Jigs are out for waterjet.

wearymicrobe

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Got one of the last major expensive piece's ordered for the ukulele biz, send my build templates out for the electric ukes to be cut in 1/4 inch steel with a waterjet, they will be back in about a month as they are doing them during the slow periods to keep the cost down.

Now all I have to do is get the tone circuit dialed in and finalized and build ~20 or so of them, and use my bridge slotter jig to built 20 as well.

I have been testing the CNC of the necks with some crappy wood and it is working ok but since I don't have a home postion on my machine if it dies during the cut it makes my life miserable. I have this terrible feeling that I am going to have to outsource the cut after I finalize the map.

I have been tracking down a bunch of hog in the right dimensions and some really cool top wood. I expect to do most of the tops off a piece of Koa that I got from the evilbay.

I have tried to cad up a good looking headstock which is surprisingly hard to do, I have a feeling I am going to just miniaturize a GS/GA open headstock and do a overlay with ebony.

I think I really need a thickness planer and 20' bandsaw to make things go smoother. If thats the case then I am going to dump some of my collection to get the cash together.

I will have around .1mm tolerance off the jigs I hope, if they don;t work I will send the bodies out for cnc routing of the dxf's I made, but I would prefer not to do that and just use the jigs.

Also I got a new vacuum pump out of the trash at the office that I rebuilt so now I can do carbon veneer tops like the new style classicals.
 
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have the truck ready for a big pickup tomorrow morning.

Got new Table Saw 2 hp
New ShopSmith 14 bandsaw.

Brand new ShopSmith V5 (never been used but bought used)
With all the extra trays and cutters.

New ShopSmith Drill Press.

Old 6hp ENCO lathe

Nice collection of router bits and a sharpener.

Post sander.

4 axis stand for drill.

Small router.


I need tom achine some guides for the saws and make a few test cuts to get back into the swing but I am very happy. I also go a bunch of clamps.
 
Lots of pictures.

Mark 5 ShopSmith. Mainly to be used as a lathe for furniture building and for ripping lumber, plus dato work and gating. Ukulele side its a 2hp 24 inch plate sander with a roll option.

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11 Inch band saw (biggest one I could fit in the shop and still move it around, I will be getting a 18 inch as soon as I find a used one with casters. This needs major adjustment.

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1.5hp Enco drill, with knee kick with a 2 axis plate. I have a three axis stepper motor one at the lab that I am building.

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Bunch of other accessories, and do dads, plus one of those flame cabs is being turned into a UV booth.

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now very very full shop box, I swear this thing weights like 1 ton now

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And finally the new shop cat, my new maine coon stud..
KAHHHNNNNN!!!!


Kahn.jpg
 
I've had one of those shopsmiths for a while. They are absolutely wonderful as a lathe and horizontal boring/drilling machine. Aside from that I found it way too much of a hassle to change between functions and the table saw component is way too small for serious work. However, for small ukulele parts it should be just fine. But if you plan to mill your small parts from big parts then it could be an issue.
Congrats on all the new stuff.
 
I've had one of those shopsmiths for a while. They are absolutely wonderful as a lathe and horizontal boring/drilling machine. Aside from that I found it way too much of a hassle to change between functions and the table saw component is way too small for serious work. However, for small ukulele parts it should be just fine. But if you plan to mill your small parts from big parts then it could be an issue.
Congrats on all the new stuff.

Dom don't laugh but I spec everything out from the mill to arrive in small pieces. I have true table saw as well its just not in the new batch of stuff.

I love the shopsmith for a lathe, its why I bought it but I have killed like a dozen sanders over the years and there is no way in the world I am killing that SS motor to do drum sanding, in fact I might have to dial back the motor a bit or go to a higher grit paper. now that I have a veneer router I don't have nearly as much edge sanding as I used to.

I have access to a sherline mill and lathe to do the smaller work as well.
 
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