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Well I couldn't find any douglas fir that is suitable for bracing at BnQ... so looks like LMI is the way to go for now...

I did pick up a small 3 inch vise and a Taiwanese plane... they're sold in many hardware stores here and they're pretty simple but not as easy to use as an Ibex or Sloan or whatever. You set the depth by tapping the blade with a hammer and remove the blade by grabbing the iron and hit the back of the plane with a hammer. I got the instruction from Lee Valley (the plane did not come with any instructions). They are supposed to be pulled and there is a handle that is supposed to go into a mortise in the middle of the plane. I suppose if you're used to pushing planes you can screw drawer knobs or other suitable holding device to the plane and use it like that. As usual the blade is in a rough condition (no surprise here) so I removed the blade and sharpened it until I can shave with it and now it works great! Not sure how well it will hold an edge though since I got no idea what kind of steel it's made of. The plane is very inexpensive... about 15 dollars. I don't know what wood it's made of I picked through a bunch of them to find the densest wood I can find in the lot.

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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