MIMF

Thanks Frank, Pitch Lab Pro (free) works quite well, and in the unlikely event I ever need it to do more, it offers ala carte upgrades.

Thanks. Unfortunately, Plusadd doesn't have an Android equivalent. Will have to find one by trial and error unless someone can recommend another app.

With some reluctance, I just got my first smart phone and hope I can learn to tolerate it. To that end, l've installed some Apps and have quickly learned that some of them aren't so good. Can anyone recommend a free chromatic tuner? The Martin tuner is ok, but I sure hope there's a better one.

A 1/4" walled aluminum pipe, 500 watt halogen bulb, and dimmer switch has worked quite nicely for me. I believe the heat from the bulb is distributed much more evenly than it would be with a torch or charcoal starter (w/o hot spots). No doubt a lot of pipe rigs have been made with bent charcoal...

It may be slightly hygroscopic, but it curls because the finished surface is less hygroscopic. This probably isn't much of a problem once the sides are bent and mated up with a braced back and top. Does Martin seal the inside of X Series bodies? I suppose that for a guitar to be kept on sailboat tha...

You might consider Richlite for the board and bridge (ala Martin). I'd probably go with a high grade Finnish Birch ply for the neck, and would use a Hysol epoxy for the joinery (one with high temp attributes). One of these days I'm gonna try my hand at laying up a Kevlar body to use up the leftovers...

I've read that some builders prefer skewed rather than quartersawn wood for steel string bridges with the thinking that it is less prone to splitting. If you are one, the question is which direction is the better choice? Grain leaning toward the nut \\\\\\\, or away from the nut ///////?

I was told by a Martin authorized repairman that a 3M epoxy is used to glue Richlite to HPL. Will dig around and see if I can find the part #. I'm not sure how Richlite will respond to heat needed to remove the board, but with 80% of the top separated you might be able to apply heat from inside unde...

I was thinking the same thing. My guess is that you chose those because they're more likely to survive bumps and bruises. How old are your girls?

Clean the CF with Naptha and use a Polyurethane adhesive.

Thinking about this a bit further, I know boat builders bag hulls in negative molds, so it's do-able. Might be a lot of effort for a one-off though.

+1, but I think the OP is looking for the chatoyance and finished surface that a negative mold will yield (like a Rainsong guitar). Either way (positive/negative molds) the level of quality will only be a good as the mold it is cast from but is much more critical with a negative mold. I've never don...

It's real easy if you use wire cutters.

Dave: have you done any composite work before?

Make low grade pens.

As I'm on the verge of ordering my first batch of flake, this is a timely thread. Would silica gel desiccant help the shelf life?

Raw or polymerized? Raw would give you a penetrating oil finish (Danish) and I don't think that's what you want on an instrument. A polymerized oil will cure/dry and allow you to build the finish. I've not tried it (yet) but Sutherland Welles has polymerized Tung oil, but their Uralkyd 500 seems to ...

I bought a small can of the Fast Drying Gloss PU (doubting that it's any different than Wipe-On PU) and have been applying it to test samples with a folded piece of Bounty paper towel...no problems to report. On a real project, I'd would use a piece of cotton cloth.

Not Wipe-On Poly, but I just finished a test board using an 'old' but unopened can of Poly Shades (PU) which may or may not be exactly the same stuff. This was more of an exercise and test of pore filling products, but I did want to see how the stuff would rub out. I thinned it (~25%) and it seemed ...

I've been following some very interesting forum discussions here, and there, about finishes. These discussions have led me to read everything I can find on the topic, and though I've only seen the tip of the iceberg, my head is swimming. Not sure where I read this but regarding PU's (oil or water ba...

Outstanding! Any video of the work on YouTube?