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I have developed this Thickness gauge for measuring the thickness accurately of the tops, backs and sides of guitar. It works on fully assembled guitars too as the ball will ride over the braces assuming they are relatively flat. This gives a much more accurate reading than calipers and doesnt take up as much room as a dial caliper contraption. this opens up some new possibilities for doing some finer tuning of the top after assembly. If anyone has any interest, pm me
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
Thats interesting.
I agree that being able to measure what you are doing after the assembly is a very important factor in building good instruments. Its amasing how much wood we can remove when scraping and sanding the bindings.
I have a Hacklinger guide for doing that and I´m happy with it, so I´m not going to be a client of yours right now, but I think you tool looks very impressive and I wish you the best. You deserve it. And who knows, maybe I´ll buy one myself.
Make some videos using the tool on assembled instruments. A guitar and a violin or a Cello.
Tools like yours (or the Hacklinger) are also very good to have when meeting a nice instrument. Within a minut, you have the thickness of the plates (if the owner allows you to meassure)
So 2 questions. How thick a brace will it "jump" over? And how much do you charge for for the thing?
Posts: 597
Joined: Jan. 14 2007
From: York, England
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
Looks brilliant! If this works on assembled guitars then the Hacklinger is finished, or at least, they'll have to start charging a much cheaper price to compete. Good luck with it
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
I use a Hacklinger gauge but this looks even better. No having to pull the spring up and trying to read where the click happened. I will definitely buy one from you at some point if it's under $400
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
Ya if you can get it mass produced for pennies in China contact Stewmac but if you're making them all yourself why share a chunk of the profits. The Hacklinger gauge is vastly overpriced for what it is and does which is why I'll never own one. If your production costs are not too high and pricing competitive with the Hacklinger it will sell itself being a superior product. Free advertising on forums, an ad in the guild magazine or demos at guitar shows would be all it takes to get you a back log of orders, providing the price is right. Good luck in your venture
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
Thanks for the responses, Sorry i didnt put the price as most contacts have been through pm. I am selling the unit for $295 which is $120 cheaper than a hacklinger. i think it is much easier to use. Accuracy is theoretically about .1mm but as with the hacklinger you are dealing with magnetic fields. With the probe absolutely flat on the surface you achieve 0.1mm, to allow for the human factor an accuracy of 0.2mm is practical.
To me, the most useful thing is detecting variations in the thickness from 1 area of a piece to the next. I have a top that was thicknessed by a well set up drun sander and with this I can still see that one side is 2.1mm and the other side seems to be 2.4mm in places.
It may eventually get to the stewmacs or LMI if they are interested but i am sure they will want to see a record of sales etc. Who knows what they will do to the price though.
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
2 things.
0,2mm means its less accurate than a deep throat caliper with a good meassuring unit. You get 0,05 - 0,1 mm with one of these. This means that thicknessing the plates before assembly will still be better with a standard thicknessing guide.
Prices are because of taxes etc. very relative in this world. Importing it from the US means that it´ll cost me 310,-€ A Hacklinger guide cost me 260,-€ (and I have one) both prices incl. VAT and are without shipping (which´ll be cheaper for the Hacklinger)
I still think your tool looks very nice and I´m sure you´ll have succes with it. I´m looking forward to some reviews.
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
As a technical specification, the resolution of the device is in .002 inch steps, so it is actually .05mm. As I am not in the business of misleading anybody, I find practically when measuring that the value often is on the border between 2 values, so the display may jump between 2.25mm and 2.3mm. I choose toofficially state the accuracy at 0.1mm or 4mil knowing that if you buy it and easily achieve what I say 0.1mm and if youre careful you achieve 0.05mm, then you will be happy. If you want to do a fast measurement without pausing too long at each location and you are happy with 0.2mm, then that is easily achievable. i have been contacted by American Luthier Magazine and they want to do a review, so I will send them a unit soon.
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Posts: 1108
Joined: Sep. 29 2009
From: Back in Boston
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
Isnyman--a definitely cool electronic tool. Just a couple of things before you go more public with your invention. Do you have a patent or have applied for a patent? It is protection for both you and your invention. Secondly, was your invention, in any manner, related to your employment? I bring this up as some companies can get pretty snotty about an employee using any concept or methodology present at work to make their own invention.
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
UPDATE !! I have improved the probe to increase the range. It can now go to 14mm suspended and 20mm with probe below. Here is a vid showing the jumping over braces. Excuse the old ugly guitar.
RE: Thickness Gauge-Bare wood or ass... (in reply to lsnyman)
Another update The device comes with 2 balls now, a smaller one for the small instrument makers with f-holes. Added self calibration and range is extended to 15mm. It will also now ride over braces and even transition from top to sides and back. New video
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