demonx

I don't use the marlin for much at all anymore. The things I was using it for I worked out better ways. I reckon it could be because a bought the largest size, then had them upgrade the poles etc to make it even bigger - could be the reason. If it was a small unit it probably wouldn't flex so much. As for your suggestion of just using a flat board as a template. I've actually tried this in the past. The finished piece looked like someone had got a chunk of pine and hit it all over a thousand times with a hammer. It was flatter than when I started but was still 3D. I originally bought it for doing necks, but I've ruined more necks with it than what I've made. It just was no good. I know moser uses his for various things and loves it, but his is older and smaller than mine. The company is owned by different people now, I wonder if the product is not as good? I've got a bit of maple in the shed that I tried to flatten ages ago like you suggested, I'll take a pic later and post so you can see what I mean.

Too much flex. To be honest the marlins are pretty frikken useless. I'd sell it if I got a interested buyer

Sanded back the replacement dot inlays - happy with them this time round:

I can't even afford a CNC - I'm not even going to waste my time asking what one of these machines costs!

Any decent paint store can color match. You'll have to take the guitar in there (unless theres a part of the guitar you can unscrew that is the correct color) They'll either scan it electronically or do it by eye, depending on their setup - then you'll get the correct color paint! It's that easy.

Back in April I decided I'd be clever and make a layered template for the marlin, but I screwed it up and routed way too deep: This guitar has been sitting there taking up space since then, waiting for me to build a router sled to flatten the top. I've thrown out the template in question and decided I'll just carve by hand from now on. Half the time it's quicker anyway and less chance of scewing up. Anyway, heres the makeshift sled, built to be used once and cast aside:

I've got an upcut spiral bit for truss slots (in a router table). Works well. Spiral bits "feel" different when you feed the wood, so just let it do its thing and go slow. When I swapped to using the spiral bit for this I also started making two passed rater than a full pas slike I used to do with a standard bit. The spiral bit just liked it better this way.

Looks nice - good work.

Finally got the warranty replacement bit - a spiral up cut but this time it's 1/2". http://www.carbatec.com.au/carba-tec-spiral-flush-trim-bit_c9395 It's a $99.00 + post bit (I didn't pay post as its a replacement) - later in the week I'll be cutting a blackwood/mahogany body so I'll give it a test run then!

If it definitely an inlay, then sand it, make sure not to sand through the inlay, then mask it off when you paint unmasking it for the clear coats. You can mask it with any painters tape and a razor blade. Put the tape on, smooth it out with a credit card or something similar and then use an exact knife or razor blade to cut away the logo. I've been favoring green tape over blue tape these days but they'll all work. If you screw it up, then have a look on the bestdecals website, they'll be able to make you another hamer logo including the USA lettering, then apply that before the last clear coats

Oh hell yeah. Thing gets used nearly every time I'm in the shed!

Without seeing it I can't answer. Some logos are decals, some are painted on and some are inlayed. So without knowing what you have it's not a question to easily answer. Basically though, if you're painting then all methods will require masking at some point

Glad I could help someone and I'm glad you're happy with it. Hope you hang around the forum a bit longer, there's a lot of good people and lots if great info here

That myrtle looks fabulous... Tasmania has so many beautiful timbers, you're very lucky to live there.

Decided I didn't like the bits of maple and rosewood under the heel so I ran it through the drum sander to get rid of them: I also had to glue some timber into the neck pocket to make up the diffrence. Fixed up the route on the floyd recess: I radiused the neck and started fretting - while doing so I realised that some of the dots had changed color dramatically (turned yellow rather than blue) after sanding, and one of them I sanded through, must not have recessed them enough. So I drilled them out and found new dots that matched close enough. .

Another one of those "BUGGER" moments. My floyd template get a nick out of it the first timeI ever used it, I filled n the nick and filed it back smooth, but for some reason htis time the bearing ran over it the repair failed... Course of action: I've mixed up some poly and filled in the repair, will leave it overnight, file it back and reroute moving the tamplate back the milimeter to hide the ripple. Then maybe I should think of making a new template with this one before its too far gone. Before I started routing the floyd I noticed the router was still mounted in the table with the rounding bit in it, so before I pulled it from the table I ran the rounding bit around the edge ready for when I get to the carving stage.

Welcome to the forum! I'm the same username over at SS forum. This is easily the best forum on the net for building guitars, only have to check out the entries ever month for the "guitar of the month" to know you're mingling with a talented bunch of people.

Congrats guys. Both great looking guitars and definitely deserving.

I don't think it's over the top. You want over the top (tacky) google minarik. This is still quite reserved!

Nice touch!

To the above post regarding spelling mistakes, there are MANY members here where English is not their first language. It comes with the territory, this is the Internet. My biggest complaint about the OP is the pic restrictions. This is going to KILL the in progress builds thread which to be honest is the most interesting part of the whole site. These restrictions, especially the 4 pics in your first post then links for all following pic. People are too lazy to click links. Theyre meant to be picture threads, not link threads. I havnt sized a pic to the max size yet, but it seems too small. I'll have a look at this later when I'm not on my mobile Just my opinion EDIT: I just noticed this is an old thread ... So basically everyone breaks these pic posting rules and has for years...

Tell the truth, you realised those roller nuts suck and you gave up! hahahhaa I bought one of those roller nuts for the black V and couldnt get it off fast enough, never again.

You just lost me at rattlecan, maybe someone else will take over.

I can honestly say I do not feel bad loosing to sardine, that is an exquisite guitar. Very classy

Always a possibility ... Much more forgiving than a trans finish