Steel Guitar Builder

:) I think u could use oil-lite if it were assembled opposite of my initial thought ie: put the oil-lite bearing in the freezer and heat the finger ,a coupla hundred degrees would be plenty and then press the cold contracted oil-lites into said finger....mite work no?....Stormy,,,,,,,,,hmmm somewher...

:) You're spot on there Dave, as I went and found the precision shafts and agree with them being a better choice for both closer runout tolerance (.OD =+0.0" /-.0002" per ft) that's for 5/16" dia (Sho-Bud) and u can get it through hardened not just cased, also chromed if u want .......good find bud ;)

Whatta u guys think about heat fitting a hardended phosphor-bronze bearing into each changer finger, sorta like the bushing inserts on Bemt's new foot pedals?....Stormy errrr that would be Bent not Bemt...lol

:) I know I sound like a harpee on this but imo dry lubrication is the answer. In addition to the aforementioned nitride coating, the auto racing industry has come up with some very useful practices ,ie: Molybdenum Disulfide (MDS) is now both used to electro-coat many rotating assemblies such as cam...

As I mentioned in the axle thread, find some supplier of motor shaft material that has been nitride coated (McMaster-Carr only goes down to 3/4" dia) and you ain't gonna wear the shaft period, not in your lifetime at least...

Here ya go Paul, it's a Freud 3/8" x 1" depth, 2 flute straight bit, Freud # 04124...... ...Stormy

Yo Bent old friend, I certainly appreciate your compliments but, hey, ain't no way I coulda done it without you buddy....Stormy

:) I'm pretty crappy at the inlays but here is the procedure that Bent and Martin schooled me, do your route channels in raw unfinished, make sure the route depth is bout a thousandth or so deeper than inlay to allow for swelling from glue.When dry and finish sanded ,then mask off with the inlay exp...

You do likewise Pablo.....Stormy

I wish I could play as well as..................most anything......I mostly just noodle anymore. No secret I used Fiebings leather dye, 1 part Aqua Green, 1 part Yellow, and Light Blue to taste...Mohawk piano lacquer and that's bout it .....Stormy