What's On Your Workbench?

[Lo-E]

I estimated that there was really only one part of that piece of wood that might yield a usable fingerboard blank. I mounted it to a sled and ran it through the bandsaw:

That poor saw…. I switched to a 3/8” x 4tpi blade, 3/8” being the biggest blade that saw can mount, but it’s still a fairly small, not very powerful saw and that’s a thick piece of very hard, very dense wood. The saw wasn’t happy about it but it made the cuts. I fed very gently.

The grain inside is really cool!

Unfortunately, even that one clear path I found had some internal cracking so I’m a little dubious it’ll work out.

I got a single 1/2” slab out of it which I’ll set aside for a few months and see what it does. If it doesn’t twist like a corkscrew or continue to split I should be able to router-plane it to size and stabilize the small cracks with epoxy.

I can easily understand why honeysuckle is not commonly used (even with all the twisting and cracking, most pieces are too small to be useful) but if this works out it’ll make for a pretty unique fingerboard.

 

[fatmarris]

Been fixing a few things on my wife’s grandfathers Gretsch.. had to hacksaw and chisel out the old nut! Terrifying stuff! Really cool guitar though!

 

[TerribleTim68]

...
That poor saw…. I switched to a 3/8” x 4tpi blade, 3/8” being the biggest blade that saw can mount, but it’s still a fairly small, not very powerful saw and that’s a thick piece of very hard, very dense wood. The saw wasn’t happy about it but it made the cuts. I fed very gently.
..

I feel this one today! I was trying to process some curly Koa into a few turning blanks to finish up some Christmas ornaments. It was about 2-1/4" thick, trying to band saw off about 1-3/4" on my sad little Shopsmith band saw (it's mounted on the dedicated Shopsmith stand, not machine driven). It's got about 1/2hp and I'm running a 1/2" 3tpi Timberwolf blade. The blade works very well. The curly Koa was just too much. I got about 3/4 of the way through it and the tension in the wood started binding the blade way too much, so I just took it off and finished it by hand with a pull saw. I dream of having a nice band saw.

 

[Lo-E]

I feel this one today! I was trying to process some curly Koa into a few turning blanks to finish up some Christmas ornaments. It was about 2-1/4" thick, trying to band saw off about 1-3/4" on my sad little Shopsmith band saw (it's mounted on the dedicated Shopsmith stand, not machine driven). It's got about 1/2hp and I'm running a 1/2" 3tpi Timberwolf blade. The blade works very well. The curly Koa was just too much. I got about 3/4 of the way through it and the tension in the wood started binding the blade way too much, so I just took it off and finished it by hand with a pull saw. I dream of having a nice band saw.

I was pretty lucky that the wood wasn’t trying to twist or pinch as I cut. It’s a 3/4HP motor on a 12” saw. Not a bad saw at all - just not a big saw, either. At around 3” thick at the biggest section and extremely hard, that was a pretty huge task for that little machine. It finished the cuts, though! I just had to feed very, very slowly. I felt like I should have given it some sort of treat for doing such a good job!

Lesson learned: visit my sister (she’s an hour away) when I need to make bigger cuts. She has a grownup saw.

 

[TerribleTim68]

...
Lesson learned: visit my sister (she’s an hour away) when I need to make bigger cuts. She has a grownup saw.

Yeah, I hear that! I had always previously gone out to my boss's shop because he has a full cabinet shop at his place. But, it's an hour and a half away, and right now half the state is flooded and he said he can't even get out because the road to where he lives is under water.
Grownup saws are nice.

 

[Lo-E]

Yeah, I hear that! I had always previously gone out to my boss's shop because he has a full cabinet shop at his place. But, it's an hour and a half away, and right now half the state is flooded and he said he can't even get out because the road to where he lives is under water.
Grownup saws are nice.

Here at work we have a couple of 1940s-era Oliver saws that stand about 10’ tall - I think they’re 42” with huge, 3-phase 460V motors - and they’ll cut anything but they belong to a different department so I’d have to negotiate for time on their machines and they have a busy shop so…. not really worth the hassle.

