Official Luthiers Forum!

Sorry. I forgot this was the "handmade" thread. Here:

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Slightly back on topic, have you seen what 3D printer technology is capable of these days? It's capabilities just keep getting cheaper and better. Maybe one day we will all be out of work as people will be able to just print their guitars

Yea if they want plastic guitars...

You can't "print" wood because it has to be grown, and in the future wood could become more and more expensive.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Todd is right. With advances in nano technology and 3D printing, it is only a matter of time before we are printing on the sub atomic level. Building the elements we need and printing them into the needed molecules (in proper alignment. Printer cartridges will, of course, still be ridiculously expensive. The Cyan, Magenta and Yellow will be replaced with Proton, Neutron and electron hoppers.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

The printer cartridges will be expensive because they're hand made

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Hand made is the half of it. At least we'll be able to grind up all the Brazilian Rosewood stumpwood and shove it in the printer cartridge.

Filippo[/quote]
Good one, Filippo!
As a reply to the original post,
I like to make every part of the guitars I build.
Someday we should have a build challenge where you have to use nothing but hand tools!
It doesn't really matter how one ends up with a good guitar though, IMO.

Alan, I was thinking about suggesting a challenge for only hand tools too. As I progress through my current challenge project I have been thinking about how I would do it. I quickly find myself falling into the same rabbit holes this thread has. No power tools, does that mean I have to keep the lights off and work by candle? Do I have to convert my glue pot and hot pipe to use fire? I could do much of the operations by hand as I already do, but resawing would be tough and require me to buy a handsaw capable. Or could I just buy back and sides? Is that cheating? Is it cheating to by fretwire and tuners? Strings? I would have to buy a hand drill. Would sandpaper be okay? In the end I decided that we would never agree on the rules and if we did most people would not want to invest in the extra tools they would need or time it would take. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Bryan Bear wrote:
"With advances in nano technology and 3D printing, it is only a matter of time before we are printing on the sub atomic level."

What, electrons, protons and neutrons, or will you go all the way down to quarks? We'll be doing really well to get to the molecular level, and I think genetic engineering will be the better way to do that.

I _have_ heard of instances where they print tissue, by filling the cartridges with different sorts of cells in a saline solution (say,muscle, connective tissue and nerve cells), and spraying them on the right proportions. The cells organize themselves to produce the needed structures, and the organs, such as bladders and simple reptilian hearts actually work when they're done. I think they are using the bladders in medical treatments now.

Alan, now you are just being silly.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

i like the "no electricity allowed" build challenge....with the exception of lighting/heat/and soldering of electronics. bet we'd all lose 10lbs of fat with all the elbow grease used
no electricity, and no pre-shaped bridges/bodies/necks.
...i must admit i'd hate to have to saw a fingerboard blank by hand off of a big old block of ebony, though

I started this thread, and it now has 160 posts! Do I get a prize?

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Phil

http://www.oleninstruments.com

"Those who tilt at windmills are only considered insane by those who can't see the dragon."

Here you go, Phil. You earned it...

No, Tony's challenge thread is 11 pages long and he hasn't even finished his Uke yet. It has gotten that long despite the fact that no one cares about it, now that is a thread!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I love the No Electricy build. I only work during moonlight hours. But i'm willing to build under candle and coleman lanterns. Binding sucks without a router of some sort. I cut my channels by hand on my electric archtop. IT sucked.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

Yeah, it sucks. And it sucks so slowly!

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I added almost a half a page of posts today when I nearly quit. People were lined up to tell me how little they cared!!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC