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What's On Your Workbench?

#6,901
boxerrider said:
What sort of sandpaper, and how did you secure it to the drum?
Click to expand...
I had a scrap sitting on the workbench that was big enough to wrap the drum. I think it was generic 80-grit. Harbor Fright, maybe?*

Anyway, I just trimmed it with a razor knife and stuck it on with a layer of very thin double-stick tape. Not the most graceful solution but it worked.

*I’ve mostly stopped buying generic sandpaper. Sure, it’s cheap but it doesn’t last, it sheds abrasive, the grading is erratic and it loads up almost instantly. Sometimes it ends up doing more harm than good.
There are times when it gets the job done (if the job isn’t especially critical) but it usually ends up being false economy.
 
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#6,902
JC BASS 91 said:
Then got to work on the bow in the neck. Fortunately, the truss rod was completely loosened, but it took a LOT of tweaking over a couple of days to get the neck anywhere near playable.
Click to expand...
With the strings off and the truss rod slack is there still a severe forward bow? If there is, you might want to apply some heat and see if you can straighten it out. It’s better if you don’t have to have the truss rod maxed out to get it playable.
 
#6,904
Lo-E said:
I had a scrap sitting on the workbench that was big enough to wrap the drum. I think it was generic 80-grit. Harbor Fright, maybe?*

Anyway, I just trimmed it with a razor knife and stuck it on with a layer of very thin double-stick tape. Not the most graceful solution but it worked.

*I’ve mostly stopped buying generic sandpaper. Sure, it’s cheap but it doesn’t last, it sheds abrasive, the grading is erratic and it loads up almost instantly. Sometimes it ends up doing more harm than good.
There are times when it gets the job done (if the job isn’t especially critical) but it usually ends up being false economy.
Click to expand...

No, no, Harbor Freight sandpaper is all the grits in one. Start out at 80 and after a few minutes of sanding it’s shed all the big particles and has turned into 120 grit and so on. After about 10 minutes you’re sanding with the equivalent of 2000 grit! :roflmao: :smug:
 
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#6,905
Lo-E said:
With the strings off and the truss rod slack is there still a severe forward bow? If there is, you might want to apply some heat and see if you can straighten it out. It’s better if you don’t have to have the truss rod maxed out to get it playable.
Click to expand...

Sadly, I don't have the ability to evenly apply heat to it. I know the truss rod being maxed isn't the best thing for it, and have already told the keyboard player that it is pretty bad and he said he knew it was, and that if I could at least get it playable, he would be fine. Being an old Squier, he isn't that interested in spending a lot of money on getting it taken care of. I have thought about seeing about getting a decent neck to try out in it's place, but he doesn't really want to spend a lot on this one...and I don't blame him. If it was a MIM Fender, maybe, but not for a Squier Affinity.
 
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#6,906
JC BASS 91 said:
Sadly, I don't have the ability to evenly apply heat to it. I know the truss rod being maxed isn't the best thing for it, and have already told the keyboard player that it is pretty bad and he said he knew it was, and that if I could at least get it playable, he would be fine. Being an old Squier, he isn't that interested in spending a lot of money on getting it taken care of. I have thought about seeing about getting a decent neck to try out in it's place, but he doesn't really want to spend a lot on this one...and I don't blame him. If it was a MIM Fender, maybe, but not for a Squier Affinity.
Click to expand...
You could use a plain, old household heating pad.

Clamp it in a back bow, wrap in the heating pad for about 2 hours and then keep it clamped for a couple more days. Repeat as necessary.

I’ve had decent luck with three or four applications on necks that were pretty bad. It didn’t get them perfect but it helped a lot. Enough that the rod no longer needed to be maxed.
 
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#6,907
^^^ This.

I've had tons of success with this method.
All you need is a flat surface to lay the bass on, something to raise the body up a bit (cutting board, books, whatever), 2 clamps (one for the neck, one for the body), a heating pad, and something to keep the heating pad wrapped on it.

IMG_1124.jpg

I do 3 hours on high, then turn it off and let it cool overnight, before unwrapping and unclamping.
Some work in one application, some take more, but it's the lowest cost method to attempt for this and has a decent success rate.
I'm currently working on a Warwick that has been less amenable to the changes because the neck is a telephone pole, but after 3 times, it seems to be drastically better.
 
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#6,908
Lo-E said:
You could use a plain, old household heating pad.

Clamp it in a back bow, wrap in the heating pad for about 2 hours and then keep it clamped for a couple more days. Repeat as necessary.

I’ve had decent luck with three or four applications on necks that were pretty bad. It didn’t get them perfect but it helped a lot. Enough that the rod no longer needed to be maxed.
Click to expand...

rojo412 said:
^^^ This.

I've had tons of success with this method.
All you need is a flat surface to lay the bass on, something to raise the body up a bit (cutting board, books, whatever), 2 clamps (one for the neck, one for the body), a heating pad, and something to keep the heating pad wrapped on it.

