Official Luthiers Forum!

Finally building a 2 ft high by 2ft by 2.5 ft go-bar deck , does anyone have a good inexpensive source for the fiberglass dowels ?? thanks

I got mine from Max-Gain, a fiberglass antenna parts supplier.

http://www.mgs4u.com/index.html

Another source is kite supply companies.

Into the Wind is a good source.

I use the fiberglas driveway markers from Lowes.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

i

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

i used goodwinds, per Todd Stock´s suggestion. good service.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Thanks todd, gud idea there/s only 2 loofiers on forum in the metro area dennis k an aaron lives abt 40 mo away in a far n. burb,inless there/s others .I will check out goodwind. I have a 4in diamond blade on angle grinder .will that cut the Fiberglass rods cleanly? I have not cut fiberglass before.

I know you asked about fiberglass specifically, but the 5/16" poplar dowel from Lowes is $.88 for a 48" length. Cut them in half and that works out to $.44 each. Don't waste your money on the oak dowels. They break way too easily.

I use the dowels because I like to cut a concave section out about 6" long from the the top half of the dowel. I go about 1/4 way thru the dowel at the deepest point of the cut out. This makes the dowel flex only at the top, and is easier to keep the bottom part of the dowel pressing straight down on the brace or part that you are clamping.

James

Thanks for the tip james .I was going to lowes tomorrow morning to pick up the black pipe for the supports. I can pick up some driveway fb markers and try them as well as the dowels .I/ve got some dowels in the bsmt. to check out.

Just found the fiberglass driveway markers at the local dollar store, for a buck ea. 48" , cut with old fine toothed bandsaw blade, high speed grinder, angle drive grinder, hack saw. Wrap a couple of layers of masking tape first to prevent splintering. Don't use good blade, or it will instantly be toast......

I use a hacksaw and a fine file to chamfer the ends. The masking tape is a good idea.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I'm building my go-bar deck into my workbench (someday). Because I'm tall and don't want to hit my head on the top plate, I will need much longer rods to fill the space - which means they also need to be larger diameter to exert the same amount of pressure.

Keep that in mind if you want to also have a taller space between decks.

Fibreglass rods are used in making Roman blinds and I have found they are a lot cheaper than other sources such as kite making supplies.

eBay UK has a lot on offer.

Went to lowes checked out the poplar 5/16in dowel seems weak and not much able to bend .The driveway fb marker seems much stronger, bends readily, and will last forever.

Just picked up 2 dozen fiberglass rods to use as go-bars from the local Dollar store. They were selling them for $1 as driveway markers. You have to live in a snow zone to understand what this is for. I got a few strange looks from people with my armload on the way out...thinking my driveway must be huge.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Goodwind Kites is great if you are in the States. They have the rubber tips as well. Shipping is murder to Canada. DAMHIKT

Bob

I cut mine with a Dremel using a cut off wheel. Wear a dust respirator and be careful that it doesn't bind when you're about to go through.

Kevin Looker

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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.

I like using spring tension curtain rods. You can adjust them to your desired length and tension for different size object being glued, they have rubber ends which are easy on the wood and since they compress, not bend, it's easy to set them up pressing straight down on the the piece you are gluing.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

I used Into the Wind when I was re-tooling 8 years ago. Couldn't be happier. 3/16" rod with rubber end caps.

I found driveway markers to be way too stiff when cut to 2 feet, longer woks fine. I'm using wood yardsticks from Home Depot. I rip them down the center then cut them to length. These work fine at 2 feet long.

Into the Wind is where I got mine about 7 yrs ago. Get extra rubber caps as I've had 2 or 3 split over time.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"