Steel Guitar Builder

I am really keen to begin experimenting with my own spring making - but am having a big problem locating a source of music wire in various thicknesses. Ron Mc says he buys off eBay. I can't find any decent UK suppliers there or anywhere else. What do the UK builders do?

Here's my setup for cutting the end of square cross-shafts circular. It's quick, easy and repeatable. I just need to fit a cheap DRO to the tailstock so I can accurately measure the degree/depth of cut. I have one, it's one of those "too many jobs, not enough time" situations.

Bent. that's pretty much per my drawing: great minds think alike, they say. I just got the plate to make the tool. A swinging arm to clamp the changer finger to, but my thing has a half inch diameter pivot pin at the centre and two stops, one either side, for the swinging arm to contact. This define...

Well, I tried my theory about the diameter of the machined round portion of the cross-shaft. I have my 6.5mm hollow mill in an ER25 collet chuck in the tailstock of my little Chinese lathe. The square section cross-shaft is held in the 3-jaw chuck by the time-honoured fashion of putting it in a shor...

He's not known as the spring man for nothing, Ron!

Very nice, Ross - although I must be the only one here who can't work out what job these parts do!

Ok Mac, I get it now. Simple, quick to change the string and secure it. Nice - any fool can make it too complicated, it takes a thinker to make it simple!

Mac, I am really confused. I haven't seen the drawings so I don't know how the string is trapped in the sliding part. If you simply trap it under the foot of the screw, where the string goes through the block, well and good - altho' I'd be worried about that coming loose. But Farmer was worried if t...

A bit off topic perhaps, but when I sold my Peterson Stroboflip recently I had to part with the doo-hickey that holds the tuner to the leg of my steel. I had bought a StroboPlus HD, and needed something to attach it. Here's what I came up with in an afternoon with a bit of alloy square tube, some sh...

That should work just fine, Steve. I believe the major contribution these members bring is to increase the "beam strength" of the guitar, thus reducing cabinet flex or drop. They will do that even if they aren't fixed to the internal endplate "wraparounds", but if you can it looks so elegant! The pr...