tdog

I've re-sawed 4 3/4" thick Koa for 'ukulele body halves, and I even re-sawed 4" thick Ebony, but the Ebony put alot of stress on the motor. Most of the time I used a 1/4"x4TPI blade, as I recall, so I could get fast cuts. Blade tracking wasn't that good though.

....that is what I'm talking about.....Koa and ebony are on 2 "different animals", so to speak.....Extra stress means shorter motor life...... due to the difficulties in cutting through certain woods, you can destroy your guide bearings....THEY COST AS MUCH TO REPLACE AS THE ENTIRE SAW!

I was impressed with Rigid, as less expensive line of machines....Their drill press looked to be substantial and it seemed as if their jointers would be a good machine to own for small shop applications.

" Cheaper the better" is not necessarily the way to go....you'll end up buying your tools twice if you use them often.

I wouldn't buy a Ryobi router either....nor a Craftman for that matter.....Porter-Cable, Bosch and a few others are far beyond the "consumer grade" stuff in regards to quality. For just a few $$$$s more, you can purchase so much more quality.

There is a reason some tools are cheaper than others.....usually cheaper bearings or cheaper motors.

Here we go again with the 9in bandsaw!!!!!!!!!......and a Ryobi to boot!!!!!!!

It is undersized.....underpowered......and generally a piece of junk.

Rigid makes a decent 14in bandsaw for @$365.....You can find it at Home Depot.

Bust on me if you want, but I know tools and machinery....also their limitations. Every tool is designed for an intended purpose.......I use my 9in bandsaw for cutting out jewelry pieces......A 9in bandsaw was never intended to cut through 2in of mahogany or other hardwood. I find it difficult to cut out some guitar bodies on a 14in bandsaw because of the table size.......I also have a 36in bandsaw, which is my workhorse....It does all my resawing.....I can resaw 20in purpleheart.....I'll bet you can't resaw 3in of p-heart on a 9in.

Here is one available for purchase.......

http://www.mimf.com/

ansil.....Here ya go!.....Plum lumber.......4-8in wide....3-6ft long....4/4...maybe 8/4. I know these folks...They will take care of you. I've never bought anything from them that wasn't simply outstanding. Rick Hearne's facilities are in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area.

http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/Inventory/plum.html

A 7/32in bit is not an extremely hard bit to find.....Frued, Whiteside, Jesada, Bosch and about a dozen other companies make them.....Do a Google search and you should be able to find one and order it online in 5 minutes. I know I've posted links to the ordering pages of some of these companies.

A sealer should be used when using nitro......If you are using Mohawk or Behlin musical instrument lacquer, vinyl sealer is recommended. The sealer provides a base for better adhesion.....plus it helps level out the surface. I have used lacquer without sealer, but usually only when making color samples.

I deal with Gilmer all the time.....I've always recieved great material from them.....Talk with Myles or Jim MacDermot. On a sidenote, Gilmer actually supplies material to many smaller dealers....so you may have actually bought wood from them indirectly.

If I remember rightly tdog does a lot of branding.

I'm not sure if I am the one to whom you are refering, but I sign everything I make with a dental-like tool.....an engraving tool that does about 400,000 rpms......with a good sharp bit you can write your name or anything else for that matter, as easily as you were writing with a pen.....There are many of these on the market...mine is manufacture by SCM and was @$400.....A Turbo-carver is similar.......The way I see it, if you get a brand made, it might cost $50 or more dollars(its been a while since I priced one).....If you bought a Turbo-Carver for $160 or so, you'd have a tool that is capable of many carving tasks. I use my SCM tool much more than a Dremel.....The SCM is capable of very detailed work.

Here are links to a body that I used the SCM to open up some inclusions in the burl of a body so I could inlay some crushed turquoise.....also a link to my engraving tool.

http://www.fenderforum.com/userphotos/index.html?recid=4696

http://www.scmsysteminc.com/engraving.php

Lex...I guess the metal tube does give you a great ground!!!!!!!. I have all that 4in blue flex hose on my dust collection system and it develops its fair share of cracks and holes..........The answer to this problem is......DUCT TAPE!!!!!!!....it doesn't suck!

Have a good one.....

Greg

http://www.gilmerwood.com/

http://www.righteouswoods.net/

http://www.nwtimber.com/

http://www.curlykoa.com/

http://www.luthierwood.com/

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/

http://www.woodnut.com/products/products.htm

http://www.curlymaple.com/

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

http://www.lumberlady.com/

What about Makita or DeWalt?

Didn't I just cover this? I build high end art-furniture and routinely cut 2 1/2in mahog and walnut for natural edge tables....(sometimes I have to trim edges so I can avoid back-cut edges)......I have a DeWalt saw that was about $175 and I can honestly say that I would not hesitate to cut out a guitar body with it......assuming that high quality blades were used.

