Posted on June 6, 2024January 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Banjo Fifth Peg Press Banjo Fifth Peg Press by John M. Colombini Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #207, 1982 and Lutherie Tools, 1990 Procedure: Make a bushing from a 3/4"×3/8" piece of steel or brass round by drilling a 7/32" hole and countersinking one end. Round off the bottom of a 4" C clamp screw so it seats in teh countersunk hole in the bushing centering the clamp. Cut a hardwood block 2"×1 5/8"×1 5/8" cutout to fit the banjo neck. I use a contour gauge or my actual size templet. Apply 1/16" piece of leather to the cutout using contact cement. The drawing should explain the usage. The important part is to be sure the bushing is longer than the shaft of the tuning peg. Add spacers between the bushing and the peg shaft if you should come across a longer shaft or make a slightly longer bushing. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024January 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Veneer Scraper It Worked for Me: Veneer Scraper by Eugene Clark Originally published in American Lutherie #73, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 In the first episode of my two-part article on Spanish rosette construction (American Lutherie #71, Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six), I described how important the sizing of the veneers is to the whole process, and showed the veneer scraper that I currently use. It uses a Stanley #90 bull-nosed shoulder plane. My first veneer scraper was a plane blade with a simple wooden holder, which, as I mentioned, is the type of tool that one might find in a Spanish shop. Jon Peterson had some questions about that tool, so I made one to show him. The anvil block, opposite the cutting edge of the blade, needs to be hard and stable. I used a scrap of seasoned maple with the end grain (which is harder than long grain) towards the blade. The base and the blade holder are scrap softwood, but any solid, stable wood could be used. The anvil block is screwed to the base and can be removed when it needs to be resurfaced. The larger of the two blocks that hold the blade is glued and screwed to the base. The narrower block is then clamped in position with the blade in place, pilot holes are drilled and screws are installed. The fit of the blade will now be too tight, but by backing out those screws a little, the blade will slide freely, yet very little tightening of the wing nuts will hold the blade firmly. The width of the gap between the blade and the anvil block is adjusted by tapping with a hammer on the end of the tool or on the exposed end of the blade. 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 June 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Thickness Measuring Tool Questions: Thickness Measuring Tool by Tom Nelligan and R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #92, 2007 Georges E. Vougioukalakis from Athens, Greece asks: In my experimentation and research on double-top guitar construction I find a need for an instrument that can measure the thickness of the outermost skin of the top on a fully assembled instrument without damaging the top. Does anyone know of such a tool? I remember a citation of an instrument that was used to measure the thickness of the paint in autos. Tom Nelligan from Olympus NDT/Panametrics-NDT Products in Waltham, Massachusetts replies: Commercial ultrasonic thickness gauges of the sort made by my company (and our competitors) for measurement of industrial engineering materials like metals, plastics, and ceramics will not work on wood, because wood does not efficiently transmit sound waves at ultrasonic frequencies in the MHz range. Pulse/echo ultrasonic gauging is based on very precisely measuring the round-trip transit time of a short pulse of very high frequency sound waves through the test piece. But the high frequency/short wavelength wave front is scattered by the microstructure of the wood, so it is not possible to get the necessary clean echo from the inner wall. 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 June 6, 2024January 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Dulcimer Gluing Jig Dulcimer Gluing Jig by Tony Pizzo Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #70, 1978 and Lutherie Tools, 1990 This is a fairly easy-to-make jig for gluing dulcimer sides to bottoms, end blocks, and scrolls. It is adjustable in three planes (length, width, and with minor changes, depth) and adjustments can be made to adapt it for gluing psalteries, scheitholts, or any other type of non-necked chordophone. The jig consists of a sheet of 1/2" plywood fitted with movable dowels running along a series of parallel channels. Shafts of 1/4" threaded rod running through the dowel centers allow the dowels to be tightened in a prearranged pattern. Angle iron brackets which rest on the top of the dowels can be tightened down to hold the sides down against the bottom during gluing while at the same time ensuring that the sides are held in the pattern already set for them. 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 June 6, 2024January 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Another Method for Calculating the Area of a Plate Another Method for Calculating the Area of a Plate by R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #70, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 There are a number of reasons to calculate the area of the plate of a stringed instrument. The area of a flat plate can be used to determine the volume of the instrument by simply multiplying the area by the depth. This value is useful in the design of electric guitars and basses to determine the weight of the body of the instrument before it is built. This info can aid in the design of an instrument that balances well when hanging from a strap or sitting on the leg. In the design of acoustic instruments, the volume can be used to calculate the nominal Helmholtz resonance of the soundbox, which may be useful in the tuning of the resonance characteristics of the instrument. The technique specified here will work for any arbitrary shape and is both simple and relatively quick. It is the essential algorithm of a CAD script I use, and is based on a computer graphics rasterization technique. Modified and simplified for use with pencil and paper, it yields a good enough approximation of the area of a plate for the purposes outlined above. 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.
