Steel Guitar Builder

Hello all , just discovered this forum and am pretty excited about what I am seeing and reading . As for me I have zero steel guitar experience , but have always thought about building a pedal steel . I own a machine shop so I have the machining experience , just need to learn all the fine details of the steel . I am planning on ordering the Gluck CD . I know it has mixed reviews but as a total beginner I am hoping it will give some dimensions to start with since I don't have a guitar to take dimensions from .

My first question is about the key head . What is the average height/ thickness of the head ?
I have quite a bit of 6061 aluminum laying around but its only .750 thick .
Does it need to be thicker than 3/4 " ?
Is the " nut " meaning the slotted part of the key head (not sure what its actually called ) integral to the key head ? Is it all machined out of one piece of aluminum ?
That's the part that had me concerned if the 3/4 " stock would work or not .

Thanks in advance

Hi martinguitar,

My keyhead is machined from 3/4" square stock with the nut separate, there are various photo's on 'my first pedal steel attempt'

Regards Ron Mc

Maxi19 , I see you purchased the Gluck CD . Does it provide dimensioned drawings for most of the parts ?

Thanks

Hi martinguitar,

Yes there are some dimensioned parts but they need to be modified to fit in with your requirements and materials, what it does give is an insight into steel guitars and food for thought.
You wouldn't be able to build a satisfactory guitar following the drawings as there is no detailed assembly.

Ron Mc