The Hub

I've been building up my "2 car garage shop" for about 10 years preparing for retirement from health care. This spring I finally quit punching the time clock. Over the same time I've build 13 mandolins and 4 guitars. Now I pretty much have all my tools in place and enough wood stored to build for quite some time. My work benches are built with a heavy door for a top and base cabinets I scavenged from work. Lately I have toyed with the i…

I know some of you pros that have been doing repairs for years must have a tool.....Anyone have any suggestions for a trussrod tool to adjust a mossman? or photos of something i can make on the fly? I have tried shaving down a socket but no luck the brace inside leaves little to no clearance.

Like many of us, I work in a small space - a quarter basement with maybe 6 -1/2 feet of headroom. Sawdust is a problem. There’s no room for an extensive ductwork system or a blower setup. My shop tools (bandsaw, drill press, vertical belt sander, etc.) have a 1-1/2 inch connection for vacuum, but I have mostly been too lazy to use them. (note that I finally added a portable shop air cleaner with HEPA filters). When the most recent Wo…

Hey All- I have: -GAL issues #142, 143 & 144 -Big Red Book #2 without dust cover -The Luthiers Tool Box book from the FBJ. All in excellent condition. Best offer plus shipping and they are yours. -Mike

I think this could be of use for our messy drawers: https://www.tooltrace.ai As seen here:

I've been documenting progress of an acoustic kit build from Amazon over on Instagram, would love for some feedback from those that know more than I do. My goal is to build only with the materials provided in the kit, though I'm definitely using as many tools as I have at my disposal. I'm not expecting a quality instrument at the end of it, but I at least want it well built :) Looking forward to any feedback I can get. Thanks. https://ww…

Hey Loothers, A client reached out requesting a neck with wider nut for his headless Ibanez 7 string. He would like it built with rosewood for the neck and the fret board which has been stored for years at a consistent 45 to 50 % humidity in his home. The frets are angled to make it play more ergonomically but it is not a multi scale instrument. He plays finger picking fusion style and simply needs more neck width at the nut to play mu…

I'm looking for the name for the door curtain material that is heavy, thick, and clear. I've seen it in old industrial shops and high school wood shop circa 1970s. It can be seen in the Frank Frank Tour of Gryphon in the doorway to the tool room. My search terms don't seem effective. Tom

I'm between shops right now and have a bunch of lutherie tools in a U-haul storage facility on 4th ave in Brooklyn. Here are a few of my local craigslist posts. I've also got a bunch of wood I'll be listing in some form or another. Let me know if anyone would like to come by and have a look. Use the "more ads from this user" link in CL posting to see updated and additional listings. thanks! https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/tls/d/brookly…

Dear looth community/colleagues around the world, During 2023/24 I have developed a digital gauge to measure so-called longitudinal twist of (bass) guitar necks: the LTwist® gauge. Just to be clear, this is about the "cork screw" type of deviation along the length of a neck, not the bow of a neck. I think there is no need to explain how a too severe neck twist can make it difficult or even impossible to set up a stringed instrument (guita…

Hey folks, I put together a video showing how I measure the long, cross, and transverse frequencies on guitar top plates before thicknessing, following the Gore method. I also walk through using the calculator I built (based on Trevor Gore’s equations) to get target thickness and track density / young's modulus. Fair warning: the video’s a bit YouTube-y in tone thumbnail faces, a little energy for the algorithm, but the content is genuine…

Just wanted to say I bought a chisel through Hyperkitten Tool Company and it went great. It's very old school, ordering and shipping are not a fast process, but if Josh has a tool that piques your interest I highly recommend it. I picked up this long boi paring chisel from the mid to late 1800s and I'm quite happy. https://hyperkitten.com/

*See photos* Does anyone have any information on the truss rod nut or adjusmtent tool for this Gretsch 7670 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman? The truss rod adjustment is at the body under a plastic cover and it looks like the truss rod nut is missing. I’ve never seen this before on a Gretsch or any guitar. Let me know if you have follow-up questions. Any info is much appreciated!!

Hello all, new member here. I've been working as a touring tech for 20 years and just noticed this section of the forum was empty, so I figured I'd give it a kick. Are there any topics\questions\ideas\etc that people would be interested in hearing about or discussing from a touring perspective? If so, drop a comment here and I'll see if I can address it or post any relevant photos\content. I'm leaving Wednesday for a month in Europe fol…

I have what appear to be violin tools. Free to a good home. Three items. If you know of a Violin maker/repair person who might need these please let them or me know.

Hey, all! I was wondering if an airbrush would be a useful tool for applying a sunburst finish. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thank you.

Should a CNC be able to cut a perfect looking circle? I'm trying to make solid wood rosette rings. I made the tool path a profile cut. The top and bottom of both Y positions come out uneven in width than the rest of the ring. I've tried slowing down the feed and plunge rate, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I have an old second generation Nextwave CNC shark and use Aspire for CAD and CAM. Linear cuts seem to be accurat…