Posted on April 13, 2021March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Bow Hair Jig Bow Hair Jig by Thomas Snyder Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 As and apprentice luthier, I have come up with a better mousetrap for rehairing bows. The results with this method have been uniform hair tension, long-term retention, and reduction in rehairing time. The jig was fabricated from pine and oak. I used oak on all blocks. Item 4 makes a great carving back for ferrule wedges. I average ten bows a month and this method and jig has cut my time in half and increased the quality. On my sketch, items 2A, 2E, 2D, and 2F are the new additions to an old jig. I have made a few small changes. For the lack of a name, I will call this a “hair holder.” Item 2A swings aside to place hair over sponge rubber. The half of a 1/8" dowel holds the hair in place when the wing nuts are tightened. 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 April 12, 2021March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Making Lining Strips — One Making Lining Strips — One by Rolfe Gerhardt Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #71, 1978 and in Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1997 I used to make lining strips one at a time, a long, tedious process. Then I visited Charlie Hoffmann in Minneapolis and was inspired to work out this gang-saw setup. The saws are 6" plywood saws, very small kerf, and are spaced on the radial arm shaft with 1/4" spacers. Three blades fit comfortably on my radial arm saw. The holder is a board with a guide strip and two hold-down springs. This holder is clamped to the radial arm saw table. I hold the strip I am sawing with my other hand. 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 April 12, 2021March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Free Plate Tuning, Part One: Theory Free Plate Tuning, Part One: Theory by Alan Carruth Originally published in American Lutherie #28, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume 3, 2004 See also, Free Plate Tuning, Part Two: Violins by Alan Carruth Free Plate Tuning, Part Three: Guitars by Alan Carruth I started learning free plate tuning on violins and violas more than ten years ago from Carleen Hutchins. For those who have not had the pleasure of her acquaintance, Carleen is one of the founders of the Catgut Acoustical Society and its permanent secretary. She is an able scientist, a great teacher, a fine luthier, and a self-confessed mediocre violist. While working with physicist Frederick Saunders almost thirty years ago she helped rediscover and update the old Chladni method of visualizing the vibrations of plates. Her subsequent research, using Chladni patterns as a window into the differences between good and poor violins earned her a silver medal from the Acoustical Society of America. Violin makers have traditionally used some variant of “tap tone” tuning to guide them in working out the final graduations of the top and back plates. Although the technique seems simple and organic on the face of it, it is in fact very complex. It takes a long time, as well as a good ear and a lot of talent, to learn to tune plates by tap tone. Even those who are good at it don’t always succeed. Felix Savart, back in the 19th century, tried to adapt Chladni’s method to research on violin acoustics, but the technology wasn’t there. Now we have the means, and as we gain more understanding of how the instruments work, we also gain more control over the sound. And it doesn’t only work on violins. Fred Dickens, Graham Caldersmith, and Gila Eban have all done major work in applying the principles of violin acoustics to guitar construction. Of course, there are differences and it takes time and effort to sort them out, but physics is physics, or, as a friend of mine said, “it all comes down to F=mA in the end.” I have found these techniques to be useful, and sharing useful techniques is what the Guild is all about. 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 April 11, 2021March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips African Rosewood African Rosewood by John Jordan Originally published in American Lutherie #9, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 See also, South American Rosewood by John Jordan It’s been over a year since my last installment of this series, “South American Rosewood,” and now it’s time to cover African rosewood. At the 1986 GAL convention, I talked to several wood dealers to clarify and verify some of the information presented here. Also, I talked to many luthiers about what important information they felt was missing or incomplete in the first installment. Requests came for more specific lutherie information: How well does it bend? How good a tonewood is it? Does anyone sell back and side sets? In preparing this article, I’ve tried to find people who have built with a particular variety to see how they feel about the wood. Also, in instances where I know of someone that sells back and side sets for guitar, I’ve mentioned them. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few guitars at the convention made from less common varieties of rosewoods, so I go on with some encouragement. 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 April 8, 2021March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Hand Sander Dust Collection Hand Sander Dust Collection by John Calkin Published online by Guild of American Luthiers, April 2021 Shop dust is a pervasive enemy that can cause damage to the lungs and sinuses. One of the silliest inventions ever is the dust collection bag that is hung on many hand sanders in an attempt to convince woodworkers that the manufacturers care about our health. They don't work, they might even blow off of the machine causing a dust cloud of their own, and the irregular port sizes make it difficult to improvise a vacuum hookup. I broke down and bought a new DeWalt DWE6421 sander along with the DWV9000 hose-to-sander adaptor and a 20' length of 2" hose, all for about $110 from Amazon. The long hose is to keep me as far away from the noisy shop vac as possible, though I still wear earmuffs while working. The rig works very well, much better than even the powerful down-draft table I used at Huss & Dalton Guitars. It's not perfect, though, and a particle mask should still be worn for safety. All photos by John Calkin Remember that the filter in the shop vac will clog up and need cleaning long before the collection tub is full. As the photo illustrates, it is way too easy to put off cleaning it for too long. I intend to be more diligent. ◆
