Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi, the heat stick neck removal tool I mentioned in my last post had issues. It would not heat the timber as shown in the video of the heat stick demo. I could not get it hot enough to even char the wood as shown in that video. I complained to Stewmac and they sent me another unit. This however turn...

Hi Jules, if you are in the USA it might be good to shop at Stewmacs, but here in Australia, I bought my Safe T planer around 25 -thirty years ago. It would be much cheaper I would think.
Taff

Hi Jules, do you have a drill press? If so, I could show you a small-thickness sander I built using a drill press some time ago. You might be able to get a local cabinet shop to machine stock down close to what you need, then do the final thickness yourself.
Taff

Hi, I haven't posted a build in a while, so I thought I would post this Parlor guitar. It's New Guinee Rosewood with a cedar top. It was not a commission, as I am trying to steer away from them so as to have more freedom to do what I want when I want. I was very happy with the sound, for a small gui...

Hi, just recently I revisited one of my earlier posts and found that it had been viewed over 6000 times, there must be a lot of people not saying hello. Feel free to chime in.
Taff

Hi, I have two dust extractor systems in my shop. One works seven machines through a ducting system with gates at each machine inlet. This allows me to keep up the suction power. My bandsaw has its own small dust collector dedicated to it but at times I have to disconnect it to use it on my overhead...

Hi Wayne, very nice looking and sounding guitar and a very nice presentation.
Taff

Hi, I had the same problem with the reducing bush in my Makita ½” router. I have converted it to an overhead pin router and only use the ½’’ shank bits. I suppose I could also use it to shape braces, but I enjoy the handwork. But I use it similarly to shape my kerfing strips as I do those in batches...

Hi, well, I thought I would join the slackers club and admit I have a nylon build also waiting for a neck. It's a mahogany body with a Ceder top solid body, a la Chet Atkins. I just pulled it off the shelf; it's been there since the late 1990s. There is so much to do—so little time.
Taff

Hi Wayne, well it looks like it was worth the wait, that's a very nice guitar.
Taff.

Hi Richard, and welcome. As I am outside of any sizable town, a lot of my job requests come via email with a photo, sometimes many photos. Just the other day I had a request where the photo showed the area to be repaired, too easy. However, I told the customer that it could be misleading to estimate...

Hi, Yes, I have nearly finished a build using Aqua Coat wood grain filler. The photo shows the finished job. It worked well. That's new Guinee Rosewood and it took a lot of filling. Cheers Taff

Hi Mac007, that's an interesting way to do that job, never heard of it before. I prefer a tiny plane and a very sharp chisel for that task. I shape my braces after gluing them to the plates to get a feel of the response and flexibility. By the time I get my router out, fit the bit, secure the brace,...

Hi Al, thanks for visiting and the nice comments. Yes, it has been a while since we met up. I enjoy our discussions on building design and the outcomes we achieve.....or not. Other than my son you are the only other builder I know, not know about, but know to speak to. My son visited the other week,...

Hi, I'm in the do not lacquer my bridges camp. I like the look of natural-looking timber, especially as it is often a nice piece of hardwood. I use a Mirotone Teak wax called Alna 738. It has a different name now, I bought a liter tin of it over 30 years ago and am still using it. It brings out the ...

Hi, Welcome Steve.
Taff

I had a request to repair this old Gibson from an elderly lady whose husband had passed away. It was his guitar, and he had done extensive repairs on it over the years. He also painted the guitar with brown paint, to hide the repairs. Luckily most of the damage was on the sides but filled with a put...

Hi, Here is a photo of the tool I made back in the early 1980s I cut the steel out of an old army vehicle and it works fine.
I have a list of 210 tools and jigs that I made in the shop and not bought. Cheers Taff

Hi Bob, I recall my first use of a bolt-on neck, maybe twenty years ago, and it was the start of my use of that method on my future builds. I had to do a reset on one of my earlier builds, the guitar was twelve years old, and the tenon used had dowels down the sides of the tenon glue line. Short of ...

Hi Bob, thanks for looking in, yes I filed a cutting edge on the back like that on the front. The shaft that goes through the hole replaces the locating point that is normally on the front and stops the bit from skating around. I am just wondering if a similar bit of a suitable size could be used to...

Hi, here is a very simple idea I came up with for drilling a countersink hole inside a guitar. At times when doing a repair regarding heal repairs or neck resets I have often converted the neck attachment to a bolt-on method. To make the repair look neater I always counter-sink the bolt head into th...

Bridge Slotting Overkill… Being a firm believer in the saying waste not want not is what brought this device into being many years ago. It started life as a vintage engraving machine, given to me thirty-five or so years ago, and it was operated on the lines of a pantograph. I have adapted it as a de...

Hi Trent, ok, if you don't mind wrecking the output jack then what about using an "Easyout", the tapered tool that looks like a thread-cutting bit that has a reverse spiral and is used for removing broken bolts or studs. Just a thought. I have a bunch of the m here and it looks like that would work....

Hi Trent, I was all ready to post photos of how I would tackle that problem but found that a recent computer service had removed my photo program, and I have not worked out how to get around the problem yet. So I will try to explain it. First, you need to grip the body of the jack. To do this: * I h...

Hi, yes I received that email as well. I thought it was a scam, too good to be true sort of thing.
taff