MIMF

I went to a Lie Nielsen tool show last year, and they had a very simple, very effective set-up, with minimal investment. The first thing they do, everytime the sharpen is flatten the stone with a DMT diamond flattening plate. They have a 1000/8000 combination water stone. Once you get it flat, a few...

Here in the US, there are some states that sell 95 percent grain alcohol, so you might be able to find an area in Canada where it is legal to sell. I also just did a quick Google search for 100 percent pure ethanol and found several chemical supply places that sell it. I don't know what the laws are...

I have done it many times with straight pieces, and yes, it does work very well. The joints are really not noticeable once you flood it with super glue. However, once I tried Purflex, I use that now. It is basically, pre broken pieces of shell in a black fiber channel. It bends very easily, and can ...

Very cool. Nice playing, and great looking oud.

I asked several people, and they all said Athanatos (immortal) is not a wood. It is the name for a plant. The plant is a cactus, similar to Agave, and found all over Greece. The plant does not produce wood. It is a succulent. One person mentioned that in the old days, they used to use fibers from th...

That's a new one to me. Never heard of any wood called that. I will do some checking and get back to the forum. I know several makers in Greece who might help.

Very nice work. That neck joint is spot on!

The markings are on the 10th string, because of the tuning. In the original bouzouki (three courses) their were many different tunings. There are many modes in Greek music, and musicians would retune their instruments when they changed modes. Eventually, the settled on a more or less standard DAD tu...

Really nice work. Are these your first instruments, or first staved instruments? My first instrument was a Greek bouzouki. Did you use anything as support across the staves on the inside of the bowls? In Greek bouzoukis, they usually run a few strips of linen or cotton or now sometimes carbon fiber ...

I have a very inexpensive 5 inch Black & Decker ros, and a very old Porter Cable 1/4 sheet finish sander. Just got a 5 inch Mirca Ceros, but i have not used it yet.

Most of the popular water based lacquer companies have a flat or semi--gloss version. However, I always use the gloss version. I noticed that if I sand the finish up to 2000 Mirka Abralon pad (on a random orbit sander), the finish is a very uniform and flat. From this stage, you can just leave it, o...

I bought a SawStop this year (please no commentary one way or the other). Due to the design of that saw's safety device, I was looking for a fret slotting table saw blade that was at least 8 inches in diameter. The people that currently sell fret slotting table saw blades only make them in 6 inch di...

I saw the video, and thought it was a great idea. However, I quickly realized that this is probably something you have to use every day. Great for factory setting, but in a small shop like mine, where I might not need this for weeks, I can only imagine opening it up and seeing a mass of hardened glu...

Has anybody ever used the technique of applying the hide glue to both surfaces, letting it dry and then taping or banding the bindings in place. This allows you all the time in the world to get the alignment right. After that, you reactivate the hide glue with a steamer. I saw this technique used in...

I love what you did with the binding -totally unique and very classy. The finger rest is also very stylish. Super job. Glad you got back to building.

I was just rereading this thread, and I got to wondering, if you are going to put steel or carbon fiber in the neck, why would you not want it to be adjustable? I can tell you that in Greek bouzoukis, if you are making an instrument for a professional player, especially one from Greece, you can't pu...

i stand corrected! Thanks for the info.

I am all for the carbon fiber bars. They are three times as strong as steel, and weight less than the wood you remove to install them.

The softer backing pads are good for archtops both for finish sanding and especially for sanding the finish flat. A hard, flat pad will not conform to the curves. You can get an interface pad that you attach to the backer pad, and then you put your discs on the interface pad. That eliminates the nee...

Those dermatome blades look a bit like disposable straight razor blades. There is a Japanese company called Feather that makes blades and razors (also surgical blades). Guys, these things are the sharpest things I have ever shaved with. They have several different kinds, pro-guard (with wire wrapped...