 

[Slidlow]

Just picked up this new set of Delano 6 string pickups and preamp from someone’s aborted build dream. So now I have to envision what combination of woods and hardware to build around them.

 

[Flying B]

Making some cheese boards for Christmas pressies, using up some offcuts.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Just picked up this new set of Delano 6 string pickups and preamp from someone’s aborted build dream. So now I have to envision what combination of woods and hardware to build around them. View attachment 7390321View attachment 7390323

I used that same pickup & pre amp combo on "Katana" . (Client request)
Sounds good... but maybe just a tiny bit quacky?... (mid forward)? IDK... something about them I just don't dig.
If it were up to me I would have gone EMG.
Not trying to bag on ol Reinhardt Jezdamzic's work... but after the second time Delano has been spec'd in one of my instruments?
I won't use them again.

YMMV

 

[Slidlow]

I used that same pickup & pre amp combo on "Katana" . (Client request)
Sounds good... but maybe just a tiny bit quacky?... (mid forward)? IDK... something about them I just don't dig.
If it were up to me I would have gone EMG.
Not trying to bag on ol Reinhardt Jezdamzic's work... but after the second time Delano has been spec'd in one of my instruments?
I won't use them again.

YMMV
View attachment 7392170

Yes but at 40% of new price I can chance giving them a try. I haven't built a quacky bass yet so could be a challenge.

 

[TerribleTim68]

It's Christmas ornament season over here in my shop...

Don't tell @Rôckhewer

Interestingly enough, all of the ball elements on these are from a chunk of flame maple that the Gibson factory rejected. Apparently they weren't pretty enough to make a Gibson out of. But not only did I make that Telecaster out of it, I also used the scraps for these. Take that Gibson!
That one on the far left, the ball was made from the offcut of that telecaster neck blank. I'm giving it to the Telecaster client.

 

[Flying B]

Nice turning Tim! Those spindles look very delicate.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Don't tell @Rôckhewer

... ...

So... I was talking to Neal, who has a small lathe at home...(he does pens etc.).
I say... hey, wouldn't it be a neat idea to make Xmas ornaments for *special* clients from their guitar scrap?
... (then I show him yours... the one on the left. )
He says... "sure... IF they PAY for them ".

Humbug

Here's a Christmas Card

 

[Lo-E]

It’s always nice to have your neck neatly pressed for fancy occasions like the winter solstice.

This is a continuation of the rescue attempt of the 1975 P-bass neck. With the truss rod repaired I’m now addressing the 12th fret kink. I’ve had it clamped in a backbow for a little over a week with no heat. This first application of heat, directly focused on the 12th fret area will be the only one with the iron: high heat for a little over a half-hour. Long enough for the heat to penetrate and the back of the neck to get warm.

The black dots got a little distorted by the heat and might need to be replaced (no big deal). I’ll do several more heat treatments but I’ll use my usual, less aggressive method; a normal heating pad from the local pharmacy set to high and left in place for about two hours. I’ll probably do that three times.

Remaining leveling will be divided between sanding the fingerboard, compression fretting and leveling the frets. The “art” of heat treating a neck is about as imprecise as it gets so it’s usually a good idea to supplement it with other methods.

 

[Lo-E]

And the supplementing begins:

A little bit of material removed from the nut end of the neck - very little - and gradually feathering up towards the 9th fret. At the heel end I’m removing more material to introduce a subtle fallaway past the 14th fret. I’m approaching this very gradually as it’s always a lot easier to remove some more material than it is to put some back!

These measures will allow me to rely less upon the success of heat treatments. I’m also planning to use big ol’ jumbo frets (not usually my preference) so there’s plenty of meat to make further adjustments from.

