What's On Your Workbench?

[Slidlow]

Good times. I like the Billy Gibbons SG with the Flying V style headstock. Might look good on the other one to.

Crummy photo. First thing I found on the Googles.

View attachment 7331654

Flying V headstock is a possibility. Hadn’t thought of that thanks. I’ve already checked a replacement 34” scale neck I have and can use it cut to 22 frets to convert the SG body to long scale. I was going to do same Epiphone headstock but I like your idea. The Embassy may get a headstock splice to repair it back to original look.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I’ll say!!

Good to see you back! I’m not sure what your daughter does with that shop space but, at 24x26 it is almost exactly twice the size of my little shop (23x13-ish) and the ceiling is 4’ higher. I know that whole coveting thing is supposed to be bad but I’m experiencing some serious shop envy right about now.

Car stuff.
This is her car...

And her husband's...

 

[Videojunkie]

Helping a friend of mine mill down some wood for this Telecaster build.

He picked it up as a part of the deal to buy out a defunct luthier.

Gorgeous solid mahogany 1 piece body. Shaller roller bridge and P90s makes for an intriguing design choice. (By the former builder) I'm looking forward to hearing it.

He had a beautiful piece of 8/4 ebony that's been hanging around his workshop since the Bush administration (the first one...lol) I helped him cut it down and planed to thickness for the fretboard.

I also had some nice maple that's got some simple grain that we're going to try and make a 1 piece neck from. (It's been stable without warping for over a year)

We decided to put a spoke wheel truss rod in it, so we can use the full thickness of the ebony (about 5/16) for the fretboard. The ebony should help resist whatever warping the maple tries to do.

He has designs for carving inlays in the ebony to be either gilded or epoxy filled. He also plans on relief carving the guitar body with Irish knotwork and other designs. It's going to be his mental therapy while he recovers from knee replacement surgery.

He loves doing everything by hand, and I use power tools whenever possible, so it's a fun partnership.

 

[AK4570]

I will be the first to admit that identifying wood species through a computer monitor is a superpower that I do NOT possess... however, that fretboard (as well as the chunk lying crosswise at the bottom of the picture) look amazingly like ziricote. I have to note however, that ziricote is one of my favorite fretboard woods, and if you threatened me with violence, I would have a hard time picking a favorite between ebony and z-cote. Either way, he's got a beautiful board!

Best regards,
John

 

[Videojunkie]

Now that I'm looking at it @AK4570 , you could be correct! Like you said, it's going to be beautiful.

 

[Lo-E]

After a few weeks of busy rehearsals and gigging, I finally stole a little time to get back into the shop.

First on the agenda was to complete the third rack for the remainder of my hand drills: the egg-beaters.

I left a little room for expansion as these crop up at flea markets a lot and I might “need” more. These were the last of the hand tools flailing about loose on my workbench and I’m glad to finally give them a real home.

 

[Lo-E]

With that out of the way, I had to return to the ‘75 Precision body.

If anyone remembers, I had abandoned this project for a while after a failed attempt to apply a finish. I realized that A) I was applying the finish improperly and B) had not prepped the surface sufficiently. It was time to sand it back and start over. With the wind knocked out of my sails I started to sand back the flat areas and then took a break.

Now, weeks (months?) later, I’ve taken almost all of it down to 60 grit.

The first time around, I started with 120 and I really didn’t get the surface flat enough. The result was a lot of hassle trying to get the grain filled. I think the knowledge that this 50-year-old, abused body was never going to be perfect led me to get lazy and not try that hard to even make it good. An ignoble approach to a restoration project.

I was hoping I could get away with skipping sanding back the sides as they were looking decent but, upon closer examination, they could use improvement too. Besides; if the whole idea of starting the project over is to do a better job, I need to do the whole job.

With my perspective properly realigned, I sanded the sides. Ugh…. Sanding is tedious.

I got everything sanded back to 60 except for the area around the neck pocket. That area is fussy and I was getting hungry so I saved it for next time.

This time I’ll do the right thing and work up slowly through the grits without skipping any and actually do the job right. Then I can start the process of finishing it all over again!

You know what they say: If it’s worth doing right, it’s worth doing twice.

 

[Lo-E]

Back at it today for another couple of hours. Finished sanding back the inside contours of the horns at 60, then sanded the entire body at 80, then 100.

I’ll take it to 320 over the next few days and then try this whole finish application whoop-dee-do all over again. Did I mention sanding was tedious? There. I said it.

 

[postalflunkie]

Whats on my workbench?
A Whiteside RFT5200
Finally got a real pattern bit, hopefully no more nasty tear out like the cheap two flute bit I was using.

 

[postalflunkie]

So in addition to expensive router bits, I've had this project going on just for giggles. Its actually a bunch of things I've been wanting to do and finally decided to do 'em all at once.
So, its a Baritone (27.5 inch scale), it's my first bolt-on neck, it's got a fabric top under epoxy resin, and the body is bound.

 

[Beej]

Amazing.

 

[Slidlow]

So in addition to expensive router bits, I've had this project going on just for giggles. Its actually a bunch of things I've been wanting to do and finally decided to do 'em all at once.
So, its a Baritone (27.5 inch scale), it's my first bolt-on neck, it's got a fabric top under epoxy resin, and the body is bound.
View attachment 7345241

I really like that

 

[Lo-E]

So this little guy is finally down to 320 and looking much better than it did before.

Yeah, I know. It looks the same as it did last time I showed it. Imagine it smoother.

While I was working, I was able to try out some Mirka sanding pads that my sister bought for me and compare them to 3M Gold fre-cut paper, which I’ve used for years.

