Official Luthiers Forum!

For anyone who needs to make a side template that includes the correct side profile either because plans aren't available or you build instruments of your own design, here's a way to do that if you have an outside mold for the instrument you're building and a radius dish for the back radius. This may be old news to many folks here, but maybe it'll be a new tip for someone.

Run a piece of tape along the inside of the body mold from one end to the other. Scribe a line on the tape by sliding a pencil mounted in a carrier along the surface of the radius dish while keeping the pencil in contact with the tape. Keep the pencil level while sliding the carrier to get the most accurate line on the tape. Mark the centerline of the body at each end of the tape. The pencil carrier in the photo below is just a random piece of scrap wood that I drilled a hole through to hold the pencil.



Remove the tape and transfer it to your material of choice for the template (I use poster board). Locate the tape on the material taking into account the taper of the guitar body from the tail to the neck (body depth at each end). Then cut along the scribed line. The shape of that edge of the template will be very close to the final side profile. When I cut a side accurately along that line, it makes driving of the bus to get to the final profile pretty fast.

_________________
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Great stuff Jay and thanks for posting this. My generation of the OLF before you got this idea from who posted it for us and that was Colin Symonds the crusty old OLFer who did historical restoration work for some pretty notable museums and he was a scholar and scientist of "crusty" structures. Colin was here in the 2005 - 2010 era and a huge contributor to this forum.

If you see this Colin please say hello we miss you!!

Thanks Jay!!

A rubber band around the two arms of a cam clamp makes them easier to handle. Placement can be done one-handed.

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Since I am currently French Polishing a few guitars I'm reminded of this tip for the French Polishers, two tips actually, so I thought of this thread. Tip 1, use a brush (after sealing any binding wood that might bleed) to brush on the 1st 3 coats then sand back flat. Tip 2, clean the brush in a little jar with alcohol and after 3 coats you have a nice jar of thinned shellac for final glazing.

I like Hake brushes. After trying several different kinds of brushes including some very expensive ones I have found these to be the best AND they are cheap:

https://www.dickblick.com/products/yasu ... ake-brush/



Now that I think of it tip #3, One problem with Hake brushes is that they lose bristle hairs easily. You obviously don't want those in your finish! So take some thin CA and inject it into the base of the brush so that it locks all the bristles in.

Nothing sets off the old carpal tunnel like a week of bracing repair - elbow deep in a soundhole, wrist cocked at an extreme angle trying to manipulate some tool to clean old glue out from under a brace.

Sometimes working from outside with bent probes and a mirror is a good solution. But it can be a little slow and cumbersome.

Faced with another late 60s J45 that had popped most of its soundboard bracing, it occurred to me to grab a feeler gauge, a finger pick and my soldering iron and make this:



For braces I can reach with my hand, this thing has about halved my old-crud-removal time and makes the whole process very comfortable as I’m not needing to grip anything, I can sand under a brace simply by wiggling a finger or rocking my wrist.

I’m calling it The Fingsander. With luck this will launch a lucrative toolmaking career

^^^ That is GENIUS, Josh! ^^^

I'll bet a broken hacksaw blade would work for filing certain areas, too. (defanged, of course)

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

For those you can't reach by hand you can stick sandpaper on the spring steel strapping they band pallets with and reach in through the soundhole with them.

Oh snap! I love that one.

Thanks Chris, I think it would too. I’ve got a box where I keep scraps of old flexible Japanese saw plates and I think some of those may be repurposed also. Some of these Gibsons have huge gobs of squeezeout along each brace that needs to be hacked out of the way before you can get access to clean and reglue ‘em.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lots of good info being shared on fret filing, crowning and end treatments.

I use the usual variety and expect to make some of the Collins/Hesh file "handles".

What I found helps me a ton with fret end dressing, balling, or easing edges, is a handle on files of a different kind.

File tangs are left soft so you can bend them to get your hand out of the way.

My best improvement was making handles with a flat registered to the safe part of the file.

It is a huge aid in keeping the safe edge where you want it and the sharp edges where you need them.

My hand tells me file position without having to take my eye off the job.

The "round" handle was a ball shaped drawer pull modified on a belt sander.

They improved my fret end treatment and file control a bunch.

Wouldn't be without the StuMac slotted fingerboard protectors.

_________________
Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Thanks for all the great tips guys!

Josh, this is the best I've seen yet for reaching unreachable braces. I owe you a couple of pints. An old saw blade is good, but this is great. Thanks.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

_________________
Pierre Castonguay

You’re welcome Pierre, I hadn’t had a good idea for around a decade so I was due! Happy fingsanding


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey buddy welcome back I hope you are doing great!

I tried out my fret board clamping caul today. I have been wrapping the fret board with cord and have had great results, but cleaning the glue squeeze out was difficult, with the cord wrapped on it. It took quite a bit of work to remove hardened glue after removing the cord.

I installed a new Martin 2-way truss rod in this neck, which involved removing the fret board and re-installing it. I drill with 1/16" bits at the 2nd on 10th fret before removing the board, and then use the bits as index pins, when re-installing. The board came of with the binding intact and went back on, with almost no signs that it had been removed. The new caul is 1/4" hardwood cut to the same shape as the fret board, with 1/2" hard foam strips, cut from the trusty old Harbor Freight foot pad. I glued full thickness strips along the edge, and a little thinner strip down the center. If I need the center taller, I can shim it with strips of tape or thin wood veneer strips. The glue clean up is a breeze, even with the Quick Grip clamps on it.

Sooooo, that's what those things are for. I have had some in my pick tray for years and never knew what to use them for. Let me know when the IPO is coming on the tool making business.

Wow! Charlie, good to see you post. Hope you're doing well.

_________________
formerly known around here as burbank
_________________

http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Can be a bit of a time saver - got bored waiting for my bending iron to reach a good surface temperature, so I made a "top hat" from 4 loose wraps of wrinkled alufoil as insulation for initial heating.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Great idea. I have been known to point a propane torch at the top of mine for a head start


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lol, and I heat my hide glue water in a pan on the kitchen stove (gas) before pouring it into the glue pot.

I'll try the aluminum foil next time I need to bend something. It's like a space blanket for the iron

You mean people sometimes don't??

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Not me (I use a microwave -ha).


Steve

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Actually I use my electric kettle....

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

This is the most satisfying scrap plywood thingy. I saw this from Beau Hannam on Instagram but was probably around before then. Rectangle with a hole = no more wobbly router when notching the lining.





Brad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Great, now I have to buy ANOTHER laminate trimmer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk