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What's On Your Workbench?

#6,381
Get the remaining bark off. That can harbor critters, and unless you're going for bark-onlive-edge you won't use it anyways.

Might as well plane them, it makes them easier to classify when you want to pick them out for use, or even to sort when putting them away for future use.
 
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#6,384
WhatsApp Image 2024-02-23 at 13.51.47_7c35b9c4.jpg


My first attempt at making a silicone rubber mold is curing right now. If all goes smoothly, it'll be spittin' luminous side dots very soon.
WhatsApp Image 2024-02-23 at 14.01.48_b3e7a872.jpg
 
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#6,386
Some notes on these Alchemy pickups. The literature indicates a 13.2K ohm resistance. Checking the used one I just got and I found the coils wound different:wideyed:. One is approximately half the other:cautious:. Checked my new one and found the same:thumbsup:. Obviously there was some alchemy going on:bag:. Both are epoxy potted so no further investigation is possible and the only other known is they used ceramic magnets. Later I'll start thread for a new build when I get further on with some of my others.
attachment.jpg IMG_9340.JPG
 
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#6,387
Slidlow said:
Some notes on these Alchemy pickups. The literature indicates a 13.2K ohm resistance. Checking the used one I just got and I found the coils wound different:wideyed:. One is approximately half the other:cautious:. Checked my new one and found the same:thumbsup:. Obviously there was some alchemy going on:bag:. Both are epoxy potted so no further investigation is possible and the only other known is they used ceramic magnets. Later I'll start thread for a new build when I get further on with some of my others.
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I wonder if they made them in either series or parallel. Could explain the discrepancy.

Or poltergeists. That’s another possible explanation.
 
#6,392
Bruce Johnson said:
What are the big tubes in the corners of the mold for? Just curious.
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Long story short, they're for easy removal of the mold from the support.

Long story long, I had a hard time finding steel dowels so I improvised a bit. I found tiny magnets (3mm/6mm) and I used them in the bottom of a metal tea can that has just the right dimensions for this project. I wanted to be able to experiment with diverse reflective materials at the bottom of the dots so I needed the holes to go all the way through the silicone and to be able to reuse the box as a support for the mold, hence the truncated corners for easy removal of the mold from the support.
 
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#6,393
It might be a while before it actually finds its way to my workbench but here’s a carload of salvaged American chestnut.
IMG_6549.jpeg

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Okay, it’s not a full carload but it was free. My father got this from a renovation job he worked on in the 1970s. He had tons of it and built most of it into furniture decades ago. He still had a bunch stashed that he sent me home with a few years ago; a load a little smaller than this. I don’t think he realized that he had more stashed away.

Last weekend my sister and I went to help my mother by cleaning out a crawl space under her house. What did we find? More chestnut! My father has since passed so I can’t ask him if he knew it was there but it’s mine now!

With grain similar to ash and density almost identical to alder or poplar this should do very nicely as body wood and it has the added benefit of being nostalgic from my childhood.
 
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#6,395
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#6,397
StereoPlayer said:
No, but I hear/suspect they will dim as the battery wears. I’m sure I’ll get used to it. My tired eyes will like it.
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Yeah, it's frustrating when lights are going in and out and I need to see and can't. They are not even taking orders at this time. Thanks and give feedback please once you have played a couple gigs.
 
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#6,398
stevecaronna said:
Yeah, it's frustrating when lights are going in and out and I need to see and can't. They are not even taking orders at this time. Thanks and give feedback please once you have played a couple gigs.
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You have to send them an email to get on the list. Probably more than a 6 month wait.
It’s frustrating, that’s why I ordered two units. I knew I would want one on each of my main two basses.
 
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#6,399
Strange experience this morning. I recently purchase a small fret leveler to address a hump on the treble side of my Ovation acoustic bass, It's due to a ski jump (and twist) right where the neck meets the body. The right way to address it would have been to remove the fretboard and flatten out the neck, But it was minor and I never play up that high anyway, so the plan was to just level out the frets there. Well, I went to do that this morning, and it was already flat. Did gremlins already do this while I was sleeping?

fretlevelnot.jpg
 
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