tdog

The plans look shakey at best,,,,Remember that the router produces a lot of torque. I had a commercially made radial arm type router which was heavy guage steel and it still had problems...I ended up selling it and buying a real overarm pin router.

Just to clarify, there are hard and soft maples growing in the eastern U.S. "Eastern" is a pretty non-descript term.

Now you've got the idea! It is a fairly generic term. The hard maple tends to grow in the colder climates like the upper areas of Michigan and New England. Much of the softer curly maple (red and several other varieties) grows east of the Appalatian Mts in easter PA and New York.

erikbojerik....First off, you'll need a valid tax resale ID from your state dept of revenue, establishing yourself as a existing business. This proves that you just aren't buying a few parts for yourself. Secondly, you'll have to set up an account with Allparts. Some wholesalers require minimum purchases annually to keep an account active......I have to check on my status soon since I haven't placed an order since May.

Devon....Take the J-Bass templates that I purchased from Ronnie and compare it to a Fender J-Bass body and there is a world of difference...Even in overall length.....Remember that I stated that since I got my J-Bass set, the templates were "vastly improved", according to Ronnie. If it "seems accurate"...it doesn't mean that they are accurate.

It doesn't matter who drew the CAD files....The set that I got did not have consistant curves and the overall length was off by at least an inch.....I haven't even looked at the templates for 6 months, so this figure may be off by a greater degree. I never even took the paper of the plexi, once I felt the edges. The upper horn has flat spots and the overall body has incorrect width and length and also flat spots. I'm sure you are asking why I did not return them...It is because I get tired of screwing around with "stuff" that I should have made myself.....As a post script...I no longer use any pre-made templates...I have all the necessary means to produce and utilize only my designs and templates.

If Ronnie or anyone that actually knows him reads this, prove me wrong in my analysis.....send me the new and improved templates for comparison.

I've bought templates from Ronnie before.....He communicates well with his customers and ships his product promptly.....I think the accuracy of the templates is lacking a bit....He tells me that his templates are vastly improved since the time I bought a set of J-Bass templates from him. I'm still waiting for his offer to trade me a new improved set for my old unused set......HINT!....HINT!

As for the ABM heardless unit.....Yeah, Allparts lists the parts for a retail of $250 and he is selling the same unit for $175......Reason for the price difference is that he erther is an ABM dealer and is offering a discount .....or....He is buying from Allparts wholesale as I do....generally wholesale is between 50% or 60% of the retail price....I love having that resale tax number!

That "Pine Box" scent can get pretty nasty!!!!!!

Glad to see you picked up some of the accelerator.......I wonder if it comes in a "pine scent"?

Bill-Murray......Check your e-mail for an offer you can't refuse!!!!!!

A table top drill press isn't huge or heavy.....What about the possibility of a small section of the workbench being made to rotate(pivot on an axis,) with the DP being securely bolted down, allowing it to be stored in its inverted position underneath the workbench,while providing a usable work surface on top.......It might take some engineering but it could work.......Sounds like something out of a 1959 Popular Mechanics doesn't it! Can't you just see the cheezy photos of some guy with a pipe hanging from his mouth with his "Opie lookin'" son, gazing on in amazement?......I can't believe that I am even offering up this idea.......it almost sounds too wacky!

It sounds like you've got a good idea about what you need to do....Space is always a concern.....I had to move out of my garage 10 years ago.....Luckily, I own enough land to build what I needed....I've added 1200 sq ft onto my original 1700 sq ft shop once and I'm getting ready to add on another 1400 sq ft. .....Give us an update when you get it built.

Cheers,

Greg

It all depends on your needs and what your skills are.....Also the amount of space available.....One option would be building a workbench out of 2x4 stock with a 3/4in plywood top and bolt your drillpress press down to it. If you can weld, you should easily be able to fabricate a stand out of some mild steel dedicated soley to your drill press.

Elm is squirrelly stuff to begin with.....You don't even seen much furniture made from elm......The table idea is a good one, but you are in for years of dry time or will need to have it kiln dried by someone who knows what they are doing. I have made some high-end tables from cross-cut slabs of Claro Walnut with great results.....In general regarding elm.....If it is not burl......It is firewood.

Here is the dye you are looking for.....Fiebing's Leather Dye. This is the stuff that Gibson has used forever to dye their ebony fret boards to a uniform black. I get mine from a leather working supplier, but Stew-Mac carries it.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supp...oard_Stain.html

I've used this stuff on fret boards and some other projects, and its great stuff. It will make pearwood look exactly like ebony.

I think that if your heart is set on that ebony look, think about a black lacquer finish and then carefully dye the fretboard....less room for error.....and the lacquer is correctable if it gets messed up.

It won't damage anything, but you will have to strip the neck and hope the dye doesn't penetrate any microscopic pores or cracks in the inlay....That wouldn't look too good! As for the binding....a razor used as a scraper should probably take care of any dye......This stuff wipes on an wipes off quickly....But I'm not sure that I would make an attempt at anything other than the fretboard, using the dye on a q-tip.

Ya gotta ask yourself one question...." Do ya feel lucky?.....Well, do Ya?"

What a waste of bandwidth.

....Yeah, the search functions on most of these types of forums leave something lest to be desired.

....Experiment and test.....Maybe some knowledge will be gained along the way. I never expect to learn anything without hands on experience.

Palisander is a great wood for necks.....It is very stable and is a fine substitute for Brazilian Rosewood.

ddgman2001.....Most of the burl I cut is "green".....and not kiln dried. Much of my burl is at least 6 or 8 years old and is fairly dry, ....@10-14% moisture content, but not dried to the point where I'd use it on a guitar without further drying. Most of the burl I use is very stable to begin with, so not much degradation takes place.

