Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Stewmac is clearly at fault. If they say that express international is by DHL, with no qualification, then you are entitled to expect that it will be sent by DHL, even if there is no confirming information on checkout.

https://www.stewmac.com/International


I just checked the Stewmac website and they are still saying express international is by DHL.

I don't know whether the potassium carbonate I bought from BioMed Cafe is different from the stuff they are selling now, it was quite a few years back. I suspect that the difference between food grade and lab. grade is not likely to be sufficient to create significant errors for our purposes. Food g...

I have a DeLonghi compressor dehumidifier in Tasmania, and it works fine in a 5 x 4 metre room which I try to keep around 45% RH. I find that I use it more in summer when it's warm, than in winter. When it's cold, I find just having a heater on brings RH down to acceptable levels. Desiccant dehumidi...

Lovely wood. And flamed maple has a long and distinguished history in luthiery. Is that 0.6mm veneer, Steve?

I don't think there would be an overheating problem for these small diameter bits. At 60,000 rpm the cutting edge of a 1/32" bit travels at the same speed as a 1/16" bit at 30,000 rpm, i.e. Dremel speed. I don't think carbide bits of that size or larger (e.g. 1/8") overheat when using a Dremel, so 1...

I have had several veneer imports by post from both India and America, with no customs or quarantine issues. The Indian packages were large, several kilos, and very rustically packed, but seem to have excited no interest by the Australian authorities. This was about 6 years ago, so things may have c...

I had no problems laminating backs (and sides) using .8mm veneer, dry, without any preforming. The recurve on an archtop may present problems, however. If I were to try it, I would start with an inside mould which also modelled the recurve. In order to get the vacuum to press the veneer stack into t...

Laminated Back.JPG Vacuum Bagging Back.JPG Fibreglass Back Mould.JPG The photos show how I laminated a Selmer/ Maccaferri back. I made an internal fibreglass mould on an MDF backing. Three plies of .8mm veneer (Blackwood/Poplar/Mahogany) were glued together using West Systems Epoxy in a vacuum pres...

My experience with shopvacs like these connected to sanding machines they just put the fine dust into the air....
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Should still be useful with a router.

Violin maple back.JPG Violin spruce top.JPG Violin back tanned untanned contrast.JPG A couple of pictures of a violin I made a some years ago. I hung it out in the Hobart sun for a few days, purely to get some colour. The last picture shows the contrast between the tanned back and an untanned offcu...

Being a Selmer fan, I really like the oval sound hole. It adds to the art deco aesthetic. You have an authentic talent for beautiful design.

They do, however, share the compound radius, despite the size difference. A much smaller radius at the pointy end than at the sound hole end.

I'll bet you've got some gems in your wood stash you've forgotten about

Paul Mineur should do a good job. And he is right in North Hobart, on Argyle Street.

K & S brass tubing sold in most hobby shops comes in metric sizes. The 5mm o/d tube fits snugly into the 6mm tube, and has a 4.1mm i/d.

It would also need to be done in some sort of mill drill though as the diamond drill has no pilot so unless you had an accurate way of holding it centrally, the chances of drilling the middle out off centre would be high! You could probably get around this by having two bonded drill bits, one 4mm o...

That's right Nick. It is not absolutely essential to have a 1935 Selmer to play Django like, nor a Gibson L4 to be reminded of Eddie Lang. Nor a Selmer or Conn sax to play authentic sounding jazz of the era. Although I believe Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman played Grafton plastic altos when they...

https://soundcloud.com/iandate/wailin-blues

Ian Date playing an old plywood Alver Maton; Tom Baker playing a plastic Grafton alto sax. According to Ian Date, recorded around one ribbon mike on an old ABC reel to reel tape recorder.

Just a question out of interest Craig. Is there a reason for "Corason" rather than the Spanish "Corazon"? Please excuse the lack of an accent over the "o".

Yes, it's certainly a beautiful looking instrument Craig. I love the aesthetic of the Selmers, but this is a considerable step beyond, without losing the gypsy jazz identity. I suspect Django would have loved it. It only remains for you to let us know what it sounds like.

Mine arrived safely too. Also on a Sunday. Must be because it's Christmas. A very large thank you for organizing this Jeff.

Bob, it looks like you were outside Francois Charle's shop in the Galerie Vero-Dodat. His book, " The Story of Selmer Maccaferri Guitars" is to date the definitive treatment of the history of these guitars, and gives a real insight into the detail of their construction. http://www.rfcharle.com/HTML/...

P1040681.JPG It's all right for you lot, but I'm stuck here in Waikiki. It's got warm blue sea, orange sunsets, cocktails, Hula dancers. All very well if you like that sort of thing. And ukuleles. I am staying in that funny pink building. I thought you might be interested in a picture of the door t...

Thanks Jeff, much appreciated.