MIMF

I get black and natural veneer strips to my spec from Gurian Instruments in Seattle. One quarter the price of anyone else, but they have a $200 minimum. They have lots of other wood choices and combinations.

I tint with sprayed shellac, sometimes very dark or subtle edge bursts. I first seal well with clear shellac, then spray shellac tinted with aniline dyes. Sand very lightly with 2000g, then seal with sprayed clear. Once sealed, I finish in the conventional FP manner. Just be careful not to overwork ...

I laminate all my backs and sides, it's the preferred thing for the Selmer style guitars I make. I laminate both 15' radius spherical backs and vaulted backs ala an archtop. The degree of recurve in edges is what mostly drives the amount of darting that needs to be done. I use three or five layers d...

I built mine a couple years ago, I've been very happy with it. Steady hand feed is just a matter of a little practice.

You want cheap, how's this? My side bending rig is a propane torch stuck inside an uncapped pipe, held in a steel vice. Works great. The trick to easy bending is having the pipe plenty hot and the propane torch gets it more than hot enough and right now. Just don't get too close to the open end of t...

If you just want to build one guitar, you can do it most anywhere. 45 years ago, I built my first guitar on a screen porch without electricity. My only power tool was an electric drill which I took inside to use. When I started building in earnest ten years ago, my initial set up for the first 30 gu...

The dust from Rocklight Ebano is like wood dust. I've had no problem with customer acceptance and have sold all the guitars I've made using Ebano fingerboards.

Richlite is not the same as Rocklite. http://www.rocklite.co.uk/ I buy Ebano fingerboards for ~$32 each. I know next to nothing about Richlite except on their website, they say it is a resin infused paper product. Rocklite is definitely a wood product, albeit sliced up and resin infused. Ebano feels...

I've been using Rocklite Ebano on my new guitars and fingerboard replacements for about two years, roughly 20 fingerboards worth. I had been using rosewood and liked it, but developed a skin sensitivity to rosewood and had to stop using it. I've come to not like ebony much as it seems unstable enoug...

I ordered a pint of General's High Performance. They say it is water clear. It is also softer, to the point that some people say in reviews that it is not suitable for a guitar finish. For polyurethane repairs at the boatyard, however, we use a softer polyurethane which makes for easier polishing ou...

Or maybe drop fill with General Finishes High Performance Gloss and polish out? General's website says HP is water clear.

I don't have any direct advise though the slide idea sound promising. My thought was to have him read the Django Reinhardt story. Django lost the use of his 3rd and 4th finger on his left hand from a severe burn early in his career. Everyone thought his career was over but he adapted his playing to ...

Anyone have experience with repair on an Endurovar finished instrument. I have a guitar in the shop that was finished new with Endurovar six months ago. There are some serious dents in the top but they do not appear to have broken through the finish or exposed unfinished wood. I'm thinking fill them...

Mike, no I didn't know that was Kenneth Michael's design. I got the picture from a student at the Whetstone School of Lutherie in Brattleboro, VT, they apparently use them there. The Whetstone version looks slightly different, but same idea. To me the hand bending and solera go together. If I build ...

Agreed! I'll let you know how the .020" Jescar goes in a .023" slot. My guess is it will be good.

FWIIW, I've been going through this too, frets hard to drive and too much back bow. To mitigate, I've been using a cheap fine tooth back saw with the teeth dressed down to .025" to open the slots up a bit for fret wire w/ .023" tang. Also, I'm using the Stewmac Fret Barber to trim the tangs down som...

Ahhh, that makes sense, thanks!

Your comment about linings gave me an idea. Maybe the flats at the back of the keystone part makes a landing for clamps during head and tail block installs. And your right of course, the ideal post is tall enough so it can backup the sides during lining installs. But short enough that it does not ge...

I've been thinking about making a solera. I saw this picture and wondered what is going on with the side support posts: solera.jpg What do the keyhole shaped bits of MDF do on the top? Is the bolt hole drilled off center so it can act like a cam and the extention off the round part is a lever? The w...

Waddy, got a link to that video?