Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

i've been using "diggers paint cleanup" as a stone lubricant instead of water. It's fantastic, clears out all the clogging accumulated steel residue as you go and make for a really clean stone that cuts faster. I dropped a bit of food colouring in to make it look pink and keep some in a spray bottle...

this is an old thread by now and you've probably solved your Amber problem but looking at the recipe you've described I would just be adding a touch of black. each time you add brown to a mix to make it darker you're actually adding a bit of red, so it's very easy to go too red with a mix that's got...

kiwigeo wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 29, 2024 2:40 pm

Does it sound good..or does it sound like a cat when you grab it and give it's balls a hard yank?

No, it sounds nothing like a guitar.

How could i possibly describe it in a way that would make sense?

When the owner makes a video, ill post it.

Been a while since i posted a build here

King Billy top
Huon pine back, sides
cedar inlays
blackwood TP

only $200 i think it was

For some time I’ve put all my ozito shop vacs in a heavy ply box to reduce noise. I put a cyclone on top of this one in record time. the Cyclone is just a $40 one off eBay and the tub is one of those cardboard ones… Not sure what comes in them but you can get them at Reverse Garbage and places like ...

i just picked up a Sherwood slow speed grinder from Timbecon. I’ve been looking for one for ages. Very heavy unit but runs smooth and quiet at 1450 RPM. Two 8” aluminium oxide wheels on it. Works really great. you can hollow grind all the way without burning the steel. the excellent veritas tool res...

And just to prove i can still post on topic, here’s a picture of my latest double bass flat back bracing, under construction. The back and ribs are american walnut. Top is Englemann spruce. Neck and scroll is Tas Blackwood. 1D25254F-3015-4A80-8961-533012AD7A74.jpeg 677BD722-500C-45F4-B224-7E0324A14E...

Well, today i was chatting with a colleague in the US and dictating into my phone and happened to mention use of a common glue brand.

Autocorrect did it’s thing, quite hilariously we thought, and so i’ve rebranded my glue accordingly

A friend has a blackwood log harvested from his property near Camden. Approx 8ft long and about 14" across.

Where/who could one get this rough sawn for drying in Sydney area?

I bought them direct from the states and they were shipped to me in oz. Didn’t seem too expensive. Lot 50 pounds for four seems a lot

Just came across this product to stop oxidation and skinning if finished. Looks a terrific idea.
Anyone else using it?

I keep a big bin of sawdust next to my compost heap. With every kitchen bucket of wet scraps, i cover with a bucket of sawdust. And occasionally throw on a handful of urea pellets. It keeps the flies at bay and rots down very nicely. Yes I get that we are only very small fish in a very big sea. And ...

My reading matter for the holidays ...

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _Australia

I'm not sure carbon is always a byproduct of bacterial or fungal decomposition ... this is why we compost green waste, to put carbon back into the soil ... i would have thought it remained a residue, unless oxidised (burnt) but who know, maybe you're right. And i guess if my mates don't burn my kind...

Like most of you probably, i do accumulate a lot of wood waste, offcuts, dust, odd shaped pine, ply and MDF bits from jigs and frames ... and while i tend to hoard every last scrap of spruce, maple and so on for the many repairs and restorations i do, the wood bin just grows and grows. I put wood du...

Ondrej Simanski has a palette of good Carpathian spruce, poplar and maple tonewood at the conclusion of the Bow Makers and Luthiers conference at Bathurst. See the attached PDF. Cello tops and backs can be re-sawn for guitar top etc. If he doesn't sell by Friday evening, he's taking it back to Slova...

i might add that the engine behind the system is the cheap ozito shop vac with power take off under $100. In a sturdy box to reduce noise. i have a power board running off it and any tool turned on will power the dust collector up.

You know one of the things i’m most proud of in my workshop is my humble dust collection system. This has now been in operation for three years and we have very little dust problem in the workspace which adjoins the showroom. I don’t remember if i posted this already but the system has had a few ref...

I can do a lot with 9 inches and above

oil and kerosene i think not naphtha.

some use wd40 but i want to avoid oil residue

This thread is a little old but i just read through and want to add that the main lubricant we use in the workshop here for cutting back and for French Polishing with hard shellac ... is kerosene. It behaves like a very light oil and evaporates slower than the alcohol so it is a good lubricant. But,...

I’m sure it would work as a neck wood. The only thing that would stop me using it is the look. Too much of a good thing on a instrument that’s already has a lot of figure. I would use a more plain wood and finish with a veneer headstock or grafted scroll if I was doing it. I’ve made three basses wit...

Also, to prove that i'm still here and working, here's a pic of some "responsive" back bracing I did recently for a flatback double bass. There's a lot of interest in this style of bracing to combat shrinkage cracks in the large flat backs of basses. It performs a different function to Trevor's falc...