Official Luthiers Forum!

Don't tell SHMBO that the box of wood that arrived today would have paid for a holiday in the Maldives!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Since I don't have a drum sander, I use a regular cabinet scraper to reduce the thickness of bindings. The binding strip is pulled under a scraper that is supported by brass shims which control the finished thickness. I don't remember where I saw this tip.

Ray

ray, remember to hit return after each photo to avoid the wide display. or so i'm told....

Ray, I like that! Simple, effective, and it all breaks down and is out of the way when you're done.

JJ--I think your visual journal is a great idea. No hunting for information is necessary. It's all right there on one big page.

Hesh:    flush

My favourite tip of the day isn't mine, sadly, but belongs to Ant Setchell. Basically, it makes gluing up scarf joints idiot-proof. All that's required: a few clamps, and some masking tape.

Read all about it:
http://www.setchellguitars.co.uk/ant/blog/?p=121

I'm never, ever going back to pins, cumpiano's overly complicated clamping setup, etc. Did two like this a few weeks back, and it's perfect. Also works well (with an extra strip of tape) to line up headplate veneers for gluing.

Try it!

"Tenting" the scarf. Clever. Thanks Mattia. I also enjoyed the header on the page you linked.

My tip is don't rush. I learned that from previous woodworking projects . I make a point not to fall into the old "I have 30 minutes. I could do a quick glue up, or carve, something to make progres". I've learned, at least for me, that the more time I take the less I have to fix

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nay

My blogs
Hand Made Gutar
Woodworker++

[QUOTE=blindreality]

Cats and table saws do not mix.

[/QUOTE]

Suuuuuuurrrre they do.......

(Just kidding...we have 2 of the things and we love 'em).

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Just remember that they're only guitars. Don't forget to spend time with the wife and kids.

Oh, and another tip. The disposable blades they make for stanley knives, exactly fit into a fret slot cut with Shane's circular fretting blade. You can grind old worn out stanley blades to whatever shape you need, shape the other end to fit a hobby knife, good for clearing out stray glue after binding, or for deepening a slot on an already bound fretboard. I hold them in a large cast iron vice and shape them with the dremel with a grinding bit. If you keep the area you're going to be using for a cutting edge very close to the vice, it'll act as a heat sink, so that you don't anneal the blade. It's pretty much the same thing as stewmacs fret slot cleaning tool and only takes a few minutes to make.

I bought an electric tooth brush at the dollar store. (cost: $1.00) I shaved off the bristles and glued a 1/2" square of cork to the face. I stuck a 1/2" square of PSA sandpaper to the cork and "ta-da" a detail sander that fits in almost any small area. It works really well.

Now that's a good tip (So to speak)!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

   Everything that Steve and Waddy said above and even more unique and
impressive CA glue ups that have been mentioned.

    A quick story of my worst CA glue incident....i was working on a large
inlay and was sitting on my favorite stool for cutting shell and the
matching cavity to lay it in. It's a sturdy steel legged deal with a foot rest
at the perfect height for me.

   While doing the inlay, I had my very thin viscosity CA glue open with the
spout off and the large bottle opening accessible for me to dip into with a
dripper for applying it to the edhges of cut pieces asI assembed them for
the overall inlay.

    Here's my small tip that I've used since the 70s for repair work and
building. Whenever I change a setof strings...with the exception of coated
strings....I cut off the ends at the tuners and drop the ends from the
wound strings into a drawer in one of my organizers and keep a dozen or
two in a cup on my main bench.

    They work great as a sort of small honey dripper when you have the
need to control and precisely diret a drop of CA glue to a chip or very
small piece. Just dip it in to collect a drop or use the control tip on the
bottle to pour a small drop onto the string and the winding acts as a run
lowing surface. As soonas you make contac with your desired destination
for the drop of glue, it will wick off of the string end and right where you
want it. I then just cut off the end to get a fresh section of winding for
next time I need it and throw it back into the cup on my bench.


    Well...to fnish my CA glue disaster story....I accidently bumped the
bottle of thin CA glua and it landed between my legs on the stool. I stood
up and quickly wiped all visible glue fromthe stool and pulled out a fresh
bottle to get back to work with. I hadn;t realized how much of the glue
had actually reached the back of my pantlegs as it ran aroundthe stool
seat.

