Everybody was calling in to have a look see something unexplained
I remember opening my eyes during a bone graft op (on my jaw) a few years ago to see a row of dentists watching. Not students or trainees - these were qualified dentists at UCLH. The guy doing the op was their lead R&D guy and it was an “interesting” procedure!
Sepsis is dangerous. Take proper care of yourself.
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still don't really know what it was but it looked a bit like sepsis starting to take hold.
@rocknroller Holy crap, that sounds really bad. Take it easy, seriously. Get well soon and don’t risk anything. 👍
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
That sounds like serious stuff with your hand. Take some time off and let it heal, I know how boring that can get but don't be taking chances with it.
@darrenking I was talking to a bloke on Instagram messaging last night about his guitar paintwork and how he buffs it. He has the full StewMac buffing machine and uses their compounds to polish the 2K auto clear that he also uses. He said the machine and compounds do an amazing job on the 2K and he wish he had invested in the buffer sooner. He used to use the same polishing system as I still do (a hand held car buffer and liquid compounds). It works well but obviously but it can be a bit scary sometimes when the hand held machine (two handed) wants to throw the guitar body across the room.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Hi Boo,
That's good to know and I can almost hear your excitement level rising at the prospect of having a go!
Here is a link that Mark sent me of the 335 Gibson factory. When you get to the bit where you can see them polishing the guitars just look at how tightly they are holding them! They've got both arms wrapped around them like their lives depend on it! I guess that being responsible for a 335, that has taken the factory two weeks to put together, flying across the workshop and landingon a concrete floor is something that that could come up at their annual review!
I'm hoping to have prototype shafts next week and have ordered three at 500mm, 550mm and 600mm for testing purposes. Clearly the added length gives extra clearance but it will also put additional strain on the bearings unless the distance between the motor and front bearing is increased. I don't know how significant this will be yet, it may not matter.
What I really want to determine is whether or not the polishing mops are happy being spun in either direction or if they become 'handed' after being used for while. If they don't, then this frees ups the clearance space by being able to polish from both sides of the mop having reversed the direction of rotation without the need to take the mop off and turn it around.
Cheers
Darren
I guess that being responsible for a 335, that has taken the factory two weeks to put together, flying across the workshop and landingon a concrete floor is something that that could come up at their annual review!
Indeed @darrenking!!!
They have to sell those ones at a 10% discount ....
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He used to use the same polishing system as I still do (a hand held car buffer and liquid compounds). It works well but obviously but it can be a bit scary sometimes when the hand held machine (two handed) wants to throw the guitar body across the room.
My local Aldi has a hand held car buffers in their man aisle just now, and wondering if I should invest in one.
My local Aldi has a hand held car buffers in their man aisle just now, and wondering if I should invest in one.
@darrenking I would depend on whether it’s a rotary or orbital. Cheap car buffers are normally orbital and crap. If it’s rotary, get it.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
There are some interesting insights into the insides of Semi Acoustic designs in that video.
I also found it interesting that they shape what ultimately become several pairs of sides at once, and then cut them up.
Its a variable speed 600 to 3000 rpm. I might as well give it a try.
@robin Yeah that’s the kind I use. Buy it @darrenking and anyone else interested. 👍
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Yes, making up a wider lamination and then cutting it down is something I do quite often in my main business (ie not guitars). For 335's I would probably limit it just making two sides together as this would suit the width of the veneer leaves. If you were going for a lacquer finish and wanted the grain to book match at the tail you would still need to press to laminations. For paint finishing this wouldn't matter.
Good morning everyone,
I had the delivery of mop polisher shafts arrive on Monday so it was time to down tools (my real work tools that is!) and assemble everything so that I can make something shiny!
The 25mm diameter shaft fits over the motor spindle and is held in place with two dog point grub screws which locate in the key way in the spindle. There is then another bearing assembly 100mm in front of the motor and the shaft protrudes by about 350mm and is reduced to 20mm for the final 100mm or so to allow for the thick mops.
I ran the motor up to about 500rpm just to check that there were no untoward vibrations and then set it to about 1000rpm, grabbed my white ebony Maccaferri body, took a deep breath and then started polishing. One of the most noticable things was how little heat was being generated on the surface of the lacquer. Maybe it was just that I was being overly cautious but I don't think so. There is so much air movement generated by the big floppy mop head that this seems to provide pretty efficient cooling of the contact area. I certainly think you would be having to go at it really hard to burn or melt through the lacquer.
Care has to be taken not to allow the top edge of the instrument to get caught by the mop so there is a bit of turning around and turning over involved to ensure this doesn't happen and it was also very useful to be able to reverse the direction of rotation as this allowed me to come at any slightly awkward areas from the opposite side without having to get the guitar too near to the body of the polisher, the bench or the clamps. If I was going to be using it in anger I think I would screw it down to a board and have it pointing out from the corner of the bench at 45° just to provide increased clearance and access.
It is very difficult to show just how shiny something is with just a few iPhone photographs but you have to believe me when I say that it worked an absolute treat, even in the hands of someone with the square root of bugger all experience of this kind of polishing. I think the fact that all of the polishing stroke is in one direction, and all at the same speed, really helps to create a very uniform and consistant finish across the surface.
I used two different 300mm diameter mop heads and compounds starting with Glosswax 16 on a G quality mop and finishing with P175 on a WDR supersoft mop, both as recommended by the https://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/guide-to-menzerna-compounds-for-woods-plastics-and-lacquer
I have just a few more things I want to try out with it and then I will box it up and ship it to our resident finishing guru AKA Boo so that he can put it through its paces with the glam rock Strat body he has been working on. I can't wait to see the results!
Cheers
Darren
I'm no expert - but that looks pretty shiny to me!
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That looks awesome.
The 45 degree idea when bench location allows for it is very smart, might I suggest shaping the outriggers to suit that, or would it mean you needed extra long clamps to hold it in the 90 degree positions (avoiding a bit of overhang is a aesthetic issue rather than a practical one if I'm honest).