 

[Lo-E]

As a followup to my previous post, I made myself a promise that I wouldn't buy no-name, cheap sandpaper anymore. I've had some good experiences occasionally but mostly the cheap stuff is just crap. It's more trouble that it's worth.

So, while sanding this neck I noticed I need to re-stock the sandpaper shelves. I was getting low on several different grits so I took inventory and I placed an order today. Damn... the good stuff is a lot more expensive! Hey, I know that it's still cheaper than having to do extra work because my sandpaper sucks but I have to admit that the total price of the order was a little alarming at first. On the good side, the price is better when you buy quantity so I won't need to do this again for a while. ...at least not those grits!

 

[fatmarris]

Not necessarily my work bench but my friend wanted me to set up his new MIJ hollow body.. it was all over the place! I had to shim the nut straighten up the neck and put the bridge in the right place.. all simple stuff but still fun to see his excitement!! And it came with free drinks!!!

 

[TerribleTim68]

As a followup to my previous post, I made myself a promise that I wouldn't buy no-name, cheap sandpaper anymore. I've had some good experiences occasionally but mostly the cheap stuff is just crap. It's more trouble that it's worth.

So, while sanding this neck I noticed I need to re-stock the sandpaper shelves. I was getting low on several different grits so I took inventory and I placed an order today. Damn... the good stuff is a lot more expensive! Hey, I know that it's still cheaper than having to do extra work because my sandpaper sucks but I have to admit that the total price of the order was a little alarming at first. On the good side, the price is better when you buy quantity so I won't need to do this again for a while. ...at least not those grits!

What brand did you go with?

 

[Lo-E]

What brand did you go with?

For the heavier grit I needed (100), I’m trying garnet paper from Mercer Abrasives. The garnet paper is old technology; it’s nowhere near as clog-resistant as modern, aluminum oxide, coated papers but it was sort of the standard woodworking sandpaper for a real long time and it’s MUCH cheaper than the high-tech stuff. Mercer is a respected brand, perhaps one step down from the top options like Norton, 3M and Mirka.

For 220, which I use a lot, I went with Mirka Gold Proflex. This is top-tier stuff.

For 240, an in-between grit I use less often, I’m trying another Mercer product, this time their coated aluminum oxide stuff. It’s more expensive than the garnet paper but cheaper than the big 3 and I’m curious to see how it compares.

For 320 I went with Norton 3x Pro-Sand. Again, top shelf stuff.

The best papers I’ve used in terms of staying sharp and not clogging are the Mirka and Norton papers listed above and 3M Gold Fre-Cut. I consider all three to be more or less equal and all top quality. I just base my choice on what’s available at the best price. The 3M paper might be a little better than the others when it comes to not loading but they’re all really good.

I’m interested to see if the better quality Mercer stands up to the others. It might end up being a very good compromise price/quality-wise between the big 3 and the no-name junk. Their reputation seems pretty solid. They’re just not as well-known and their product line isn’t as diverse.

For the finer grits, though, 320 and up, I’m not taking any chances anymore. It’s the good stuff or nothing.

EDIT: I almost forgot, I also picked up two rolls of 3M Stik-it in 80 and 220 for my sanding blocks.

 

[Lo-E]

More heat and more sanding. Before this heating session I checked for straightness and it really wasn’t too bad so this heat treatment may be the only followup to the aggressive one with the iron.

I sanded the rest of the old finish away and provided a bit more fall away at the heel end. Tomorrow, when I take it out of the clamp I’ll see how straight it is and decide upon more heat or sanding.

The huge frets are slated to arrive on Monday but I don’t want to begin putting them in until the board is flat. The fret tangs are .024” which is a little larger than Stew-Mac frets and I’m hoping that gives me a little compression fretting. With the frets in I’d love to see just the slightest bit of back bow with the truss rod slack.
Then the strings could pull it just forward of straight and the truss rod could be snugged against the string tension. That will leave me with a nice, stiff neck and the slightly compromised truss rod won’t have to work too hard. Minor adjustments can then come out of the fret height if necessary.