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Thanks to the experience I have regarding wood warping at the wrong time and stuff, I will buy my second kit in advanced and let it acclimate for a few months to eliminate anymore problems with wood movement. Is it advisable that I stack and sticker them upon arrival?

I am going to do an unserviced kit for my second build which means I will need to bend side and stuff. I elected to let LMI do all the sanding/joining for me so I can get that out of the way. I will also be making my own bridge out of blanks (and ordering extras in case I do mess up). How do I jig my laminate trimmer so I can cut accurate saddle slot? I will route them in before the bridge is shaped to avoid complications involving trying to get the router to even depth.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
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Yes, I would absolutely recommend that you sticker the wood in a humidity controlled environment for a couple of months (at least) before you begin to use the lumber.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

What is "sticker the wood" and how do you do it?

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Chuck buddy I asked the same question shortly after I got to the OLF. Sticker? Made me think that every piece of wood had to have a sticker on it that said "I voted...."

Stickers are just something that creates air space between the wood and it's helpful if what ever you use does not stain either. I use 3/4" X 1/2" stock from the Borg or Lowes and cut them to size for the sides, backs, and tops.

Here is a pic from a couple of years ago to show you the idea:

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Ann Arbor Guitars

So there's one thing I've always been wondering about when it comes to stickering wood:

How do you get a piece of wood out of the middle of the pile?

Do you have to take everything on top off in order to get to it? This seems like a bit of a pain if we're talking about a big pile... And also I'd imagine you'd want to look at everything once in a while to remember what it looks like too.

Michael my friend take pictures of all of your wood and if your really anal, and I am....... , label and number your wood too.

As soon as my new shop is done I plan on taking each piece out, vacuuming it........ , labeling it in such a manner that you can read the label from the side of the stack, and restacking. I also think that I really don't remember what I have either so this will be helpful to me.

Also, when ever I buy something I write on it what the heck it is, where it came from, and the date that I received it. Fortunately I have been doing this since day one.

After I label everything I plan on going back and renaming the pictures to match the control numbers on the labels on the sets. But you are right, I still may be needing something from the bottom of the pile but at least I will know what is on the bottom of the pile.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Thanks Hesh,
I've had an idea of what it is but pictures are so much better. I didn't realize that you keep the sets together (one on top of the other, then sticker again).

Taking pics and assigning a filing system is a great idea too.

Thanks buddy.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

My system is quite a bit like Hesh's. I keep the sets together and I use a 'silver' colored pencil to mark species and set number on dark wood, a carpenter's pencil for topwood. This info goes in my shop notebook. You can use what ever is handy for stickering. A lot of mine are 9 inch sections of Ace hardware yardsticks. As an amateur builder, I'm not likely to have more than a dozen or so sets on hand, though -- this absolutely needs to be explained to your better half's satisfaction -- get the wood when you see it! Some sets only come around once in a great while, or maybe just once, so budget for WAS -- Wood Acquisition Syndrome. Its good to have it stickered on your shelves for a year of two and its great incentive to keep building!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Exactly Jim and I have heard some folks describe their stash of BRW as a 401K.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Oh and I forgot - back on topic - besides letting the wood acclimate to your shop AND keeping your shop at a reasonable RH (42 - 48% works) if you had your kit include bent sides it's a good idea to store the bent sides clamped into your mold. Some sides are going to try to return to their flat state and clamping them in a mold will make this an non-issue.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Tai,

Here's a couple of threads on saddle slotting (sort of like steer roping), I've posted my method in one and I started one because I wanted to know the same thing.

So, here they are. Any questions after this feel free to ask.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=18534&p=262143&hilit=saddle+slot#p262143

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=16354&hilit=saddle+slot

Hope this helps.

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Actually I already slotted the bridge. I just drew a line parallel to the edge of the board (the edge is straight) then find the angle and line the bridge up properly and used an edge guide to route the slot. But this obviously only works with the bridge off the guitar.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Tai,

Good for you. Sounds like your ready to invest in some tooling, you'll have to to scratch make a bridge and bend your own sides. Then you'll want to join your own halves to, (it's not hard at all). Most of us don't have a thickness sander, so unless you dont want to plane and hand sand to final thickness, getting the boards sanded from LMI is a good deal, I've been doing that for years. Send pictures when you get going.

Dave

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God, Family, Carreer

Tai,

Here's the fixture I made, based on ideas from someone here on the OLF, can't remember who.

http://www.patfosterguitars.com/koaterz4/page_116.html

Click through the next three or four pics.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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I am already finished with my second build just waiting for the lacquer to cure. I did this from an unserviced kit only thing that was done for me was slotted fretboard. I think next build I will slot my own because I want to buy wood locally and they won't slot the fretboard for me...









Joining top and back isn't hard at all I trued the edge with a router then sanded until the joint matches perfectly, then applied hide glue and used tape to hold things together. It's just time consuming to sand out all the marks from the safety planer. Next time I go over to the supplier for backs and side I'll be sure to send it through their thickness sander to a preliminary thickness first. Bending side isn't hard either just keep moving and make sure you wet the side but not too wet. The problem I had was there were bumps from staying in one place for too long, but they sanded out later.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Tai,

That looks like a great job!!! Congrats!!

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