Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Looks like Murrays still in the game !
Nice stuff
Pete

In a previous life ( pre kids ) I used to teach wood sculpture ( among other things ) . Both the mini and industrial arbor tech were standard roughing out tools . They are wonderful bits of gear for rapid stock removal . As its a free cutter though it's as easy as anything to overshoot your mark . I...

There's something really pleasing about all of that chrome and bling against the earthy satin Blackwood and Q maple , I like it .
Pete

Beautiful work Peter , The myrtle is an inspiration to me . I've got some huge quarters off a massive old Myrtle that I really couldn't be bothered with . Your guitar has reminded me how lovely it can be . It can be such a bitch to mill though .... Ive done some that are creamy and even to cut and o...

Feel free to offer any suggestions as to what timbers and sizes would be useful . I'm milling for a range of musical sizes but there's always stuff I miss . I'm also interested to hear what timbers people would like to obtain . I'm doing a lot of Blackwood , in the full range of figure out to as goo...

Aus has a lot of timbers related to the true Swietenia mahoganies . Anything in the family Meliaceae . It's only a start because the family is quite diverse . Aus Red cedar Toona citiala is probably the best know reliative , though really only suited to low string tension necks . The genus Dysoxylum...

That's another beautiful batch of instruments Allen .
Good to see you are prolific as ever .
Pete

The stock and plant with be wrapped up in liquidation proceedings , though as I can I'm sending stock and dollars to creditors who will miss out . Plenty of good people will be hurt by it .
Pete

In the interest of full disclosure I thought I'd let you all know of my changing work situation . I had previously been working as the timber sourcing , specialist timber knowledge guy for a company called Big Sky Timber . Unfortunately ( or fortunately perhaps ) my ex boss decided a few days before...

Only Thing I'd add is that the Blackheart is fungal in origin , the trees can actually be inoculated to produce it . That's not any necessary problem except to say that if it goes to far then the wood is denatured or partway rotten , some of the cellulose is consumed . Plenty of builders use spalted...

For coarse writing on dark or wet timbers I use thick lyra branded artists pencils , sky blue is the pick . They can be sharpened to a reasonable point . For marking up accurately in building I use a scribed line off a burin or knife . Rub chalk or pencil into the scribed line for the best of both ,...

Thinking about the vibration coming and going on your bandsaw Peter , Did you check the wheels for uneven deposits of dust ? I've found that particularly with wet timber dust build up on the wheels can throw them off balance . I'm sensitive to it because when I did a rebuild on my resaw , I got the ...

I run solid carbide plate guides which are low friction and wear . I think we did a year of heavy industrial use before any noticeable wear come up . It's simply carbide plates brazed onto a mild steel backing .
Pete

I wouldn't be able to speak to the difference between those particular machines . I'm no fan of carba tec machines though ive only encountered their cheapy models so it's likely just predjudice . I do agree that the guides are really important . I have however gone the other way with the thrust bear...

G'day Rob , It'd be Aus Red Cedar , Toona citiala which is closely related to the true mahoganies . It's a very light weight and somewhat fragile timber , perfectly suited for nylon string guitars but marginal for steel string unless additional stiffness is added . It's a gorgeous timber to work , a...

Another interesting topic is the ageing of timbers and it's possible effect on changing tone . Think of the deceased old master luthier falling off the perch and makers hovering around like blowflies to get their hands on the aged timber . Perhaps some amount of ageing can happen across a year or so...

Lots more stickers I would say and also lots more topweight . Your base needs to be dead flat , your stickers need to be perfectly vertically aligned ( on top of each other ) , the finished stack needs to be capped with a solid flat board and then weights like bricks or such to resist movement . Whe...

The coplanar cause for drift is particularly true for horizontal bandsaw mills with no guides such as Laidlor made machines . In a shop bandsaw ( or a mill with guides )any twist in the band can be rectified with a suitable guide set up . Because the wheels have a curved face , upon which the band u...

I reckon the whole drift thing is a bit of a furphy . We run off hundreds of sets and only ever use a straight fence . As square to the band as we can get it . Either the blade is not sharp , the machine is not properly set up or the block has grain run off . At the pointy end of it there's plenty o...

Another possibility would be to drop in on Alestair Boell who runs the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking at 79b Lexton rd Box Hill north . He has lovely machinery and is a good fella to boot .
Pete

Buloke ( Allocasuarina leuhmannii ) is pretty special stuff . It has pretty profound surface hardness and yeah the density is lower than Gidg , about 1100 from memory , cant be stuffed looking it up . I'd say great for fingerboards but too heavy for your bridge unless you do something radical like b...

With the usual considerations covered Silver Wattle - Acacia dealbata can be very well suited for classical neck construction . It is a strong , light , long fibred timber . Because the trees vary widely over their growth area , extra care should be taken with stock selection . The best trees grow i...

The downside of Tas Oak or Vic Ash for that matter is that the common name is used for quite a range of Eucalypt species . Some of the species such as Euc. regnans or Euc. delagatensis are well suitable for necks . In the range for density and stronger than mahogany . The dimensional movement is ove...

It's just a matter of cross grain shrinkage me reckons , your rosette is built out of cross grain tiles . If you add up the combined shrinkage of the pieces it would easily account for the white lines .

I'd like to add A bit of a clarification regarding FSC certification and timber ethics . FSC is largely concerned with chain of custody , that is to say tracking timber through it's harvest from a known certified source and it's processing and marketing as such . It is wrong to assume that the certi...