Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anyone know if the Stew Mac bearings will fit the LMI bit?

They will not. I have both sets.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Too bad. Thanks for the answer!
Wendy

If you go to your local Hobby shop they should have lengths of small brass tube in varying inside and outside dimensions. With any luck you may find what you need to sleeve a larger center opening in the bearing to the smaller shaft size of the bit.
You can also cut the bit of tube to adjust to the size. Make sure you add a washer to the hold down screw to keep the sleeves in place.
If you live in a larger city, there are industrial bearing suppliers (Kaman) that pretty much have all different sizes to make up what you need.

Thanks David. I don't have the Stew Mac bearing so not worth going to the trouble. I was trying to get away with not ordering the 1 bearing I need from LMI, (forgot to order last time) since that is all I need and they have minimum shipping charge. I could have ordered a couple of other things from Stew Mac. I will just bite the bullet and order from LMI.

I checked and there is a Kaman on the other side of town. If it was closer I'd go, but the gas would probably be as much as the shipping from LMI. Good to know they are there though, thanks!

Just to let you know, I have built up a smaller bearing with self adhesive copper tape to get the size I want (Todd Stock tip)

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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 don't think I have 1 close enough in size, I seem to have a gap. Do you know how thick the copper tape is and I will check? Where do you buy that?

I think this was the one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5mm-X-30M-Guitar-Pickup-EMI-Copper-Foil-Shielding-Tape-Conductive-Self-Adhesive-/360655842459?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item53f8c36c9b
In my case,
Thickness of copper foil: 30microns
Total thickness: 65microns (0.002559", call it 2.6 thou)
But obviously you would look on your local site(s).
I have used up to 9 wraps to get the size I needed (and was successful despite my initial doubts)

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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.

OK, thanks Colin, I will see what I find.

BTW, I cut the ends slightly short of meeting (well, sort of, one end inside, other outside) and cut both ends diagonally to help prevent any possible bump and get a smooth transition point
Bit sad isn't it, trying for perfection.
Some call it obsessing, I call it normal....

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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 recently used one of the LMI bearings (designed to be used with their 1" wide cutter)
With an old Freud 1 3/8" cutter in order to get an extra wide .260" purfling ledge.
Way back in prehistoric-luthier times before LMI and Stew Mac offered them (late 70s and early 80s) one had to improvise these cutters and bearings.
For me this included buying the cutters that Sears offered and modifying them to accept bearings as well as turning brass sleeves of specific sizes to epoxy onto the few bearings that came with standard rabbeting bits.
Folks have no idea how lucky they are these days........

Or cobble together old bicycles like this.

(With more than a nod to the newer Olsen site - I was actually looking for the older version of this, which hung from the roof IIRC, and was a little more rustic )

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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've been using aluminum duct tape since the seventies to augment the the sizes of the bearings on rabbet bits. Sticky, thin and harder than masking so it doesn't compress. Available at any hardware store.

Tim

I like that bike thingy. After you cut your channel you can go riding just how cool is that? :0)


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