Official Luthiers Forum!

First off - does anyone have any Exacto #5 U-Gouge blades? They are about 3/8" wide and fit in the big red handles. I can't find any online anymore.... They are mighty handy for enlarging the area around an acorn style truss rod nut.

Second - anyone have or know of a source for a metric acorn style truss rod nut from a Washburn archtop? Someone murdered this one. It measures 7mm across the flats and 4.5mm inside diameter. No idea on the thread count, seems to be a similar to a fine thread.

Pix later....

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Penny added for scale...

https://imgur.com/jZ1US73

https://imgur.com/Q1s4HbT

Thanks for any info... This is a really nice axe, and for a client I've had for 40 years. I want to make him smile!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

To find the threads an easy thing you can do is to take the nut to the local hardware store and ask to see if you can find a screw that fits it. Whatever the thread count of that screw is that fits is what you need for the new nut.

As far as the exacto blade goes the closest I've found is this that has one of the U-gouge style blades but along with some other pieces. Widget supply is fantastic for those weird bits/blades/bob things you just can't find most places.

#50 blade (not exactly the same but close)
https://widgetsupply.com/product/ben43-20350.html

5 piece set
https://widgetsupply.com/product/ben45- ... gJFr_D_BwE

Good call on the link. Thanks.

I'll head to Menards for screw info, I guess. They have a better selection than Ace, which is saying something.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

We have 1 old school Ace in my area. Sadly the last of the crusty old greybeards retired from there and the service has already gone down. I wish we had a Menards here to give the homeless despot and blowes a good challenge.

Tru Value has a pretty good selection on hardware also.

Which one, Al? The one out on west Central, or out by Rock Road?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Looks like you can still get them but could only find them in a kit. I use x-acto blades of all kinds and am always searching for the hard to find varieties.

https://www.ebay.com/p/X%2DACTO%2DBasic%2DWoodcarving%2DSet%2DBoxed%2DXac5177/1800062722?iid=123773238630&rt=nc

https://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X5175-Deluxe-Woodcarving-Set/dp/B00004Z2UD

I use the flat chisel tips and #11 blades a lot. Sometimes you just need a thin, easy to sharpen blade.

Also the #15 keyhole saw blade is a perfect fit in fret slots (0.023") for deepening a radiused board along the edges or cleaning.

http://www.xacto.com/products/cutting-solutions/blades/detail/X215

Brian

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Chris, the one in Haysville has drawers of metric hardware. It may be the same as Ace for all I know. If you can find the thread size, I can check down here.

I went to Ace today..... M8 size hexnut with a 5mm thread. Ace didn't have anything long enough, or any brass nuts.

Did I mention that the acorn nut had been superglued on.... WHY in the cinnamon toast hell did they do that?

I think I can just file the acorn nut shorter, and add another washer behind it I suppose, but I'd really like something new that's correct.

If you get a chance, Al - check it out for me. Save me a drive, thanks.

Also, kudos to Mr. Kirkland - I found a pack of two #50 Excel blades on Squeebay and hit the BIN immediately. If I can find more at another hobby shop I'll get 'em.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

M8 is a pretty common thread. What I've done in the past is take a coupling nut and cut it down to fit the truss rod. As long as you get the right thread count you can just saw them down and you're good.

Just slip it onto a screw in a jewelers vise and you can grind down a nice round edge to make it pretty. Takes no time at all even on soft steel. Less time on brass.

https://www.mcmaster.com/hex-coupling-nuts

Glad you found some of the blades.

Darn it, Dan - Why didn't I think of that? I'm supposed to be this high-powered fully trained tool and die maker, wise in the ways of fabrication and so on. I'm losing my touch....

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

We all forget things, as long as you can still dish out the truth as your greybeard self I'd say you're in good shape. Although admittedly I don't know how old you actually are or if you even have a beard lol.

Superglue can be released with heat (aka, a soldering iron).

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Peter Havriluk

Yes, it can..... But first, it needs to be obvious. And it wasn't until I cajoled the nut off and the awful truth came into focus.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

63. This was me around Christmas of 2017....Did simple setups and fretwork on mostly ukes for a local store for a year. I told them no money, but at Christmas I expected a new Dean Caddy in white. Seemed reasonable to them.

https://imgur.com/b8ORSvF

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Santa hangs out in Doo-Dah in the off season?

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Why not? It's a good place to live. Good food, fun times.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

UPDATE: Did some filing on the stock truss rod nut, and added another washer so it all worked properly. I put a little Chapstick on the truss rod threads first, to keep things from binding. Worked like a champ.

In the meantime, did a bit of a spot level on the upper frets and did a setup to make it play smooth as silk.
The result...
https://imgur.com/OUKBIrK

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Glad it worked out, that's a beaut of an instrument!

Basically a fancy Gibson L-5 copy.... Washburn only made these a short time - less than 3 years. Even though the top is laminated, it has a good sound that works well acoustically compared to my carved top Eastman 810. Plugged in you'd never know the diff.

If it was mine, I'd put the volume under the pickguard edge. The knob gets in the way.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince