What's On Your Workbench?

[Matt Liebenau]

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.
View attachment 7347986

Maybe some kind of clamp around the casting that holds the blade guide?
Or if it’s heavy enough even drill and tap into the casting.

 

[Lo-E]

Maybe some kind of clamp around the casting that holds the blade guide?

Possibly that or an aluminum plate mounted under the casting, captured by the two nuts that mount the upper wheel tensioning assembly.

This series of W-T saws doesn’t have really butch castings so I’d be hesitant to drill and tap the arm even though it would probably be fine.

 

[Gervais Cote]

What’s on my workbench ?

An alder p bass body getting laminated with a 1976 Budweiser beer wood crate on top, should get out of the press tomorrow………..

 

[Gervais Cote]

Just got it out of the press :

 

[Gervais Cote]

 

[Gervais Cote]

 

[Lo-E]

For that Bud Thud!

 

[Lo-E]

With the fourth coat I switched to undiluted product and I’ll scuff sand with finer grit for the next several coats. I’m not sure yet how many coats I’ll build up.

While that was drying I decided to focus my attention on the neck.
Sadly, the neck is in even worse shape than the body. The finish is in various states throughout the neck; worn off in spots, stained and discolored in others, scraped off in others, “repaired” with some sort of brushed-on product elsewhere…. you get the idea. But worse than that, it’s got a terrible forward bow and the truss rod is only barely working.

My plan of attack is to try heat-setting the neck to remove as much forward bow as possible, get the truss rod working, possibly sand the fingerboard level (hoping to avoid that), compression fret if necessary and, if I still need a little more help I can take some more in fret leveling.

This is a very big job for a neck that probably isn’t worth the trouble but I committed to try and save it, so here I am.

All of this, however, hinges on getting the truss rod working. If I can’t do that, the neck is toast. Aaah…. The truss rod….
If I really crank it down I get a little bit of movement but if I add enough washers to really make it effective, the truss rod nut sticks out past the heel. That can only mean one thing: the truss rod anchor has compressed the wood fibers at the nut end of the neck, which means going in for surgery:
I carefully cut into the truss rod channel in the first fret slot and in the nut slot and prepared to break that first piece of fingerboard out.

It’s not really a fingerboard in a one-piece neck but the effect is the same; pry it out with a chisel to access the truss rod anchor:

When putting it back, the grain will line back up and the glue line will barely be visible. I need to refinish the neck anyway so the sanding and refinishing will hide it even more.

Pushing the rod all the way forward reveals that the wood compressed more than 3/32”. Think about it: that’s three full turns of the truss rod nut!

With very small chisels I cleaned the opening out a little more:

Now I have several options. I could cut washers in half and stack them in the opening, I could cut a very thin piece of maple end grain to fit in there or I could fill it with fine saw dust and either thin epoxy or super glue. Any of the above will work to get the truss rod working again; I just have to pick a method. I’ve had success with sawdust and super glue in the past. I’ve got some time to decide which route I want to take.

 

[ThaCoast]

There's a few things on my "work bench" atm, but the big one i'd like to focus on tonight is my 32" scale Semi Hollow eb-2/Rivoli style bass. & i've got a question to the masses of experienced builders:

I've watched a few videos on the subject of neck angle, & in one video, they say to measure the bridge height with the saddles at minimum, & add 1.5mm to it for up/down adjustment when needed. & this will determine how much angle i need.

While another video says, laying a straight edge across a fretless fingerboard, the bottom of the edge should just hit the top of the bridge saddle (which is, not mentioned how high off the bridge plate it sits, but i assume it's also flat against the bridge plate).

My bass is a flattop/rear (my first semi hollow build in my backyard, i wasn't going to complicate things for myself some 7 years ago), & using a Hipshot Kick4ss bridge.

I guess two questions: which of the above videos is more in line with a "true" method to determine neck angle? & if none of those, anyone care to share their thoughts on their process when finding a neck angle before gluing the neck in at its correct angle.

Cheers!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

There's a few things on my "work bench" atm, but the big one i'd like to focus on tonight is my 32" scale Semi Hollow eb-2/Rivoli style bass. & i've got a question to the masses of experienced builders:

I've watched a few videos on the subject of neck angle, & in one video, they say to measure the bridge height with the saddles at minimum, & add 1.5mm to it for up/down adjustment when needed. & this will determine how much angle i need.

While another video says, laying a straight edge across a fretless fingerboard, the bottom of the edge should just hit the top of the bridge saddle (which is, not mentioned how high off the bridge plate it sits, but i assume it's also flat against the bridge plate).

My bass is a flattop/rear (my first semi hollow build in my backyard, i wasn't going to complicate things for myself some 7 years ago), & using a Hipshot Kick4ss bridge.

I guess two questions: which of the above videos is more in line with a "true" method to determine neck angle? & if none of those, anyone care to share their thoughts on their process when finding a neck angle before gluing the neck in at its correct angle.

Cheers!

About setting the neck angle vs. bridge height:

If you put a long straightedge on the fingerboard, extending over the bridge, hold the bridge to where the groove in the saddle is touching the straightedge. That is the lowest position that the bridge will ever need to be. That's where the strings would be laying flat on the fingerboard. From there, the bridge needs to be able to be adjusted upward at least 1/8", to set some action height and allow for the relief.

If you are trying to figure out how much neck angle you need, start by adjusting the bridge to set the saddles down flat on the bridge plate. Put the straightedge on the fingerboard and in the saddle groove. That would be the lowest neck angle that you could use. Look at the gap between the straightedge and the body surface. Is that okay for you, or is it too low? Your choice.

If you want more height of the strings above the body, you can adjust the saddles up off the bridge base by some amount. And check again with the straightedge. This will increase the neck angle slightly and increase the clearance of the strings over the body.

Again, that sets the minimum bridge height. You would never actually have it set that low. In the final setup, the bridge/string height will be about 1/16" to 1/8" above the minimum bridge height.

 

[Alex Xander]

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.

Until you pointed it out, I hadn't noticed it. It just looks like a cool one piece.

 

[Lo-E]

Until you pointed it out, I hadn't noticed it. It just looks like a cool one piece.

It’s more obvious on the front and that will mostly be covered by the pick guard. On the back they actually did a pretty good job of matching it up, although I seriously doubt it was deliberate at Fender in 1975. I’m not too proud to be thankful for dumb luck.

 

[Dave Higham]

I also thought it was a very nice one-piece body.

 

[TerribleTim68]

What's on my workbench?

Well, another hand plane.
This is a 1920s era Bailey #6 that a friend of mine ran across at an estate sale. He grabbed it because he "knew I would want it". Cost him a whopping... $1.
It was pretty roached out, completely rusted top to bottom, end to end. After soaking the whole thing in Evaporust for a while, we managed to get it apart and I started cleaning it up. I could not save the iron (it was bent really bad) or the lever cap (it actually broke in half trying to disassemble the plane), and I lost a couple screws along the way (they were just too rusty and the heads stripped out). But luckily I have a contact for plane parts, and he hooked me up with everything I needed. So really I'm in this one a total of $68 after shipping for the parts I needed. It is still rocking the original tote and knob, so that's cool. I just sanded them up and refinished them using a Tung Wax finish from "Brad's Workbench".
As you can see below, it is making shavings once again. She's not show quality, but I don't need it to be. I need it to work. I'm sure I'll clean it up a bit more as time goes on, but for now it's going into the plane till right between my #5 and #7.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with this one.

 

[turf3]

Ah yes, planes and hand saws. Anyone under 50 gives me a look like I've got three heads when I mention either one.

years ago a young pup at work had a sticky door, or a sticky drawer, and asked me "which planing machine should I buy?" I said "Stanley block plane". He had no idea what I was talking about. I showed him a picture and he still had no idea. I don't think he ever grasped the concept that you could do the job just as fast with a block plane as with a high powered finger-trimmer that throws sawdust everywhere.

Same with hand saws. If I mention a hand saw, they give me THAT look. And then I say - "look, if you need to take three quarters of an inch off a piece of wood two inches long, do you REALLY think it's a good safe idea to hold it down on the bench with your thumb and run a spinning circular saw blade right past your thumb - the only thumb you'll ever have on that hand? When you could make the same cut in near perfect safety with a sharp handsaw? And if you cut your finger with a power saw, you're probably cutting it OFF. When you cut your finger with a hand saw (actually, I'm not sure this has ever happened to me), you stop instantly with a little scratch; the damage is self-limiting." And they kind of say "oooohhhh, I see" and then they go off and buy another power saw.

