MIMF

I neglected to say: It does take some effort and time to fill like this, but less than you might think once you get the hang of it. You spend more time waiting for each session to dry out than actually working on it. I always found epoxy hard to sand back, and had lots of problems with pin holes tha...

Yes; basically it's the fill stage of FP. I put on a very thin spit coat of shellac, and switch to putting alcohol only on the pad. Sprinkle a dusting of pumice on the pad and allow it to 'clear' (take up alcohol), and then rub it into the wood surface, using a circular motion. The pumice cuts into ...

I have used epoxy in the past, and a number of other things, but have gone over recently shellac/pumice filling. Whatever fill material I've used my objective has always been to sand back to the wood, leaving filler only in the pores. This avoids the 'splotchy' look you get from layers of surface co...

My first 'pair' experiment was two classical guitars; one in oak and the other in BRW, back in the 90s. They were not all that much different in sound, nor could I find a lot with the limited test facilities I had at the time. From what I know now I'd say that they probably would not have been much ...

Sorry about that.

That happened to me about 25 years ago, and, as we all tend to do, I really just wanted to forget the whole thing. The bleed I got from the black dyed veneer went out about 1/2" into a very white spruce top. There simple was no way to sand it all off. Aniline dyes can be tricky.

I just remembered something: test any dyed veneers with whatever glue you plan on using by inlaying pieces into some scrap spruce. I once used epoxy and ebony dust to make a mastic for inlaying some pearl around a rosette. The problem was that that the color in the black dyed veneer I used for the B...

One rule I saw for setting the bench top height was to make it two finger widths lower than your navel. Not exactly a 'rule of thumb'.... When I was setting up my current shop some of my students offered feedback on this issue, and rather than making all of my benches the same height I varied them a...

Marshall Dixon wrote: "Splits in the soundboard on the sides of the fingerboard are something to consider and to help deal with that I also use a 3" cantilevered heel block that is slightly wider than the fingerboard." I've been doing that for a long time; so far, so good. I make my 'chin' extension...

One of the local luthiers does laser cut inlays on tops. He uses the cutter at the local makers space, and does the cuts into the top at the same time. The fit is perfect, but the edges are charred. I imagine that there are CNC milling setups that could cut the pockets using the same art work. A lit...

That's some nice marquetry alright. But that's all hardwood veneers, as far as I can tell. There's a reason why most inlay goes into ebony; it's the easiest wood to hide problems in. Spruce is, without any doubt, the hardest. Any sort of sawdust that you use as a filler will end up darker than the s...

I would not say 'it doesn't matter' what order you do things in. It depends a lot on what your priorities are, and how you work. I started put making classical guitars, using a variation on the traditional 'solera' method. The neck and top are glued together and clamped to a fixture. The guitar is t...

I shape the fretboard and fret the neck after it's glued on, I like being sure that really is the shape I want, at least for the time being.... Yes, this means that the inlays get done after assembly as well. And, yes, the neck is carved to shape and finished. In other words, fretting is one of the ...

I use inside molds for violin family instruments. IIRC, Fleta started out as a violin maker, and probably got the idea from that. Fiddles have corners, and the corners have blocks in them (at least when you build on an inside mold), and those give you a good way to pull (or push) the waist in. I use...

Here's a shot of the tailpiece on the 'Winter' archtop. You can see the top of the ball on it's post, and catch a glimpse of the ebony inlay reinforcing the hole in the top. The tailpiece is Macassar ebony, as is all the dark wood on this one. The black outside of the pearl purfling on the tailpiece...

I may have to take a couple of new ones: the old ones are buried deep.

I did something like that on my 'Autumn' archtop. I used a 1/2" ebony post, with a piece of brass tube epoxied onto it, and that ran in a piece of stainless tube set into the tail block. The over sized top end of the ebony rod is shaped as a ball. It goes through a hole in the tailpiece which is for...

The discoloration from the spalting is obvious in the end grain shot. Maple is only a little more resistant to this than birch, of which Frost said: "Two good storms and a rainy day will rot the best birch fence a man can build". Spalting is caused by fungus, of which there are a number of sorts. On...

How accurate do you need this to be? How many do you need to make? Start by drilling a 1/4" hole across the grain of a piece of something hard, like maple, of an appropriate size. Then drill a 3/4" hole along the grain that intersects the 1/4" hole in the right place. Cut down to the top of the 1/4"...

I know some folks who would love that wood; it's highly figured and spalted. It would make some nice turnings, or jewel boxes, and, of course, any number of sound hole rings. I would not even try to make a guitar out of it. It's really too bad that it was not processed right away when it was cut. Th...

I've used 2 mm on mine, and thinner in the cutaway areas.