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Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Gibson Advanced Jumbo plans

Anyone have plans/drawings for a vintage spec AJ they can share, or a link where I can buy them? I haven't been able to find anything other than J45 plans with general notes on the differences that aren't clear enough to follow. Thanks!

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Ian Davlin
I just talked to Mark Stuttman and he's got a couple in the shop that he thought he might do some drawings from. I'm also thinking about getting a 3d scanner that the group can share and then shipping…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Cheap-ish Brace Wood Source

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/wppages/bargainbag_spruce.php The air craft industry uses 1/4 sawn sitka and this is a box of their "Scrap wood" that is a good value to have on hand, (usually like 36 in long and various width) imo if anyone is in need. It's an odd ball source, but just spreading info. Be well.

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Private member
Very cool! Thanks. Bookmarked. That website has some other cool stuff as well.
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Mandocello neck block

I am building an archtop mandocello (A style) and I'm trying to find out how to make the neck block. It would be more or less like an A style mandolin neck block, but obviously quite a lot bigger. More or less like the image attached. The blank should be aprox 10 x 8 x 12 cm. I'm trying to find a piece of hardwood big enough for this, would it be acceptable if I made some kind of laminated piece? And how should the grain direction be idea…

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Ian Davlin
The traditional A style mandocello neckblocks were mahogany. There are some really good reasons for laminating them because there are forces on the block that make any single grain orientation a damne…
Ian Davlin DiscussionSuggestion Box / Bug Reporting

Back By Popular Demand - Basic Website Functionality

The sub menu is back by both popular and reasonable demand.

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Private member
Thatsa nice! Did you simply tell Claude to “make it so”? (I’ve used it three or four times in the last five minutes - it was THAT useful!) And ——— wait for it … you can add the search term into the sear…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Drum Sanding Tops and Backs - When and which sander?

So it seems that a drum sander would be very handy for many parts of a "build from scratch". There are a few out there that cost under $3000.00 that can handle wood up to 4" thick and are wide enough to sand a back or top after the halves have been joined. Jet JWD-22-44 open stand, 22"width Jet JWDS-2550 open stand, 25" width SuperMax 19-38 opend stand, 19" width SuperMas 25-50 closed stand, 25" width Questions: Any recomendations on the sa…

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Tom Krebs
I have the SuperMax 16-32. Works very well. I have experience using an older Jet model. A few things about the SuperMax: The paper changing system is much easier. The quick release feature to raise/l…
Private member DiscussionSuggestion Box / Bug Reporting

I can't seem to find the resource page

Looking for the resource page that had all the links on it. Along with the Amazon suggestion lists from various luthiers

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Ian Davlin
https://loothgroup.com/hub/?type=useful_links this is the resource page. you can find those on desktop on the righthand side where it says filters. We're going to make this slicker here in a bit. Here…
Ian Davlin DiscussionSuggestion Box / Bug Reporting

The New Website Bug Reporting and Wishlist Thread.

Please, if you see something, say something. If you want something, ask. Bugs, wishlists etc. Stack them up here.

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Private member
Inside this content window or "container" is the green radio button "SUGGESTION BOX" supposed to be a clickable link? I've seen some of them are and most of them are not. IMPLICATION: Cannot see a…
Private member DiscussionDesign and Testing

Incoherence between CAD and test-piece

Good morning everyone, I was taking some measurement on production necks with scarf-joint (13° headstock angle) to add some machining process with the cnc. I so recreated the standard neck blank feature (100mm wide and 20mm thick), then drawed the 13° angle. Everything correspond the to the real piace but two measurement: the startingcut behind the break angle is ''off'' by 20mm +/- as well as the cut on the bottom, still off by 20mm…

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Is it possible that the angle of the scarf joint is different from the angle of the headstock on the real piece? Could be a manufacturing quirk
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

black limba for eel block

I don't have a piece of mahogany that is wide enopugh to make the heel block on a dreadnaught guitar. Would black limba make a good heel block? I have a piece of black limbaquarter sawn and 5 inches wide.

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Private member
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question I appreciate it
Private member DiscussionFolk, Bluegrass, Irish, Old Time Instruments

Full mandolin batch build video on YouTube

Just posted a full build video for the last mandolin batch over on YouTube. Give it a watch folks, its 25 mins long. And there should be a few woodworking tips there for some of you, and some lovely tunes all played on my work.

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Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Nominal Normal Thickness of Barb Thickness for a .022” Tang Wire?

Let me start with this; I'm trying to find the root cause of difficult fret wire installation of two different SM fret wires. I've spent a lot of time gathering dimensions and experimenting with techniques wich could cause the problem. I enlisted the help of a colleague who arrived at a similar poor performance. His solution was to glue the fret ends/ beat the frets in. My "rather" is to find the root cause so I don't have to go thr…

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Private member
Matching the fretwire to the fret slots (and visa-versa) is a huge subject. Dan and I did an entire episode of the Dan and Doug Show just on fret slots. I'll be revisiting the subject of fretwork in…
Private member DiscussionDesign and Testing

Node Atlas v1.1.0

Dialled in the Beta, much further. Now at v1.1.0 Echoing Christopher Alexander’s argument in the first half of “Notes on the Synthesis of Form” here. Parametric, Semi-Lattice Structures. Centres within Centres, interacting to form the whole. A living structure. Because of the dimension of time, and feature hierarchy, and methodology we end up with a Centre Oriented Semi-lattice Hyper-graph, or COSH for short. This will be available on the…

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Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Hide Glue Working Time

I'm using hide glue on this 1st build. So far I've glued up the kerfing, back braces, and the top "X" brace. I'm using the 190 grade glue. Working time is short at best. I heated the top "X" brace surfaces (brace & top) with a blow dryer and that seemed to help, a little. How can I get enough working time to glue the top, and then later the back, without having to rush and creating a real mess in the process? Suggestions and reco…

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Private member
I make a "hot hut" out of my go-bar deck by draping a large piece of vapor barrier plastic over it. Use clothes pins, or spring clamps to clamp areas shut around it. I then place a small space heate…