Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I actually contacted Multicam and went as far as getting a quote on their smallest machine. Industrial quality machine, designed to run all day every day, weighs around 400kg. The offer was quite good, included delivery, installation and 6 weeks training course. However, to justify the cost I would ...

Just 6 months ago I decided to get more serious about CNC (I had a small and very problematic Chinese machine bought to cut the "Coombe" headstock logo) and took advantage of the tax advantage that ended on 1st July 2022 and purchased a Stepcraft M700 with the ballscrew option and aluminum table. Se...

Thanks. The inlay was done with my new workshop toy, a Stepcraft M700 CNC. It is Huon Pine and Blackwood. It took a while and a few iterations to get it right, but I do like the end result. That is just scratching the surface of what I can do now. All theoretical of course, it all takes time and exp...

Just finished. OM guitar in Adirondack Spruce and Tiger Myrtle. Bloodwood bindings, Blackwood bridge, African Mahogany neck, and Huon Pine rosette. Schertler tuners. I really like the wood combination of red bindings with the Myrtle and the Huon rosette. I love Myrtle. More of us should use it. I do...

I got given a secret family recipe when I was in Canada a few years ago. Add 10% ea of Mastic and Gum Sandarac to your flakes when dissolving them. What all is liquid bring the mix to the boil for a few minutes, three times. Then let it cool, dilute and proceed as usual. This recipe also appears on...

Not much good to us. LMI ships it to USA only.

Nicely done.

I got my carbon fiber tow from http://carbonfiber.com.au/. There is enough in one roll to last me a lifetime. Note that 60m is still quite a small roll. I also bought some CF cloth at the same time, but that is still unused in the container. I have been using West Systems epoxy, and measure it out w...

I have just done some modifications to a guitar I made just before reading the books, so your post is timely. I have been using it as a reference, but all my recent guitars beat it easily so it was not so useful as a reference any more. The first thing I would do is to add two blocks of wood with T ...

Even with a properly set up saw, runout can cause drift, especially with hardwoods. If you orient the plank so the runout points away from the fence that can help reduce the drift. Other way around and the drift ends up cutting too thin and you have firewood. Is of course better to have no runout, b...

You could try ripping up a few sleepers from a local railway line Ha ha, yes well I started woodworking with Jarrah reclaimed from the old Blackwood (in SA) railway station. Dad worked for the railways and when they demolished the wooden platform when I was about 10yo, he scored some hefty Jarrah p...

Yes I know about the impending ban on logging. I did find a quarter sawn plank of Jarrah in the wood stash that I had forgotten about so I am ok for a while. Mostly straight grain, but has good colour. In the meantime I have sourced some figured Jarrah and am waiting for them to get back to me. They...

Following on from this, I have made 2 more Red Gum mandolins, and they all sounded very similar. So the first Red Gum mandolin was not a fluke. All 3 sold quickly. I had some left over Jarrah from a bed I made around 30 years ago so thought I would give that a go. I made 2 Jarrah mandolins 27 years ...

I get my logos done by Andy DePaul if I want it done in shell. These are all done by hand, not something I can do myself, the eyesight ain't what it used to be. I also have a small CNC that I use to make my logo out of wood. The CNC sounds like a good idea, but it was a great time sink until I got i...

I have now got the tracking numbers for my tuners and tailpieces. The tuners have left LA, so they should be ok (phew). The tailpieces are still in the USA and appear to be stuck. Last entry was 3rd Sept, so that is a real concern especially since I have more than $800 invested in that package. Unfo...

Oh no. I have 4 sets of Rubner tuners and 4 James tailpieces sent via USPS, adding up to quite a bit of $$s. Both have been taking their time, which is normal at the moment. The Rubners bounced and they resent via USPS priority express post. I don't have tracking numbers (yet).

I have an Inca, purchased from Garret Wade Melbourne in 1993, and as Nigel said it is a superb small bandsaw, especially with the Inca bandsaw blades. It did all my mandolin work and more for 16 years, and it is still doing it. Even re-sawed 2 Jarrah mandolin sets. Had to take it slow and careful, b...

May I ask what finish protects this Mandolin pls?

Target Coatings EM2000.

Not a new OM guitar, but new flat top Octave Mandolin. This is a completely new model for me, with asymmetric points and 23 inch scale length. In this case I made the body a bit wider and thinner, and sized it to fit into a standard banjo case. I usually avoid points because they are just decoration...

No that Qld Walnut stink does not linger in the finished instrument. If I sniff the soundhole I can just detect it, but mostly smell varnish and glue.

Here are a few backsides of some recent mandolins. From left, Queensland Walnut, Blackwood, Red Gum, and Indian Rosewood. I was kind of hoping the Qld Walnut would be disappointing, but quite the contrary. Looks and sounds great, one of the best. It cost me two wrecked bandsaw blades. One when re-sa...

Here are some sound samples - http://petercoombe.com/Pictures/for-sale/Mandolin269/Lord%20Inchiquin.mp3 http://petercoombe.com/Pictures/for-sale/Mandolin269/Hornpipe.mp3 http://petercoombe.com/Pictures/for-sale/Mandolin269/bsa.mp3 This is the first of this style of mandolin where I have managed to g...

Chladni testing will give you lots of interesting information, but the difficult part is how to interpret it. How do the patterns correlate to the sound of the completed guitar? If you do get into that stuff I would highly recommend Alan Carruth's video. Otherwise "3", and read the Gore/Gilet books.

Well the red gum mandolin is finally finished. Took a while because I ran out of bridges and Vern Brekke is having problems at the moment with the CNC he was using so had to wait for a bridge. Was well worth the wait. All the nay sayers on red gum now need to eat their words. This is the best soundi...

I have gone through the process and was unsuccessful, and the reason given why was unsuccessful I thought was really stupid. It took so much time and effort that I will never ever apply for a grant ever again. It is a lottery. Way too many applicants, not enough money.