Official Luthiers Forum!

I picked up some old dental burrs from a ebayer. i havent recieved them yet though. i recall someone on here looking for dental burrs. So you might want to check it out. price is cheap. 12 for $4.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ranson-Randolph-New-Cutwell-Burs-Dremel-Luthier-USA_W0QQitemZ120218917178QQihZ002QQcategoryZ47067QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

If you'd like a direct source for these burs, I'll buy them for you through my suppliers and you can save having to deal with ebay. There are many shank sizes and lengths, the ones pictured are a latch-type Dental bur, quite short and a bit hard to grip with some chucks. There are longer shanked burs which are easier to use with certain tools, Dremel for example. They
are a high-quality carbide and can be of use in certain procedures. Some are very small and
can help with small inlay patterns. I usually take a few from the orders as they come into my Dental office and use them at home. Just remember to check shank diameter as not all are the same.

Best
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Thanks for the info Bruce.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

But........ have these been used, well you know, in people's mouths..............

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Hesh - they may be unused, but I have been to the dentist so many times, I know I could do a root canal for you much cheaper than a licensed dentist. I can use the Everclear I have for FP for the anesthentic.... And since the burrs are so cheap I won't even charge you fo the material.

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

hesh when I emailed the seller he told me he bought them from an estate sale. He says they are in the original packages and are new unused. My original question to him was about any corrosion on the bits from sitting around so long. he said they look new as the day they where made. He said the original owner used these in the manufacture of some type of medical equipment.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Most of these burs don't do so well once used,enamel is the hardest substance in the body so even well made carbide burs don't last that long. BTW, the Everclear is for the Dentist,not the patient, you don't think we'd actually work on peoples mouths without some type of anesthetic
The burs in the photo were the main burs used by Dentists up until 1963 or so when the profession went to the high-speed water cooled handpiece. You old farts will remember the
days when Dental drills were powered by cords driven of a small "engine". Things took forever
and everybody was glad to see them go. Now we use those small latch type burs for specific
procedures but not that often. They will fit into some chucks however and I've used them in
Dremels etc.
So, no burs that have been in people's mouths, they're not worth the effort, you want a fresh
carbide bur and they are effective.

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Watch it, I actually have one of those dental drills in my shop. I inherited it from my father. He used to work on his dentures in his basement, when he could still see. No he was not a dentist. But the unit is nice, and it is a good tool for small stuff. I probably need to get a new one of those long tubular belts for it, the old one has to be weak. I don't use it much.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Buy them? Just ask your dentist for some. The following week he'll hand you a jar full.... In every imaginable shape and size! They love to find someone who can use them, since they have to toss them anyhow. They will sterilize them for you, too(by law...).

At $4/dozen I could cash-in and make my next 2 car payments with what I have on hand

Ditto on the Dentist request suggestion. Not only have I gotten more used burrs than I'll ever need, I also occasionally get a real cool "retired" stainless steel pick or excavator or mirror or some other indescribable hand tool.

Some of my best golf buddies are Dentists!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Yep, same here. Jar full of small torture devices.

I also got some explorers and chisels and a nice set of tweezers. Some of the instruments I ground the tips
down and made small chisels that are handy for lots of things.

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Horton, MI

Funny story...

I had an Anatomy Lab Prof in college once admonish us for calling them "Tweezers". He stated that women use tweezers to pluck their eyebrows while we use FORCEPS to isolate or extract anatomical elements. And his parting shot was, "...so keep your plucking tweezers out of my lab!"

Sorry Kirt...Nothing personal...I couldn't help myself!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Hah! Good one.

They're still called tweezers in my "lab".

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Horton, MI

I've done the same, lots of free stuff from my dentist. If you have any medical connections a late night raid of the ER or OR can be very productive as well. They'll give you stuff like plastic med cups that are great for mixing epoxy and holders for super glue, and glass microscope slides you can use as scrapers for binding and stuff. Syringes and various sized needles make great glue applicators for tight spots like bindings. The OR's occasionally throw out old tools that can be useful. One of my favorite tapered reamers was part of an obsolete total knee system.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Torture devices and tweezers!!!!! I'll have you know that in my office we call them by their proper names, long pointy things and grabby things so please, use the technical, medical terms.

