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I've got the guage but need ideas for the "body" to measure top thicknesses. Stew-Mac's is a little pricey. Anyone have any pics of their set-up? Thanks.

This is mine that I made a few years back. I works quite well.



Shane

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Canada

excellent piece of work there shane . I see that in my future as well .

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The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
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Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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Shane, that's really elegant.

Mine's plain, but works. Made of scrap maple.



Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Here's mine, another simple plywood affair. It is inexpensive and it works, but no beauty prices for this one...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

When my 30 year old IV caliper jumped off the bench last fall, I decided to go digital and have inches and mm. Cannabalized the lever and used a scrap of Coco...

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm haans will u send me that one ? I like it , I like it

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Thanks for the ideas. I was wondering, would there be any advantage to having a "table" as the bottom arm so that a top would sit flat and not have to be held while it is being measured? Or is that simply over-thinking?

No, that would work, but if that's what you want, I'd do it on a drillpress table, like this (not mine).
Then, go ahead & build the type others have shown, as you'll probably want that too.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Actually, a flat table would not work for "top thickness", as it would mask unevenness on the table side, and only measure the thickness of the thickest variant. It would not measure thickness at the point of measurement. You need two points that are opposite each other to get accurate readings, even then you get variations if you slightly lean the top or piece you are measuring.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Yep, you're exactly right Waddy! Too quick on the draw!

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Dave
Milton, ON

You know I just noticed the effect of leaning the side too much and getting a thicker reading - I think it may have lead me to over thinning a little bit. I was going to make a new holder that has a 1 inch by 1 inch platform to rest the wood on - maybe a little platform of granite or Corian since that is flat. What do you all think ?

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

Nope, you need two pins that touch. I had to bevel and round the nylon screw I used because it gave "various" readings.

I made this a good few years ago, as a temporary fixture as I needed one quickly, meaning to make a better one when I had the time. Well I've had the time but as this did the job perfectly never felt the need to up-date it.

Colin

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

Looks just like mine. So when you move the board you have to be careful to hold it even, and if you move it - just move it to get the lowest reading. I was hoping for something a little more reliable. I guess you can't have everything.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

It will only give you an approximate reading, but that should be close enough. There are too many variables in tilt. If you had tiny points, it would be more accurate, but then you'd damage your surface. So, yes there is always a trade off.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Here's one I built about ten years ago based on the one in the benedetto book and still use today for archtops rough thicknessing. It gets me within 64ths which is usually close enough at least for me. A piece of maple, a small pulley, a guitar string, bent piece of 1/4" tubing and a piece off a broken tape measure.