Dangerous Curves!

Titebond it is Pete!

Pete, my Aussie luthier friend asked which adhesive I would be using with the Rocklite Ebano fretboard. My adhesive of choice for wood has always been Titbond original, so I glued the fretboard to the maple neck using that.

So, does it work? Well of course! Once the glue set, the fretboard was sanded to give it a compound radius, position markers inlaid and fretted. Then the neck shaped. If a glue joint survives all that vigorous work, it will be fine.

Safe in Portugal

 Paulo’s walnut Standard mandolin is now residing happily in Portugal with its new owner. Below are some photos for you……….

Random Stuff

Thought that you’d like to ponder this photo………..

 

You’ll recall the various planes that I’ve restored recently? I thought that I should treat my faithful Stanley No.5 plane to an “upgrade”. It was given to me about 40 years ago, before I started at the LCF and the varnish on the handles was cracked, chipped and generally manky. So, the old varnish was stripped off and the handles re-finished with Tru-oil and wax. They feel so, so good to use now; well worth the effort!

   

I also had a go at my old (again 40 years!) Tyzack dovetail saw. The handle was refinished in the same way and after much searching around I found a place to send it off for its first proper sharpening in years; works as good as new!

 A few posts back I mentioned using aluminium as an alternative inlay material. On that same instrument, I thought that I’d try a Rocklite Ebano fretboard.  In the photo below you can see the rocklite fretboard on the left and a prime ebony one for Andrew’s twin point on the right.

No problem’s in cutting the fret slots or planning the taper on the rocklite one. So far so good…