Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Its been a busy week here. After 12 months packed up at the back of the garage and in a storage unit the workshop is finally in the process of being set up. The temporary bathroom is now a dedicated wood store/finishing room and the cabinet work from the kitchen in the old house is being re-birthed ...

Less weight/more stiffness in the top...or added mass in the sides.

1.75mm is getting in the thin side.

Bob_H wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:07 am

Thanks - the top is fairly light (1.75 mm) and the Sitka is fairly coarse and not particularly stiff. I will try to keep an eye on this. I suspect the coarseness and perhaps heavy handed sanding may have contributed to patches of ridging- thanks again

Nice work Professor Coombe...

I'm with Allen with the inter-brace sinking of the top. How thin is the top? How stiff is the Sitka? Re sanding out softer grain.....this can happen if you don't sand using a block and/or you're applying too much pressure during sanding. Your top wood looks like the grain is fairly coarse so this mi...

Did you have a caul on the underside of that top while re-gluing the bridge?

The vents are ventilating the area under the suspended concrete slab. There are also three fans that run for a few hours each day to help move the air around. The rear portion of the building has slab on ground floor. Martin, how are to vents at the bottom of the walls connected to the inside of the...

No main job now...I retired from the oil patch 12 months ago. Half my super went into the new house

blackalex1952 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:54 am

ahh the advantages of a job well done and a real job for income support as a luthier, y'ol mad professor you! Cheers! Ross

My take.....with a single course instrument it's academic which option you go for at the nut end. On a 12 string it's less academic because you've got a bunch more strings. I go equal string centre spacing on my 6 strings and on my 12 strings and lutes I go equal string gap spacing.

The reason the bridge is lifting at rear is a glue joint failure. The bass side has lifted first because string tension is higher on the side of the bridge. Eventually the whole back will lift. This needs fixing before you start playing with the action. As Richard recommends...take the instrument to...

Sounds like he's doing a binding job on a really huge guitar?

Mark McLean wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 13, 2020 10:08 pm

I am trying to work out how a fire hose becomes a clamp. Haven’t worked out the answer yet.

Check out local fire service....I'd say they often chuck hoses that have a few holes in them.

nkforster wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 12, 2020 10:18 pm

Anyone have any offcuts of lay flat fire hose? 75mm wide+, 50cm long +? I'd like to make a clamp using one but don't really want to buy 30m of the stuff to do so.

TallDad71 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 06, 2020 11:46 pm

Yairi Gakki is Sadao Yairi. The other Yairi was Kazuo Yairi. Hiroshi Yairi was Sadai Yari's son

Now repeat out loud 10 times.

Having a Japanese wife and speaking the language also helps

Yairi Gakki is Sadao Yairi. The other Yairi was Kazuo Yairi. Hiroshi Yairi was Sadai Yari's son and the guitars he made usually bore an S Yairi label.

That looks like a cedar top.....I have a K Yairi flamenco with a similar looking top. My guitar is a 1970's instrument and it has also lost it's "zing". Cedar tops usually "play in" alot quicker than a spruce top but in some guitars the pay off is they "play out" a lot sooner than a spruce top.

LOL.....it pissed down the day after that photo was taken.

Dave M wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 02, 2020 3:22 am

Pleased you got it finished Martin. Looks smart.

Jeez I could envy you those bright blue skies!

Dave in a very grey and wet UK

I just run a pencil flattened on one side (tape wrapped around pencil to stop exposed lead rubbing onto side) around the side onto a piece of paper. Any irregularites get tidied up either free hand or with aid of a French curve. Hey guys, I’ve been watching the Stew Mac tracing guitar shape video An...

You may have noticed a lack of post from me documenting any builds. Ive been busy building a new house since the start of the year and the workshop had to be packed up so it could be used as a temporary bedroom. The new house is now finished and Im busy clearing out the workshop in preparation for g...

The main advantage of a laminated side....you don't need to use a full thickness set of valuable tonewood. Inside layer can be wood that is less showy.

When drilling use a brad point bit...more chance of the bit staying centered when you start the hole.

I was born and raised in Christchurch....the place is cold and damp because it's built on a swamp. I solved my
humidity problems by moving to Adelaide

Possibly rollers binding up in the holes. Try running a reamer through the roller holes...or a piece of dowel with sand paper wrapped around.

If 180Hz is your target for T(1,1)2 then I'd start by making up your bridge and weighing it. This will give you a better idea of how much drop in T(1,1)2 to expect once the bridge is on. If it was me I probably wouldn't thin the periphery of the lower bout at this stage. I'd get the bridge on and th...

Might as well add to this thread. My workshop has been packed up for close to 3 years now while I build a new house. The house is nearly finished and I should be moving in mid October. The garage and workshop have been home during the build and once I'm back in the house there'll be a few months spe...

Nice work mate. I fixed up that photo that was on it's side....makes it easier to see that nice stash of wood behind the guitar