Tagged With: video
Raffle Ready
Once the finish was sufficiently cured, I spent an afternoon sanding and buffing it out. This part I generally dread as I’m always anxious about sanding through the finish. No matter how slowly I go, when you’re wet sanding, the finish usually looks fine until after you remove the sandpaper and dry it off. Only … Continue reading
Lap Steel in a Day
Summer fun list We have an annual tradition in our house of making a “summer fun list.” Towards the end of the school year, we all sit down and take turns coming up with activities we’d like to do during summer vacation. The list usually includes stuff like “Picnic” or “Christmas in July” or “Sundae … Continue reading
Hands-on with the Shaper Origin!
When I was first searching for a CNC to add to my shop, I ran across an odd tool called the Shaper Origin. The tool was in essence a self-correcting router that works like a hand-held CNC machine. I spent some time watching the videos on their site and reading through the blog. It was … Continue reading
My First CNC Guitar: a Sapele Telecaster
With the CNC up and running it was time to try it out on my first guitar. I’d already decided the next would be a Telecaster thinline out of Sapele with a Maple cap. A “Sapele Tele.” I found a PDF online of a classic Telecaster body. This was opened in CorelDraw! where I was … Continue reading
First Impressions: Stepcraft-2/600 CNC
It started innocently enough. The woman who was doing engraving work on my guitars was suddenly out of business. When I started searching the web for alternatives, I was presented with dozens of results for engraving machines and very few for services. This got me thinking that I could maybe just do it myself — buy … Continue reading
Electronics cavity, headstock, and placing the bridge
I managed to make significant progress on the SG build this weekend. After routing the electronics cavity I laminated sheets of black and white acrylic together with some CA glue and fit the cover. Though I’d typically fret and fuss with something like the headstock design, in this case I basically decided to wing it … Continue reading
Custom Collector Controller
If you read my last post you might recall how I decided to purchase an X10 “Powerflash Interface” to test out as a controller for my dust collector. My skepticism about how the unit worked turned out to be well-founded. The Powerflash device sends an X10 “on” signal when 6-18VDC is applied to the contacts … Continue reading
The Monster in My Closet
OK, so maybe not exactly a “monster,” but the old Woodtek 3HP double-bag dust collector I bought sure does sound like one…and appears to live up to its 2100CFM (free-air) rating. I’ve finally finished the main duct work runs and over the weekend I cut the hole from the shop into the external “dust collection … Continue reading
Setting Up Shop II, or How I Spent My Winter Vacation
I’m not what you would call a “neat freak.” However, I do try to keep things generally organized and find it near impossible to work in a cluttered shop. Not only do I find it technically difficult to work in an unorganized mess – I find it hopelessly depressing as well. Consequently, when the shop … Continue reading
Final Inspections Tomorrow…
Tomorrow is the final electrical/plumbing inspection. Provided everything passes, I plan to begin work on the interior on Sunday. (My wife’s birthday is Saturday so I’m taking the kids while she has a “spa day”.) I’ve been reading “the Workbench Book” by Scott Landis and plan to read Ron Schleining’s “The Workbench” based on recommendations … Continue reading