Search found 455 matches

by graham mcdonald
Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:09 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Can't wait!
Replies: 12
Views: 9082

Re: Can't wait!

I partition the various bits of my life (is there a smiley for terminally confused?) In those slots I am in Sound Archivist mode, waffling on about what are often obscure bits of Australian music. Not really as much fun as building mandolins, but it pays better and is enjoyable. I was annoyed that I...
by graham mcdonald
Thu Jun 14, 2012 3:05 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Can't wait!
Replies: 12
Views: 9082

Re: Can't wait!

Crikey, I'm even on the cover
by graham mcdonald
Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:54 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: A very cheap CNC milling/carving machine
Replies: 9
Views: 8394

Re: A very cheap CNC milling/carving machine

It does seem to good to be true :(
by graham mcdonald
Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:09 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: A very cheap CNC milling/carving machine
Replies: 9
Views: 8394

A very cheap CNC milling/carving machine

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-6040-ROU ... 3377345868

Almost impossibly cheap but a 1HP motor

It is very tempting

cheers
by graham mcdonald
Mon May 07, 2012 8:32 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Bending Machines for Classics (Acoustics)
Replies: 7
Views: 7105

Re: Bending Machines for Classics (Acoustics)

With a heat blanket bending becomes fairly simple and while the LMI bender is a grand thing, for something like a classical body it can be done in a less complicated way. A form that is 2mm (the thickness of the ribs) smaller than the half body outline can be made from 18mm ply and covered with some...
by graham mcdonald
Mon May 07, 2012 8:14 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: The Improved Rosette Cutter
Replies: 150
Views: 152030

Re: The Improved Rosette Cutter

Can I have one please :D

g
by graham mcdonald
Thu May 03, 2012 7:56 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Spraying question for Allen
Replies: 13
Views: 10847

Re: Spraying question for Allen

Re: radius dishes You should cut the slats/ribs to the radius of the dish you want. A bandsaw is really necessary, although it could be done rather tediously with a coping saw (?) The curve doesn't have to be precisely accurate, though the more accurate the better. On a 60cm/24" dish the slats are a...
by graham mcdonald
Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:42 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Classical Guitar Construction
Replies: 14
Views: 12848

Re: Classical Guitar Construction

The trick to the Carbatec 16" sanders is not to try to do too much at one time. On a glued up guitar sized back (or soundboard) I would adjust the wheel no more than 30° per pass, and less if it is an oily piece of rosewood. I suspect they don't come from the factory with the feed belt and drum exac...
by graham mcdonald
Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:29 pm
Forum: The Gallery
Topic: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles
Replies: 21
Views: 19511

Re: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles

I must work at getting my gouges sharper :( The fine tuner on the sympathetics are for tuning. They are .008, .009, .010 & .011 plain steel guitar strings, which I think (from trying to translate Norwegian web sites) are about what they normally use. They are at very low tension and it only takes a ...
by graham mcdonald
Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:17 am
Forum: The Gallery
Topic: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles
Replies: 21
Views: 19511

Re: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles

Thank you for the kind comments. Both were delivered to their new owners on Friday at the National Folk Festival and I am told got played a lot around the festival for the rest of the weekend. The overlapping f-holes are traditional on the Norwegian instruments. No idea why, as it is rather harder t...
by graham mcdonald
Sun Apr 15, 2012 9:49 am
Forum: The Gallery
Topic: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles
Replies: 21
Views: 19511

Re: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles

Here is the other one. The customer wanted a tiger myrtle body. Not as heavy as the streaky stuff, but less resonant. It does look wonderful though... The edges on both are little squares of alternating ebony and olive wood. Quite a relaxing process to stick them all into place. Hardanger bridges ar...
by graham mcdonald
Sun Apr 15, 2012 9:40 am
Forum: The Gallery
Topic: A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles
Replies: 21
Views: 19511

A couple of new sympathetic string fiddles

Here are a couple of new new fiddles, loosely based on the Norwegian hardanger fiddles, with four sympathetic strings running under the fingerboard. These are tuned d, e, f#, g or a and give a delightful 'whoingy' reverb to the sound. The first is made from a delightful 'streaky' Tasmanian myrtle, q...
by graham mcdonald
Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:23 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Mandola
Replies: 2
Views: 3766

Re: Mandola

The important thing is what you are thinking of as a mandola.

