Guitar Makers

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Comment by John on January 22, 2011 at 11:21am

On sharp tools, I agree with the general position that sharp tools are less dangerous than dull ones.  That being said, keeping your tools scary sharp does not eliminate injuries.  When you slip with or have a lapse in concentration when using very sharp tools.............. 

I have sustained modest but very bloody cuts when paring with chisels.  I frequently do not even feel the contact, just see the blood.  So, keep them sharp, but pay attention!

Comment by John on January 22, 2011 at 11:08am

Thanks Charles, the bass response is not a complete surprise.  Although I am not ready for this level of experimentation, I like the fact that the effect was so pronounced.  BTW, is the overall volume and projection of this instrument noticeably increased?

Comment by Michael Rosendahl on January 22, 2011 at 11:07am

Luis,

       You are exactly on the money.  The sharper the tool, the less likely you will get hurt.  That goes for power tools also.  I have a good friend that did not want to spend the money for a good 10" blade for his table saw, and he ended up with a serious injury.  On the way home from the hospital, he bought the good blade.  And he found out the hard way that sharp tools are important.  You should never have to exert a lot of force on any type of tool.  If you do, you may be sorry.  Hand tools are great and they can produce a superior product.  It just takes a little longer.

Comment by Charles F Morrison on January 22, 2011 at 10:48am

Hi John,

As you surmise, break angle is not something that applies here. Or perhaps I should say it doesn't in the the way everyone seems to imagine it does. IMHO, break angle is important primarily to firmly "stick" the strings to the bridge saddle and that it is the height of the string (at the saddle) over the top that determines the downward force on the top itself. In this case the torquing moment is spread forward and back about an inch more than normal as the ring of the bridge is about 3 1/2" diameter.

As for the changes of vibration patterns :

This should give an idea of how that is affected. This is as driven by a suspended speaker. When activated by a direct contact on the bridge it shows more as a tripole pattern, which is the dominant pattern at lower frequencies.

The tap tone on this top before gluing the bridge was 221Hz. After gluing the bridge the 221 peak still was there, but a new and stronger peak at 159 had shown up. On stringing it up and playing the first time, the bass was unbelievably deep and strong, overwhelming the trebles completely. Over the course of a few hours playing, the bass toned down (in relative volume) and the trebles gained strength to where it evened out nicely. The bass still has a very deep quality and the trebles are bright enough to have some edge to them.

I should mention that for the most part the bracing is a 7 brace Torres fan style. I did some things to the shape and used different woods to affect tone. It turned out the way I'd envisioned tonally, but the first hour or so scared me.

Comment by John on January 22, 2011 at 10:02am

Break angle\?  Any idea as to how much downforce there is at the "saddle(s)".  Just looking at it one might think there is more torque at the "saddle" and less downforce.  I'm wondering what the smaller, circular footprint of the bridge has on the vibration patterns of the soundboard.  Can you describe the "interesting" sound qualities? 

Always nice to see new things, thanks.

Comment by Charles F Morrison on January 22, 2011 at 9:18am

Hi all,

I thought I'd stir things up a little bit with a photo of a bridge I developed. I make no claims about it being superior to anything, just that I got tired of all the chatter on line about things you can't do and decided to do it anyway. It turned out nicely and the guitar has some interesting sound qualities, which may or not, have anything to do with the bridge shape.

I've made a few revisions since the picture was taken, mostly to the pins the strings wrap around to firm up the intonation. I've gone to a single string wrap with grooves on the pins to allow easy action changes.

I'd be interested to know/see if anyone else has done anything similar.

Comment by Luis Motta da Silva on January 2, 2011 at 4:28pm

Hi, Michael,

Thank you very much for the encouragement and the good advice. I really try to be supercareful with hand tools. But, after some years of this, I learnt this: The more sharp, the less dangerous. That is, because with very sharp tools, your muscular effort is smaller, your control over the tool is better. 

I hope you like to see this picture: one of my concert guitars, made according to the constructing techniques I learned from a great master, José Romanillos. Everything is hand made... 

Comment by Michael Rosendahl on January 2, 2011 at 4:02pm

Stephen,

       I think you have received some great advice.  I was assuming you had a dust collector on your machine, as they will not work without one.  Fast feed rates, light passes (don't remove to much) heavy grit, and your machine should work fine.  Luis, good luck with those hand tools, and be careful.  They need to be super sharp, and they will hurt you.

Mike R.

Comment by Luis Motta da Silva on January 2, 2011 at 3:11pm

Hi, fellow guitarmakers!

I wish you all a happy new year, with many happy guitarmaking hours !

I must admit I am sort of an ET in this discussion: I don't use machine sanders (in fact, I practically don't use power tools).

Ah, but I've learned a lot from Stephen's question and from all the answers I've read. It's a whole new world for someone that does it with a plane and a scraper!

Thank you all very much!

 

Comment by Todd Rose on January 2, 2011 at 7:20am

A dust collector of adequate CFMs is a must.  That would be the first thing I'd look at.  You have to get the dust out of there efficiently as the sanding is happening in order to prevent clogging of the abrasive.  If you have a good dust collector on there, then the problem could be the design of the sander - how well it's designed to maximize dust removal.  I have a Woodmaster, which excels in this regard.

 

Also be sure your abrasive isn't dull (might need to put fresh abrasive on the drum).  Try a coarser grit, too.  Use the fastest feed rate and take very very light passes.  Angling the wood, as Brent suggested, is also helpful.

 

That's pretty much the whole recipe for success.  Good luck!

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