We just had movers move a bunch of stuff and they saw my hand drills (egg beater type) and not a one of them even knew what they were. And yet, if I'm drilling a zillion screw holes and countersinking them and driving a zillion screws, it sure is easy just to chuck the countersink in an eggbeater and whizz whizz whizz, get them countersunk.

Grub hoe
Digging bar
Reel mower
Draw knife
Vernier caliper

 

[Lo-E]

What's on my workbench?

Well, another hand plane.
This is a 1920s era Bailey #6 that a friend of mine ran across at an estate sale. He grabbed it because he "knew I would want it". Cost him a whopping... $1.
It was pretty roached out, completely rusted top to bottom, end to end. After soaking the whole thing in Evaporust for a while, we managed to get it apart and I started cleaning it up. I could not save the iron (it was bent really bad) or the lever cap (it actually broke in half trying to disassemble the plane), and I lost a couple screws along the way (they were just too rusty and the heads stripped out). But luckily I have a contact for plane parts, and he hooked me up with everything I needed. So really I'm in this one a total of $68 after shipping for the parts I needed. It is still rocking the original tote and knob, so that's cool. I just sanded them up and refinished them using a Tung Wax finish from "Brad's Workbench".
As you can see below, it is making shavings once again. She's not show quality, but I don't need it to be. I need it to work. I'm sure I'll clean it up a bit more as time goes on, but for now it's going into the plane till right between my #5 and #7.

View attachment 7351672

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with this one.

I’ve read some complaints about the #6 being too small to be a jointer and too big to be a jack plane but I think it’s a great size. We’re not building bookcases or framing doors. A piece of lumber that needs to be jointed for a bass is seldom longer than 48” so a #6 can work very suitably as a jointer plane for our lutherie purposes. I have a much longer combination (wood bodied) jointer plane but I seldom need that kind of length.

I think the people who whine about the #6 just aren’t building enough basses!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I’ve read some complaints about the #6 being too small to be a jointer and too big to be a jack plane but I think it’s a great size. We’re not building bookcases or framing doors. A piece of lumber that needs to be jointed for a bass is seldom longer than 48” so a #6 can work very suitably as a jointer plane for our lutherie purposes. I have a much longer combination (wood bodied) jointer plane but I seldom need that kind of length.

I think the people who whine about the #6 just aren’t building enough basses!

I agree. I have a small collection of old Stanley planes. I most often use my #5C, and for longer boards I prefer the #6. The #7 is too big and clumsy. The #7 is really made for jobs like the edge of a door.

But, in reality, I do almost all of my planing with routers and fixtures these days. I keep my set of hand planes tuned up and in a cabinet, ready for occasional jobs. I do have two or three little Stanley block planes that get almost daily use. Chamfering the sharp edges of MDF boards for fixtures.

 

[Lo-E]

I agree. I have a small collection of old Stanley planes. I most often use my #5C, and for longer boards I prefer the #6. The #7 is too big and clumsy. The #7 is really made for jobs like the edge of a door.

But, in reality, I do almost all of my planing with routers and fixtures these days. I keep my set of hand planes tuned up and in a cabinet, ready for occasional jobs. I do have two or three little Stanley block planes that get almost daily use. Chamfering the sharp edges of MDF boards for fixtures.

For fast, one-off tasks (like those hand drill racks I recently put up) it's much faster, quieter and less messy to grab a hand plane than to router-plane.
While I wouldn't describe your operation as a full-on production shop, exactly, you definitely do things in batches and set tasks up the way a production shop would. My little shop gets used for household tasks and miscelleny as often as guitar stuff so hand planes win out much of the time.

...and, yeah, a 5C is a good size, too.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

The big concept I came to 20 years too late is that the fully equipped hand-tool shop requires VASTLY less space than the Norm Abrams pushing sticks through machines version. Apart from the whole quieter and mostly safer (lion miter trimmer being the exception you should be highly wary of if you come across one) parts. But when folks haven't been exposed, and if they have it was dull tools, it's understandable that they don't get it.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Trimming, filing and sanding done, will get on finishing next week :