my wife the Luthier...

[Budman68]

What is the proper way to buff down the edges now that you have filed them all the way the the binding? Those look pretty damn sharp.

Thanks, and yes, they're VERY sharp at that stage. There are a million different ways to go about it and everyone has their own "style" of doing it. You use a series of "safe edge" files to go around the edge of that radius and yes, it's tedious as hell .

I've heard of some guys just taking scotch brite and going along the edge but that's kind of sloppy if you ask me. I'm sure it'll round everything over, but not a very classy look so I'll stick with the old school of deburring them with files but will add my own way of smoothing out file marks left on the fret ends by using an India stone that I normally use at work for deburring hardened steel parts. I guess that would be considered my distinct style now, wouldn't it?

[jackson1]

You are my hero, Budman Dave. In action and in words. You are my hero

[VitaminG]

nice update, Dave. Thanks!

[AdRock]

It's been a while since I checked back in on this. Very nice work man.

[Budman68]

Another update, already, can ya believe it?

So I started making the posts and bushings for the bridge today so here are some pics as always:

Here's a shot of the blank piece of brass that will be used for the bushings. In the following pics, the blank will be knurled, drilled, tapped, and then parted off.

DISCLAIMER: Please do not put your hands anywhere near a lathe when it's running if you have no idea what your doing!












Here you can see how I left material on so that the part could be held in the collet in the lathe. That will be parted off below....














I then worked on the posts but didn't take that many pics, sorry! Ifirst knurled the outer diameter to receive the "thumb" knurl. Then turned down the top diameter that will fit into the bridge holes. From there, I turned the bottom side undercut at the same time creating the diameter for the 10-32 threads to mate with the bushing threads. After that, the threads were created using a split die in a handle.











Now to drill the bushing holes into the body and press them in. First I used a piece of scrap wood to drill a hole using a 3/8ths (.375) forstner bit. My bushing measures .385 over the knurl so that will give me a nice press fit for the bushing.















Test fitting the bridge frame with great results!

[Budman68]

but wait, there's more!!!!


I took care of routing the pickup routes today as well. Not a lot of pics here as I wasn't covering my camera in wood dust.. Here's a shot of the jig I made on the mill for the P-90's.





A pic of the patterning bit. Notice the bearing is at the top of the bit so it just rides around on the template that is held in place by a good quality double faced tape.





Pickup route is finished..funny, you can see all my filler blocks..





but there is one more route to do before this part of the job is done. Hmmmmm...I wonder what that secondary route is for?





That's all for now!!!

[Shotgun]

Uhh... Dave, you are sending this back to me, aren't you?

[VitaminG]

awesome update! Is the bridge frame a bought one, or did you make that too?

[Budman68]

Uhh... Dave, you are sending this back to me, aren't you?

umm..... no?

awesome update! Is the bridge frame a bought one, or did you make that too?

Indeed I did, my friend-

[hippietim]

Wow Dave! You are a true craftsman. That is truly remarkable work my friend.

[kelly user]

incredible dave, has the wife had a chance to work on it? do send her my wishes of good health.

[Budman68]

Wow Dave! You are a true craftsman. That is truly remarkable work my friend.

thank you, sir -

incredible dave, has the wife had a chance to work on it? do send her my wishes of good health.

actually no, as I mentioned earlier, she's bowing out of this one now as she's afraid she'll screw it up somehow. But she is giving me a lot of input on the design and final colors which are changing daily lately. Funny how you can have things planned out and they start morphing into other ideas......

Lisa and I both thank you very much. We're actually going to the doctor tomorrow for a scheduled checkup. Fingers crossed........



Just a question for those of you into this thread, are the lathe pics getting boring or should I continue as I have a few more things to make?

[dg]

Awesome, Dave! Hope all goes well at the doc's tomorrow. I'll be keeping a good thought for you two. As for the lathe pics, keep 'em coming. I love this stuff, and I know I'm not alone.

[VitaminG]

keep the lathe pics coming, Dave. It's cool to watch those blanks become guitar parts.

[kelly user]

Lisa and I both thank you very much. We're actually going to the doctor tomorrow for a scheduled checkup. Fingers crossed........

Just a question for those of you into this thread, are the lathe pics getting boring or should I continue as I have a few more things to make?

my fingers are crossed as well.

that is a rather silly question dave, i love these threads.