It can be a varied and movable thing, depending on whether you are thinking about an American mandola or a European mandola.

cheers
by graham mcdonald
Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:15 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Back in Canberra
Replies: 14
Views: 11882

Re: Back in Canberra

Any of us who have been interviewed for a newspaper by a journalist who knows little about what we do has had a similar experience, I suspect. It is always good for a laugh.

Certainly drop around. Is herself back at 666?

g
by graham mcdonald
Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:01 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Back in Canberra
Replies: 14
Views: 11882

Re: Back in Canberra

Good to hear you are back in town!
by graham mcdonald
Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:54 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Wanted: Guitar Machine Heads for Ukulele
Replies: 7
Views: 8135

Re: Wanted: Guitar Machine Heads for Ukulele

Try an email to Hana Lima in Hawaii. They have a range of Gotoh tuners and may be able to find four left handed ones for you. I have been buying two sets of uke tuners for bouzoukis for a while and they seem like very nice people to do business with.

Cheers

Graham
by graham mcdonald
Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:49 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Archtop Ukulele
Replies: 38
Views: 40294

Re: Archtop Ukulele

Ruben, Don't get too stressed by having your curves exactly following the curtate cycloid curves. Do them so the peak of the arch is under your bridge. A simple way to draft is on a piece of heavy card (I'm a non-CAD person) and here is a pic of the tools I use to do these. A flexible ruler is very ...
by graham mcdonald
Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:17 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Archtop Ukulele
Replies: 38
Views: 40294

Re: Archtop Ukulele

Here is a diagram of how I make arching templates. 1. Draw a half body outline 2. Draw in a longitudinal arch 3. Draw in the transverse arches (as many as you want) using the longitudinal arch as the starting height for each one 4. Use the transverse arches to work out contour lines for the initial ...
by graham mcdonald
Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:09 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Archtop Ukulele
Replies: 38
Views: 40294

Re: Archtop Ukulele

hello Ruben, My suggestions for thickness are mildly educated guesswork, and Brad Donaldson, as Allen suggests, will be more likely to give a better idea of how to carve a uke archtop. The maximum thickness is not just a single spot under the bridge, but more an area a little smaller than the palm o...
by graham mcdonald
Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:59 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Archtop Ukulele
Replies: 38
Views: 40294

Re: Archtop Ukulele

Patrick spotted something that I overlooked, the arching height. I would agree that a 1/2" - 12-13mm arching height would be enough, and remember that is the total height of the soundboard, from the gluing surface on the bottom to the highest outside point, not the internal height. I also spotted a ...
by graham mcdonald
Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:18 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Archtop Ukulele
Replies: 38
Views: 40294

Re: Archtop Ukulele

A couple of points to think about. There is not very much tension on four nylon uke strings, and so not much energy to drive the soundboard. I suspect you will need to carve the soundboard quite thin, and perhaps not need any braces at all. The other thing is that the bridges on archtop instruments ...
by graham mcdonald
Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:15 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: The Bouzouki eBook
Replies: 3
Views: 4126

The Bouzouki eBook

Some of you may know The Bouzouki Book, my book on building Irish bouzoukis and citterns, that was originally published in 2004. It has been available through Stewart McDonald and Luthiers Mercantile, but StewMac have recently decided to discontinue stocking it. I had been thinking about an electron...
by graham mcdonald
Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:22 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Ideas for binding on a Tiger Myrtle uke
Replies: 11
Views: 9536

Re: Ideas for binding on a Tiger Myrtle uke

Ivoroid looks very stylish against tiger myrtle, with a subtle line of black between the binding and the soundboard. I know the current fashion is to sneer at celluloid, but it was the bee's knees 100 years ago. The marvelous modern material and all that.

cheers
by graham mcdonald
Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:18 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Sunburst finish.
Replies: 21
Views: 17102

Re: Sunburst finish.

If you are going to do a hand applied sunburst it needs to go onto bare wood. Check out James Condino's sunburst video. It might be be on the Fine Woodworking website. It is a matter of wiping on diluted stains (like a few drops in 100ml of alcohol) and building up colour from the middle. The little...