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Old June 4th, 2012, 05:47 PM   #21 (permalink)
elams1894
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Age: 39
Posts: 171
Thanks for your kind comments. Yes Iv built a few guitars in the past making many mistakes along the way as you do. I find that no matter how much attention to detail or risk aversion you take, something always unforeseen happens. Great way to learn, yes, but gut-wrenching when it happens of course. The most severe problems I have had, have revolved around power tools. That is the main reason I try to avoid them where possible. Drill presses can be indispensable of course but unfortunately on mine, the chuck wobbles ruling it out of most applications. It does centre itself so I can use it for some things. I'm on the look out for replacement.

Thanks for additional info Mabley123. Real nice piece of swamp kauri there and great photos. Have you made any instruments out of the Cuban mahogany you have? Any photos would be great.

The handsaw cutting though is purely because I don't have a bandsaw. I thought about buying one but then decided that I don't really need it.. yet. The hand saw suits me fine. I actually solely use a handsaw when I'm building too. A sharp handsaw, in my opinion, is as accurate as any power-saw (it just takes longer obviously).

Handsaw cutting length-wise through the Puriri slab took about an hour. Hand-sawing the book-matched piece took me 5 hours (with breaks because my forearms kept blowing out). I just find the hand-sawing process accurate and satisfying.

Also I have found that planing my wood in the rack I made produces a much more even and completely flat (in terms of plane angle) surface than a planer. It eliminates the annoying 'snipe' of a thicknesser and you can easily get rid of bows and warps in addition to handling big slabs.
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