Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

what solvent do you guys use to clean down a guitar and to simulate a finish when looking for glue during final sanding. Naptha is banned isn't it? what else to use .....shellite, mineral spirit? and what about inbetween coats ..do you wipe down with a solvent or just a clean rag? would you use a di...

thanks James, thats a very helpful clear description of what to expect..thanks for taking the time.
Martin, cheers as well for imparting your experience on finishing
Jeff thanks, i wasn't aware birchwood casey had a sanding sealer also to use with their oil...will look into it
Grant

Jeff, That looks beautiful.. excellent stuff.
about the tru-oil?
when you say "shows no mercy in sanding"
do you mean sanding the finish or getting the final sand on the guitar right first?

The Go-bar deck is a good option for what martin is talking about.
its handy for clamping braces, clamping tops and backs...

if you make one with an adjustable ceiling you can use it for a number of things.

they are both excellent books. I think you'll find as you go that you will draw from all sources and not just one book.. I have taken equal parts from Cumpiano Robbie O'brien's DVD Kinkaird's book and just as importantly forums like this one and Official Luthiers Forum MIMF and any other websites do...

I was also just checking out the ubeaut website and was wondering what the difference in products like shellac flakes white shellac french polish Cheers Grant Grant, French Polishing is not a product....it's one of many ways of applying shellac. In a nutshell it involves applying hundreds of layers...

ozziebluesman, thanks for sharing that.. I'll definitely look into the hard shellac more. Sebastiaan, the simplest finish that also looks/ sounds good really appeals to me. tru-oil could be the answer...Is your finish gloss? I was also just checking out the ubeaut website and was wondering what the ...

Martin, I own the exact same model Ibanez as that one your working on..Its my campfire / drag around guitar ..
I put bone nut/saddle/bridge pins and some grover tuners on it which helped it a bit..It can be pretty nice with the right set of strings.

Thanks guys, Martin and Sebastiaan Did you guys seal the soundboard with z-poxy also? and Sebastiaan, with your tru-oil finish...did you use it on the soundboard? and did you go for a gloss finish ? If I can get a gloss finish with tru-oil i may be tempted to use it. James..thanks for the info..I ha...

I'd get the book by Jim Williams if you want to build a steel string in the spanish heel method. theres a few australian suppliers that have it available...heres a few http://guitarwoods.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=34&osCsid=de6a6c30c19865fb9c0f8ac234409b5b http://luthierssupplies.com.au/product_...

First off , let me say . I have no experience in applying finish. I want to do a finish by hand...especially hand rubbed.. I don't have spray facilities and i don't really want to use a brush. I have been looking at either french polish/hard shellac type finish or tru-oil. I've been reading the Milb...

yeah I'm with Arnt. Certainly looks like a fair amount of surface area of that bridge wasn't glued down.

Well Dave, Not only a beautiful looking instrument but very nice playing and it certainly has a lovely tone to it straight out of the box..

very nice work ,Taffy.
as well as what everyone else has mentioned I really like the simple elegance of the rosette.

Thanks Dave, You've saved my little brain all the maths..I will digest this post a lot more as i get closer. and Graham I am with you on the piezo sound ...I detest it so much and under no circumstances will an undersaddle pickup be going anywhere near this guitar.... I may try a K & K though. which...

thanks guys .. Graham that sounds like what I've been reading.. so basically prior to fretting if i lay a straight edge on the fingerboard it should sit right on top of the bridge. Does this sound right (given that the medium frets I'm using are about 1.1mm in height) ... then once fretted should ge...

I'm just wondering how thick you like your bridge to be? after I glued my fingerboard on and radiused I laid a straight edge down the centre and my measurement at the saddle is 0.3" (7.7mm) from the face to the straightedge minus the frets. I'm just wondering how thick to make my bridge? Would it be...

Congratulations Craig, thats georgeous,
and quite an honour to be on an LMII catalogue

and best of luck to you with the chemo treatment.

I'm thinking of going with unslotted bridge pins..
The ones Stewmac sell all seem to be 5 degree taper.

Does anyone know of any supplier in Australia that sells a
5 degree tapered reamer.?

Cheers Grant

thats a coincidence Bob, I just bought a Canon SX100is as well recently..
Haven't taken any guitar shots as yet but it seems like its certainly a huge step up from the 5yo 3mega pixel no name thing I've been using.

welcome Alfred and ditto what everyone else has said
lovely looking instrument.

that is beautiful Bob,....
That red spruce top certainly has a lot of character. lovely appointments and that Tiger Myrtle is GRRRRRRR!!!

Thanks for the pics Taffy...In the pic of your intonator jig I'm just wondering what the bolt at the back of the jig is for? Is that a stop bar that contacts the back of your bridge? Colin , that sounds like a great idea to be able to further tune the top prior to finishing...thats certainly food fo...

If you cut the slot before you glue the bridge to the top you are doing it by "guessometrics". If you are serious about getting the intonation right you will cut the slot after the bridge is glued to the top. Given that my bridges are curved side to side and back to back I would have more trouble m...

thanks for all your feedback....plenty of great insight to digest. Graham ,...thanks for the advice on the wider saddle ,.That makes a heap of sense to me. As far as playing in tune goes, I've always thought an acoustic guitar with individual adjustable saddles would be a great idea..Maybe not athst...