Lex Luthier....Are you using dryer vent for dust collection hose?

I don't know if Rigid tools are available in your area.....But I saw a 14in Rigid bandsaw at Home Depot the other day for $359.......After checking out the machine, it looked to be well made and well worth the $$$$$$.

When I bought my jigsaw....( I make slab tables and needed one that was able to cut 2 1/2in thick hardwoods).....It came down to a DeWalt and a Milwaukee....I don't remember the model numbers!......Both saws were in the $175US price range.....Each of the jig saws had all the power that I required.....Ultimately the decision came down to which one felt the best in my hand.....I ended up with the DeWalt.....As long as you puchase a top of the line saw from one of the major manufacturers, you should not have a problem......Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Elu,Milwaukee, and others make good stuff....There is consumer grade ...contractor grade.....and industrial grade.....stay away from consumer grade like Ryobi....Just research before you buy and try not to buy a particular saw because it was cheap!!!!!!!

Bocote??????...with walnut and alder??????

I made my opinion of the Safe-T-Planer known in the previous thread. Benedetto may be able to use this device with great success, but when you trash your first piece of really beautiful and expensive wood, you won't be singing many praises about this tool. I've been around the fine art world for 25 years and I can say that some artists are able to use totally rediculous tools and techniques to achieve extraordinary results. Jackson Pollack used brushes large enough to paint a barn with and slopped paint all over the place! His technique redefined the modern impressionist movement. I know photographers that can make fantastic images with a pinhole in a cereal box!......What does this all mean?....It means that a skillful and gifted artist can create great work with crude tools.......others, given the best tools and raw materials, can and will fall short until their skills are honed and polished....and they have a total understanding of their tooling.

......Bust on me if you must!

I have 2 Performax drum sanders...a single drum 22in and a dual drum 37in....These are great machines to have......I've never had a belt fly off.....and they are in constant use.

you can turn the blade 360degrees

The GMC may be a good tool...I couldn't say...I've never seen or used one....But, What I can say is the rotating head is a most useless feature! Remember, the width of the blade dictates the minimum radius that can be cut. I used a craftsman that had that same 360 rotation feature and found that it was difficult to cut and rotate and put enough pressure on the blade to actually get it to cut...try putting lateral force and rotate the head while still cutting your line!......Get a jig saw without the rotating feature.

But odds are, the Grizzly is built a bit better, and a good bit less money. I've been very happy with their stuff.

I'd be willing to bet that most of the Grizzly, Jet, and most Delta are manufactured in the same Taiwanese facility. There was an article in Fine Woodworking magazine a few years back and I was surprised to find out how many different brand names were made at the same plant, with some minor changes....mostly cosmetic or slight differences in castings.

criss...Porter-Cable has a router set that includes a fixed base and a plunge base which utilizes the same router body. It is a fine tool, although the cost is in the $199-250 range....but you get what you pay for....variable speed...tons of power.

Amazon has them for a good price on the sets...1 3/4 hp and 2 1/4 hp

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...e&s=hi&n=228013

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...2?v=glance&s=hi

If one does not think bindings should be scraped...... Take a tour of the CF Martin facility.

The raw binding is not a perfect thickness throughout its entire length....Most likely, you will have to do some scraping on every binding, to a certain extent.

Big frets call for big strings....try a set of .011s.....or if you're up to it ..,.012s! I don't think you will be sharp any time soon with some hefty wire!

Try Klingspor

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/

If you can afford it, get a 14in bandsaw....you'll be glad you did.....I can't imagine trying to cut out a body on a 9 or 10in bandsaw. In my shop, I have a 9in.......a 14in.......and a 36in.......The 9in get used for cutting out jewelry pieces and also nuts and bridges.....I use my 36in Powermatic (7.5hp)for my resaw machine....it will cut anything up to 20in thick.

OK.....Inlay is an artform all its own.....Pick up Larry Robinson's book, "The Art of Inlay"...... and while your at it also get Melvin Hiscock's book and get a rudimentary education on what skills and tools are need to craft a guitar. Books are a wealth of information and I'm surprised that more people don't research the great amount of information that is on the internet.......I read nearly all the posts on this board and must say that a primary concern, for many, is $$$$$$.....It is either the cheapest tools that you can get away with, or where you can buy rare and exotic lumber at the price of pine.......So here is a great money saving tip....for $14.95, Jim Donahue has an e-book available at this link.....There is lots of info and many pics......Some of the book is geared towards small manufacturing, but it is all solid info.

http://www.noahjames.com/books.html

Try knife makers supply houses for some composite material.....sheffiedsupply.com or texasknife.com......it still is not that cheap. There are also a few guys on ebay that sell some nice composite.