Official Luthiers Forum!

I don't know if rotten stone would work, but I think in the final stages of FP you were supposed to use rotten stone to get the gloss. But some most of the FP guitars I've seen (for what it's worth I haven't seen that many) doesn't have the same level of gloss as polished nitro finish. It's more like semi gloss which can be achieved with rotten stone.

On a side note, how do I get a polished nitro finish without any sanding scratches? The harder I try the more scratch I end up making with whatever polishing cloth I use, and there's always fine microscopic scratches even coming off the wheel. It just seems that's the best I can do, not that I haven't seen sanding scratches in factory guitars too...

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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

Well,
Here's the Redwood top story.
For my second guitar I was working with Koa and thought a Redwood top look nice. LMI sent me a beautiful piece of Redwood. It wasn't cheap but beautiful. This was only my second guitar and profiling with a laminate trimmer still made me nervous. So I thought...just use the bench top sander, and hey that spinning disk on the side would probably work nice. I eased up to the disk with the Redwood horizontally and RIP... a 7 in long crack magically appeared. The good part of this story, is that the cracked top makes a great clock.

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Woody O'Keefe

Fellow luthiers,
I have slowly gotten over my wood burning loss....and ....knowing what I lost ...Probably $200+ dollars worth of material to a very enthusiastic pair of relatives that gave their time and energy to moving a HUGE amount of personal belongings and shop equipment to our new home...I shall take my loss in stride and keep the Christmas spirit and be grateful for their help....

Not easy to find good help...for free.... especially for moving....Well ...not exactly free....

I also did not pass the mistake on to my helpful wood burners...for fear they would feel so bad they would try and pay for my damages.

AND...I actually just found some super wood materials that were evidently misplaced and stacked in a mysterious hiding place in my old shop when I moved.
Christmas past hording recovery!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kent

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Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

heh heh, this is the only one that actually made me laugh out loud...sorry for the schadenfreude..... i could totally see that happening to me

I haven't had any trouble sanding Shellac... but you must follow this 1 rule....

Wet sand using Paint thinner as your lubricant.... I use the "Odorless" stuff because I have a can and it isn't useful for anything else... like thinning paint....

When you do this - the sand paper doesn't clog and it sands just like any other finish....

Thanks

What about baby oil? I would be concerned that the paint thinner would soften the paint.

I can't find any odorless paint thinner in Taiwan, I was thinking it may just be mineral oil, which is why its useless for anything else like thinning paint.

_________________
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

Mineral oil might work if you could figure out how to get it back off so you don't leave a slimey guitar....

The stuff I am specifically talking about is Mineral Spirits or Naptha.... I realize that "Paint thinner" in another language could potentially mean any chemical used to thin paint....

Mineral spirits or Naptha won't touch shellac.... Shellac needs an Alcohol based thinner to dissolve.

Thanks

Baby oil works great as a lubricant for sanding, but you need to use paint thinner to clean it up.
Kind of defeats the purpose if you are worried about softening the finish. I've used this combo for
rubbing out oil based finish on cabinetry with no problem, but you need to let the finish dry really well.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I am still fixing that Guild guitar, because I want the customer to say "Wow!" when he gets it. Since there are already a bunch of finish blemish around the bridge and its really hard for me to fix with the bridge in place (ever try level sanding really close to the bridge?) so I took the bridge off. Well the bridge doesn't want to come off even though an iron has been on the bridge for half an hour already (enough heat to actually distort the pickguard, which has to be replaced again), so with the bridge off, a new crack and more finish damage, I've just decided to fill any low spots with CA or epoxy (for the deeper gouges) and simply clear coat the whole top and buff it. The finish is already thin in places and I do not want to repair a sand through on a sunburst.

_________________
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

Well , Last night I was putting a nut on the padauk mandola . I got eveything lined up and set the way i wanted it . I decided to use ca on this one . I applied a little CA and set it into place . Stepped back to check my work and noticed the angle for the string break was facing the fretboard instead of the tuners mounted that sucker backwards . sheesssshhh I noticed it immediately , grabed my razor knife and was able to cut it loose fairly quickly ! That coulda been a mess if it had sat any length of time before I caught it .

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

OK, I think I may be in the running here. This was right at the beginning of December. I have a jumbo built and sprayed, hanging in my 4'x16' dehum room. It was hours away from final sanding and buffing. I walk into the room to get a couple boards that were sitting on top of the rack the guitar is hanging from. I grab 2 small boards and as I pull them toward me I pull the neck off the hanger and watch it fall, peg head first to the concrete floor, and see the heel break off right through the bottom barrel hole of the heel. So ya, I'm staring at the bottom inch and a half of the heel is lying helpless on the floor beside the rest of the neck, as well as a couple of small dings on the edge of my first bound peghead. I said (fill in your own choice adjective)! I actually felt sick. Not in the mood for photography. It was a clean break and I had it glued back together faster than you could say "cotton headed ninny muggins", had a whiskey and tried to forget about it. The next day I declampified and it looked salvageable so I stripped the nitro and sanded it out. It's actually pretty hard to see the crack line but I didn't feel like re binding the peghead so it got a little more rounding over to get the dings out. This ones a gift to my brother so we'll be able to laugh about it.......... over more whiskey more than likely.

