Steel Project #4

[Bent]

Dave, The dreaded cabinet drop...I think for most of us it is a challenge to fix rather than a necessity. I can't get it out of my silly head that players have worked around this phenomenon for decades, tuned it out as best they can and the end result is always a sweet, in-tune sounding steel on all the records we have heard The center rail...I am wondering about the true value of it. So is it a beast that must conquered or a fun challenge for us builders..an ego trip if we "build a better mouse trap"? I speak only for myself. Must admit it is a fun goal to work towards.
Dave, yes of course I have my concerns and ideas. We work to improve. I just need to convince myself that this is really needed - this bolting the changer and keyhead to the endplate, and is it detrimental to temperature swings and loss of good tone as well? Therefor I am happy that I came up with the idea to bolt the changer to the removable ledge extension and the end of the keyhead to the existing ledge but with added holes in keyhead should I decide to go back to the traditional fastening method.
Your idea of a plate big enough to support the whole keyhead is a good one. Someone once put me on that idea, saying that the old Fenders I believe it was, did use this method with the result of near 0 cab drop.
Would 1/4" be overkill though? Maybe 1/8" would suffice. (I always have this weight dilemma in the back of my mind...50 allowable lbs in your airplane checked luggage, and just plain too heavy to carry for the back of a 50+ yr old). Would this plate have to be screwed or welded to the end plate and side rails?

Let us hear more about the type of D 10 you want to build, like will it be a lot your own ideas built into it? Exciting stuff...

[Bent]

Georg, fine, whatever. We have moved on.

[Bent]

I went and bought the lumber today. Always an exciting and satisfying venture. This means that the bull work is done. The (hopefully)exact metal parts are made and the end of the tunnel is in view
I am so lucky to have a wonderful lumber supplier right here in my city. He has a barn full of kiln dried maple of all sorts, common domestic woods and also more exotic species like cocobolo and purpleheart.
And the price....! I dare not tell him that compared to price reports from other builders, his wood is underpriced. The curly maple I got for this project cost me no more than $70.
An interesting note: See the imperfection in the one board? Of course you do. When I saw that, I instantly grabbed that board. Think back to Lloyd Green and his famous "Lightning bolt) Sho-Bud here: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=196708 You can see the imperfection in the lighter part of the sunburst finish. If Shot Jackson could do it, why can't I? I'll have to run it by the buyer first though

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[Dave L]

Hay guys,
Sorry Bent, didn't mean to steel your thread, this is about Steel Project #4 and not Dave's Steel #1.
It's great when you can try a new method and still be able to reverse it if you don't like it. The idea of a 1/4" plate would not be easily reversed, I would rout out the wood plate to maintain a flat bottom although even that probably would not be 100% necessary. 1/8" probably would be more than adequate, cost less and lighten the load a bit. I have a tendency to over think and over do. My initial plan was to weld the plates down but reconsidered, screwing it down would lend itself better to a tear down if necessary for any type of repair or modification. As to my own ideas built into it that could be open for debate, it's been said there is nothing new under the sun. While some of the ideas i've had are original to me I'm not necessarily the first or only one to come up with it, lets call it the Leibniz/Newton effect. For example, I was working in my shop (thinking steel building) retrieving a router bit and looked at one of my flush cutters it is a 1/2" shank w/ 3/4" cutter. Why not use that type of bearing on the end of the cross shafts if they could be found economically enough. This is also perhaps over kill but I did stumble on to a commercial builder (MSA ?) that is in fact putting bearings on the end of their cross shafts. So original idea to me but not the first to come up with it. So in general it will be a fairly conventional build I think. I am leaning to a keyless head though (do prefer the trad. look of keys). A D10 is perhaps a bit ambitious for a first build and I should reconsider but that is what I really want and I have been so inspired by you and the rest of the guys on this forum that I feel it's doable.

[Dave L]

Bent, I would definitely try to talk him/her into it. Makes it a unique one of a kind.
As my wood carving Uncle said about the Cigar Store Indian, "they are more beloved for their flaws than their perfection".
The BenRom Lightning Bolt?

[sheffield steel]

Bent my friend, you are spot on the money in everything that you say & do! beautiful engineering. So long as the end plates do not move (flex) I see NO problem at all by bolting the changer/peg head through the end plates/frame, the more rigid the better I say. By the way, I have been using stainless steel sealed bearings for about 10 or more years in my guitars and not just on the cross shafts, I install them in my changer mechanism & at the peg head, so that all the parts that need a super smooth movement get it were it counts! not just having bearings on certain parts to make it look good. I've had it said to me that my guitars are over engineered, my reply to this is: If a job is worth doing, do it right! that's what my Dad always taught me. We can build into our guitars what our hearts desire to make them special and as we are not particularly building psg's for a living and to a price (cost) like some manufactures.

Dave.

[Bent]

Dave, you know by now how I value your opinions and statements. Thanks for your kind words.
Like you, I believe in bearings and bushings as long as they are not made of plastic.
I use oilite bronze bushings in my side rails for the cross shafts. Maybe I should go a lot further with bronze...changer fingers, string rollers. Hear in your mind's ear the sound and sustain of a church bell or a ship's bell.

[Bent]

Kinda starting to look like a steel...

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[Pat Comeau]

Looking good my friend , but sadly that's only the easy part .

keep us update.

Pat

[Bent]

Pat, with all the changes in design I made on this one, plus learning to run the mill, everything has proven to be very hard this time around...
Thanks for your encouragement my friend.