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I can not find any MDF where I live. Are there any alternative dish materials


anyone ever used Ply ?

A void free grade of birch ply is expectable but expensive. Disadvantage is movement of the wood due to humidity. Where the heck do you live that you can’t find medium density fiberboard???

Steve there are other ways to make a radius dish too. Here's a tutorial by Graham McDonald, an Austrailian luthier on a different style of radius dish. Might be worth looking at.

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There's a way to convert pieces of paper into dishes.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Three of my four dishes are made from good ole plywood, doubled up (the toher is doubled MDF, but it wieghs a ton). They have been in use for years now, made a LOT of guitars, and work just fine.

Unless the humidty and temp swings are huge in your work area, or you leave them out inthe rain (which would totally ruin MDF) they arnt going to move anywhere.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

So why not use thick acrylic as radius dish material? they would not move at all.

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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

Holy carp! Wherever there is sawdust and paper, there is MDF! Seriously? I want to echo the other poster, where do you live? I was actually trying to avoid the stuff for radius dish making until I tried it. Excellent material for that task. However, I realize that is not helpful to you. Are you down in the Antartic with the other fellow? Not much sawdust there. OK, I'm doing it again... If you live within 50 miles of a homecenter, go there. Lowes & Home Depot have the stuff. Have them cut it up in 2x4 pieces (or 2x2). I think you can order it too if you agree to have it cut. But, oh the shipping charges on glue and sawdust. Did it again....

Mike

edit: Perhaps just buy one from John Hall?

A country without MDF???? Surely not!!

It could be possible that their country doesn't allow MDF because of the resins used in it...

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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

A relatively cost and labour effective dish can be made of one sheet of 1/4 ply, appropriate spacers and tempered hardboard forced into shape.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

if you have the means to machine the acrylic with out over heating it, it would be a good choice.

Thanks for the tips...I might try the approach on the tute..
Cane Garden
Tortola
BVI
Hopeless for buying materials and tools of any kind
But it does have its perks

Cane garden...who is laughing now?

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Build log

Wow, I thought I was a hack when I made my dishes like that tutorial. I didn't want to post 'em up here. Glad to see I wasn't the first one to come up with that idea. Mine work great!

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Rob