Star Swirl *** 1st build

[panther]

Not to reveal everything I'm thinking about, I was thinking of replacing Only Non Critical parts with Fiberglass.

Dan

[cmiller0034]

Its alright Pickup ring, I still Love you.











What? I was buying these for less than $4 Six months ago. Now someone is reselling these for 20 bucks a pop. And People are PAYING for them. Someone needs to stop this is madness. Some one needs to stand up and cry, NO!

















Gee what a great idea. Lets see how it turned out.









Dear Lord.... well that's uh, quite something.






















I can work with this.




YOU'RE the monster! You, you're the freak!

[dorkrockrecords]

Just so you know, the ones you bought for four bucks a pop are Japanese approximations. The ones for twenty bucks a pop are the genuine article from the estate of Mosrite luthier, Bill Gruggett. For what it's worth...

[cmiller0034]

Just so you know, the ones you bought for four bucks a pop are Japanese approximations. The ones for twenty bucks a pop are the genuine article from the estate of Mosrite luthier, Bill Gruggett. For what it's worth...

Thanks for pointing that out. I assumed that they where original Parts. But IMO a piece of plastic is a piece of plastic no matter who made it. These things are made from less than 50 cents of material most likely. If $20 seems like a reasonable price to pay for a name brand, then more power to that person I guess.

Check out how much it is to produce an Injection Molded part
http://epsilonindustries.com/pricing/cost-of-plastic-part-production/


If someone in Japan can make and sell a similar part for a fraction of the price, thumbs up. If there is an American parts distributor with reasonable prices I would be be game as well. That's how competition in the marketplace works!

Also, if anybody knows where I can find more of these reasonably price Japanese parts post those links here or PM me. I need like 3 more pickup rings.

Go Japan, make more pup rings!

[panther]

Chris;

What is the black substance you are using. You have a start there. Tom Edison made hundreds of light bulbs, before he got the one that worked.
I've screamed this tune also. We are fortunate that we are able to make these parts ourselves. The new Old stock is different to the ones that want original parts.

If I could go back an redo my work history, I would devote time to reproducing parts for collectors, and cut the price way down, but that isn't going to happen. I recently paid $12.00 fro reproduction Yamaha headstock decals. The forum I belong to has a member that charges $24.00, for the same thing. I posted the new seller, and got chastised for dissing a forum member. So it can go either way. Now Stew-Mac, that's another story altogether. They clearly charge double what they should and could still make a DECENT PROFIT.
But because Dan E. Has a great reputation, no one complains.

So i will just make my own parts, and make a few extra in case someone may need one.
Like the Mosrite knobs I duplicated awhile back. Some are going for 15 to 20 $, I sold afew at $5.00 each. I would still make $15.00 an hour at that price, then by adding a 1$ to each one, I would double my profit. $6.00 I make $30.00 an hour etc. I have original knobs, and mine are identical.

Dan

[cmiller0034]

Chris;

What is the black substance you are using. You have a start there. Tom Edison made hundreds of light bulbs, before he got the one that worked.
I've screamed this tune also. We are fortunate that we are able to make these parts ourselves. The new Old stock is different to the ones that want original parts.

If I could go back an redo my work history, I would devote time to reproducing parts for collectors, and cut the price way down, but that isn't going to happen. I recently paid $12.00 fro reproduction Yamaha headstock decals. The forum I belong to has a member that charges $24.00, for the same thing. I posted the new seller, and got chastised for dissing a forum member. So it can go either way. Now Stew-Mac, that's another story altogether. They clearly charge double what they should and could still make a DECENT PROFIT.
But because Dan E. Has a great reputation, no one complains.

So i will just make my own parts, and make a few extra in case someone may need one.
Like the Mosrite knobs I duplicated awhile back. Some are going for 15 to 20 $, I sold afew at $5.00 each. I would still make $15.00 an hour at that price, then by adding a 1$ to each one, I would double my profit. $6.00 I make $30.00 an hour etc. I have original knobs, and mine are identical.

Dan

The Black Goo is ABS. Acetone was used as a solvent, the same method I used to make binding glue. I believe the evaporating solvent caused the ABS to become warped as it dried in the mold. Injection molding with heat would be a better method. Making your own parts is pretty cool, I salute you sir. I agree with everything you said. Except about Thomas Edison. I have documented evidence that Edison was a Jerk.

The attached video is graphic in nature please be advised.

[panther]

Chris;
I am very familiar with Tesla and Edison's conflicts. I used Edison purely for example. I have nothing but extreme respect for Tesla, and very little for Edison.
Dan

[cmiller0034]

Vacuum forming... Sucks?



I spent three days of my free time building Pickup Cover molds and a Vacuum former too. Imagine cheap pup covers, I can experiment all I want with those kind of resources.

Behold abject failure!


Trying to get 6 out of one sheet was foolhardy




Gave up on trying to get 6 and was trying to get at least ONE usable cover out of this debacle. This is the 6th and final attempt....







All that work What a waste.



The suction was quite powerful with my Shopvac. It was hard to pry the form off the table while it was turned on. But it was not enough apparently.





This Thermoplastic is REALLY tough and would have made excellent covers if it had cooperated. IT cooled SO quickly, I didnt have enough time to form it to the molds. I dont know maybe the plastic was too thick? I spent no more than 2 seconds from the Oven to the former and after 6 attempts I gave up! All the Youtube vids I saw made it look easy. Not so.




1 little file

Well the Weekend wasn't a total bust. My Japanese fret crowning file came in the mail. Hazzah! Now I can finally get the frets leveled and re crowned.



Ha Ha suckers, that's EXACTLY what I'm using it for!






I also came up with a mixture that works for my pickup rings! I plan on making multi colored ones. Hav'nt seen anyone else do that, maybe I'll be the first

a little rough, I haven't cleaned it up yet.



Comparison with the first attempt



bottom to top: Original, New formula, Janky first copy.



On a Cover



A lot better than that Jacked up one for sure

helllp me!



Triumphs or failures. The fun's in the doin.

[panther]

Vacuum molding can be a challenge. I encountered many of the same hurdles. I did finally get good stuff, but it was with thinner material. Maybe the heavy stuff calls for a bigger rig.
The picture of the three rings together, are those ones you made, or is that an original on the right ?
Can you share the formula you finally achieved, or do I have to start hiding my ideas ? LOL

Dan

[panther]

Chris;
I have long wanted a small home injection mold machine. I worked in injection molding for 15 years at GM, the cost and difficulty is NOT the machine itself, they can be built rather cost effective, IT'S THE MOLDS that are the problem. If not mirror smooth, you can have a a very hard time getting parts out.
An example of the mold cost, For the cap that goes on top of a battery, about the same size as the rings you need, the mold cost about $10,000.00. Granted GM got their investment back, but we made Millions of batteries.

Dan