Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

My wife calls it "Shopping in the closet".

I play mostly steel string so I see fewer splits and tears and get consistent feel finger to finger.

It is a private label product from a US beauty supply chain called Sally Beauty Supply and they don't have it listed on their website. They have an Irish operation called Salon Services and this is the exact one I have except a different product number: http://www.salon-services.com/salon-services-3...

Check with your local nail salon and see where they get their supplies. I use a multi-grit emery board (600, 4000, 12000 Micromesh-like grit on one board) for nail, fret, nut, saddle and general polishing for small things. No difference I can see to Micromesh as far as lifespan and quality but ~1.00...

I've had my DW735 for ~12 years and it's still humming. One thing you will see using straight blades is a small ridge when you get a small chip in the edge. Because the DW735 blades are indexed, you can loosen 2 blades and slide one to the right and the other to the left ~4mm. This takes ~3 minutes ...

Trevor Gore wrote:

curly wrote:
Having shipped a lot of gear around in my time, generally it doesn't "break" in transit, but frequently fails due to set up issues on arrival.

Must be different in AUS. Here the freight shippers have bumper car contests with the front end loaders and pallet jacks.

Find some large belt sander rolls and cut them down to size. If you have friends with a cabinet shop they may be willing to sell you one if you can't find single belts retail.

When you're in Queenstown try to get out to Arrowtown to check out the Chinese miner settlement. The shacks built into the side of the hills inspired the design of the Hobbit houses Peter Jackson used in the films. Pretty sure the river running by Arrowtown and the general area was also used as movi...

Just a SWAG but when you originally glued up the rosette how dry was the workplace? If it was dry then and now (mid summer) when humidity is high, you may be dealing with swelling of the Cocobolo. The radial design multiplies any swelling times the number of joints. This could stress the joints and ...

Elegantly simple, compact, available free at most construction sites or very cheap. What's not to like!

Brian Boggs method works great for me: http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/v ... raper.aspx

Just a guess but could the issue be that the volume of air in the room is too small for the dehumidifier? As the temperature in the space increases from the dehumidifier, the RH drops but no substantial reduction in actual (absolute) water vapor happens. Your existing dehumidifier is probably doing ...

Not sure of the offshore shipping costs but these are what I use: http://goodwinds.com/clearance/clearance-solid-fiberglass.html With these tips: http://goodwinds.com/connectors/vinyl-end-caps.html They also have very good priced on CF flatstock: http://goodwinds.com/clearance/clearance-flat-carbon....

When I use to perform (we had not outlawed smoking yet) my wife made me keep my cases closed. She bought a big container of baking soda and a bag of Cat litter with the colored granules. I put ~a cup of each in a section of recycled nylon hose placed under the head stock in a closed case. It took ca...

I have corrected cupping by placing cupped boards (concave side down) in the sun and on the lawn for a morning. If you're in a temperate climate there is enough condensation on the grass and heat by the sun to slowly expand the cup. Sunlight can darken some woods so proceed with caution. Once your w...

If you're on a budget or are a curmudgeon (like me) you can put together a wetbulb/drybulb thermometer and a small fan for very little outlay. This will give you excellent accuracy and precision without all the calibration drama of the electronic versions. Use a psychrometric calculator like this: h...

Derek Cohen has a great Web page with multiple versions of Shooting Boards and Tips here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/index.html Adding the ability to micro-adjust the fence and the addition of a running fence (large dado for the plane to ride) matched to your Handplane side are excel...

So good on Mr Sawstop, for pushing safety onto a recalcitrant industry and helping make TS use that much nicer, and or safer. Cheers Dom Somehow I don't think safety was the prime driver of Sawstop's decision to fund Osorio's case against Ryobi. Amen Dominic! Kim I don't remember SawStop being invo...

If you have money to exchange, this store has an excellent Handtool and supply selection (but don't expect a huge showroom): http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/ You'll need to go to Brooklyn. Some of his Grammercy house brand tools are excellent. The rasps, rasp-file handles and paint brushes stand ...

I love dust collection posts...always entertaining. :D Markus my post above was not to criticise your work I and apologise if it came across that way. I was attempting to show a different option for dust collection and management that may be within reach of someone without sheet metal skills for a D...

Phil Thein has created a low cost DIY design which works well (and has been copied by Clearvue and Jet):
http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

I apply a layer of Duct tape to the first 3-4 inches of the back of the abrasive. It prevents tears (and tears ).

Thanks Mark, You detail some very good points about the clogging and re-use of paper. Have a look at the method here http://www.ukuleles.com/BuildingHowTo/sandthck.html has anyone done it like this? I dissmissed initialy because I was worried that the leading edge of the piece of timber being sande...

Depending on the stock you will be thicknessing you will need to change the abrasive fairly often. Rosewoods (Cocobolo especially), Ebony and other oily-waxy woods used in instrument building will clog the abrasive and will need to be cleaned and/or changed often. I don't have experience with a DIY ...

I have one of those "Cordless" Scrollsaws with a grinder attachment. Wife has her Grandmother's "Cordless" Sewing Machine too.