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Binding Jig Drawings: $24.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Binding Jig Drawings

Detailed drawings of a tool developed to accurately cut the rabbets on the perimeter of guitar bodies for the binding and purfling.

Inspired by a design by Don Williams (www.dewguitars.com) who adapted a design by Harry Fleishman (www.fleishmaninstruments.com), this great tool has been refined again and has been documented into easy to follow drawings.

The parallelogram design of this fixture holds the laminate trimmer base perpendicular to the sides. This allows the router bit to cut the ledge around the guitar accurately, not being influenced by the curvature of the top or back.

The linear bearing action of the drawer guides and the pivot bearing action at the base allows the trimmer to "float" smoothly around the guitar making this once nerve-wracking job actually fun.

The drawings we are offering are detailed and accurate. Each part is drawn separately and all the hardware sources are specified in a list of materials. Use of the fixture is fully explained on a separate instruction sheet.

There are three sheets in the set measuring 11" x 17".

Brace Shaper Drawings: $17.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Brace Shaper Drawings

Drawings for a tool developed to shape back braces quickly and accurately to 15 foot radius with your router table and pattern bit. Other radii may be available upon request.

Drawings are accurate and detailed. A full size pattern for the base is included with 15' radius. All hardware is listed and sources described. The tool is made from Baltic Birch plywood and has an aluminum guide strip built into the base for long wear and accuracy.

The toggle clamps hold the brace down tight to the base and in the 6 seconds or so it takes to guide the tool against the bearing on the pattern cutting router bit, you have a perfectly shaped brace ready to glue.

This is a production tool for guitar makers who need to duplicate this radius safely, quickly and accurately.

There are two sheets in the set measuring 11" x 17" and a full size base pattern.

Fret Polishing Tool: $20.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Fret Polishing Tool

A small hand tool for polishing frets.

We have used this tool for decades (although ours isn't this fancy looking) to polish frets after leveling and re-crowning.

This necessary step takes a few minutes but the result is more than worth the time. Aside from just looking more "finished", the feel of playing on polished frets is something you and your customers will love.

This deceptively simple tool has a hardwood handle, an ebony shoe and comes with complete instructions on its use with your abrasives and the final polishing step without the use of a buffing wheel.

Fret Vise Tool: $15.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Fret Vise Tool

This is a tool that securely grips frets with the assistance of your vise.

Shown below in use with a Versa-Vise™, this tool works equally as well with any vise. This handy tool has saved us countless hours trying to hold the fret still while shaping it, for example when finishing the end with semi-hemispherical shape.

Complete instructions for use including how to create this great fret end treatment detail that your customers will rave about.

Bench vise and fret material not included.

We found some really striking sinker redwood with great colors and striping. This is a fair representation of the stock we acquired.

Each piece, each billet is a unique, one-of-a-kind treasure of art in nature. Click here to see the sinker redwood gallery...

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Sinker Redwood

Old growth sinker redwood (Sequoia sempervirons).

Called "Sinker" Redwood because some logs sunk to the bottom of the river on the way to the mill 100 years ago or so, this rare and beautiful wood  was salvaged in a responsible manner. With its distinctive purplish color, it makes some of the finest sounding and looking guitars in the world.

Size:

Each half has been thickness sanded with #100 grit to a approximately:

"Jumbo": .140+" thick x 8 7/8" wide x 22" long.

"OM": .140+" thick x 7 3/4" wide x 22" long.

The pieces above have been fine sanded but not dampened for the photo.

Quality

This material is well quartered and straight grained. The ring count is approximately 20 per inch and is consistent across the width. The colors in the finished wood are spectacular with bluish purple streaks running through the middle. The material has literally "cured" under water and has been beautifully milled and air dried.

It has a dramatic tap tone much like regular redwood.

Bolt-on neck Kit: $28.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Bolt on Neck Kit

The kit includes two anodized aluminum connecting strips (lightweight and a great conductor of sound) which have Helicoil inserts. Also included is all the fastening hardware which includes the stainless steel  threaded inserts for the heel and Belleville spring washers to keep things in place. Step-by-step instructions, drawings and photos make this task easy for "one-off" builders or for those in a production environment.

The kit does not include the truss rod or any wooden parts for the neck or body.

Shown above with a 2-way truss rod that will be adjustable from inside the guitar, the rod can be reversed for adjustment at the headstock.

Additional Information:

After owning a instrument repair shop in northern California for many years I started thinking about the advantages of a mechanically fastened neck. Removing and resetting a neck is very expensive and labor intensive. You can remove a bolt-on neck in less than 5 minutes. Many guitar tops crack near the fingerboard because the woods cannot expand or contract independently. Applying and polishing the finish at the neck/body joint and the top/fingerboard joint is difficult. I could go on...

In the mid 80's, I began experimenting with mechanically fastened necks on my own guitars as many other builders did. Would there be a resonance or projection loss? Would the neck stay fastened to the body? That first prototype is still going strong. There was no resonance sacrifice.

I have refined the connection many times over the years and have come up with a straightforward, easy to fabricate system. You don't need a lot of tools or fixtures. The neck stays aligned with the body centerline and it won't move.

