Posted on March 4, 2024March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Waterborne Solutions Waterborne Solutions by Mike Doolin and John Greven from their 2001 GAL Convention demonstration Originally published in American Lutherie #73, 2003 Doolin: Waterborne finishes and methods of working with them are constantly evolving. New products come out every year and old formulas are continually being updated. This workshop is like a snapshot of what John and I were doing at the time, and our techniques have continued to evolve. We trade techniques back and forth and share our results with new products as they become available. We never seem to be using exactly the same products or techniques; this just goes to show that there is no perfect finish product or technique yet. However, John and I agree that the products which have become available in the last few years are finally up to the task of producing a finish worthy of a fine handmade guitar. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I want to talk about what waterborne finish is. First, think of lacquer and shellac. Both lacquer and shellac are resins dissolved in solvent. Spray it on, the solvents evaporate out, and that’s it. There’s no structural cross-linking reaction going on. Anytime after the finish is dry, you can use lacquer thinner to wipe the lacquer off the guitar. The same is true for pure shellac, which is always soluble in alcohol. That’s useful for a finish which will be rubbed out, particularly if you’re going to be touching up at a later time. You can melt that coat in. Otherwise, if the subsequent coat has to stick by a mechanical bond, you get a witness line if you sand through the top coat. One of the advantages of the new waterborne finishes is that they seem to do that — to burn into their previous coats. That’s one of the things we’re looking for. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 4, 2024March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Fret Spacing Without a Calculator Fret Spacing Without a Calculator by Scott Antes Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #11, 1975 In Calculating Fret Scales, Data Sheet #4, we discussed fret scale calculation with the use of an electronic calculator. This data sheet is for use by those who either have no access to such a calculator, are too proud to use one, or who are interested in making only a partial fret scale; for instance, that of a dulcimer. And a short addendum to DS #4, please note that in any fret scale, the point known as ‘bridge’ is a hypothetical point at which the actual bridge would be located if the string height and fret height were both zero, or if a number of other impossible conditions were to exist. The hypothetical bridge point exists for calculation purposes only. To find the actual bridge point, the amount of compensation deemed necessary is added to the hypothetical string length from which the fret scale was calculated. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 3, 2024March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Miter Slot Sled Miter Slot Sled by John Calkin Published online by Guild of American Luthiers, March 2024 This jig is more fallout from the week I spent in the last century in a class taught by Charles Fox. Jigs with clamps such as these have been all over my shop since then. On top, the jig is nothing more than a panel of MDF, two lengths of 1/2" threaded rod, a pair of knobs, and two “jaws” cut from steel flat stock. The jaws were placed in a vise and one end was bent into a slight hook with a hammer. As you will see, aluminum might have been a better choice. The underside of the jig is nothing more than randomly placed, recessed tee nuts and a wooden runner that fits nicely into the miter slot of the table saw. The runner left the panel overhanging the blade slightly so that a zero-tolerance saw cut could be made. All layout is done on the object to be cut. Lines are placed on the edge of the jig, clamped down, and gently run through the blade. Rough lumber can be given a clean edge as long as the dimension is within reach of the saw blade. BEWARE OF THE BLADE TOUCHING THE STEEL JAWS. THE RESULTS COULD BE DISASTROUS! Aluminum jaws make much more sense in this context. Note that helper blocks are needed to cut tall stock, in this case a pair of ukulele neck blanks. Make the cut slowly to prevent moving the stock, especially if the blade is less than newly sharpened. Since this is the maximum depth that the saw can cut on this jig, the threaded rods were marked for length with a piece of masking tape, then cut back with a hack saw. ◆
Posted on March 3, 2024March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Mask for Belt Sanding Mask for Belt Sanding by John Calkin Published online by Guild of American Luthiers, March 2024 My 6×48 belt sander is my favorite and most used machines, though getting the most out of it didn’t come easy. It takes a knack to use one accurately, and that took years to develop. Perhaps most importantly, I learned to join plates and sculpt necks, saving myself scads of time over the years. This tip is about sanding parts on nearly completed instruments. It can be dangerous because the plates are already as thin as desired. In this case I needed to take down the end blocks of a dulcimer to the level of the plates. I had already shaped the sides of the blocks using a disk sander and sanding blocks. I used a scrap of poster board to mask the plates as I took down blocks to meet the plates. The end blocks weren’t that much oversize. A hand plane might have done this job as fast as my belt sander, But I never use handtools if a machine will do the job. Whew! I cut it close on this one, but it’s OK. The back of this dulcimer was already thinner than I liked. The block on the bridge end has to be larger to make room for some sort of string fixtures. There are also blocks inside the dulcimer to support the end blocks. The mask doesn’t have to be fancy or cover the entire plate. Sanding the block is done in quick steps with visual checking at every step. No sweat this time. All of the hand pressure on the sanding belt is applied to the block. I usually keep 80 grit belts on my sander. Sixty-grit would last longer and cut faster but the scratches require more work to remove. The abrasive barely touched the mahogany on this end. Most belt sanders of this size come with a 9" disk sander attached, but right from the factory mine wobbled badly. It was also frequently in the way, so I dismantled it. I considered returning the machine to Woodworker’s Supply, but repacking it would have been a lot of work. They still sell this machine. If they haven’t improved I wouldn’t buy it again. Standing the belt 90 degrees to the supplied work table turned out not to be a big deal, so I didn’t miss the disk sander very much. ◆
Posted on March 3, 2024March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Novice Notes Novice Notes by Donald Curry Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, 5, #3, 1977 Editor’s Note: This column marks the last of the regular “Novice Notes” series which has run in the GALQ for a full year now. Mr. Curry assures us that he will continue to follow the Guild’s activities with interest, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him most warmly for the excellent and reliable manner in which he has presented this informative series. This final step in the making of an instrument is the finish, which includes preparation of the wood, applying the finishing material, and the final polishing. This subject probably has more diversity than any other in lutherie. Every luthier and every book on the subject differ as to how to produce a proper finish. Many different methods have proved equally successful and for this reason I will not go through a specific procedure but comment on some important aspects often overlooked. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
