Search found 1100 matches

by Bob Gramann
Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:51 pm
Forum: Glues and Finishes
Topic: tape melted in lacquer finish
Replies: 12
Views: 10327

Re: tape melted in lacquer finish

Watch out for the blue 3M masking tape. The adhesive will destroy lacquer even without heat. The green tape is usually safe for lacquer.
by Bob Gramann
Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:26 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: DIY Rosette Cutter
Replies: 6
Views: 9144

Re: DIY Rosette Cutter

A router with a spiral bit does a nice, easy job, and cuts out the soundhole later.
circle-cutter.jpg
by Bob Gramann
Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:55 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

Congratulations. Lock that door when you're working (or move your bench). Someone opening that door could knock you into a nasty burn.
by Bob Gramann
Sat Mar 09, 2013 10:17 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

My pipe has a nut on the inside and a nut on the outside of the pipe on each piece of threaded rod. I made it so that it stands off from the wood because my first incarnation, where the pipe was bolted into a wooden cradle, scorched the wood into charcoal.
by Bob Gramann
Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:38 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

Here's the pipe part. It's pretty self-explanatory. The threaded rods are 7/16". The lower block gets clamped into a bench vise. My charcoal lighter didn't fit into the pipe. I plugged it in, let it get red hot, unplugged it, then bent it narrow enough to fit with a large pliers. It didn't brea...
by Bob Gramann
Sat Mar 09, 2013 2:36 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

When you cut a threaded rod, first you screw on a nut inside of where you're going to cut. After the cut, you turn the nut off over the cut end and it restores the threads as it goes by. I'll get construction directions for my pipe up later today.
by Bob Gramann
Thu Mar 07, 2013 2:06 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Jointer Plane Recommendations
Replies: 8
Views: 7915

Re: Jointer Plane Recommendations

I'm using a Woodriver #4 (http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2021170/29725/woodriver-4-bench-hand-plane-v3.aspx) from Woodcraft to joint my tops and backs. It's a very nice plane. When jointing isn't going well with it, a sharpening immediately solves the problem. I have an antique #7 and an antique #...
by Bob Gramann
Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:33 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Radius Dish Help
Replies: 38
Views: 41176

Re: Radius Dish Help

Louie's comment about indoor use is an understatement. The first MDF radius dishes that I made with a router I made outdoors. There was still way too much dust. I don't do any major routing of MDF anymore. It just seems unhealthy.
by Bob Gramann
Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:25 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

Yes, I understand the lecture. I'm not discounting it; I'm not ignoring it. That bender pipe is so hot that as soon as I am finished working, I unplug it and lay it on the concrete outside so that I don't inadvertently bump it and burn myself. (I did that once before I moved the shop out of my garag...
by Bob Gramann
Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:16 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Radius Dish Help
Replies: 38
Views: 41176

Re: Radius Dish Help

And, my 25' dish.
by Bob Gramann
Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:15 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

I was traveling during the earlier part of this discussion. Here is my pipe and controller. Against advice, I do not have a timer on it. I'm pretty anal about unplugging everything when I finish a session.
by Bob Gramann
Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:49 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Radius Dish Help
Replies: 38
Views: 41176

Re: Radius Dish Help

You can make your own radius dishes very cheaply. I pulled a 1/4" piece of masonite into a near sphere by calculating the deflection at a foot from the center, making a rim of that height, and pulling down the center with a flat head bolt. The same dish is very useful for sanding the rims. You ...
by Bob Gramann
Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:44 pm
Forum: Tools and Jigs
Topic: Heating Pipe DIY Question
Replies: 30
Views: 23362

Re: Heating Pipe DIY Question

You want the light dimmer to have a higher watt rating than the heating element. I'm using a 600 watt dimmer with a 500 watt element. It has worked for several years with no problem. I mounted the dimmer in a metal double outlet box along with an outlet that I plug the element into. None of the wiri...
by Bob Gramann
Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:04 pm
Forum: Solid-Body and Chambered or Semi-Solid Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars
Topic: Drilling countersink holes for StewMac ferrules?
Replies: 6
Views: 4303

Re: Drilling countersink holes for StewMac ferrules?

You can buy a 9/16" Forstner bit from Woodcraft. Rather than make a mess, I would do something else until the bit showed up. An alternative is to drill a small pilot hole and use that to guide a flat drill bit. Those can easily be filed to and exact size. But, the hole won't be nearly as neat a...
by Bob Gramann
Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:13 pm
Forum: Solid-Body and Chambered or Semi-Solid Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars
Topic: 12-string nut cut
Replies: 6
Views: 5448

Re: 12-string nut cut

I use the StewMac ruler for double course to mark bass-side string of each pair. I then make the other string a fixed distance from the marked one. The fixed distance depends on the instrument and the string gauges.
by Bob Gramann
Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:50 pm
Forum: Jam Session
Topic: Guitars and Toddlers
Replies: 12
Views: 11540

Re: Guitars and Toddlers

Just don't use up your "No"'s too soon. You only get a finite number of "No"'s. If you use them up on the little stuff, they won't work when you're trying to stop the kid from doing something truly horrible. A toddler's environment needs to be such that most of the things he figu...
by Bob Gramann
Fri Feb 01, 2013 11:00 am
Forum: Jam Session
Topic: Goodbye to Ann Rabson
Replies: 2
Views: 3167

Re: Goodbye to Ann Rabson

There isn't a recording that she's made that isn't excellent. Struttin' My Stuff has "Ode to George," my favorite of all the songs she's written and George earned it. In a Family Way is another of my favorite albums--it features the musicians in her family.
by Bob Gramann
Thu Jan 31, 2013 4:54 pm
Forum: Jam Session
Topic: Goodbye to Ann Rabson
Replies: 2
Views: 3167

Goodbye to Ann Rabson

She was a great person. She showed me many things that were obvious only after she had pointed them out. I learned a lot from her. I will miss her music a lot but I will miss her more. http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk ... -musician/
by Bob Gramann
Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:34 am
Forum: Jam Session
Topic: Guitars and Toddlers
Replies: 12
Views: 11540

Re: Guitars and Toddlers

Would wall hangers solve your problem? With a crawling infant, the string bass and the instruments on the floor might have to be removed. Once they got past 18 months, my toddling grandchildren have respected the instruments.
by Bob Gramann
Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:25 pm
Forum: Flat-Top Acoustic Guitars and Bass Guitars
Topic: Solving the 6th string intonation problem
Replies: 33
Views: 18862

Re: Solving the 6th string intonation problem

If it's just the fat E-string, I would check the nut and see if it has crumbled moving the contact point back towards the tuner. That seems way off for just one string if the nut is correct.

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