316-L Stainless Heli-arc wire,,,no stretch, hard to bend,, threads hold good,,

Call your guitar FARRABUD,, LOL...

Larry

------------------
Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

[This message was edited by Larry Strawn on 13 June 2005 at 10:02 PM.]

I've use brass and stainless at times to add pedals or knee levers but you have to realize that ALL materials shrink or expand as temperatures changes. I'm not sure if temp changes would effect pull rods enough to make you have to retune when setting up in a different environment or not.. I would guess not.. Not nearly as much as it would effect the strings.

One thing I have found out over the years is this: Never use the same grade stainless steel when you are screwing something together. i.e. Stainless screw and stainless nut of the same grade or some other application where you use the same grade.. It will gaull and you'll never get it apart.. Normally won't gaull screwing together but will almost always gaull backing out.. I don't think this would apply to pull rods rubbing together but in theory it should cause some friction.. Maurice Anderson stated that they changed from the type rod that they were using on the new MSA's to stainless because the other rods were causing friction!!!!!!

Moral of the story, always use thread lubricant if you are screwing stainless together...

Back to the subject of pull rods being aluminum.. In 30 years I have never noticed a problem with this,,,, but,,,,, then I have never had the facilities to test the different effects that different temps have on different metals. Zumstead probably has that capability.
Winston

I have inlay strips i got from Inlay world on the internet. you do have to buy several,i don't remember what,but think i bought 25 at one time.

Laquer,i buy at paint supplys,shermin williams ect. one quart at a time. NOT no 5 GALLONS as some one said!!!!!

ok,what about wood??i bought some from Lewis on the ORG.trail i think it was.shipping kills you on it.

I'm open to any discussion here,as i'm getting ready to build.

i have seen the rods discussed,they say you can use a hairdryer on the bottom of the steel, and with alum. it will change big time, i feel STAINLESS is the way to go there.

That "SOK" penetrating oil I was talking about may be a west coast product only,,I don't remember ever seeing it before I moved out here.

Tap Magic [Alum] works well also, that's all I used before coming here.

Ya'll are taking on quite a project, best of luck with it. [Parts are way to small for me]!!! LOL..

Larry

------------------
Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

quote:

---

we all need help with this wood,finishing,inlays ect

---

Right now I am rebuilding "Old Ugly" and I am using Hard Maple for this one.I got inlays in this cabinet.For those inlays you only need a hobby router.Just practice on a piece of wood you don't use.Be sure that you use a good glue and press the inlays in.Use a neutral colored glue.Remember that when you don't press those inlays in well enough air will be formed under those inlays.That is something you don't want when you start to lacquer the body.

I lacquered my first cabinet a couple of days ago and it's much easier than I thought.Be sure to use a good Lacquer.I used a waterbased lacquer for "Old Ugly".This is a lacquer that you can use with a paintbrush.Of course you can spray it on the cabinet as well.
I lacquered this cabinet 7 times,between layers I sanded the cabinet.The last layer I sanded with grit 1400.After that I used a good car polish and polished it.Works great.And it ain't nearly as difficult as people say.Just practice on a piece of wood.
But you can always Oil/Wax the cabinet.Here's how you do it.(courtesy of Per Berner)

quote:

---

The beauty of the whole thing is that it is SO easy! The oil is
especially good at bringing out flames/bridseyes etc in maple, birch,
cherry and other closed-grained woods with a capacity for natural
lustre.

After fine-sanding (I go all the way to 800 or 1000 grit, but 600
should do fine) I wipe the wood with naphta to remove all dust.

Then I wipe on hardwood oil with a soft rag (many types available in
any paint store; most made from linseed oil I think, Liberon has some
specifically for finishing, any "teak oil", "danish oil" etc will work
fine) and let it soak in. You will notice that the wood sucks up the
oil in seconds, so wipe on at least ten coats in succession; then let
it sit and dry for an hour or more. You can also use wet-sanding with
up to 1500 or 2000 grit with the first coats if you want; works very
well on ebony and other really hard woods, but it is not necessary.

Then you wipe on more oil the same way, let it dry a little, and keep
repeating the process a couiple of times until the wood is getting
fully saturated, you will notice that the wood dries slower and slower
with each time you wipe. The more oil you get into the wood, the
better.

After the last application, wipe the wood with a dry rag to remove
surface oil and let the piece dry for a couple of days.

