Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I have a question. I understand the use of carbon fibre on the top and bottom of a brace to form an I-beam. I have heard that, along with the weight and stiffness advantages of CF, that its use can prevent "cold creep". However, I have never heard a definition of the term and can only make assumpti...

Hi mickey It would be great to accumulate all those tools but then you would somewhere to put them, spare room in the house is great if you have it. I'd like to +1 dot bots comment about finding a book that works for you. The first thing to know is that they are pretty much all in the library (at le...

Thanks kev and Doug I'm assuming I need to get meths that doesn't have the purple dye in it.. I've seen it somewhere. I haven't yet invested in "the books".....one day. I have the milburn tute once..need to read it again and make a bit more effort to understand. Have picked up some shellac and a lit...

I can get denatured ethanol fairly easily. I have read that is the same as denatured alcohol. Any thoughts? Am I overthinking this and should be just using meths?
Cheers

Haha, but you mainlanders don't seem to realise ....those ladies' coffee will be going cold And I notice the school boys have longs AND shoes on. Must be really cold.

I'll try the Malbec on myself first before the guitar, purely in the interests of science of course.

Thanks Martin Apparently there is a part missing from the weblink, on levelling, which I found through the OLF I have always thought that rattle cans were easier and they might be but this is a bit different as I need to finish what is started. Plus my last few efforts with cans have been a disaster...

Stop looking everyone
Google fail on my part, found what I needed 5 mins after posting...
have a nice day!

Hi all, from chilly Auckland Would anyone know where I can get my hands on a copy of this often quoted reference? I have been googling but the site is gone. I need to learn how to FP to finish a guitar for a mate who passed away before he completed it - the back is done but the sides and top are not...

There's a lot of BRW backs and sides there - I thought the stuff was supposed to be hard to get...
French polish on the first one is impressive
Allen, yours look great in that company - all class.
Hope that it works for the vendors.

Hi Joe, Reading my post again, it does sound a bit negative, I didn't mean it to be, but it kind of does, sorry! I hope I didn't put you off having a go at a kit, I am just cautioning to think twice before spending a lot of money on tools. If you are planning to build another one "one day" then a ki...

Hi Joe As a leftie classical player (these days) who has built that kit you were looking at as the first one I had ever built, here's my two cents worth, for what's its worth ( about 2 cents!!). As a long time woodworker I must admit I initially felt there was not actually much to do to assemble it,...

You're welcome Greg, good to see more people having a go at it. As always, get the right tool as otherwise you will just end up doing it twice or more. If the saw in Bunnings is floppy, it wont be any good. One of either Stewmac or LMI quote the kerf (width of cut) of their saws, sold to match the t...

I think its looking great. You would need to be filling the body wood anyway before you paint it, so whats a bit more filler between friends. And you could leave the ply like that and make it a "grunge" finish.....?? :mrgreen: Progress is certainly brisk. I reckon that you will be surprised when you...

Hi Greg, looks like that will make a nice body. +1 for the centreline idea, that should also help to align your truss rod slot, assuming you are going to put one in the neck. Also, you could make your fretboard a few mms longer than the neck itself, then it will over hang the join and you wont see i...

Hi all Haven't posted in while but thought someone might find this useful. A while ago (2011) I built a classical and posted some pics of the finished guitar at the time. I play this pretty much every day and while it has plenty of flaws its easily the best thing I have ever built. However, from the...

Hi Zendo +1 for Jim's comments, but if you don't have any spruce to compare with you would be a bit stuck. Although you mention strength, stiffness is generally what we are looking for, I think. In theory, you should be able to use the elastic modulus of the two timbers to calculate how much bigger ...

I perspex is the same as polycarbonate, then yep, Bunnings. Agreed, its polycarbonate not Perspex but does more or less the same job. I remember being told at school that Perspex is polymethylmethacrylate - no wonder the trade name is shorter. Whatever it is. it's not cheap, so the sign shop sounds...

What the others said plus a few!!
Good luck with the knives Nick, if they are as sharp as your guitars then all will be sweet.
And good luck giving up the smokes if you haven't already
Cheers

Very nice video, very nice guitars, very nice playing. Very cool! If hearing that doesn't sell a few guitars, then I don't know what would. I'd be interested to know if many people actually buy at the show? If I was thinking of buying a top end guitar I would think that having that many different op...

I get mine from Bunnings

A very kiwi uke, Miguel, that looks lovely. Love the warm colour in the back
Cheers

Thanks for the link Nick, it was interesting and lots of cool tools. Very clearly illustrates the difference between building for fun and building for mass production.
And speaking for myself, not knowing what they are going to sound like is half the fun. If its crap I get to build another one!!

Howdy scuffle

Nice colour combinations and headstock - that will look nice under the final finish.
There are quite few people here that have built electrics, even if they mostly build acoustics.
Its always nice to see what and how other people are doing

Good luck with the build

Thanks all And Hi Eric, nice to hear from you Martin, do you use the different speeds much on your 14" saw? Some have this and some don't (Jet), I wondered about the usefulness I think the motor size is going to be pretty important. I will keep looking and let you know how I get on. Machinery House ...

This post is aimed my New Zealand colleagues.... I have been a bit quiet of late for various reasons, mostly relating to doing a lot more learning to play rather then learning to build, but as things are warming up and the workshop beckons, I am thinking of upgrading my aging but still OK 14" Dyco b...