Clamping System Drawings: $17.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Spanish-Style Clamping System Drawings

Detailed drawings of a very cool tool for clamping top and back halves together on your acoustic guitar quickly, with the proper amount of force and keeping them flat.

There are many ways of performing this task, but we have a new twist on a centuries-old technique used in Spain by the masters. This tool works equally as well with odd shaped tops and backs or regular, squared-off shaped.

The tool can be used by "one-off" builders or in a production environment. (the whole assembly lifts off the base so another top or back can be glued together)

There are detailed drawings of the base, shoes and clamping wedges and a list of materials. A separate sheet is included with complete instructions for use.

There are two sheets in the set measuring 11" x 17".

Fret Buttress Drawings: $17.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Fret Buttress Drawings

Detailed drawings to make a fretting support tool. When fretting or re-fretting, the part of the fingerboard over the guitar top needs to be supported. The mass of the buttress absorbs the shock of driving the fret wire into the fingerboard.

These drawings are detailed and easy to follow. Each part is individually drawn and dimensioned.  The drawing package consists of (2) 11x17 inch pages and a full size pattern for the plywood support links. This tool is a must for protecting the guitar from damage. Easy to make, the Fret Buttress is worth the few minutes it takes to create.

Side Bending Machine Drawings: $25.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Side Bending Machine Drawings

These Drawings enable you to make a tool developed to quickly and accurately bend sides for acoustic guitars.

The guitar sides are bent between two sheets of spring stainless steel with support from the underside to reduce the possibility of splitting or breaking the sides.

This tool has been around for a long time and works really well. It's surprisingly easy to build and not that costly.

Pictured is the one I constructed 24 years ago. It has bent a lot of sides and is still going strong. I have made a number of modifications over the years and have included them in the drawings.

These drawings are accurate and easy to follow. Each piece is detailed separately. All hardware is listed and sources described in a bill of material. The tool is easy to make, using Baltic Birch plywood, hardwood, a few basic hardware items, a press screw and 2 pieces of stainless steel sheet.

Use of the fixture is fully explained on the drawing. There are three sheets in the set measuring 11" x 17" plus a full scale pattern for the sides of the machine.

Cutaway Press Drawings: $19.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Cutaway Press Drawings

These Drawings enable you to make a cutaway press modification to your existing bending machine.

If you want to make a 'Venetian' or 1-piece cutaway using your existing bending machine, these drawings will help. This press is very easy to construct. The 'high-dollar' items are the heating blanket and controller. The press itself is very inexpensive to build. The most expensive part of the press is the screw press at less than $20.

The stainless steel ram conforms to your cutaway design. The drawings include an explanation of how to modify your bending machine to accept this cutaway press.

A heat blanket and controller are a must for this operation. The result is well worth it.

There are three sheets in the set measuring 11" x 17".

Mold Making, Hollow Forms and Neck Set Drawings: $26.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Mold Making, Hollow Forms and Neck Set Drawings

Mold making, constructing hollow forms and proper neck set are completely connected subjects. We are making available detailed drawings and instructions for making useful molds for guitar construction.

Proper neck set can be achieved by shaping the sides of the guitar and thus "aiming" the neck at the correct angle.

If you plan to build more than one guitar with the same shape, a mold is very useful. Why not make that mold even more functional with a little extra shaping involving the use of hollow forms and other tooling. Molds are easy to make and use inexpensive material but can greatly improve accuracy and integrity of the guitar

Hollow forms are very useful in guitar making and mold construction. They are pretty simple to make and any radius can be applied.

These drawings are accurate and easy to follow. Use of the tooling is fully explained on the drawings including achieving proper neck angle. There are four sheets in the set measuring 11" x 17" plus a full scale pattern for the sides of the hollow form box for making 15', 28' and 30' hollow forms. Other radii may be available upon request for $4 each size.

Make molds to shape the sides quickly and accurately and prepare them for proper neck set.

Stainless Steel Standard Fretwire: $12.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Stainless Steel Standard Width:

This fretwire is 60" long, standard size, typically used for Martin type steel-stringed guitars and electric guitars. It is made from Stainless-Steel (very hard). This is enough to fret one guitar.

We sell this in five pieces, 12" long, pre-curved to approximately 9" radius so it's ready to press into .023" fret slots. (having more curve than the fingerboard helps to hold the fret ends down better)

If you've never played on Stainless frets before, get ready for a great experience! A little more difficult to work with than nickel-silver but well worth the extra effort. Color is actually silver.

Stainless Steel Wide Crown Fretwire: $12.00

(Price includes shipping in US)

International customers: to inquire about shipping expenses CLICK HERE to send an email. Please let us know where you live and what you would like to order and we can send you a PayPal invoice.

California residents please add 7.25% sales tax.

Stainless Steel Wide Crown:

This fretwire is 60" long, wide crown, typically used for Martin type steel-stringed guitars and electric guitars. It is made from Stainless-Steel (very hard). This is enough to fret one guitar.

We sell this in five pieces, 12" long, pre-curved to approximately 9" radius so it's ready to press into .023" fret slots. (having more curve than the fingerboard helps to hold the fret ends down better)

If you've never played on Stainless frets before, get ready for a great experience! A little more difficult to work with than nickel-silver but well worth the extra effort. Color is actually silver.