    After a few minutes, I went to stand up and quickly discovered the
backs of my thighs had been glued to my pantlegs that had been securely
glued to the seat of the stool. I was ot of earshot of my wife...who was the
only person that i'd allow to help me in that situation so I had to bend
forward with the stool in close tow and walk into the house from my
shop.

    She laughed and threatened to grab a camera before she helped me,
but she showed som mercy and grabbed the gallon of acetone from the
shelf in my shop to release the grip of the glue on my legs and pants.

    We had to cut away all of the pants except the material that was glued
to my legs like patches measuring about 4 by 6 inches.Embarrasing and
painful, but it all came off in about two hours and I made a heavy little
holder for those uncapped bottles to prevent them from ever being
knocked off of a bench toward me again.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

    

Good One Kevin;
My CA adventures pale in comparison! I see a weighted bottom container in my future.
Stew-Mac's pipettes work great too. The bulb on the end is large enough to safely hold quite a bit of glue. Usually I fill a pipette & cap the bottle again immediately.

[QUOTE=Mike Mahar] I bought an electric tooth brush at the dollar store. (cost: $1.00) I shaved off the bristles and glued a 1/2" square of cork to the face. I stuck a 1/2" square of PSA sandpaper to the cork and "ta-da" a detail sander that fits in almost any small area. It works really well.

[/QUOTE]

That sure is a good tip!!, speaking of tips not only do I have an old mechanical braun toothbrush around, I happened to find a set of 3 replacement tips {I forgot I had} for it as well, which is great as now I can have several grits at the ready.

CONTEST IDEA: this is an awesome thread, but I was thinking that it would be even better if it was a monthly contest - you could set it up as something like this:

1)Contest could be first Wednesday of every month {or randomly designated day} prolly not weekends is best
2)Tips contest would last the entire day: 12:00 midniight - 12:00 midnight EST
3)One tip entry per person
4)The prize could be something small & inexpensive, but cool and desirable such as a OLF Tee shirt or Coffee Mug - or even a small donated prize by a member or sponsor.... depending?
5)The following day every OLF who wanted to could vote on who came up with the best tip idea...
again one vote per person - person couldnt vote for themselves.

I think that not only would this friendly contest make this tip thread a regular thing, it would make people stock up on ideas {or search out good tip ideas} for the thread.... you know so they could win the cool prize!!
I dunno just shooting it out there.
We havent had many contests lately - the Auctions have sort of superceded them somewhat... I miss the contests...
Cheers
Charliewood

I've got to admit that the electric toothbrush tip is one of the best I have seen. I would have never thought of that!

  

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

Kevin the string CA applicator is genius. Sadly I only use an acoustic toothbrush
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

[QUOTE=Evan Gluck]Kevin the string CA applicator is genius. Sadly I only use an acoustic toothbrush

Evan[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but where can you get a detail sander for less than ten bucks, and extra heads for $3?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Kevin pictures please?

This reminds me of what Madonna did to Sean Penn with CA.......... [/QUOTE]

Okay, I haven't heard this one...but I GOTTA!

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

Here's one way to extend the length of your clamp. I take a 1/4" dowel and shave one side flat then it can be used to extend the length of the clamp by cantilevering it as such when gluing up those hard to reach places.



Another thing I do is use a scrape of wood (top) and layout the rosette-cutting pattern. I can then quickly set up router for each pattern very quickly.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

When rubbing out finishes, I find it much easier to see scratches and
blems if I close one eye. Not sure why it works, but I really see a lot more
that way. I'd be interested to know if it works for others.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

[QUOTE=Mike Mahar] I bought an electric tooth brush at the dollar store. (cost: $1.00) I shaved off the bristles and glued a 1/2" square of cork to the face. I stuck a 1/2" square of PSA sandpaper to the cork and "ta-da" a detail sander that fits in almost any small area. It works really well.

[/QUOTE]

Great minds! Here's a thread I posted a couple of years ago. Mini buffer

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.