What's On Your Workbench?

[Matt Liebenau]

Man @Beej, I thought I just had a bad day or two! Take care of your self, it can’t be easy to find another sucker to facilitate the build offs.

@Bruce Johnson I laughed thinking of you machining your own heart valve and telling the doctor how to install it! “Just give me a local. You’re gonna need some help!”

 

[TerribleTim68]

I know what Beej is going thru. Earlier this year I broke a tooth in half eating....get this....a salad! Possibly the most painful thing I've ever felt. Luckily, it sheered off along the side like an ice berg breaking off, so the dentist didn't have to remove it, he just sculpted a new side on it. But until I was able to get in and see him, it was insanely painful.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I think that's pretty much exactly it. I'm going to go carve myself a set of wooden false teeth before my arm randomly falls off.

I got upper and lower partials...I absolutely hate them.

 

[Beej]

I know what Beej is going thru. Earlier this year I broke a tooth in half eating....get this....a salad! Possibly the most painful thing I've ever felt. Luckily, it sheered off along the side like an ice berg breaking off, so the dentist didn't have to remove it, he just sculpted a new side on it. But until I was able to get in and see him, it was insanely painful.

Yeah, I have an appointment in a week to have it yanked.

 

[postalflunkie]

Don't wait, I've got vice grips in the drawer... come on over

 

[Crawforde]

Breaking teeth is miserable.
I had radiation treatments and it made a bunch my teeth brittle. I have cracked and broken them eating, and just clenching my teeth when irritated (not as brutally graphic as that gif thing @Beej just posted (thanks
For triggering my ptsd lol) which can make quite a statement during a work meeting.
Luckily most of the affected ones are capped now, unluckily my oral surgeon no longer accepts my insurance so I’ll need a search and a referral for another.
I don’t think you can get used to it, so be careful.
Living past your sell-by date is not for the squeamish.

 

[Gary_M]

Here in Northern Indiana, we got lake effect snow a few days ago. Some areas got buried, my area only got a few inches. Way colder than normal for this time of year. I have tickets to the ND/Boston College game on Saturday... I'm gonna pass. High temps in the mid 20's... no thanks man!

Edited to add: And winds blowing over 20mph... puts wind chill in the low teens. Gonna enjoy this on TV.

I’m pretty happy with my decision to stay home today.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

I’m pretty happy with my decision to stay home today.

View attachment 4879185

I dunno, you would have memories for a lifetime if you had been there!

 

[Gary_M]

I dunno, you would have memories for a lifetime if you had been there!

That's true, but severe frostbite lasts a lifetime as well.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

That's true, but severe frostbite lasts a lifetime as well.

Yes, and not all memories are good ones!

Still, the great thing about cold weather compared to hot is you can always dress warmer.

Somewhat related: today is the "big game" in the Canadian Football League and they are forecasting slightly warmer than normal temperatures. The wind chill will be -12 C, or approaching single digits Fahrenheit. All 33,000 tickets to the game are sold.

 

[mapleglo]

Still, the great thing about cold weather compared to hot is you can always dress warmer.

No matter how many pairs of socks I put on my feet, they are still cold. I despise the cold weather. Thus, my location.

 

[Videojunkie]

As I like to say, "I can always add a layer. But there's only so many layers I can legally remove... and after a certain amount it doesn't matter anyways.."

 

[Deleted member 365158]

I’ve got my long underwear on for what its worth,
Otherwise im looking for advice.
I’ve been working on this one for a while now and finally got it put together… or rather am getting it put together. Its looking pretty sweet and it will sound good once I change the phase on one of the pickups.
My issue at this time is the nut. I have recreated a couple nuts for other basses but they were pretty much direct copies from the originals but out of different material and they came out just fine. This bass didn’t have a nut when i got it so I made one out of a cow bone blank. It’s getting there but not quite yet. My question is, what should the hight difference be from the top of fret 1 and the bottom of the groove for each string on the nut?
Is .030” a good target?… I thought I read that somewhere.
Thanks in advance

 

[Dave Higham]

Press the string down at the second fret. You should have 0.003" to 0.005" between the string and the first fret. measure with feeler gauges.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

Press the string down at the second fret. You should have 0.003" to 0.005" between the string and the first fret. measure with feeler gauges.

Thank you, im still filling in my huge gaps of information, this will help.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Dave’s method is good and I usually do that although I tend to eyeball the first fret gap instead of measure it. To address your question if you’re measuring at the first fret without pressing the string down I’d expect 0.020”-0.022”. That’s generally a good number, sometimes on guitar you can slip it down a little lower without buzzing. Either method is valid just use the one you’re more comfortable with. For me, the press at the second fret method is easier to do without gauges but I have a taper gauge and have definitely measured without pressing also.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I like Dave's method, because it can be repeated. Trying to do it without pressing the string down means you are also trying to calculate neck bow and bridge height, all of which can be off. Too many factors to work with.

 

[TerribleTim68]

In other "non-bass related news", I finished this project -

This is my "free greenhouse". It was listed on OfferUp as "Free, you come remove". So I had to disassemble it, haul it off, and then reassemble it. I had to spend about $300 for some replacement panels, but that's cool since this greenhouse kit runs about $4,000 at Costco or Home Depot. I also got the gravel from OfferUp, again "Free, you haul". So it's been a ton of manual labor, but I'm done with the hard part. I got the lumber laying in there for free from my son-in-law. He is a fence contractor and this was left over cedar fence boards and some pressure treated 2x4 fence rail off-cuts. I'll build planter boxes out of them.

Sorry, just had to share! I'm excited to get stuff planted this coming Spring.
Back to basses!!!

 

[Lo-E]

Dave’s method is good and I usually do that although I tend to eyeball the first fret gap instead of measure it.

I do something similar but equally unscientific; I press the string against the second fret and then gently tap the string above the first fret. When a light tap just barely gets the string to click against the fret I’m done. How hard do I tap? That’s a good question! A couple of decades of doing it has enabled me to develop a feel for it. I can’t remember the last time I used a feeler gauge even though I know it’s the correct approach. I also can’t remember the last time I cut a nut too deep, either!

 

[TerribleTim68]

For those who are interested, Mark over at "My Growth Rings" did a pretty interesting video on the Safe-T-Planer. Of course, his channel is very ShopSmith oriented since he used to work for the mothership for a number of years. But it's some good info on the different versions and a look at some results as well. -

I only share because there's info on the current conversation there.