Blondes have more fun - a weekend build.

[Gilmourisgod]

I’m still rocking my Grandad’s Craftsman bench mount drill press, circa 1947. The parts are still available from other old tool aficionados, but pricey. I may have to retire it eventually. The quill is a bit out of true, so it wobbles a tiny bit, and the quill return spring is shot. Still good enough to hog out pickup routes though, and I’m loathe to abandon it for nostalgia sake.

 

[Flamingo21]

@Gilmourisgod Pic please!

 

[ChickWithaRic]

I’m still rocking my Grandad’s Craftsman bench mount drill press, circa 1947. The parts are still available from other old tool aficionados, but pricey. I may have to retire it eventually. The quill is a bit out of true, so it wobbles a tiny bit, and the quill return spring is shot. Still good enough to hog out pickup routes though, and I’m loathe to abandon it for nostalgia sake.

I'd restore it. My press is a Homeless Despot cheapie and really not worth even attempting to repair. That Craftsman probably still has years left in it. My Elu 1251 radial arm saw, which for a very long time was my only piece of workshop (as opposed to portable) equipment, is older than me and still performs like a champ. I used it for everything, from cross cutting thru rip cutting, overhead routing and even vertical drilling. I learned an awful lot on it. It's still in production today, with DeWalt branding but all the original parts.

Best of all, it was free. A friend of my family was re-equipping his commercial workshop, and the deal was if you can transport it, you can have it. If only we'd had room in the truck for the Bridgeport...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Sorry for the thread de-rail Chick ,but here's the 1947 Craftsman, partially restored. Dig the engine-turned aluminum trim on the top. Short of replacing the quill, I don't think there's any way to fix the slight wobble. I only notice it when I'm using my Robosander, which puts some side-load on it. It's just accumulated slop from wear, and people want stupid money for a used quill I don't know would be any better.

The main problem was the quill return spring, it's effectively unobtanium in this size and configuration, unless I want to buy a used OEM one for $75! The right angle bend on the end of the spring broke, so I heated it red-hot and re-bent the last coil, but having killed the temper, I expect it will break eventually. I'll keep it, regardless, but I have my eye on a modern Delta floor press my downsizing mother in law may be selling.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Sorry for the thread de-rail Chick ,but here's the 1947 Craftsman, partially restored. Dig the engine-turned aluminum trim on the top. Short of replacing the quill, I don't think there's any way to fix the slight wobble. I only notice it when I'm using my Robosander, which puts some side-load on it. It's just accumulated slop from wear, and people want stupid money for a used quill I don't know would be any better.
View attachment 4406523
View attachment 4406524
The main problem was the quill return spring, it's effectively unobtanium in this size and configuration, unless I want to buy a used OEM one for $75! The right angle bend on the end of the spring broke, so I heated it red-hot and re-bent the last coil, but having killed the temper, I expect it will break eventually. I'll keep it, regardless, but I have my eye on a modern Delta floor press my downsizing mother in law may be selling.
View attachment 4406525
View attachment 4406526

There is no such thing as a thread derail when it's a thread of mine. That is a wonderful example of industrial design which is very much of its era. Harley Earl would have loved it.

 

[Flamingo21]

here's the 1947 Craftsman, partially restored. Dig the engine-turned aluminum trim on the top.

That trim has a "shark's teeth" thing going on!

 

[Flamingo21]

Excuse me, @ChickWithaRic you used you arm saw for drilling? I can't imagine it. (But then I have no experience with stationary tools.)

 

[Lo-E]

A generous gift from a machinist friend who had a surplus of drill presses and was moving during the pandemic. Circa 1954 with very low mileage. I stripped the Jacobs chuck down and rebuilt it, reducing wobble to.004”, which is more accurate than I’ll ever need it to be. At some point I’ll convert it to a 2-belt system so I can get slow speeds for metal work.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Excuse me, @ChickWithaRic you used you arm saw for drilling? I can't imagine it. (But then I have no experience with stationary tools.)

Yes, it was a feature of many radial arm saws that they could be used to cross cut, miter cut, and trench as one would expect, but they could also rip cut by turning the head 90 degrees horizontally and by turning the head 90 degrees vertically, with the blade and guard assembly removed, be used as a drill press or overhead router. The motor shaft runs all the way through the motor and is made of very high quality steel. It's threaded at the end opposite the blade to take the quill and chuck for drilling, or quill and collet assembly for routing.

Like I said, I learned a lot on that machine, not least of which was how "thrillling" and even "exciting"overhead routing can very quickly become.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Again finding myself the recipient of bonus free time, I've been able to apply the tung oil finish and do an extra little job.

I'm using 100% pure tung oil. No polymers, no accelerators, nothing. Nothing but a dash of mineral spirit to reduce the consistency a little.

