A new basic tool

[enalnitram]

i have a marble chess set that i got at a yard sale for $5. it's great for a flat surface but I wish it were larger sometimes.

[DavisLee]

John, dimensions of the parallels you use (have tried to eyeball them from your videos)? Also, an affordable source for those of us who can't make our own?

[tippie53]

I use 2 sizes
for 000 and smaller bodies they are 5/8 in thick about 1 in wide 10 in long
for dred 3/4 thick 1 in wide also 10 in long

[phavriluk]

I bought my granite plate from Grizzly. I had the occasion to be passing by the Pennsylvania location on a trip from home to Wisconsin, so I stopped in. Lugged it home, along with a angle-iron base. No freight charges.

[DavisLee]

Thanks for the parallel dimensions. I have a granite surface plate but it's only 18" x 6" x 2", use it as a nice solid base for fretting. We used steel surface plates to build prototype cars on in the automobile business but I didn't think it was that critical for building a guitar, I mean as long as the table surface is reasonably flat...my main workbench is 3 1/2" maple and all the work tables are alder wood and when I lay my surface plate on them, don't notice any daylight between. Now, for making fudge, that would be a different story!

[David L]

I put sand paper on it and use my veritas tool to sharpen my chisels. I install flooring for a living and in one of the houses I was working in the granite counter tops were not what the customer ordered and had to be replaced. The old counter tops were basically trash so I scooped up on several pieces.

David Lewis

[tippie53]

try a headstone cutter in your area or a counter top fabricator . Heavy glass will also work if you can find it

[DavisLee]

Most of the sources I'm finding for pre-made parallels of the appropriate thicknesses have lengths of 6" or 12" and the 12" ones are very expensive, like $90 per pair. Anything you'd recommend instead of steel machinist parallels?

[tippie53]

planer blades make great parallels

[DavisLee]

Sorry, I'm not following...do you mean taking two planes of the same type and laying them on their sides like in this photo? Wouldn't the "blades" themselves be too thin?