Official Luthiers Forum!

I need some help for this, and I don't know if any luthier supplier will cooperate...

There are some necessary items for luthiery, for example radius dishes, those big canton bias buffing wheels that are HEAVY and as a result cost big bucks to ship through companies like UPS. But they all insist on using the most expensive possible way to ship them and I know there are cheaper ways to send heavy items internationally but none of those luthier outfits would entertain them. I tried looking at Aliexpress and those big canton buffing wheels cost MORE at Aliexpress (I would expect to find those stuff cheaper at Aliexpress, after all there are lots of guitar factories in China).

So does anyone know somewhere else other than Stewmac and LMI that sells those big canton bias buffing wheels, that are located in the EU or in China that sells it for similar prices (around 20 bucks)?

Also would anyone be willing to help me ship those big heavy luthiery items via services like sendmybags.com? They can send a 30kg box for around 100 dollars, and that's much cheaper than even USPS for that weight. I could put some non CITES lumber in it too...

By the way I'm going to make my own buffing arbor. I am getting a lathe and have a milling machine so I will make the proper shafts and put a step pulley on it. I can't find go cart axles in Taiwan because no one rides go carts here (it would not be safe to do so either)

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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

"By the way I'm going to make my own buffing arbor."

Hey Tai,
Why not make your own buffs - i'm sure you could buy the material locally.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhBSKwP1yoU

I could, but then I could have as easily combined a bunch of 6 inch wheels (there are lots of those here). The problem is a 6 inch wheel isn't going to get anywhere near a cutaway.

I can't find those big Canton bias wheels anywhere else besides the US at all. I guess they're only made in the USA? So what do those Chinese factories use? In addition to finding the right metal pieces to make up the big canton wheel, I would also have to get probably a LOT of muslin textiles, it would have easily cost me the same as paying shipping for the wheels and lots of work. I guess AliExpress charge 50 dollars for one of those wheels because they are made in the US and they imported it to China.

Guitars aren't invented by Americans so I find it funny that the US seem to be the only country where you can get any luthier related stuff at all.

_________________
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

For buffs, I’d check out Jescar. They have top quality products and may well be cheaper on shipping. I get my compound and fret wire from them as well.

For radius dishes, if you can make a guitar, you can make a radius dish. No need for routing or CNC — just make a sturdy support frame with spokes, then a couple of layers of 6mm mdf glued and a single bolt through the centre to pull into shape and bags of sand to clamp over night. The one I made in NZ 12 years ago made a bunch of guitars and works as well as a CNC dish I bought 3 years ago, just more bulky.

Building guitars in NZ I got lot of experience dealing with shipping costs. Lots of strategies, including the kiwi Number 8 wire solution - make it yourself.


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I assume you tried this place: https://hsinfeng.en.taiwantrade.com/pro ... 43594.html

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George :-)

What's a Kiwi number 8 wire?

_________________
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

Number 8 wire - Wikipedia

Accordingly, the term "number 8 wire" came to represent the ingenuity and resourcefulness of New Zealanders, and the phrase "a number 8 wire mentality" evolved to denote an ability to create or repair machinery using whatever scrap materials are available on hand.

Indeed. And to explain the origins, #8 steel wire is the standard material used in NZ for repair of fences when stock break out of the paddock, and to fix pretty much anything. Every farmer will have a coil in the back of his “Ute” — another term you can look up.[WINKING FACE]


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When I look for buffing wheels the largest they ever make is 8", and it's the thin (about 1/4" thick) soft cloth wheel. Nobody carries those big ones Stewmac sells.

Maybe that item is so guitar specific which is why only few people carry it.

_________________
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

https://www.jescarguitar.com/buffing-wheels/

As I said ...


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I looked at Jascar. Their stuff is slightly cheaper but shipping is much more expensive than Stewmac.

_________________
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

While I've been following this thread for a few days, I have been reluctant to step into the fray without a meaningful solution. When I checked in on the thread's progress last night, it appeared as though all suggetions offered had been examined and discarded. Given that outcome, I put my combination thinking and sleeping cap on and settled into the welcoming arms of Morpheus for a good session of unconscious problem solving.

Unfortunately, upon awakening, I found that I was really no further along towards a solution for Mr. Fu's problem than before that 8 hours of ful sleep. Reconciled to my inability to assist him, I headed out the door to work, grabbing my recycling bin for its weekly trip to the curb. That chance event occasioned by my local polity's legislative recycling mandate led to the following epiphany.

But first, some additional background.

Two thoughts:

- Strength defeats weakness, thus knowing one's strengths or the strengths of those around oneself is key to using that strength to achieve one's goals, but...

