Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Syringes are plenty accurate enough and is what I use for 105/207 105/206 mixing. But Techniglue is a gel and doesn't suck up easily into small syringes. You'd have to top fill them and then try to get the bubbles out - next to impossible. Techniglue also seems to be very tolerant to imprecise mixin...

Paul, The "wait before buff" time depends a lot on your drying environment. Mine get hung in the shade on the deck. Warm, with a light breeze blowing through. Minimum drying time is about a week in these conditions, which is probably equivalent to 2-3 weeks if hung in a dark, dank shed. Good airflow...

Find three clean sticks all the same width. The right width depends on how much glue you want to mix. Scoop out one "helping" of resin and rest the stick on the edge of your mixing receptacle. Match it with another helping of resin and then a helping of hardener using the other sticks. Plenty accura...

Looks better than what I'm up to lately. I'm using Durobond guitar nitro, and it's damn near doing my freaking head in. Hey Paul, What's the problem? Both Gerard and I shoot that stuff and find it really easy to use (which is why we use it). It's not the fastest to harden and it will bloom if spray...

I think it was Graham who asked me about the software parametric equaliser I used for filtering guitar sounds. The one I use I was able to cobble together using VST (Virtual Studio Technology). I downloaded it from here . Needless to say, I'm using an old version... If there's anything else I promis...

And I very much enjoyed it, too. Plus I can no longer say I know nothing about ukes. We shook one of Craig's (yes, THAT one) and it showed every indication of operating just as I would expect a small guitar to operate. Funny, that. Thanks specially to Dom for his hospitality and to everyone for maki...

Sounds real thick to me, too. If the numbers are right, you'd probably be able to feel that the wood was comparatively floppy. As usual, check everything. If it still seems sus, try a different method and see if you come up with the same number. For example, it's pretty easy to check Elong with a be...

Tallow wood.

Ignore everything above (ha ha!). You have the right honing guide if it's the Mk II. I use a 12" blue DMT diamond "stone" (the super-flat kind) for getting to the first burr, and the same size 1200 green stone for getting rid of the burr. Use low-odour kero as the lubricant. About 5-10 strokes on th...

For laminating falcate braces which is the best...West Systems 105/206 or techniglue? Techniglue for laminating braces and as a general purpose epoxy adhesive, WEST 105/206 for any work with CF, WEST 105/207 for grain filling/clear coating. All are made in Aus. by ATL Composites somewhere near Bris...

Never leave a board half cut(!) The new surface will inevitably dry out and many woods will surface check, so your next slice off the board is full of cracks. This doesn't happen if you slice the full board as the wood will move rather than crack.

Sorry, Tphil. I'm one of Bill's slaves.

You might want to try this on the main forum, as somebody will have come across a solution.

Interesting thread here.

In the book I mention using a band clamp (framing clamp), which is what I still use. Has anyone had problems with that, or are you just trying different ideas/working with what's in your shop?

There's a brief note on how I do "blind" bound fretboards on p 4-124. (Design book).

I’ve found that the top should be 2.9mm for douglas fir... Is that for generic douglas fir or for the piece you're about to turn into a guitar top? "The book" has all the detail you need (far too long to quote here) of how to thickness the back as well as the top and what monopole mobility to aim f...

Did I say I know nothing about ukes?

There are a lot of classical guitars out their with strings pulling a lot more tension and no bridge plate.

Bob,

You're doing a great job. I owe you a crate!

I fret off the guitar. The main tricks are keeping all the flats flat (back of board, top of neck) keeping the fretboard crown accurate and carefully pressing in the frets, checking that they are level (fret rocker) as you go. Then using a big castellated caul (mine is sort of like Kim's, but 40mm d...

For those who have wrestled (or will be wrestling) with the numbers, check out this thread: http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3626#p43983 which explains where some of those small variations may have come from. Rounding errors can introduce some minor errors too, and ill-conditioning in Excel...

...oh, and one more thing...

remember I know nothing about ukes...

You can probably miss out the bridge plate (unless its already in...)

And did I tell you I know nothing about ukes?

(these ideas are coming from my experience with classical guitars)

Nice work, Craig. First, I know nothing about ukes, but I would say your braces are too big. If you have a good uke (of the right size) that you like, do the bridge rotation test on it and see what rotation angle you get then work from there to size your braces. As a check you could also do the EI c...

kevjed wrote:The mystery is already answered.
Mass loading. Brass players do the same thing by adding mass to various parts of the instrument.

Interesting. I didn't know that; and my late father was a brass player...

Enrico, It's pretty well all in the book. There isn't any more to add. Does the lattice braced need to be tuned to a specific note? In terms of free plate tuning, no. For a lattice braced classical, aim for a T(1,1)2 of ~214Hz or higher. Because the soundboard doesn't subdivide very much there tends...

I hope you get to enjoy the workshop with Jim, Matthew (and hear what he has to say about mass loaded sides! )

Yep, lead is pretty massy.

I thought you bass builders liked lining your ribs - preferably with silk. Though I do agree that gold lined would be a bit of one-up-manship on James Ham.