Official Luthiers Forum!

Sounds like you need to get your priorities straight!

Actually, you can buy replacement blades for the tool if you like.

Radial arm saw motor runs at 3450 rpm, and that seems to be fine.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Robbie--

Thanks again. The bit on sharpening is worth my weight in gold!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Can this tool be used to thin the top material (spruce)? or is it only good for back/side? If it's only for back/side material, are there any wood that it's shouldn't be used on?

I don't use it on top material just because I enjoy hand planing the tops. I suppose you could you use though but be careful as spruce and cedar are much softer than rosewood.
Also, if I am thicknessing highly figured woods like walnut for example, I tend to leave it a bit thicker than normal as the tool sometimes tears out the highly figured grain. This is easily sanded out but you must account for this when thicknessing.

See my pictures posted above. It works fine on Spruce. The one I was doing was one of Shane's Lutz tops.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I still do all of the gross thicknessing of my B&S with the Wagner planer, I made a longer table to fit on my press so that sides are kept flatter when planing them as I don't have the luxury of four hands.

The moveable fence also has a cut out at the bottom of the recess to allow a hose from my dust collector to gather most of the chips.



I'm a bit worried about too many people holding the cutter in their hand to sharpen it, a small slip and you have a very sharp high speed projectile wizzing around the place, if you're confident and used to doing it then fine but that does look like an ER visit waiting to happen to me. I much prefer to hold the cutter in a drill vice.



I like to run mine at my drill's fastest speed of 3600rpm.


Colin

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

Robbie - I love these tutorials. How many do you have to accumulate before there is enough for a tutorial DVD?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Thank you for the compliment.
I have no idea how many I need. Eventually one day I will have enough and then perhaps a Luthier Tips du Jour DVD will be born.

Since I put out this video I have gotten all kinds of emails explaing ways to set up the tool. Many of them include bearings or other devices to hold down the wood on the table as you send it through the tool. Some include dust collector attachments and a few are used in a radial arm type saw that allows you to thickness plates that have already been joined. Some even have elaborate jigs for holding the cutter heads while sharpening.
This exchange of information is great and we all stand to benefit. Hopefully there is enough info out there now that one will feel comfortable setting up and using this tool.

BTW, Most of my youtube video hits come from Australia! The USA is number two. Congratulations to the folks from down under.

Robbie,

This is GREAT. My son had just posted a thread looking for someone to thickness some wood for him that he's about to purchase from Allied.

A drill press and a thickness sander are still on our list of tools to purchase as we set up our shop - but it looks like the drill press and a safe-t-planer may get us by for quite some time.

It's tips like these that make OLF one of the best places I come to spend time.

Thanks again and again!

Keep posting those YouTube videos!

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

I would like to see some wood hold down scheems, looks like Colin has one going. I also think minimum you should use vice grips when sharpening.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Check out Stew Mac's site for some great instructions on the Safe-T-planer. This might help you come up with a method that works for you. http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Building,_general/Tool_instructions/i-0485.html