Then you apply beeswax (clear or tinted, available in many colors from
the Liberon brand) like when you wax the car. Rub it in and let it dry
at least an hour, better to wait til the next day. Then you rub it off,
and use a hard polishing brush to get a dull sheen. Repeat the waxing 2
or 3 times.

If you use tinted wax, remember that the stain digs into the pores of
the wood (if it is a porous wood) which accentuates the grain (like on
my bass). You can also use slight amounts of stain in the oil, which
will produce a more even coloring - it's a matter of taste.

As always, try on a piece of scrap first to see the effect of stains -
big differences with the same stain on different types of wood.

Don't forget to soak the oily rags in water and/or burn them
afterwards; in hot conditions they can theoretically self-ignite.

So, it's a bit of work, but it is all easy and there is no way you can
go wrong with this process, and the result will be silky smooth and
superb to touch. And it's better for the environment than a
nitrocellulose laquer. And there will be no runs, no fisheyes, no
sanding through the paint layers, no orange peel surfaces, no filler to
apply, no overspray on other parts, no burning corners when buffing....
Best of all, if you get a scratch you can repair it invisibly.

Then, every other year or so you just apply a new coat of wax if it
gets dirty (as happens with regular guitar necks, but hardly with a
steel guitar) or dull.

Please note: I don't know for sure if it is possible to redo an oil&wax
finish with laquer at a later date, but I think it could be done if you
manage to remove all the wax.

---

quote:

---

I have seen the rods discussed,they say you can use a hairdryer on the bottom of the steel, and with alum. it will change big time

---

But who do you allow to go near your steel with a hair-dryer?
Sure it will stretch a lot when you change the temperature.But will it influence your playing?Most Push/Pulls use aluminum rods.
But on the All-Pull steelguitars I use Stainless Steel.Almost as cheap and you have a nice undercarriage without polishing the rods.

Winston send me a couple of pictures of those bell-cranks so I can post some on the forum my friend.Mail them to me.Thanks

Ron

------------------
Nikaro Steel Guitars
Nikaro SD10 4x6-Nikaro SD10 4x5-2Peavey 112 Ultra Tube.
nikarosteelguitars@planet.nl
European Steel Guitar Forum

[This message was edited by Ronald Steenwijk on 15 June 2005 at 12:22 PM.]

I like the "SOK" better than Tap Magic, but Farris is right about the Alumacut,,But I have trouble getting it here in Az. or Nv. have to order it in.

Man I'm interested in seeing some pictures of these steels Ya'll are building. Keep us posted.

If you decide to go with Alum. pull rods, I think I would look at 5056 Alloy.

Larry

------------------
Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

[This message was edited by Larry Strawn on 15 June 2005 at 04:47 PM.]

stress test ect.and 4 1/2hrs at doctor kindda gave us out.
anyway just got pictures from ron on old ugly,Boys he doing a fine job on it.

I plan to be working on SHO-BUD pro1 shortly,i seen one just sold on FOR SALE forum, made me sick, it was so pretty.

I think this is the way to go,seems these little guitars are really in demand.and they are one fine guitar.

Think like "The Little Engine That Could".
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can.

Ron, I've asked Tom Bradshaw for permission to send you some pictures of the new belcranks. He called today but I was gone to the doctor.. Got a kidney stone about the size of two football fields.. Made the 900 mile drive Saturday real enjoyable..

You can get the Alum. Heli-arc wire in varius grades, 4043, and 5056 alloys being the most common. 4043 is softer and probably wouldn't hold threads very well. We've threaded 5056 before at the shop and had good luck with it, however it was larger dia. 1/4" and above.

My opinion would be stainless, 308, or 316 alloy. I think I would opt for the 316, it's a little harder to thread, but won't gauld up nearly as bad when taken apart and put back together a lot of times.

I think I would look into using 1/8" instead of 3/32". There's some special order sizes in between, but hard to get, if it's anything like Kingman, Az. would take 6 mos. to get it. LOL..

Please get Ron to post pic's as you go, this is really interesting. I don't have the patience for that sort of thing, but admire folks that do.

Larry

------------------
Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

Well,this is the case of my SHO-BUDS,they are kindda like the maytag man,nothing to do to them,just as well go fishing!!
they just Don't break down!!!!!!

Thought you were gonna call it "FARABUD" LOL...

Larry

------------------
Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

Just kidding about the name,, Like Currie Custom much better,,

Of course Winston might be on to some thing with the sliding fret boards..LOL....

Larry

------------------
Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"