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Matters of taste aside...

I'm betting a shellac based paint would provide the desired result without significant issues as long as it wasn't originally shellacked. Worst downside I can think of...

If that joint were tight full length and thickness, it might make an interesting design detail on a carved back. If I'm visualizing right, it would make a gentle curve. Interesting enough to become a...

Given the information given since my prior post, I retract my suggestion that slotting might be viable. Hopefully I can retract my leg from my gullet while I'm at it. 100 year old mystery wood plus...

Hmmm... Not terribly experienced here either, so I'll point to the salt cellar. --->

Semi-gloss lacquer has additives, IIRC, that prevent it from being as reflective without, and tends to gloss up...

Unflavored gelatin and hide glue are much the same thing, so that's a way to get a little at the grocery store. Although a pound of hide is about the price of a dozen gelatin packets, I wouldn't use...

Sounds doable to me.(IANAL) If you can accurately cut at 90 degrees and in the right place, the rest is pretty easy if the fretboard's unbound. It will effect the instrument's value if it's...

I'd suggest a jeweler's supply. You're looking for "fine silver bezel wire" (google that term for a list of online retailers(. Typical sizes are 26 gauge or 28 gauge by 1/8" or 3/32". Personally, I'd...

Sense. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Typical plating thicknesses are measured in microns. Unless your tuners get left in the tank way too long, adding a few molecule-thick layers won't impact their action at all.

Great call, Ron!

That's exactly what it looks like now that you mention it. Slipping a feeler gauge or similar into the separation might tell the whole story without making a mess.

So far, I've had less than stellar results using the string and tuner crack tool on misaligned cracks... and I can't think of a good situation to use it otherwise. Maybe I need to jack the top and...

That's probably the ticket. Here's how I check for corret height at the nut: while fretted at the third fret, press the string down over the first fret. There should be the least possible clearance...

I beg to differ; the difference between elephant and walrus ivory is quite easy to see, and neither looks like bone. I doubt that a nut or saddle of either would cause any trouble by itself.

OTOH,...

Ogling the EuroSpruce site when I noticed the Cuban mahogony, and then the CITES information link.

I had thought that much of the regulations as pertain to vintage instruments was pretty...

Where the little birdie goes?

For me, one issue with the sawstop system is cost; IIRC, it's a couple of hundred to get it running again once it's been "used". Yes, it's cheap compared to the cost of replacing fingers... so you...

Just a weird eclectic mental resonance here, source uncertain... try a small lump of clay or similar on the bridge. Maybe a little extra damping will help?

That's the answer, I think.

Owing to the greater stability (and, IIRC, lower expansion compared to steel) of carbon fiber laminate, necks are much less likely to require adjustments over time,...

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but here's what I thought:

-To anneal a hard piece of steel, heat it to "cherry red" and cool it veeerrryyy sloooowly.
-To harden a piece of steel, heat to cherry...

Spot on there, I think. Of course I'm not sure exactly why, but I suspect it has to do with the plates' (and glue) stiffnesses (is that a word?) and repeated vibrations forcing the various parts to...

And that's considered the "proper" way to fit a handle to a graver.

So... does anyone here know why gravers are sold almost twice as long as they are when they're actually usable? Busting a third...

Here's my tempering trick... can't recall who I stole it from, but it works a treat:

Once it's hardened and cooled, lay the tool on a piece of scrap steel and put the whole mess in the toaster...

Lowest action with no buzz.

What that *measurement* is, I can't tell you, as it's different on both my mandos and I expect it will be different on the next one, and the ones after that.

Since it's still in the white, a ldamp cloth followed with a razor blade scraper will get the excess glue gone quickly, IMO.

That would be the miraculous repair.

The ounce of prevention? check your strap regularly, especially if yours is a spagetti strap single strand of leather. Make sure it can't slip off the end pin...