Posted on March 3, 2026March 3, 2026 by Dale Phillips Length of Newt’s Tail by Width of Dragon’s Hair Length of Newt’s Tail by Width of Dragon’s Hair by Ken Sribnick Originally published in American Lutherie #55, 1998 Don’t hurt me. I’m going to tell you an old joke. How many luthiers does it take to split a dragon’s hair? One to split the hair, and the rest to say, “Oh, that’s how you do it.” At our 1995 convention, I heard a number of luthiers ask about measurement and precision: How do you check this? When is that flat enough? In the spirit of the little joke, I thought it might be interesting to tell you my approach. These surely aren’t the only, or necessarily the best, methods — only how one man splits dragon hair and newt’s tail in our little shop. My early lutherie and repair went slowly until an experienced luthier, a repairman in New York’s music district, helped me along. His “luthier’s gold” included explaining which measuring tools to have, and how to use them. Consistency is essential. You must strive to reduce error and deviation. To this end I have “master” reference tools in the shop: one ruler, one caliper, one flat surface, and my drawings. It doesn't matter if you use metric measurements or inches. Just pick the system you’re comfortable with, have good master references, and, stick with them. You’ll be successful. I’m metric because I tune Toyotas as well as 12-strings. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments by Chris Burt Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 See also, Arched Plate Carving, Part One by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Two by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Three by Chris Burt This is the first of three articles that take you from the basics of creating your own database of musical instrument measurements to applying what you have learned from those measured instruments while you carve top and back plates. In this article, you will learn to safely measure fine instruments. Article Two will describe plate carving, and article Three will describe plate graduating. This article is dedicated to Bob Lundberg, from whom I first learned the basics of measuring instruments. He showed us how to set the bar high. — Chris Burt Before you can build an archtop instrument based on an existing model, you need templates — at a minimum: a body-shape template, neck cross-section templates, and plate arching templates. You can’t carve something if you don’t understand it. If you are going to spend the considerable time that’s required to understand an instrument model, seek out the best. Measure several and keep detailed notes. If you take the time to compile a set of measuring tools and learn to use them respectfully and gently, you’ll be surprised to find how many people will allow you access to their fine instruments. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on February 1, 2026April 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Radiused Dishes It Worked for Me: Radiused Dishes by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013 Sometimes the simplest changes in the shop make a big difference in the pleasure of working. For the moment, I’ve switched to instruments somewhat smaller than guitars. The first step was to cut down my radiused dishes from 24˝ diameter to 14˝. This was done in order to reach the interior of the dishes, which I use as workboards, with cam clamps. This requires raising the dish enough to get the clamps under it, and for this I used to grab whatever wooden blocks were lying around. Said blocks always got in the way of the clamps. Most luthiers never go through this because they use a go-bar deck. I’ve built three different go-bar decks and quickly tore them down — I just don’t enjoy using them. At this point readers are probably thinking, “Why not put little legs under the dish?” D’oh! It took me years to come up with that thought. T-nuts were sunk into the bottom of the dish, legs were cut from a hefty dowel, and all-thread rod was cut into short lengths and glued into holes drilled in the ends of the dowels. The legs provide enough room for the clamp jaws, plus a skosh. Photo by John Calkin. Life is better now. The legs can still get in the way of the clamps, but life was never meant to be perfect, and it may be some time before I learn how to levitate work off my bench. It only takes seconds to remove the legs when I want to spin the dish as a sanding board. ◆
Posted on February 1, 2026April 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked For Me: Bandsaw Guides It Worked For Me: Bandsaw Guides by Rick Rubin Originally published in American Lutherie #127, 2016 I purchased an old 14" Rockwell bandsaw from the late 1940s at a garage sale, and it didn’t take me long to want to replace the guide blocks. Steel-against-steel didn’t seem like a great idea. They tend to induce unwanted vibration. They also heat the blade which can, in the worst case, draw some of the temper from it. I looked at some of the roller bearing guides, but I didn’t like any of ones I saw that fit my saw, and I didn’t want to lay out that much money. I remembered looking at an early-20th-century Crescent bandsaw and remembered that it had the remains of some dense wood for the lower guides. On investigation, I realized it was lignum vitae, also known as guaiacum. Lignum is incredibly dense at 84 lbs./cu. ft. and is waxy/oily. I recalled that lignum had been used as self-lubricating pillow-block shaft bearings in ships. In fact, it’s still used as an industrial bearing material, from ships to hydro generators, and is being touted as an enviro-friendly alternative to eliminate greases and oils that can leak into water supplies. I had some lignum vitae; so I used the original guide blocks as a pattern and cut the wood blocks to match. I’ve used them ever since. I can pinch them against the blade without concern and resurface them on the belt sander as they wear. I’ve run my original set for over eight years and still have a lot of service left in them. ◆ Both photos by Rick Rubin.
Posted on February 1, 2026March 3, 2026 by Dale Phillips Fluorescent Inspection Lamp Fluorescent Inspection Lamp by Kent Rayman Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #119, 1979 and Lutherie Tools, 1990 Materials: Switch Small fluorescent bulb Ballast 115V for 4, 6, or 8W bulb Starter assembly Coil telephone receiver cord Metal chassis box Rubber grommets (2) All photos by Kent Rayman. This lamp puts out a lot of even, shadow-free light, and it fits through f-holes. A retractable phone cord works well. Solder the leads right to the lamp’s prongs, then tape (crude, but it works). ◆
