Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Just learned that Carbatec will be closing their Perth and Adelaide stores in mid August.

Perfect instrument for a half arse player?

There's always a simple solution...but there's more money to be made by turning a simple problem into a complex one. Well finally looks like the problem has been resolved. As a result of my email to Parcelfarce pointing out the wrong address, they finally looked at the parcel and photographed the la...

Looks like that all went well. Now you just have to find a customer who wants half a guitar

Reminds of a recent carton delivery from Melbourne. Cartage company's online tracking log showed attempted delivery at dinner time on a friday night. I was home at that time staring down the driveway from my study. The guy must have been driving an invisible truck. I rang the carton company and they...

"highly regarded courier services".....in Australia that's an oxymoron.

TallDad71 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 05, 2025 4:14 am

ParcelForce are one of the more highly regarded courier services in the UK.

Jesus Pete that's like a scene from Yes Minister. What a nightmare and absolutely unacceptable.

LOL.....they look familiar

Taffy Evans wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 03, 2025 2:57 pm

Hi, Martin, here's a photo of my latest taffo prop, it's called the Taffo-Jack. My grandson made them for me on his 3D printer.
IMG_1573.JPG
Cheers Taff

Hi, Mark, I appreciate your interest. The wood "sticks" are props used to support the brace whilst the glue is drying. I have a whole box of them, and the dots are my way of quickly identifying the different lengths. A throwback to my early days...well, if it still works. After the brace job, reset...

TallDad71 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 30, 2025 4:56 pm

Martin, I think you've cracked it for me. If I build a dome using your method, it should have enough holes for the light to come though. That way I can ensure a tight fit. I used purling on the build above, very messy!!!!

My "method" is as per David Van Edwards Lute Tutorial CD.

Nice work with that guitar..very interesting rosette. If you're going for a full lute style bowl back you'd normally work with an internal mold. The process is akin to making a wine barrel using staves. Accuracy of the mold is critical as is fit of the ribs. Running a narrow black or white purfling ...

Thanks for the intro Gaz and looking forward to progress pics of your first build.

Normally with laminated sides the outer layer is decorative and you'd use a tonewood. The inner layer is usually a cheaper wood. I did a laminated side parlour and used IRW on the outside and maple on the inside. Laminated sides serve two purposes....1. more economical use of quality tonewoods that ...

WJ Guitars wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 21, 2025 5:20 pm

Thanks Nigel for the information. I have been able to source orphan Macassar Ebony sides and I will use your method with a test run first.

Wayne

Yep..a test incineration is always a good idea

Would Hebel panel work for soundproofing a basement workshop? I'd like to move to a place with a bigger shed, but what I keep finding are nice houses with massive workshops on the ground floor. The Mrs isn't having the notion of me working downstairs with machines. So if there is a better way to so...

Gezuz Peter...there some serious bling going on there mate! A beautiful instrument.

Frickin spindle moulders.....I'm shit scared of those things! Machines like that should only be operated by blokes with tattoos

Cheers guys! Have you ever tried knives to carve the heel or volute etc? I bought a set of violin knives with the intention of using them for heel and volute carving but only used them once. I tend to rough out using Dragon rasps. the dragon rasps don't chew off as much material as a chisel with ea...

If I were the maker of that guitar I'd be confiscating it off the owner. What sort of person leaves a Gore creation lying on the floor????

"made to be played"? LOL....Made to be Repaired.

1. rough out heel with bench chisel. 2. shape heel with dragon rasps. 3. rough shape neck shaft using spoke shave (flat sole) working along facets marked along neck shaft in with pencil 4. rough shape headstock/neck shaft with dragon rasp and small wood files. 5. final shaping of neck shaft working ...

"survived a drop from waist height onto a wooden floor, landing on the lower bout treble side binding and survived virtually damage free."

But has it survived the ultimate test of resilience.....a full on bar room fight?

Matt_W wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 05, 2025 6:57 pm

Ive heard a rule of thumb "A year per inch thick, plus a year" for wood seasoning, so a 2.5mm top is about 10 weeks? Hopefully i don't have to leave it that long before glueing up

Think that rule would apply for green wood.

I reckon most of the bad workshop fires involve paint thinners.

TomBicknell wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 03, 2025 8:06 pm

Good point about the insurance, Nigel. There’s a number of fire resistant panels on the market, thankfully.

The issue here is cheap mainly Chinese made SIPs that don't meet the building code as far as inflammability rating of materials used in the SIPs. Of particular concern are panels with inflammable skins as well as internal insulating styrene that doesn't have a fire inhibitor added. Prior to construc...