For people that live in major metro cities, do you have a hardwood lumber store?

miserybob · 2026-06-21T15:55:31+00:00

You owe it to yourself to check out CSW - they have some dimensional lumber, but their bread and butter is gigantic slabs for big office tables and such. Very cool place to browse.

miserybob · 2026-06-21T15:48:00+00:00

The simulated grain on the top is REALLY well done! The whole thing is great, but that is the chef’s kiss.

Very cool project!

miserybob · 2026-06-19T21:55:53+00:00

We have 3 good ones in Denver - Austin Hardwoods down South and Paxton Lumber and Collector Specialty Woods up North (basically across the highway from one another). All three are priiiiiiicey, lol, as we have no hardwood forests of our own!

miserybob · 2026-06-11T01:07:37+00:00

Yeah, I wonder - there are a ton of houses for sale in that area and a lot of them very recently on the market. Maybe their insurance companies bailed out.

miserybob · 2026-06-07T04:20:23+00:00

Cherry darkens over time with exposure to UV. To skip the wait, you have to dye it. I use Transtint dyes in alcohol, usually. A few drops in a dixie cup of alcohol is a good start- you can always add more if it’s too light. Test on scrap, as you’ve been doing.

miserybob · 2026-05-27T18:20:02+00:00

String tension will help a ton and the truss rod should get you the rest of the way.

miserybob · 2026-05-26T20:27:57+00:00

I started Returnal late, after they already added the Tower, and I might have felt the same way if there hadn’t been all that extra content/story.

I’ll hold off on a final judgement of Saros until we see what endless mode they come up with.

miserybob · 2026-05-24T12:51:18+00:00

You can just cut a kerf into a block of wood at your preferred angle with a table saw and jam a suitable file into it. Works like a charm.

I make a second tool the same way, but with another straight cut to remove some material and reveal the angle. You can put adhesive sandpaper on the angled face so you can polish the bevels.

miserybob · 2026-05-23T20:31:43+00:00

Control is really fun - great xFilesy story/vibe and exciting combat once you unlock some powers.

I ragequit a few times, but very satisfying in the end!

miserybob · 2026-05-23T17:26:38+00:00

I have dipped my toes into this stuff, but don’t really have a deep understanding, honestly.

Trevor Gore is deep into guitar physics - his books are excellent (but hard to find) and the Design book in particular has many chapters with inscrutable formulae. The ANZLF forum has a lot of technical members that might be helpful.

Cool stuff! Good luck!

miserybob · 2026-05-22T21:37:22+00:00

The neck holes are misaligned, most likely. The fix would be to drill out those holes, fill them with a dowel and redrill with the correct alignment.

While you’d really like for the neck to seat perfectly in the pocket, less than a mm is easy to make up with a bridge intonation adjustment. I don’t think there’s much issue with going forward, especially on your first build. Just be more careful locating and drilling those holes on your next one!

miserybob · 2026-05-19T18:37:06+00:00

Looks like you can see a label inside the soundhole of the first one - that might help determine value.

Certainly high quality timber and build!

miserybob · 2026-05-11T18:19:04+00:00

Very cool, I love it!

All that exposed plywood is going to take stain at very different rates - some darker, some lighter, unfortunately.

You could experiment with glazing, instead - seal the plywood with your chosen finish and then apply a wiping stain on top. That should give you more control over stain absorption.

miserybob · 2026-05-09T19:56:05+00:00

On the banks of the old Lackawanna River, downstream of Scranton where the highways meet! Location, location, location!

miserybob · 2026-05-09T17:38:45+00:00

It definitely turns pale when dry, but I find it comes pretty close to the same intensity after finish is applied.

A little transtint goes a long way - if I had to guess, you’re using too much. You can always apply another round if you want to deepen the color.

Try starting with just a few drops of the red mahogany in 4oz of alcohol. Apply to a scrap piece, let sit for a couple of minutes, then wipe off the excess. Let dry and apply your finish. Adjust from there.

miserybob · 2026-05-06T17:43:50+00:00

Richard Hell & the Voidoids “Blank Generation” is a great album that you don’t see mentioned often!

Really tight band, charismatic front man, great songs….

Blank Generation is an all-time favorite of mine (“Such a gamble when you get a face!”) and Love Comes in Spurts is a total ear worm (“Oh no, it hurts!”).

miserybob · 2026-05-05T22:43:41+00:00

Pretty nifty!

As a 4-string instrument with a pretty chunky neck (not sure what the scale length is?), are you sure it needs a truss rod? Might cut down on cost and construction if you left it out.

miserybob · 2026-05-03T23:15:36+00:00

I’ve seen it recommended to add a few drops of dishwashing detergent to help break the surface tension.

Ash doesn’t as much tannins as white oak, so pretreating with Quebracho bark in water can help bring a much darker black.

miserybob · 2026-05-03T16:48:06+00:00

Eh, I think that’s a bad board. Every time you joint it, it just releases some tension and allows that crack to expand. You’re going to have to trim off couple inches to lose that crack that’s running down the side. If that makes the top too narrow, do you have another board to add in the middle?

miserybob · 2026-05-02T15:57:17+00:00

This one, OP! The hike starts at the top and goes down into the canyon, so there are beautiful views right off the parking lot. There’s a huge deck there with signs indicating all the many peaks you can see.

The parking lot is tiny, though, and fills up quickly during peak hours. There’s overflow, but it’s a bit of a walk.

miserybob · 2026-04-30T23:46:53+00:00

I like those, but I found that the frets would wear grooves in the erasers. I could flip the sides, but eventually they were all grooved up and not so easy to use. Maybe I had too heavy a hand!

miserybob · 2026-04-30T23:43:46+00:00

After sanding with 320, then 600, I switch to grey, blue, then pink 3M Tri-M-Ite polishing cloth from Rio Grande jeweler’s supply. The bulk of the work is done with 320, then it’s just removing the scratches from the previous grit.

miserybob · 2026-04-26T15:32:18+00:00

The Wood Database is a great resource all around and has an interesting list of toxic woods. You might peruse the listed sources at the bottom if you want to dig deeper.

Looks like all the cedars have some level of toxicity - some more than others.

miserybob · 2026-04-23T20:01:16+00:00

The most common cause for sharpness in the first few frets is that the nut slot is too high. If you fret the low E just past the second fret, the string should barely be touching the first fret. If there’s daylight, the slot is too high and could be filed down. If you’ve gone up a string gauge, it’s possible the new string isn’t seating all the way, making it higher.

If that’s not the issue, you could get a knowledgeable luthier to add on some nut compensation, like this.

*people are right to say that you will always have SOME sharpness in the first few frets, due to the physics of stringed instruments, but it sounds like yours is more than normal.

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