And to the more common 3M Pro that I get in large packs from Home Depot.

It turns out each has its strengths:

The Mirka seems to leave the nicest finish. It started to load much faster than fre-cut did but it cuts quickly and the end result was just beautiful. I wish the foam backing was just a little bit stiffer.

The fre-cut doesn’t load at all. It’s kind of incredible. It cuts fast and leaves a very good finish, but not as good as the Mirka. Because it doesn’t load at all, a sheet really lasts. It actually started to tear before it stopped cutting.

The 3M Pro loads the fastest but it’s nearly indestructible. It doesn’t shed abrasive at all and it doesn’t tear. It leaves an acceptable finish but it’s definitely not as nice as the other two. For rapid sanding that isn’t all that finicky, this is still my go-to paper. While it doesn’t compare to the two above, it’s still high quality stuff that blows away no-name crap from big box stores or harbor fright.

I should look more into Mirka’s products and see what their regular sheet stock is like. I’m curious to know if Norton is still making quality sheets, too.

Now that I’ve finished the sanding my next step is going to be making up some applicator pads so I can start finishing this sucker.

 

[Lo-E]

First thin coat applied. Lots more to go.

Let’s hope this goes better than the first time!

 

[Lo-E]

Ever since I rebuilt my old Walker-Turner bandsaw I’ve been a little frustrated that it’s hard for me to see the cut line clearly with only overhead lighting in the shop.

Being somewhat absent-minded means forgetting things like that perfectly good goose-neck lamp I’ve had sitting unused in the shop literally for years. This morning the synapses finally made contact so I attached the lamp to the saw and wired it right into the power switch.

While I was at it, I changed the old residential light switch out for an actual start/stop switch. A nice improvement:

It worked out that the stop switch is exactly at my knee level, which is extremely convenient.

Another small job was to organize my countersinks, which had been rattling loose in this drawer and slowly driving me crazy.

How did I end up with so many of these? Chalk it up to life’s mysteries, I suppose.

All of this happened while waiting for coat #2 to dry.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Ever since I rebuilt my old Walker-Turner bandsaw I’ve been a little frustrated that it’s hard for me to see the cut line clearly with only overhead lighting in the shop.

Being somewhat absent-minded means forgetting things like that perfectly good goose-neck lamp I’ve had sitting unused in the shop literally for years. This morning the synapses finally made contact so I attached the lamp to the saw and wired it right into the power switch.
View attachment 7347854
While I was at it, I changed the old residential light switch out for an actual start/stop switch. A nice improvement:
View attachment 7347858
It worked out that the stop switch is exactly at my knee level, which is extremely convenient.

Another small job was to organize my countersinks, which had been rattling loose in this drawer and slowly driving me crazy.
View attachment 7347859
View attachment 7347860
How did I end up with so many of these? Chalk it up to life’s mysteries, I suppose.

All of this happened while waiting for coat #2 to dry.
View attachment 7347861

Nice. My little Power King came with something similar but mounted to the saw. No idea if it’s original or even period. I also did something similar on my drill press with a light off of a bench top bandsaw that died

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Worklights for machines:

I bought this battery-powered, magnetic base gooseneck lamp on Amazon about 6 months ago, and I really like it. It's not like a cheapo reading lamp, it's actually heavy duty, made for shop use on machines. A surprisingly big battery; it'll go for 24-36 hours on a charge, and recharges in about 2 hours. The magnetic base is very strong. it'll lock onto the side surface of a machine and stay in place under the vibration. And the gooseneck is also stiff enough that it stays in position under vibration. Because it's battery powered, there's no cords or switches to deal with. It's nicely designed and made.

I bought it mainly to use on my pin routers, but now I'm moving it all around the shop using it on many different machines. Sometimes I even set it on my workbench to light up close-up detail work. And it even functions as a decent emergency light. During a night-time power outage in the summer, it worked fine as a walk-around light for about 6 hours. I think I'm going to buy several more of them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B428DYN8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

[Gervais Cote]

Ever since I rebuilt my old Walker-Turner bandsaw I’ve been a little frustrated that it’s hard for me to see the cut line clearly with only overhead lighting in the shop.

Being somewhat absent-minded means forgetting things like that perfectly good goose-neck lamp I’ve had sitting unused in the shop literally for years. This morning the synapses finally made contact so I attached the lamp to the saw and wired it right into the power switch.
View attachment 7347854
While I was at it, I changed the old residential light switch out for an actual start/stop switch. A nice improvement:
View attachment 7347858
It worked out that the stop switch is exactly at my knee level, which is extremely convenient.

Another small job was to organize my countersinks, which had been rattling loose in this drawer and slowly driving me crazy.
View attachment 7347859
View attachment 7347860
How did I end up with so many of these? Chalk it up to life’s mysteries, I suppose.

All of this happened while waiting for coat #2 to dry.
View attachment 7347861

The wood grain of that bass body :

 

[Lo-E]

The wood grain of that bass body :

It’s a two-piece body with a weird off-center seam so I suspect it was originally a sunburst. I’ll never know for sure. I decided I didn’t mind the weird body joint and just rolled with it.

 

[Lo-E]

Nice. My little Power King came with something similar but mounted to the saw. No idea if it’s original or even period. I also did something similar on my drill press with a light off of a bench top bandsaw that died

View attachment 7347916View attachment 7347917View attachment 7347918

I like where the gooseneck is mounted on your saw. I’ll have to see if I can do something similar.

EDIT:
My saw’s frame is a little different but I could probably get something together for it.