Official Luthiers Forum!

Just wondering how people use their sanding dishes... i have seen a few here built that look like yours spins. Then i notice on a builder's site i like, http://www.truenorthguitars.com/InTheShop/source/05.04.backr imgrinddone.htm (this shop is to die for!) that it appears he must twist his sides on the disk or shakes it - judging by the dust pattern on his dish...

So if you spin yours, any issues with the piece chattering on the dish? Or are the references to the use of washing machine motors really meant to say that you kept the mechanics and built it to do a twisting motion?

Since i am guessing that i am only going to build 3 - two prototypes and then THE GUITAR (Mine!), that i won't bother motorizing this, but i am curious.

Thanks all!

Rob

Rob, I leave my sides in the outside mold with spreaders in place and twist the dish. My sides are close to finished profile size before I bend, so it doesn't take very long at all to sand the rims. My dish is double thickness so it is heavy enough that I don't apply any extra pressure.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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

the dishes are used in a variety of ways, always with the rimset held in the mold. some just lay the dish on the rim set and rotate it back and forth by hand. some make a fixture with a post in the middle and mount a handle on the dish. the post sticks up through the rimset, a hole in the dish fits over the post and the handle is used to rotate the dish.

others fix the dish to the bench and rotate the rimset back and forth on it.

then there are those who build the powered machines where the rimset is just held on the dish whilst it spins. brad way's is about the nicest example of this that i've seen.

and the washing machine motor used in some machines just spins, no nasty, noisy gearbox to provide any ocillation.

all these methods work. just take your choice.

Like this: SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE *take deep breath* SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE!

I "drive the bus" as well...what a cool term. And my sides are profiled near complete before sanding.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Spin, shake....not stir.

I use a pencil to mark witness lines, then, drive the bus.

That is until I get my handy dandy McKnight/Proulx Machine together. The pieces haunt the side garage and call out to me each time I pass..... spooky!

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I spin mine manually over a center pole that goes through the center of the dish. One day I will motorize it

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com