Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

We don't have a garden shed (yet). That is what I was thinking of doing, but I need to build the garden shed first. That will kill two birds with one stone, the other half will be happy to finally get her garden shed.

Well I am spraying my 3rd guitar with Durabond nitro guitar finish now the weather is warm and dry. Spray outside with a respirator and gloves. We decided the varnish I used on #1 and #2 was not hard enough so went with epoxy fill and nitro. I can certainly understand why nitro is so popular. It is ...

How about Silver Ash? Celery Top should also be ok if you can get it.

Try Monaro Timbers in Canberra. They may have Silver Ash or Satin Box. Don't think I have ever seen Celery Top there, but I did buy some Silver Ash there a while ago.

Peter

Good stuff Kim....... Yep. I can't believe the amount of misinformation and lies and political BS flying around the Internet about this issue. The link above is a good example of this. Many forums have shut down discussion because it degenerated into a political shit fight. The mandolincafe shut do...

Nick I don't think that link is a balanced view at all. In fact he has got most, if not just about everything wrong. Kim is absolutely correct, the wood was legally exported from India as has millions of fingerboard blanks over the last 30 or more years. It has nothing to do with endangered species,...

An interesting new development (from luthiersforum.com), maybe something good will come from this. This was sent out earlier today: A Letter From NAMM to President Obama and Members of the U.S. Congress September 1, 2011 We are writing today on behalf of the music products industry to express deep f...

Oops apologies, after putting on the reading glasses, they are in fact Grover tuners, not Gotoh's.

Thank you. So anything up to 6mm is OK. Anything 6-12mm needs to be semi finished or fully finished. Anything thicker than 12mm is not permitted. My ebony blanks are 12mm or less and are sanded so I'm legal (phew). The Gibson fingerboard blanks are 10mm in thickness, but there is no mention of sandi...

I'm sure the Chinese manufacturers will come to India's rescue..... Well maybe, but they are probably also stuffed because they won't be able to export anything to the USA that contains Indian wood. It is interesting to note that the Lacey Act amendments were introduced to stop illegally logged tim...

Well the affidavit does indeed describe fingerboard blanks. If US F&W are correct then millions of guitars, mandolins, violins, you name it, are now illegal. Just about all my mandolins are illegal, and my stash of Indian Ebony fingerboards are also illegal. We are all stuffed and India is about to ...

On second thoughts, the fact that F&W are claiming violation of the Lacey Act does tend to indicate that they may be interpreting Indian law. Is a great pity there are no pictures so we are all in the dark. Whatever happens it will be interesting.

No, I think the crux of the legal argument will be what is the legal definition of a fingerboard blank, and does the Ebony that Gibson imported to the US match that legal definition - i.e. does the documentation match the product that was imported. If not then F&W have a case against Gibson, and the...

Unfortunately the video only shows one side of the story, and I was also somewhat upset about it until I saw the other side. Believe Gibson and you start to believe that Ebony and Rosewood from India is now illegal which does have dire consequences for all Luthiers using Indian Ebony and Rosewood, a...

The Gotoh's I have no idea because I did not make the guitar I used as a reference. Prices of the Schertlers are on the Stew Mac web page.

There is a thread on luthiersforum.com on this very subject. http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=33261 Also from Al Carruth "Maple is fine for bridges: it's no softer than the cherry Comfyfoot's used. I'd do two things, though: 1) move the saddle back a bit, so that the slot i...

Curly Big Leaf Maple, curly Rock Maple, curly Red Maple, curly European Maple? What species? That is the question.

Peter

To answer the questions - The bridges are not my design (wish they were!). They are made in the USA by Sound to Earth (i.e. Weber), but I modifiy them to improve the sound. They are a wedge adjustment design and are adjusted with 2 allen screws on the ends. Very neat design that has ben patented. Th...

Here is the other mandolin. This is the first mandolin where I have used NG Rosewood. I bought a wildly figured piece years ago and never got around to using it until now. Sound is different. It rings like a bell, with huge sustain. Beautiful clear treble, but bright bass, a bit thin sounding in the...

Here is the second mandola. Woods are Carpathian Spruce and European Maple, Ebony bindings and tuning knobs, and Birdseye Maple pickguard.

I have been busy on a batch of 2 mandolins and 2 mandolas. Guitars have taken a back seat for the time being. Here are some pictures. Here is a matching pair of a mandola and mandolin. Woods are Carpathian Spruce top, Tassie Oak back and sides, Queensland Maple neck, Lacewood tuning knobs, Ebony fin...

$500 shipping costs from the USA for around 90kg of CNC machine is way off the mark. There is at least one person who has imported a Romaxx WD-1 into Ausralia from the USA, and he reported the the shipping cost to be about $1200 AUD. Apart from that, I agree with Jeremy.

Not really. I used to go outside to sand and wore a dust mask, and blew away the dust with the air compressor. Should always do that.

It seems that with all those products it comes down to how we protect ourselves from the fumes and/or sanding dust.

Yep, but that also applies to wood dust.

Peter

Desktop is too small. A cnc router is an invaluable tool in my opinion. But no good for cutting fretslots. Great for making templates Once again it depends on what you want to do with the machine. My machine will be a desk top, 600 x 900mm. Plenty big enough for me. It is possible to cut fret slots...

That is a big question. The answer will depend on what you want to do with the machine, your budget and whether you want turn key, or are prepared to pick up the soldering iron. I have just been through the process of researching and choosing a CNC and ended up ordering a XZero from Canada. It shoul...