Building my own steel...(Show me yours!)

Jonathan Lam · Post by **Jonathan Lam** » 13 Nov 2009 5:39 pm

I have access to a woodshop that has a CNC machine and also to some antique pine planks. I was thinking maybe i would make a lap steel?? Any advice or tips would be appreciated!

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 14 Nov 2009 8:08 am

Building your own can be a fun and rewarding project, pay attention to shop safety and work smart.
Pine can make a great sounding instrument, some of the first Tele's were made of sugar pine. I built a prototype test rig out of some pine and was quite pleased with the tone. The only down side is it is soft and dents easily.
My best advice would be to draw your design out full scale first. It all starts with a center line, mark your bridge and nut locations and fill in the blanks from there.

Jonathan Lam · Post by **Jonathan Lam** » 14 Nov 2009 11:02 am

Thanks for the tip, Tom. Also, your steels are beautiful.

David Venzke · Post by **David Venzke** » 14 Nov 2009 6:49 pm

Check out this thread:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=134200

Jonathan Lam · Post by **Jonathan Lam** » 15 Nov 2009 2:04 pm

There it is, I used the search but couldnt come up with enough satisfying results. Thank you.

Danny James · Post by **Danny James** » 16 Nov 2009 4:39 am

Johhathon,

There were 5 pages in all on that search. Did you look at all of them? Or were you looking for something specifically that you hoped to find and was not there?

Best of luck in your endeavors.

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 16 Nov 2009 7:34 am

Thanks Jonathan, I enjoy building them

A couple other simple things that I find to be helpful in both the design and building phase is see through / clear rulers and protractors.
See through makes it easier for me to accurately see that I'm on the line, find edges, centers, and layout right angles.
Good lighting is also a must and I use a magnifying visor a lot too.
It may sound like mundane simple stuff, but if you don't start strait, you will not finish strait.
And again I would just say, draw it out first. Make a centerline, nut, then bridge, everything else references off these 3 landmarks.

For example, here is my Cruiser concept drawing.

.

Thiel Hatt · Post by **Thiel Hatt** » 26 Dec 2009 9:40 pm

Here's part of my hand made inventory. It has served me well and I have enjoyed playing it on the band-stand. Tunings are A6th,E13th and C6th.I made it about 11 years ago .

[img

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix0 ... 0370_1.jpg[/img]

Stan Schober · Post by **Stan Schober** » 26 Dec 2009 10:03 pm

That T-9 is really nice, Thiel.

Robbie Daniels · Post by **Robbie Daniels** » 27 Dec 2009 10:15 am

This is my effort. A S12 and I really like the tone and the ease of playing it.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 27 Dec 2009 4:55 pm

You folks have built some great looking instruments

Dickey Allen · Post by **Dickey Allen** » 1 Jan 2010 10:22 am

I HAD NO IDEA TO BUILD A STEEL, AND NEVER WORKED WITH WOOD BEFORE. WITH A LITTLE IMAGINATION YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU COULD END UP WITH.YOU GUYS HAVE SOME GREAT STUFF.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 1 Jan 2010 10:39 am

robbie...that's a sharp bridge/tailpiece. did you design that?

Robbie Daniels · Post by **Robbie Daniels** » 2 Jan 2010 10:33 am

Chris- yes, the tailpiece was made from scratch. I and a friend of mine have a machine shop where we can pretty well make most anything we need, with exception of pickups and tuning keys, etc.

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Building my own steel...(Show me yours!)

Building my own steel...(Show me yours!)

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