Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks Burton.
I'll have to give the Dewalt/ Colt bases a try.
It's multi depth slotting I've found problematic. When the lock is released it travels more or less centered, but when you release the lock levers they clamp on one side and the spring cocks sideways slightly. Probably not relevant on a rosette depth cut. You can plunge in the under fingerboard area. I was looking around for one that could handle plunging for bridge slots. Tipping into the cut on a square base is still the most accurate way I've found, short of some pricey bearings as on a Collins saddle mill.

That's pretty great. At what point do you become a machinist that works on guitars?

Easy now. You know you want one.

Not sure what you guys are getting at?

No real machinist would consider me one- I'm an enthusiast without shame.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Ha ha, I'm just impressed with your work and am wondering if metalworking tools are luring you away from lutherie. I recently bought a small metal lathe and mill and am really enjoying learning to use them... I admit I am feeling very much drawn to these high precision tools and what can be made with them.

News Flash....................A real machinist here or at least they told me that a long time ago after I served my apprenticeship and wrote and did qualifying tests. But what makes anyone a real whatever......in the long run it is what the person can do in that field and not some qualifying piece of paper.
Anything Burton does either guitar related or machining related looks to be at the top rung of the ladder. Burton, you are an enthusiast without shame.............but with a little bit too much modesty. Stand up and take a bow Sir. Excellent as always.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Anyone who doesn't want one raise your hand..............lol

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Pat

Awesome!

Seems like a lot less head scratching & better results compared to using a Jasper circle jig.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Hey Burton FWIW I'm not sure I would consider you a machinist. I would consider you more of a tool maker, which is a couple of steps beyond and a competent one at that. You have more of a conceptual understanding of what to expect with your designs, something most machinist do not.

Tim

Tom and Tim, you guys are very kind! I mostly feel lucky I enjoy it so much. I recognize that some of that (as with most things) is because I don't have to rely on it to pay the bills-

James, it is enjoyable. I would say it has made me a better guitarmaker, if only that my tools have improved because of it. It also opens up a new world and new ideas about material properties. Never a bad thing to investigate a bit.

I have a fine arts degree and it has been interesting to watch my thinking slowly drift from an artistic focus to a more mechanical one. I was almost anti-mechanical in my thinking when I was younger, it was all art and aesthetics. It has shifted a lot since then and I notice the change in many places. I don't think either is better but, at least for me, shifting between the two changes how I see the world.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

So dang nice I know I'll never have one!

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I think your tool is still is art with wonderful aesthetics, maybe you just added a functional dimension to your art.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com