my wife the Luthier...

[Budman68]

I have to say that You are a very well rounded tech. I am an Ase cert Master mechanic, and I am the A class mechanist. I started to set up a jig to do routs on my Bridgeport Mill, and I will tell everyone here. This guy is a master of at least three separate trades. No machinist I know is also a wood working expert, and not many wood carvers are finish experts. and none of the above are tool makers. We pay a pretty penny to have a guy come in and do setups on our mills, and also to think of and invent tools and bits to accomplish certain cuts and jobs. You do it all
The mini router table that holds the dremmil is great and so is the angled file for fret ends.. If you made that Tail piece/bridge, I will say that makes you a professional level machinist.

That has to be one of the nicest things said, thanks so much for that, it means a lot -

Cool perspective, PittJitsu. Let me add a tidbit that you might not (yet) know: Dave is also one hell of a nice guy. Hard to imagine anybody nicer.

Sonofabitch is an artist, a master craftsman, and a nice person!

You're not giving up on trying to get this back are you, I like your persistance -

What you keep forgetting, is that this is ALL YOUR fault!

You have a great Cheering crowd here Mr Dave...
One question .. Does he play the guitar well?

Indeed I stink as well, my friend. Problem is, I have no discipline to sit down and play like I used to. I think I enjoy ripping them apart and playing with them more and that's why I'm constantly putting playing on the back burner. I enjoy it, and I actually still record but I don't think I've progressed in years, and in reallity, I've gotten worse.. lol!!!

you make me almost want to take back every bad thing I have said about Pennsylvania
(I grew up there... )

lol! My family actually moved here from Long Island N.Y. when I was 15 (not an easy age to move a punk from N.Y. to rural Pa. lol!). Thanks for the kind words bro -

I'm part of the silent horde cheering this thread on. I expect there's an army of people like me looking forward to the next installment without wanting to butt in. Please keep it coming Dave.

will do my friend!!

Out of curiosity, will you put a Charvel logo on the headstock when you are done?

That is a great question as I have been thinking of not doing it the more different things I do it because it's hardly much of a Charvel anymore, but yes, for nostalgias (sp?) sake, I will-

another update is coming up shortly!

[Budman68]

next up: String through the body ferrules. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's when these things fall out of the body. Not a big deal but just one of those little things that can tick you off, know what I mean? Anger issues? Definitely lol!! So anyhow, I figured I'd make a set that couldn't just fall out anymore-

Part One: Bottom section- "the part that will accept the "ball" end of the string."

These once again are made from brass to match the theme we have going here. As usual we start with a "blank" piece of brass by trimming the ends to size, center drill both sides, then drill the final hole that's going through the part, and then drilling the large diameter to acomodate the ball end of the string.




Here you can see the blanks with the smaller diameter turned down which will actually be the largest diameter of this part when it's finished.




Next you can see how I've stepped the body down quite a bit, this diameter will allow me to install an 8-32 thread which will mate with the top portion of the string through ferrule.








Centerdrilling both sides-






Drilling both sides (one side shown)-



Blanks, ready to be threaded-




Threading the 8-32-






Drilling the large diameter to accept the ball end of the string-




An operation not shown was a another clearance angle I put down inside the hole that accepts the ball end of the string. This will allow the part of the string the wraps around the ball to have a smooth transition going into the hole. If I didn't put that in there, there's a good chance the string would break on that edge. You can see it in this pic if you look really hard-





Part Duex: Top section in the next update!

[Budman68]

String through the body ferrules, Part Duex: Top section: The actual part that will be installed in the top of the body where the string will exit"

Obviously a blank piece of brass is the starting point-



Centerdrilling each side as before-




Drilling-




Tapping with the matching 8-32 thread for the upper section-



Test fitting the 2 parts together-



Stepping down the portion that will go into the body-






Now flipping it and adding a nice decorative radius to the outside-




Here, I'm adding the radius into the opening that the string will exit which will once again, eliminate any sharp edges that could break the string- (a very large pic!)





Close ups of the part-









Final fitting and all is well!







That's all for now!!

[rjohnstone]

Great stuff Dave!

[DarkSaga]

Great pics and work Dave!!

And please tell me you are not going to dye the top of the guitar Pink??

[thetroy]

I think a royal purple would look better in this case

[fett]

Fuck China. Wow. That's art.

[shobet]

I think you'll find that is engineering!

[Special-K]

Whoahh...that parts look killer

[kelly user]

i showed that to my brother, who is a mechanical engineer. he said most of teacher aren't half as good as you, dave. a job well done.

How long was the total machining process?

[Bengal65]

Dave Amazing!

Just load that CNC program and let'er rip:ROTF:

No seriously folks, Dave's doing what is called a "lost art"! Excellent job my friend!

[El_Kabong]

Aw, man, I wanna go play at Dave's house, but my mom says that he lives too far.

[fuel0707]

Dave - I just found this thread today. First of all, I'm very glad to hear that your wife is doing so well. I know how bad it can be when your wife is facing serious health issues.

Second, this is an amazing thread to read through and watch. As others have said, you are a man with a wealth of talents. I really appreciate that you took the time to share the photos and insights with us.

While I'm fascinated and intrigued, I know that what you do is beyond my skill set. After all, "A man's got to know his limitation".

I bow to you and your talent!

I'm looking forward to seeing more progress reports and the final product.

[Norton]

Fuck China. Wow. That's art.

:ROTF:




I think we're all ready for the "Budman Floyd Rose"

[kelly user]

with easier intonation set- ups and adjustable string height.