View attachment 7304850

I do 3 hours on high, then turn it off and let it cool overnight, before unwrapping and unclamping.
Some work in one application, some take more, but it's the lowest cost method to attempt for this and has a decent success rate.
I'm currently working on a Warwick that has been less amenable to the changes because the neck is a telephone pole, but after 3 times, it seems to be drastically better.
Click to expand...

WOW! Thanks for the advice! I don't currently have any heating pads, but will get some.

Can this be done without being mounted to the body? Or does it work better with the neck mounted on the body?

What a novel approach! I definitely want to give this a go!
 
#6,909
JC BASS 91 said:
WOW! Thanks for the advice! I don't currently have any heating pads, but will get some.

Can this be done without being mounted to the body? Or does it work better with the neck mounted on the body?

What a novel approach! I definitely want to give this a go!
Click to expand...
It doesn’t need to be on the body. You could clamp the heel of the neck just as easily as clamping the body. Just raise it up on a piece of scrap 2x4 or several pieces of plywood.

It’s not an exact science. Not even close. But the success rate is higher than it has any right to be!

In an extreme case I once clamped a neck to a steam radiator (still dead straight 20 years later) but I seriously don’t recommend that. ;)
 
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#6,910
Lo-E said:
It doesn’t need to be on the body. You could clamp the heel of the neck just as easily as clamping the body. Just raise it up on a piece of scrap 2x4 or several pieces of plywood.

It’s not an exact science. Not even close. But the success rate is higher than it has any right to be!

In an extreme case I once clamped a neck to a steam radiator (still dead straight 20 years later) but I seriously don’t recommend that. ;)
Click to expand...

Fantastic! I ordered a heating pad that will be delivered tomorrow. Will give this a go over the weekend. Maybe get this one out of my house soon, too! LOL

This will be my TIL for today! :cool:
 
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#6,915
Using more scrap wood to better organize the shop.

These braces (how did I end up with this many?!?) were cluttering the corner of a workbench and that’s NOT the best way to store things.

This is a better solution:
IMG_8688.jpeg

Sapele (or similar) recycled from an old futon frame and some scraps of white oak. I plan to do the same with some hand drills and reclaim that workbench real estate.
 
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#6,916
Lo-E said:
Using more scrap wood to better organize the shop.

These braces (how did I end up with this many?!?) were cluttering the corner of a workbench and that’s NOT the best way to store things.

This is a better solution:
View attachment 7306329
Sapele (or similar) recycled from an old futon frame and some scraps of white oak. I plan to do the same with some hand drills and reclaim that workbench real estate.
Click to expand...

Wow, you have more Braces than I do! And a nice collection of brands and sizes. I have about 4, I think. And maybe 30 of the auger bits.

Very Old-School tools. It's fun to use one now and then, to punch a 1" hole in a 2X4. A standard tool of Carpenters and Boatbuilders and Farmers through the 19th and 20th centuries.
 
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#6,917
Bruce Johnson said:
Wow, you have more Braces than I do! And a nice collection of brands and sizes. I have about 4, I think. And maybe 30 of the auger bits.

Very Old-School tools. It's fun to use one now and then, to punch a 1" hole in a 2X4. A standard tool of Carpenters and Boatbuilders and Farmers through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Click to expand...
I know for a fact that one of the Stanleys (the one on the right) was my father’s and one of the Millers Falls was a flea market purchase (before I had my dad’s). The rest, I think, were all thrown in with ebay purchases. I had a small pile of mismatched bits so I went to the ‘bay to get a complete set of Irwin pattern bits and a complete set of Russel pattern. Not a big investment and very handy. I think two of those braces were thrown in with the Russel bits as a package deal. If you know how to sharpen ‘em, auger bits cut every bit as clean as a Forstner but they’re quiet and they don’t make a mess. The larger ones are a good workout, too!

As an added bonus, you can drive sockets and countersinks with braces, too.
 
#6,918
Lo-E said:
I know for a fact that one of the Stanleys (the one on the right) was my father’s and one of the Millers Falls was a flea market purchase (before I had my dad’s). The rest, I think, were all thrown in with ebay purchases. I had a small pile of mismatched bits so I went to the ‘bay to get a complete set of Irwin pattern bits and a complete set of Russel pattern. Not a big investment and very handy. I think two of those braces were thrown in with the Russel bits as a package deal. If you know how to sharpen ‘em, auger bits cut every bit as clean as a Forstner but they’re quiet and they don’t make a mess. The larger ones are a good workout, too!

As an added bonus, you can drive sockets and countersinks with braces, too.
Click to expand...

Heh, same here. One of my best Braces and a full set of bits are from my Father's workshop. In mint condition. I don't remember him ever using them. And the rest came along with various boxes of old tools that were given to me, or were bought at flea markets long ago.

Yep, I've got some of the various accessory bits, like big slotted screwdrivers and socket wrenches, Really good for driving lag screws. And I presume that you have a couple of the adjustable-diameter bits? They didn't work too well, but they sure were cool.
 
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