I mixed up in a container and used a foam brush to apply the mix. I love those foam brushes. Don't ask me the mix ratio, it's what I call "dat's a nice consistency".

You can kind of make out the streaky swirly marks of the oil there.

I applied a thin even coat and left that a little while to begin to penetrate before wiping off the surplus oil, and then I did the thing that some people might shout at me for doing.

I grabbed my 18 volt cordless sander and some 800 grit disks. Maybe you shouldn't do this, I don't know, but it works perfectly for me. I do take the precaution, when wet sanding oil, to ensure the punched extraction holes in the disk do not match up with the holes in the sander's platen, to avoid gumming up the insides of the machine.

Obviously you can't machine sand every little detail, but the time saving is significant and I think the results speak for themselves. It's impossible, of course, to convey tactile sensations online but believe me when I say that the resulting surface is dolphin smooth. It's a joy to touch.

This won't be glossy, it will be a sheen. Not a true matte and not a satin, just a subtle sheen, enough to keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. Oil is my favorite finish for more reasons than I have time to list.

I did both sides, all the edges and details being done by hand with 1000 grit Norton paper, and left it a while to set up supported minimally on dowel rods.

That will take a few days to fully cure but as long as I'm not left with wet oily hands when handling the body, I'm perfectly happy to carry out minor work on it. It's not like paint. You won't wreck it by handling it.

Minor work such as fitting the string thru body ferrules. As I have already mentioned, I'm not going to use the ferrules supplied by Babicz. They are unneccesarily huge, requiring a 1/2" mounting hole. It's one of my few quibbles with an otherwise outstanding piece of enginerding.

I'll use these instead...

I'm going to use metric sized HSS twist drills, as the 9.5mm in my particular set actually measures out to 9.42mm, which gives me an interference fit.

I worked through several sizes to embiggen my holes. I don't know if embiggen is a word and I am really not sure about applying it to my holes even if it really is a word but I did that, deal with it, move on. I went through 6, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, and finally 9.5mm. between each drilling I used a countersink to lightly chamfer the lip of the hole to minimize tearout.

After not really very many minutes I was able to install the ferrules. I'm happy with this result, and other than the stacked tone pot it's one of very few visual indicators that a beast lurks just beneath the beautiful skin.

You absolutely can (and maybe even SHOULD) complete a parts bin build like this in a single weekend, even with a few modifications having been necessary. I'm keeping track of my hours spent and at the end of the project I'll tell you how long it took.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

One thing of note that I should have said is that after fitting the ferrules, I used a 1/8" twist drill bit held in a hand chuck to clear the holes through the body of any debris. The last thing you want is to find your string thru holes have been blocked up by a very tough cured tung/ wood chip concrete type material. That would be a bad not very good horrible day.

 

[Kaa]

If I may? "Embiggen" is indeed a Simpson's word, as is "cromulent". Therefore, both are perfectly good for use.

Also, if I may, this is an impeccable build, and your writing is exemplary.

 

[TerribleTim68]

....My Elu 1251 radial arm saw, which for a very long time was my only piece of workshop (as opposed to portable) equipment, is older than me and still performs like a champ. I used it for everything, from cross cutting thru rip cutting, overhead routing and even vertical drilling. I learned an awful lot on it. It's still in production today, with DeWalt branding but all the original parts.

View attachment 4406499

Best of all, it was free. A friend of my family was re-equipping his commercial workshop, and the deal was if you can transport it, you can have it. If only we'd had room in the truck for the Bridgeport...

Sorry for the thread de-rail Chick ,but here's the 1947 Craftsman, partially restored. Dig the engine-turned aluminum trim on the top. Short of replacing the quill, I don't think there's any way to fix the slight wobble. I only notice it when I'm using my Robosander, which puts some side-load on it. It's just accumulated slop from wear, and people want stupid money for a used quill I don't know would be any better.
View attachment 4406523
View attachment 4406524
...

View attachment 4406604
A generous gift from a machinist friend who had a surplus of drill presses and was moving during the pandemic. Circa 1954 with very low mileage. I stripped the Jacobs chuck down and rebuilt it, reducing wobble to.004”, which is more accurate than I’ll ever need it to be. At some point I’ll convert it to a 2-belt system so I can get slow speeds for metal work.

I absolutely love these older retro-styled machines. I've been keeping an eye out for an old DeWalt radial arm saw. I had a couple slip through my fingers, but eventually I'm gonna land on one. I do some wood working outside of bass building, so there's a few operations that a RAS would actually come in pretty handy for (they make a great dado rig for doing mortices/rabbets). I watch Frank Howarth on "the Tubes" and get super jelly of his massive shop and 15 retro DeWalt radial arm saws (might be exaggerating there, but only a little). My wife used to work for DeWalt for almost 20 years, so I'm holding out for a DeWalt RAS. Plus, they just look cool. Some day....some day.