Like almost anything else, carbide, used in tooling comes in different grades. The less costly router bits, obviously, use lesser grade carbide. Most of Stew-Mac's router bits are manufactured overseas (most likely Taiwan).....I've bought their router bits and have found them to be of inferior quality to Whiteside or Amana or American-Carbide or several other makers. If you use the bits that Stew-Mac offers more than just a few times, you will notice the difference. The bearings that are used in the Stew-Macbits are also faily useless. For a one time use, you may not notice the difference, maybe even the second or third use, but in an industrial or commercial application the difference is astounding.

In general terms, buy the best quality that you can afford, if you don't, you'll end up buying the bits again and again. The funny part is that the Whiteside bits are not any more expensive and more often than not, cheaper than Stew-Mac bits. The S-M bit for their HotRod truss rod is @$19.50 vs a Whiteside 7/32 at @$13.50.

I have found LMI's bits far better than Stew-Mac's. Remember that these bits are manufactured to the specs of the retailer for the express purpose of resale to a, more or less, hobbyist consumer that may never need to use that bit again. But, for nearly the same price, and in many cases less, a Whiteside bit will far outlast the "generic" Stew-Mac bit.

Freud makes a decent router bit and they are available at many outlets. If you spend a little more time seeking out high quality, you won't be sorry.

Yeah, I've had some old timer's tell me they prefer the 1/4in, and there are specialty blades for resawing that are 1/4in, but I have had better results with the 1/2in.....I have my blades custom made, believe it or not, it IS cheaper to go this route. I cut a lot of burl and root balls, so it would not be cost effective to use a 1/4in specialty blade....too much danger of ruining an expensive blade on a tiny rock or sand pocket.

I stay away fromthe 3/4in on my 14in bandsaw because the 1/2 is more versitile for my work...I spend less time changing blades......but I do have the advantage of my 36in saw, which is almost exclusively used for resaw.

After resawing, The wood still needs to be planed to a uniform thickness, I use abrasive sanders, what do you use?

I use 2 bandsaws in my work.....On the 36in saw I use a 1 1/4in blade .042ga with the kerf around 1/8in and 2-3TPI.....here is where I resaw some very heavy and wide stock(20in)......on my 14in I usually use a 1/2in blade(I don't remember the guage).....again, an aggressive blade with 2-3 teeth per inch. The kerf here is also about 1/8in...maybe a little less.

The 1/2in blade on the 14in saw seems to handle any resaw chores that I may have for it with relative ease. Remember, if you are resawing, an aggresive blade works better because it provides ample area for the sawdust and tiny chips to clear and not clog your blade. The blade won't wander around unless it is dull. A 1/4 blade may note give enough stiffness to plow straight through very dense and hard stock without a little trouble. I'd go with the 1/2in blade 2 or 3 TPI. Remember...if you have an underpowered saw, this all may be moot.

Here is a link to Whiteside Router Bits. There are several 7/32 bits in their catalogue...solid carbide straight bits to spiral upcut bits. I don't believe that it is possible to order directly from them, but I'm sure that somewhere on the internet there is a site by which they may be ordered. If you can't find one on the net....let me know. there is a dealer locally that I can set you up with. Don't buy the bit from Stew-Mac.....Generally the carbide that is used in their bits is of lesser quality. The Whitesides are USA made.

http://www.whitesiderouterbits.com/catalog/CatalogHome.asp

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!

http://www.routerbits.com/cgi-routerbits/s...9778900_30048+1

An easy out will ONLY work if you can drill a hole to put it in first

Did I not say that you may have trouble finding one small enough? Why do I bother?.....BTW.....If one looks hard enough through some of the industrial suppliers of tooling, there is a plug cutter, which has been described in the previous posts, as a shop-made remedy, that won't drift and give you a clean bore......

There are bits called easy-outs.....Most hardware stores should have them....They require being able to drill a tiny dimple into the broken end of the screw. It may be difficult finding one small enough though. Stew-Mac has a small set of screw extactors you may want to check into....I have a set, and I broke the teeth off of the smallest one the first time I used it. I haven't used the larger ones in the set. I know other companies make extractors, but for 1 screw, it may not be cost effective.

BTW......GLUE WON'T WORK!!!!

LGM and Kevan's ideas are most likely your best bet, if you can't get the screw extractors.

There are 2 commercial types of Blackwood....Tazmanian and African....I believe that Tazmanian and what you are calling Australian are the same species. Koa(Acacia Koa) and Taz Blackwood( Acacia Melanoxylon)are very similar in many respects....look and workability.....It is a favorite of Aussie furniture makers.....Not cheap either! It is a member af the Acacia family and is used to make some fine acoustic guitars.

Keep in mind that if you are bringing back wood into the US from foreign countries, it may be impounded or quarantined by customs for a period of time so as to make sure you aren't bringing in any unwanted critters or bugs with your wood.

http://gwguitars.com/p2.htm

Leopardwood is not snakewood....They are 2 different species and Snakewood is much more expensive and is a much smaller species.....Leopardwood is also referred to as Brazilian Lacewood.....it is very hard and heavy and can splinter into very sharp shards.

Is this the stuff you are talking about to?

http://www.righteouswoods.net/leopardwood.html

Lacewood!!!!! That is some really plain stuff when it comes to Aussie standards.Try and find yourself some Lacey Sheoake......or maybe some Red Mallee burl.....or possible some nice Corrugata burl......These are only a few of some of the truly great woods from "Down Under"......Here is a link to a fellow I know that imports directly from Austrailia......It will give you some idea of the variety of great woods the Ausies have to offer.

http://www.xmission.com/~burlturn/index.htm