Sask Mark

IF I'm not mistaken (I might be) Bill Moran was one of the first bladesmiths to 'rediscover' damascus in the U.S. in the 50's or 60's. I read an article in an old knife magazine that he wrote letters to a blacksmith for the German army in the early 1900's who was known for pattern welded steel. Bill never received a response, so he experimented until he came up with 'damascus' steel. I will try to find the article tonight to verify (and correct any of my own errors). It has been a LOONNGG time since I read the article (I think it was in Knives Illustrated). As for whether damascus knives were commonly used in the U.S. prior to that, I don't know although, as Hackknives pointed out, damascus barrels were common back then.

I've heard boiled linseed oil works well.

I have Postman's book at home. If noone provides you the manufacturing date by the time I get home (a couple of hours) I will look it up.

Well, I finally got up the gumption to take some pics. Here is a picture of the bridge itself. Notice it is already a Frankenstein of a black and gold version from a few years ago. It probably deviates enough from a FR so Yamaha didn't have to pay licensing fees. Here is a picture of the underside of the stripped screw hole Here is a picture of the string block. The black part on the top is held down by a screw, the hole of which is also partially stripped. As you can see, I don't think there are any parts off an FR that will work on this bridge.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I did a little more research and it is the RM Pro tremolo. I pulled the bridge off the guitar and pulled it apart and found another stripped screw on one of the string clamp blocks. I think I will try the epoxy route first (it is the cheapest). I will have to order a couple of thread taps to do it. An M4 X 0.5 for the tuner screw and a bottoming M3 X 0.5 for the clamp block. If, by some freaky coincidence, anyone (nudge, nudge NOS) knows of someone with a spare tremolo kicking around, I would be interested. I would like to get this guitar back to running condition again as it is a very nice guitar (neck-through construction, ebony fretboard, active electronics etc).

I don't think you are full of it. If you are, you have me fooled completely! Sometimes making things up is the best way to solve a problem.

Thanks Frosty. Once again, you are a wealth of knowledge.

I'm throwing up the horns right now!

Hey, that might work without going the helicoil route. I guess I could make my own insert without too much difficutly and tap it! Thanks belargehair!

The tapping with a larger screw size is an option if I exhaust all the other ones for keeping the existing screw sizes. I looked at running a Helicoil (threaded insert), but the kit alone for the M3.5 X 0.6 screws is about $70 (they are available through various stores online). I don't know if I'm willing to spend THAT much on it. As for your epoxy idea, the problem would be you can't interfere with the clearance between the piece with the threaded hole and the fulcrum beneath it, or you will lose most of your tuning range with the screw. Epoxying a piece beneath would reduce this clearance. Thanks for the all recommendations. Keep 'em coming! Sooner of later, one will pop up and I will think 'now why didn't I think of that?'

Thanks for the advice NOS. I'm also a guitar geek, so now that I know there's a luthier in the crowd I might throw some other guitar questions your way. It's for the tuning knobs on the locking bridge (Floyd Rose Liscenced) on a Yamaha SE1212. I think the SE1212 and the RGX1221 were the only guitars to use this proprietary bridge (both 6 strings with double locking trems). I will probably run 9-42 or 9-46 guage strings on it. This bolt isn't subjected to the full tension of the strings, it just has to depress the saddle to increase or decrease the string tension on a fulcrum. That is why I thought the JB weld MIGHT work. I have searched ebay, Stew Mac, Luthier Supply, Warmoth etc. and have nerver seen another bridge like it. The part that is stripped is the 'chassis' for the bridge. Maybe when I get home tonight, I can take a picture and post it so you can fully understand what I am up against.

I don't know if this is the best place to post this, but here it goes... I'm trying to repair an electric guitar bridge. The material is plated die cast metal. One of the threaded holes that a fine tuner bolt threads into is stripped out. What do you all recommend as the best way to fix this? I was thinking of using a JB weld type of compound in the stripped hole and drilling & tapping new threads in it. I have to keep in mind that the threads are very fine (the bolt is M3.5 X 0.6mm). The threads don't have to tolerate any large amounts of torque (the tuners are turned by finger, not with tools). Will a compound like JB weld take threads this fine? Is there another compound that works better? I don't want to use any hot processes so I don't ruin the surrounding plating. As well, spare parts for this bridge are very hard to find because the guitar hasn't been made in about 15 years, and it was only produced for 2-3 years in limited numbers. Thanks for all your recommendations.

Ebayer matchlessantiques recently sold a very large sledge (I think it was in the 50 pound range if my feeble memory serves me correctly) for a few hundred dollars (maybe $400-500, my memory really is feeble). The seller said a lot of large hammers were suspended by a chain or similar device but the one he was selling was built to be swung by hand. It was interesting to hear that info about something I've never encountered before.

The good wife got me Anvils in America.

That horn looks like a Hay Budden to me (it looks to have more 'belly' than the Trentons that I have seen.

Did Columbians have a separate top plate? My first thought was that it was a Columbian as well, but I thought they didn't have the separate top plate.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/data/500/medium/Picture_071.jpg Here's a pic that seems to show a top plate as well. It does have a nice ring when struck, so that tells me it's probably cast steel, not cast iron. You can see where I tried reading the maker, but it is pretty distorted. At first I thought I saw a 'V' in a circle, but I can't be sure.

So that would keep it from being a Hay Budden, would it not? http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/data/500/medium/Picture_0723.jpg This is a picture of one of my cast anvils. It looks somewhat similar to yours except yours seems to have been dressed (horn ground down etc.).

Yes, and this one also shows what seems to be some casting imperfections to me.

Does it have a casting line running up the centre below the horn?

The simple formula we used to perform this dilution in the chemistry labs was: C1V1 = C2V2 Where C=concentration and V=volume. A little algebra will help you calculate the unknown variable. For example, you have 100ml of 25% acid that you want to make 15%. 25 X 100 = 15 X V2 (25 X 100) / 15 = V2 167 = V2 so you would have to add 67ml of water to the original 100 ml of 25% acid to get 15% solution. As a note for acid dilutions ALWAYS add water to concentrated acid, NEVER add concentrated acid to water.

It looks like he's done that once or twice before.

I was thinking of getting my inlaws (they live in Calgary) to pick an anvil up from that person, but I figure I already have enough money sunk into 100 pound anvils, I'm going to hold out for a larger one.

I paid $325 for a 100 pound Trenton in very good (not perfect) condition. Anvils in very good condition are rare in my area, so I thought that finding another one in that condition might not happen any time soon. Did you find your anvil on Kijiji Calgary (that lady who had about 10 anvils for sale)?

For a power hammer, as Paul mentioned, I would agree that the hammer foundation sitting on compacted granular should suffice (1+ foot thick) assuming the subgrade is packed and consolidated enough (ideally undisturbed). An asphalt impregnated fiberboard (3/8 - 1/2" thick) as an isolation joint between the foundation and the slab is usually advisable. This is the type of foundation we built at a local steel mill in their spiral pipe operations.