Years ago we used to do a procedure called gold foils fillings. They were comprised of real gold foil, annealed in heat and then cooled, packed in the prepared cavity prep and work hardened until they were as hard as a cast gold inlay. I use them now for small position markers on the side of the fretboard. The instruments used to place them are incredibly perfect for guitar construction. The smallest, sharpest chisels you could imagine in every angle available.
The gold foil fillings have been gone for many years now but I kept my kit and have my fathers kit (unchanged from the 40's to the 70's) and use them all the time. They still take an edge (we spent hours in Dental school learning the proper way to sharpen instruments) after all these years and work great. Now, a Dentist having graduated in the last 15 or 20 years could not tell you much about gold foil fillings, they are history for the most part. They were on every exam for state license testing because they were the most obvious test of whether you were a klutz or safe to turn loose on the public. It was extremely difficult to place these things, I'm glad we dont' use them anymore and I can use the instruments on projects in the shop.

The instruments to ask for in a Dental office are the hygienists old instruments, they don't work well for their needs but are still great for shop use and are the highest quality carbon steel, take and hold an edge very well with conventional stones.

Torture devices, grrrrr I only torture my employees I'll have you know. It's kind of a mutual thing, however. They're winning.

Best
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Man.... I am sure glad that in guitar building we don't have any use for proctologist tools..........

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Oops, sorry Bruce, didn't mean to "grind" you the wrong way. I have a low threshold for pain.

Actually I'm very fond of my dentist. I've been going to him since about 1966. He's been practicing dentistry
for about 45 years now. I moved away for about 8 years and the dentist I went to commented on the
impeccable job that he'd done. He's kind of a goofy old fart, likes to play bluegrass on the stereo while he works
and sings along too.

He's also a guitar player and a great guy, as I'm sure all dentists are.....

Might have to ask him about the gold foil tools next time.

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Horton, MI

Just kidding Kirt, anybody that tells me they enjoy going to the Dentist makes me a little
nervous, it's something most of us just put up with and are glad to get out the door.
Yes, by all means, ask him about gold foil instruments, he'll know exactly what you are talking about. Great instruments.
As far as golf goes, I don't know how people have the time, every minute I'm not in the office
I'm elbow deep in french polish.

Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

The dentists I play with don't build guitars.

As far as myself, every minute I'm not in the office I'm working on guitars for 30 seconds and performing impact tests on the golf course for the remaining 30 seconds. It's just that easy.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

My dentist just retired. I went in for a last check up and he asked if I wanted any bits. I said sure but what I'd really like is a hand piece, to which he said sure but why don't you take the whole chair. I now have 300 bits, 2 chairs complete with drills, the arms with the lights and tool trays an autoclave and some other odds and ends. He was just glad to have it out of his way and not have to deal with moving everything with a rushed closing date. I want to take and strip a chair down and rebuild it into an adjustable hieght bench. Should be a fun little project for when I have some spare time.

Paul

Paul, I've seen that done with Dental chairs, there are two basic types, the hydraulic vertical
lift chair (usually older chairs) and the scissors lift type, either of which can be made into
adjustable height benches. The vertical hydraulic lift is easier and takes up less space. These old chairs can be had for next to nothing,many are thrown out as scrap. It's a shame because the mechanisms are really strong and can take a lot of weight. I've had my chairs "tested" a few times..
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Bruce, mine are the vertical type (about 30 yrs old) and have lifted 300+ lbs in the past. I think I can use the backrest hydraulic cylinder to make a wing at the end of the bench which can angle up to support the guitar neck. I had thought of using the backrest cylinder to build a vise but then relized I'd probably crush more things than hold them.

Paul