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I recently bought a used LMI rosette cutter. I wanted to dedicate a drill press to the cutter so that I could leave it set up. My choice was to convert my 8" drill press, so that it would reach the center of a dread sound hole, or buy a 12" or larger drill press to use for that. The 8" one was not getting much use, so I decided to convert it. I took it to the welding shop and had a piece of 1 1/2" I.D. pipe turned to match the 1 7/8" O.D. of the column assembly. A 5 1/2" piece was welded to the top side of the original column, and bingo, it was done in a flash. You can see the before and after test I cut in the table top. The reach is now sufficient for a dread.

Yankee ingenuity at its best, I like it.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Nice! How does that cutter work?

Nice thinking, but you should have added another section of pipe so that you could also do 12 fret guitars.

I like it too, looks like something I would do!

Chuck

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We talked about that, but I was afraid it would be "front heavy". My B.I.L. did the work, and he still has a piece of the pipe, in case I want to extend it again. It is only a 10 minute job if you have the extra pipe.

James

It does a perfect job, with no tear out. Works better than I had imagined. Of course, the key is keeping the cutters sharp. I have always used a router for my channels but I like this a lot better.

James

Thanks, from a south Alabama country boy.

You should be able to do a 12 fret top by turning it so the waist is tucked into the column.

Chuck

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I just came in from the shop to post that exact thing. I got out my 12-fretter and measured from the waist to the center of the sound hole, and I can reach it fine from the waist.

Thanks,
James

Not a 12 fret dread, I'm afraid....

Yeah, I'd have been concerned with it becoming front-heavy, also, but extending the foot, or bolting it solidly to a bench should rectify that.

Nice setup!

Awesome. Way to think outside of the box. You just expanded my mind!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

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Pat

I'm not sure if it will work with a Martin style dread, but I checked my plans for a 12-fret Smeck. It is 7" from the top side to the center of the sound hole, and It is 5 1/4" from the waist to the center of the sound hole. So it will work on a Gibson style slope D. The 12-fretter that I will build next will be in the style of a 1930 L-1, Kel Kroydon, or L-0. I have just rebuilt 3 of those and made all the measurements and drawings for doing a replica.

Extending the foot, or bolting it down, are simple and inexpensive solutions, if I do decide to extend it more.

Thanks,

James