mac(I haven't used the LMI template yet).....The indexing pin on the Stew-Mac template measures 1/16in dia and the LMI template indexing pin measures @ 1/8in dia.....the actual sizes are ever-so-slightly-smaller but are close enough for our purposes here. The recommended saw blades that Stew-Mac and LMI offer, both cut a kerf .023 wide. As long as you use the correct indexing pins with the templates, I would say that they are compatable....unless I have totally overlooked something! If you have access to a metal lathe....make a dual pin...one end for LMI...the other diameter to fit Stew-Mac.....that way, all you need to do is reverse the indexing pin in a single hole to accomodate both templates. I can make the pin for you if you need one.

If the bridge is not the standard Tele type and the pickup is not in contact with the bridge itself....you will have to drill a small hole from the electronics cavity to the underside of the bridge so that you may snake a ground wire which will enable you to make contact with the underside of the bridge...in the case of a tune'o'matic style bridge......you have to be more precise and drill a small hole that allows you to ground to one of the posts of the bridge.

If you are using a standard tele bridge where the pickup screws into the bridge plate itself, there is no need for additional grounding...the pickup screw grounds the bridge.

An 8oz bottle is a lot of CA.....But it can have an almost infinite shelf life if it is kept in the freezer. I've had some of the extra thick CA in the icebox for over 6 years and it still works fine ......the color has shifted to a rose hue though. I think that if you bought the Stew-Mac clear filler, you would have a lot of it for a very long time.......You should most likely be able to fill the grain on at least 3 or 4 guitars with an 8oz bottle of CA, depending on your"slop-factor"!!!!!!

CA can get expensive......I buy mine in 8oz bottles from Lone Star Models, in Texas of course(do a Google search to find them).....it is about $16 for the bigger bottle vs @$10 for 2oz bottles from Stew-Mac or other sources......As for curing with the accelerator.....Let it cure naturally.....It will only take about a minute for the thicker stuff...if you spray the accelerator, it can cause a much too rapid cure and "foam-up" into a very hard, white mass which will end up in the pores of the wood making it difficult to remove without a total sand back......Accelerators are available in mild or hot formulations. On Stew-Mac clear grain filler....I have used it with success on some Curly Koa......It is a much more economical and less caustic method.....Some will make the arguement that grainfillers can shrink over time.....some can and do.......The CA will harden like glass and not shrink and will remain clear......where as the clear grain filler is ever-so-slightly cloudy.....although nobody will likely to ever notice it.

If you ever need to use all of the threads sticking out of the brass blocks, I would say that your neck has some serious problems! Remember that these rods are manufactured to adapt to many different neck applications....sort of a "one size fits all" sort of thing. I have installed a few Hot Rods in necks that I have built(mostly on 34in scale bass necks), I have ground down almost 1/4in of threads on some.....I started making my own double-expanding rods. Obviously the scale of the neck will dictate how long the rod must be and also the point at which you will access the adjustment screw.....some installs will have longer routing slots than others......When you adjust the Hot Rod, 1/4 turn is a lot after you feel the rod "snug up".....just remember to give yourself a few threads extra sticking out of the brass block......anything more isn't adding to the performance of the rod anyway.

Hardball......Try Righteous Woods near Boston......Steve has some Pale Moon from time to time. http://www.righteouswoods.com/ 1911 grips!!!!!......I've got some very bold thuya with big eyes if you are interested in making a set out of that and also some lacey sheoak. Greg

Hardball...What part of the planet are you from?...Sacremento?...I've been using Stew-Mac truss rods, without a problem, up to now....I am going to start building my own rods...I've got the tooling, so why not! Zebrawood for a fretboard?....I've never tried it myself, but , I think it may be too soft for a fretboard, it could deaden the tone, it is also prone to some mild fractures and checking.....If you want that type of look....try Pale Moon Ivory (very hard to come by...much like macassar only light and dark stripes) or spalted hard maple.

I use a gooseneck lamp when working with my milling machine, drill press, chop saw, bandsaw, and also on my work bench..... If you place the lamp at an acute angle to your workpiece, a pencil line will easily show up....even on ebony.

Padouk can be left unfinished, but the color will tend to shift from that brilliant orange color to a rust color quickly........I've had success on non-guitar projects just buffing and waxing Padouk.

LMI and Stew-Mac both offer binding glue from IPS Corp called Weld-On...It is cement for acrylic sheet.........I prefer the thicker stuff from LMI, #16 in the red tube.....Stew-Mac carries the #1784 in the blue tube....It is thinner and can bleed into the wood much more easily if you apply too much......This makes for a tougher clean-up, not to mention making quite an adventure if you stain or dye after you apply the binding.

budbostick......What sizes do you need.....I usually have some nice 8/4 Honduras Mahogany on hand.....price...@$35per body blank..... depending on size.....+actual shipping .........What size do you need for neck blanks?

Steve....I would not recommend using a twist drill bit or any other drill bit in a router unless it was specifically designed for that use. You have to remember, that a router is spinning at up to 20,000rpms....if that steel bit breaks up, you potentially have a very big on your hands.....no pun intended! If you can't drill the holes using a drill press, and you have to have these holes drilled exactly perpendicular....There is an inexpensive attachment to turns a hand drill into a hand held drill press. It bolts or screws onto the collar behind the chuck and has a mechanism similar to a plunge router's. If you have the $$$$$, Buy yourself a bigger drill press......You will find it invaluable in the long run. You can probably pick up a used 14 incher for $150. Greg

Drak....AHHH! The old inlay trick!....one of my favorites.....Remember the difference between a good carpenter and a bad carpenter is the good carpenterknows how to cover his mistakes!.....or is it "happy accidents"?

There are a few things that you can do....You can always fill the crack or separation with a putty made of ash dust and thick superglue or epoxy, but this will present problems with staining......Or if you are daring you could cut the body blank in 2 with a fine kerfed bandsaw...re-joint the edges and reglue...You might lose 1/8in of total body in the process....You can steam the glue-joint apart depending on the type of glue which was originally used. There are probably about a dozen other ways to correct this that I'm not thinking about right now......But, I think you are a long way from tossing the body into a dumpster! BTW....Have you cut a neck pocket yet?

As for stain......May I suggest a Phyfe Red #24 or Cuban Red Mahogany #36 aniline dye. These are both Lockwood aniline dyes. http://www.fenderforum.com/userphotos/index.html?recid=8780

Is this the kind of stone inlay you are refering to? http://www.fenderforum.com/userphotos/inde...html?recid=4696 This is a turquoise inlay on White Oak burl....it is not hard to do.....just time consuming. I can give you a brief tutorial if you are interested. Greg

Strummer...You shouldn't have any problem with the .090 binding.....060 is just a little easier to work with. You may want to do a "dry fit" to help pre-shape the binding to the tighter curves of the cut-aways. Binding has some memory to it ....,,this will provide a bit of insurance when you tape to the inside of the curves....be sure to be generous with the binding tape......better to use a little more tape than to find some separation between the top and the binding later. Good Luck! Greg

If this is your first binding project, you may want to go with a .060........it is a lot easier to bend around the cutaways. LMI carries a nice white/black/white in .060 so you won't have to mess with the a lamination if you want a layered binding.