In other news, been watching your build, it's looking great!

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Thank you @Tendril and @TerribleTim68 for your useful replies and kind comments. I can squeeze in another mini session this morning. Let's see what can be done.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

I started off this morning by shielding the rear pickup cavity with copper tape, so that I could install the string earth wire and the bridge. There's nothing worse than trying to shield around an installed wire, which is why I did it now.

I didn't use the screws supplied by Babicz. I have sheared one off before with enormous ease, and I really don't want to go through the nightmare process of digging one out ever again. I substituted them for Spax construction screws, of the correct size - 3.5mm x 30. Yes, they're metric. Size is important.

Sorry, I distracted myself. Focus, Charlotte, focus. Size is important with the Babicz bridge because you can NOT have mounting screws whose heads are above the baseplate. The whole idea of the bridge is maximum contact area between saddle and baseplate, so you absolutely need that size of screw.

That's a much more secure fixing and they are impact driver rated. Yes I use an impact driver, but with an important caveat. It's brushless, and has several screwdriving modes. Brushless motors are, essentially, AC servos and they can be programmed to do all kinds of tricks. My own Hitachi has a delicate fastener mode, which ramps down the RPM and the torque to give you a very finely controlled action.

Being entirely satisfied that the tung oil has set up nicely and has cured sufficiently on the surface, I really could see no reason not to go for final assembly.

I put the pickups in place and piloted for the mounting screws. I sat each one on its piece of closed cell poly foam (which came from a covid home test kit, it's a sign o' the times baby) and using a very good quality German made Wiha brand PH#1 hand screwdriver, set the mounting screws in place. I've had that screwdriver for 10 years, and I've never stripped out a screw head with it. They're expensive but worth every cent.

When I install fixings into a musical instrument, I always give them a smear of refined beeswax paste polish. This is especially crucial on small diameter fixings such as pickup mounting screws and tuning head mounting screws. They go in with minimal effort and minimal risk of shearing. It also makes future removal much easier. I just dip the first 1/4 inch or so of the fastener into wax. It's all you need. On very short fasteners, such as pickguard screws, just dab a little on with a Q-Tip. Your future self will thank you for doing it.

I have decided to go with the black pearloid pickguard, it just oozes class against that beautiful American ash and blonde maple fretboard. It really is a classic combination, and I make absolutely no excuses for using the neck pickup cover. I just love that look, and its front corner is exactly where I like to brace my thumb for playing. I'm very happy with the match between the Guyker control plate and the genuine 7ender pickguard. No adjustments required, it just dropped right in. Finally, I installed the Schaller strap buttons, and called it a day.

I am waiting for audio grade silver loaded solder to arrive to make the electrical connections, then I can string it up and we have a player. I'm very pleased with how this has gone.

Thanks for looking. I hope everybody is having a really great day.

 

[Kaa]

I'm in the pro-pickguard camp as well.

 

[Lo-E]

That PG looks nice with the black blocks. Nice build!

FWIW, “audio grade” solder is probably a little overkill here. Even if it made any sonic difference at all (I’m not a bat so I know I won’t hear it, but I doubt bats will either), the likelihood that there is silver-loaded “audio grade” solder anywhere else in your signal chain, from cable connectors to pedals to amps to speaker cabinets is very low indeed. I can assure you that your pickups and preamp weren’t soldered with it, either. Add to that the fact that 1/4” phono plugs were designed for telephone switching and are very far from “hi-fi” and there’s very little reason to use anything “better” than good, ol’ fashioned 60/40 solder. …and that’s because there isn’t anything better unless you’re working with extremely high frequencies.

There’s a brand called ’Multi-Core’ that I like a lot because of its melting properties. It’s more expensive than Kester but WAY cheaper than silver and nobody’s ears - or oscilloscope - will ever know the difference.

 

[Flamingo21]

Because of the pretty body I was in the "no pickguard" camp all along. But now that I've seen your closeup of the body with that pickguard on it, you've won me over.

I didn't use the screws supplied by Babicz. I have sheared one off before with enormous ease, and I really don't want to go through the nightmare process of digging one out ever again.

That's a nightmare indeed!

When I install fixings into a musical instrument, I always give them a smear of refined beeswax paste polish.

Does this stuff never dry out? Because then it would work against you.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I am Vindicated! Black Pickguard! Victory is schweet.

 

[Durham52]

I'll have to try the beeswax polish on screws. Back in my early woodwork related learning days, (the 1960's/early 70's) it was soap for screws and I always keep a lump of good quality pure soap on hand.