Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anybody know where I can get a plan for making a deep throat caliper? I've seen plenty of pictures where it looks like people made their own using wood and a dial from a standard caliper. I just need something to help measure soundboard and back thicknesses. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

John

Hi John, i'm pretty sure i saw one on Kathy Matsushita's website if my memory serves me well.

Serge

Here is one that I made using 1/2" id black pipe, a bolt and some scrap mahogany and maple. It works great!



Although I welded (I use that term loosely I should say 'glomed') on a piece of trimmed angle iron to attach the dial guage I was thinking that you could just cut a hardwood plug for the end of the pipe and 5-minute epoxy it in place and attach your guage to that.

Shane

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Canada

Shane, I've been wanting to make one of these as well. Can you tell me where you purchased the guage? How wide of a measuring range does it need to have? And are there some kind of holes in the guage to allow you to attach it, or does it need to be modified?Dave Rector38725.6086921296

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Mine's not near as pretty as Shane's, but it is entirely functional. The base is some salvaged oak and the rest is just some pine scraps. The indicator I got from grizzly. It is just press fitted into a hole drilled into the pine arm. The throat is 9.5" deep. I believe the indicator has a 1" range.

There is a tab on the back of the guage I have. You can get these things almost anywhere for 20 bucks or so. Grizzly is an option for you, I think I boaught mine at a local industrial supply place.

I drilled and tapped the steel angle iron to attach my guage just because I hadn't done a lot of metal work and wnated too. But I think that you can just add the wood plug as I indicated above. I added the bolt to the bottom just in case I ever wanted to archtops, which I do!, so that allows you to get a 'shaped' plate into the guage which a lower flat surface won't allow you to do. Also, I can adjust the bolt to zero the guage, which isn't entirely necessary but I am a bit that way...

I will post a couple more picks that may help, I just have to reduce them first, back in a minute or two!

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Canada

Here's the pics





Hope they help!

Shane

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Canada

John,
Here is probably the simplest way to make one if you have an old bicycle laying around:

This was made by one of the members in the CO Luthiers group. Very ingenius. Enjoy!
Tracy

Thanks Shane! That clears thing up a lot.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

No problem at all Dave, good luck!

Tracy, that is very clever! I like it!

Shane

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Canada

Thanks Shane and Tracy, i happen to have a couple of pipes hidden somewhere in my shop, gonna build me one too!

Serge

Thanks fellas, there are some great ideas here. I think I might actually steal the fork off an old bike, at least until I get more time to make something a little prettier.

Cheers!

John

Tracy if you manufactured some of these you could probably pedal them pretty easy.

Good one Bruce! There's always one in every crowd!
Tracy

I'm hurtin'

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Canada

Talk about recycling!

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......