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Cepheid 5: Ripthorn Builds a Bass

#182
Yesterday was a tale of good news and bad news. Good news was winding the pickups. Here is a picture of my super ghetto winding setup. I have a steel rod mounted to the carriage with pieces of well-sanded stops that can be adjusted. I whipped up a bobbin mounting piece out of MDF and dowel. I used masking tape and super glue to mount the bobbins. The counter counts each time a rare earth magnet mounted on the chuck passes it. It seems it topped out around 400 RPM before it started dropping counts. It worked great for just winding up a couple bobbins.

49864947611_e2e3d904f2_o.jpg


They aren't the world's best coils, but they are wound good enough for me. 8200 turns for the bridge, 8000 for the neck. I figured the extra turns might help offset the "relatively heavy" scatter winding. 8.7k bridge, 8.2k neck using my multimeter.

49864412038_19b90fd26a_o.jpg


Now I have to magnetize them and attach leads. Unfortunately, my magnets aren't here yet, so I will just have to wait until they show up, I guess.

I mentioned bad news. The temperature has gone up and humidity dropped so much that my top started separating a little bit in the cutaway bevel (no picture...). I was able to get it all closed up using super glue, but to get it smooth again, I sanded through some color. I ended up sanding down the top some and reapplying dye. Unfortunately, it was streaky due to the residual oil finish. So I ended up sanding the top back until most color was going. Reapplying went smoothly, and it's back to looking really good, but the line with the aluminum is not 100% clean, but only noticeable if you are really looking for it.

Up next is oiling the body, finishing up the pickups, and then get it all put together.
 
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#185
Matt Liebenau said:
Cool. How do you like the HF lathe? This build and a couple of others have got me thinking about a metal lathe.
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It's cost effective and works fine for things like knobs and such. There are some things that really should be done as soon as you get it, others that are a good idea. I'm still working through the "good idea" ones. I would like a bigger one, but the projects I would do on a larger one are relatively few and far between, so I can't really justify the cost.
 
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#186
Not a lot done over the weekend, but more coats of Tru Oil were applied, tuners and pots were received, and the pickups got leads soldered, potted and wrapped:

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I just need to magnetize the pickups. I have some magnets en route, but I bought them on Aliexpress a couple weeks ago, so they may well be a few more weeks before they show up. I still need a truss rod cover, but then it's just more finish.
 
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#187
Just curious - maybe I'm missing something, but the task is to magnetize the poles that are already in place, right?

If so, can you locally source a magnet strong enough to do that?
 
#188
ctmullins said:
Just curious - maybe I'm missing something, but the task is to magnetize the poles that are already in place, right?

If so, can you locally source a magnet strong enough to do that?
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You are correct. I don't know of a place locally that sells strong enough magnets for that. I must admit that part of me is wondering how strong of an electromagnet I could make, but that's simply overkill. I just don't have any large neodymium magnets on hand.
 
#189
Ripthorn said:
You are correct. I don't know of a place locally that sells strong enough magnets for that. I must admit that part of me is wondering how strong of an electromagnet I could make, but that's simply overkill. I just don't have any large neodymium magnets on hand.
Click to expand...

Home Depot carries some pretty powerful magnets . They're used for retrieval of metal objects, tied to a rope, and are string.

they're in the hardware section, above the misc bins

I'll get you a web link

Master Magnet 150 lb. Pull Power Handle Magnet-96554 - The Home Depot


They have less powerful ones as well. Not sure how powerful you are needing.
 
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#190
In 1978 my dad and I bent an 18" long piece of 1.25" x 0.5" steel into a horseshoe shape, wrapped it in electrical wire that he had peeled the sheath off of, and then touched the leads to a car battery a couple of times. After it was magnetized, he stuck it to the anvil, and I couldn't get it off. Mind you I was 8 years old. :D It's still in his garage and still has tons of power, 40+ years later. :thumbsup:
 
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#191
Beej said:
In 1978 my dad and I bent an 18" long piece of 1.25" x 0.5" steel into a horseshoe shape, wrapped it in electrical wire that he had peeled the sheath off of, and then touched the leads to a car battery a couple of times. After it was magnetized, he stuck it to the anvil, and I couldn't get it off. Mind you I was 8 years old. :D It's still in his garage and still has tons of power, 40+ years later. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...


Wow... that's a pretty cool trick !
 
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#192
Beej said:
In 1978 my dad and I bent an 18" long piece of 1.25" x 0.5" steel into a horseshoe shape, wrapped it in electrical wire that he had peeled the sheath off of, and then touched the leads to a car battery a couple of times. After it was magnetized, he stuck it to the anvil, and I couldn't get it off. Mind you I was 8 years old. :D It's still in his garage and still has tons of power, 40+ years later. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Ive read about magnetizing a screwdriver that way but never tried it.
 
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#193
I thought I remembered him plugging it into the wall to magnetize it, but he assures me it was with a car battery. I had to call him to clarify how he did it before posting it above - he said he learned it from an old mechanic he had trained with who had been an airplane mechanic in WWII, and had all sorts of genius ideas. :thumbsup:

Edit, Dad just called to tell me how the guy knew how to do it :D The mechanic (Rudy) was in the field with other airmen somewhere and one of the guys lost an important wrench in the mud near the toolbox. They searched for it in the mud and water but were unable to find it. Rudy came up with the idea of creating an electromagnet with wiring and batteries to find it, and when they made it up, the wire slipped off a battery pole, but they discovered it had permanently magnetized the steel they were using. So they tied it to a string and dragged it through the puddles and mud around the toolbox and found it nearly immediately. :D I love old stories like this, and damn I'm glad Dad's alive to share them. :)
 
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#194
Beej said:
I thought I remembered him plugging it into the wall to magnetize it, but he assures me it was with a car battery. I had to call him to clarify how he did it before posting it above - he said he learned it from an old mechanic he had trained with who had been an airplane mechanic in WWII, and had all sorts of genius ideas. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

of course I had to continue the detail and research it ... Gonna have to give it a whirl !

How to Make Super Strong Permanent Magnets
 
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#195
Beej said:
In 1978 my dad and I bent an 18" long piece of 1.25" x 0.5" steel into a horseshoe shape, wrapped it in electrical wire that he had peeled the sheath off of, and then touched the leads to a car battery a couple of times. After it was magnetized, he stuck it to the anvil, and I couldn't get it off. Mind you I was 8 years old. :D It's still in his garage and still has tons of power, 40+ years later. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I'm assuming it was promptly followed by "When you can pull it off you can have that ice cream cone you been crying about..." :roflmao: :laugh: :roflmao:
 
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