I'll get it finishes over Christmas and post a pic or two.

Oh ya. My names Dan Vincent and I am a Doofus!

Best of the Season,
Danny

Hardly worth posting.

Somehow I managed to get the neck block a skoche too high on a Dreadnought I'm building (M/T pre-cut). Everything else was spot on (angle, etc...), but when I test fit the neck, the fretboard was about 5/32" above the top

It was an easy fix. Plugged the holes and redrilled, and extended the mortise down. All is well.

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Jim Hansen

Now we know ! Ive always wondered how much a "Skoche" was ...... its 5/32" ! Now if i could just figure out how far " Over Yonder " is ?

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

OK...how is this? I was gluing a veneer to the head of a guitar; the super glue (CA) had sealed the hole in the tip. I am in my chair with the guitar half on the bench half in my lap. When I cleared the tip, the tube blew, due to too much pressure. Now I have Superglue all over the head of my guitar . Like a madman I am trying to scrape as much of the glue off of the guitar with the scraper before it dries. I am livid, I put the guitar down so I can cool off before I can continue without shooting my self for stupidity. I try to move from my wheelchair to a bench when I notice that my left thigh is completely glued to my stomach. I tear the two apart with the aid of acetone.

Ohhh... No that is not the best part, I was working in my boxer shorts. The shorts were also glued to my, leg, and stomach and through the boxers a lot of hair was removed (epilated)...I missed the crucial parts by 1". For two days now every time my wife looks at me she starts laughing . It is very, very seldom I make mistakes but when I do they are doosies.

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Joe

My wife asks me "How many Guitars do you need?"
I reply "When I die count them; thats how many I needed".

Ouch... that story is about an inch away from putting you in the lead for Dufus of the Year! :p

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Jim Hansen

Well played Filippo.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

OK you guys, I think that anyone who works with CA in boxer shorts deserves to win. That's the best laugh I've had in a long time!!!

Joe , You may have just beat out the guy who uses bracing material for firewood . I havent laughed that hard in a bit . Sheesh , talk about everything going south at once .

It takes a heck of a guy to admit that one on here . Kuddos my friend . Ummmmmmmmmmm btw

Is the guitar ok ? Didja get any hair on the guitar ?

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

The superglue story is really good....very nice, I am still smiling here in front of my screen...

Surprisingly the guitar came out unscathed, due to my immediate actions. It seems the CA was more attracted to me. Some vigorous block sanding and gentle scraping removed most of the glue from the guitar. Most of the damage was done to my boxers and my pride. Since I am able to laugh at it now… ..How does this laugh at or laugh with me thing work?

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Joe

My wife asks me "How many Guitars do you need?"
I reply "When I die count them; thats how many I needed".

Looking forward to seeing Pics of the guitar when its done !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Yes Mr. Hill. Show us the guitar but not the other damage!!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Tony, those pictures would not have been for the squeamish. If they had used those pictures in Guantanamo Bay,…it would have been considered a cruel and unusual means of torture.

_________________
Joe

My wife asks me "How many Guitars do you need?"
I reply "When I die count them; thats how many I needed".

Here is another contender...

I just got the new larger 10" bandsaw in (2 wheel, cutting height of around 6", 1/2 HP motor) and I proceeded to cut some of my Japanese coil stocks to fit the saw... except the problem is, I was supposed to cut 1850mm of saw blades, and my ruler is 60cm max, so what did I do? I thought I'd 60cm and double the length, but in some momentary moment of brain fart or whatever, I failed to realize that 60 x 2 is 120, not 180, so I ended up with a length of bandsaw blade that is too short to fit any saw (when I made it into a circle I noticed that the circle seems a bit too small, and that's when I realized I had made a mistake). So rather than making two welds (which I am not sure if that would compromise the blade quality) I had to pull out more blades and this time I tripled the length of the ruler rather than double, and added another 6cm to that, and the length is right.

After brazing them I installed it and there seems to be a slight misalignment (because I am still waiting for my blade splicing jig) otherwise the blade worked real well without breaking, unlike the 3 wheel stuff that just eats bandsaw blades for breakfast.

Oh, and the reason I welded up some blades, is because the blade that came with the saw was dull out of the box!

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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

Actually I was thinking... attach a short section to a handle, narrow the blade to 1/8" and use it for slotting bridge pin holes, or attach it to a bow like frame and use it as a hand saw...

_________________
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