Posted on August 5, 2026August 5, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Make a Vise from a Workmate It Worked for Me: Make a Vise from a Workmate by Steve Kennel Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 Now, more than ever, I feel the need to get a grip. The Workmate is a brilliant piece of design, but the heart of the beast is that big flat and conveniently not-necessarily parallel vise/work surface. I was using mine for holding woodcut printing blocks while carving, and found the Workmate itself to be too low and too wobbly. I robbed the vise mechanism from it, welded a piece of angle steel to the underside of each adjuster (Photo 1), and ran screws through those new brackets to mount the vise hardware on a plywood base that could be clamped to my workbench (Photo 2). This made the thing tall enough and sturdy enough to be useful for me. I also made new and shorter plywood jaws, as I wanted the thing to take up as little room as possible. The whole unit now fits under a workbench with a bunch of workshop flotsam when not in use. 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 July 28, 2026July 28, 2026 by Dale Phillips Review: The Master’s Bench by Paul Schmidt and Arian Sheets Review: The Master’s Bench by Paul Schmidt and Arian Sheets by Mike Doolin Originally published in American Lutherie #143, 2021 The Master’s BenchPaul Schmidt and Arian SheetsISBN 978-0984826940National Music Museum/University of South Dakota, 2016 The Master’s Bench, by Paul Schmidt and Arian Sheets, follows up on the story of the D’As with the fascinating and fortuitous backstory of the National Music Museum’s exhibit of their reconstructed workshop. While most of the book is a visual catalog of the instruments and tools, the early chapters serve as a valuable addendum to Acquired of the Angels. 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 July 28, 2026July 28, 2026 by Dale Phillips Review: Logistimatics Micro 299 Mini GPS Tracker Review: Logistimatics Micro 299 Mini GPS Tracker by John Mello Originally published in American Lutherie #143, 2021 Logistimatics Micro 299 Mini GPS Tracker logistimatics.com/shipping In the midst of the pandemic I shipped one of my guitars Next Day Air to a client in Chicago from my shop in the San Francisco Bay Area, by a carrier that will remain unnamed. Not only did it not get there the next day, but they lost track of it, finally delivering it a stomach-churning week later. Not wanting to feel quite so helpless when I needed to ship a second guitar to the same client via the same outfit, I, with the help of my more tech-savvy son, located and purchased the Logistimatics Micro 299 Mini GPS Tracker. At a mere 2 1/2˝×1˝×5/8˝, it slipped easily into the storage compartment of a guitar case. Setup was quite easy, and once I downloaded the app and turned it on, it reported its location hourly on a phone, tablet, or computer. Mine ran for at least two weeks on a single charge, and it should last up to five weeks if you adjust the report frequency. 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 July 21, 2026July 21, 2026 by Dale Phillips Uncle Dan’s Favorite New Vise Uncle Dan’s Favorite New Vise by Dan Erlewine Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 Howdy, GAL. I miss you all! Some of you may already know about what I am showing here, but I’d be surprised if many did, as it’s so new on the market. It’s the greatest new tool in my shop, and in the shops of several professional luthier pals of mine: The Total Vise, a sturdy pedestal-stand and neck-holding vise that makes so many guitar repair, building, wiring, and setup jobs better, safer, and easier — especially for someone who doesn’t have a good-sized shop, benches, and permanent fixtures. Originally designed as a gun- and bow-making vise, the Total Vise’s maker, Jeff Howard, was surprised and pleased to find that a few luthiers stumbled upon his setup and liked it. Right away, Jeff asked us to help him design a version of it for guitar work, and we all chipped in over the last half year. Finally it’s ready for any professional, part-time, or novice luthier that wants the best setup for holding a guitar for serious business. The Total Vise has been a game-changer for us and we just want to tell the world about it. So here we’ll visit a few shops from around the country and see how the Total Vise is put to use. 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 July 16, 2026July 16, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Magnets Hold Truss Rod Cover It Worked for Me: Magnets Hold Truss Rod Cover by Jon Sevy Originally published in American Lutherie #143, 2021 I use truss rods that are adjustable at the peghead, which requires a cover for the exposed truss-rod nut and groove. I usually make the covers out of rosewood, and have for some time been securing them with several small brass screws. One thing users frequently do when they get one of my guitars, especially when they live in a different region of the country with different humidity, is to remove the cover and adjust the truss rod to get the relief and action to their liking. However, to my extreme vexation, they almost never put the truss rod cover back on after adjusting! I’ve seen photos and videos of several of my guitars being played, and almost always there’s a gaping hole (to my vision) at the end of the neck with the truss rod showing. It finally dawned on me that those little screws were just enough of a PITA for the owners that they decided to bag the covers. And in truth, I found them a bit irritating myself. So I started thinking of ways to affix the covers without using screws. I considered some sort of compression clip or spring that would squeeze into the truss rod slot, but never came up with anything that seemed likely to work, until I saw some little neodymium magnets at the local hobby shop. 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.