- Weakness in the eye of one person may be recognized as a strength in the eye of another

To quote the ancient Chinese military philosopher, Sun Tzu:



Note: I am not entirely certain that that quote supports my two points, but it seemed like something which belongs in a thread discussing the high cost of importing tools and material to Taiwan.

Continuing the description of my thought process...

Anyone familiar with Mr. Fu as a consequence of his welcome presence on this forum understands that his wide array of strengths includes a relentlessly positive attitude towards all things, an abundant amount of business acumen, and a wonderfully subtle way of expressing his opinions while still making the views of others seem both welcome and meaningful to any conversation in which he participates.

In and of itself, this observation does not suggest a relevant solution to the subject topic, but taken with a recognition of Mr. Fu's weaknesses - or should I say, the weaknesses of his current situation - a viable course of action for Mr. Fu began to emerge from my musings.

But back to my recycling bin-induced brain explosion...

There on the top of old copies of the local newspaper, Southern Living, McCall's, and American Handgunner was an outdated issue of the Stewart MacDonald catalog.

Boom!

As the little blue cloud of exploded brain matter and associated viscera cleared and my thoughts gelled, two words formed in the tattered remains of my mind. OK - really three words, or a proper name and one word. But still a solution for Mr. Fu.

I'll explain.

With his well honed business and interpersonal communications skills, and with no viable luthiery supplier operating in Taiwan, why not offer Stewart-MacDonald the opportunity to engage Mr. Fu's services as sole authorized agent and importer? In retrospect, this solution seems to address both Mr. Fu's abundant talents and turns his principal weakness of situation - his continued sojourn in Taiwan - to strength.

Rather than extend this response further, I will leave the discussion in more capable hands to hash out how best the Stew-Mac management might approach Mr. Fu or vice versa.

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

A better alternative would be to actually be a Stewmac in Taiwan.

99% of their big heavy items like vises, etc. are in fact made in Taiwan. I say this because I seen the exact item sold in Taiwan by other sellers but under a different name...

https://goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21813834059419

Is almost exactly the same as the Guitar Repair vise sold by Stewmac, https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... _Vise.html but it's the older version and sold at less than half price in Taiwan. If you look at the seller who sells this vise, you will find every other "vise" sold at Stewmac including the shop stand and even the nut and saddle vise (sadly I couldn't find it, because I really need it for nut work). They sell the exact same vise, but without the undercut insert for gripping small items like nuts. I will probably just machine one if push comes to shove.

Though some of the stuff like pickup and neck routing templates I'll just laser it out rather than have it shipped over here.

Now take a look at this:
https://goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21809721117021
https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... Stand.html

See the similarity? They are sold in Taiwan (made in Taiwan too) as "carving vise". Same with the guitar repair vise. In fact I will probably buy one because I do not have a workbench and this thing looks like it would fit the bill (bolt a piece of plywood over it, and instant workbench!)

And heck, I'll just get the shop stand, bolt it next to my Bridgeport, and that will be my workbench. A piece of plywood between the two completes it.

_________________
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

In my neck of the woods growing up that was called Yankee ingenuity

Better yet, you could be A lutherie supplier in Taiwan selling to the US bringing some much-needed competition. Fu Mac? Not sure if all those cool designs are patented, but with the amount of clones on eBay you wouldn't think so.

You could take advantage of the ridiculous postal agreement the US has with many countries that allows them to send packages under 4 lb here for almost nothing. Not sure if Taiwan is in that group, but China certainly is. Although that could be changing with our hard bargaining comander in chief on the case. Return shipping could be prohibitive though to have a great return policy like Stewmac.

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Pat

In UK, we have inexpensive parcel services that pick up pre-arranged items and deliver internationally, like Parcel Monkey
Strikes me that that type of service might be available Stateside?
I've also had ebay items sent though an international service with delivery and customs pre-paid, much cheaper than the major carriers and paying customs here, if a little slower as they do it by the container load.
Might be worth investigating.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I can send packages to the US through the postal service for about 60 dollars for a 30kg package. Problem is it will take 2 months to get there. I could possibly make back and side sets and sell it this way but I don't think US customers want to wait 2 months to get their package, and sending it by airmail is too prohibitive to be competitive.

Best I can do is work through an intermediary in the US where I would send big packages to the US and in turn that person would sell the item in the US.

_________________
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

Large buffing wheels available here.https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12mm-In ... ff2cfc7095

So the big canton buffing wheels with the metal center, are they really necessary for buffing instruments?

It doesn't seem like very many people make those because I never seen them outside of Luthier outfits. The biggest buffing wheel I have ever seen are only 8 inches wide...

Or should I use a random orbital sander with a sponge pad and liquid compound instead? It just seem so much less complicated to get material for.

_________________
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