| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
 Posted - 09/06/2007 : 11:50:03 AM
|
Is anyone aware of a Plek machine near Chicago? If not, where would the closed one be from chicago?
Thanks
|
Bob |
|
|
Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 03:26:47 AM
|
Bob, there used to be 11 Pleks in the US. One is (or was) in N'ville and one is (or was) in LA at FretTek.com However, Plek's German site is down and their directory of current installations is unavailable. Google doesn't return much except old reviews.
...Reid |
 |
|
|
RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 04:45:11 AM
|
| Reid: Yes, I also did a google search and came up empty. Do you recall the name of the shop in Nashville? |
Bob |
|
|
|
Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
|
|
wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 05:28:36 AM
|
| Gotta love those CNC machines. Calibration is of utmost importance, though. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
|
|
|
RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 08:28:44 AM
|
Wanda
14 yrs as a tool/gage maker and now 15yrs as a tooling/gage/ machinery designer (3D cad). I have done work at +/- 20 millionths (X-Tolerance). I bet we know some of the same things from machine-tool and metrology.
You'd best be accurate when you talk on these subjects, now! hahaha :)
I am kidding you... |
Bob |
|
|
|
wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 11:23:26 AM
|
At the local joint around here that makes turbine blades (titanium -- one grain of metal per blade, how is that for controlling the cooliing rate, yeah?), the contour gets measured with an optical devise that measures x amount of wavelength of light.
I thought here at my jet engine part manufacturer that +/- .0002 was strict. They do a lot of electrodischarge machining, both wire EDM and conforming electrodes, and electrochemical grinding. Nice to have no burrs on a part. I hate burrs. Paul and I took a trip to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI (Henry Ford). They have a turn of the century machine shop there, with all the machines belt driven powered by a steam engine drive shaft. We got to make little candlesticks out of brass on a steam powered engine lathe. (I've got the pictures to prove it). How fun that was, but, me being the queen of no burrs, I left burrs all over the part.
On dress unforms for military, tolerance is only +/- .012, and my contractor making those is a hanicapped workshop, with one lady who is blind sewing on a commercial power sewing machine. It is amazing. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
|
|
|
Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 11:36:36 AM
|
Jeeez!,
But how come those jean's I buy are sized in 2 inch increments?
(Never CAN get them to fit right)
2/0.012 = 167, so those dress uniforms are 166 times more precise?
(Boy that soldier better not put on any weight before the parade!)
|
Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
|
|
|
wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 12:24:07 PM
|
They are sized in two inch increments for the waist for differentiating sizes, but the accuracy still has to be within an eighth of an inch...you see, I cannot type so well. I made a boo-boo. It is only .120 not .012. I think my brain thinks faster than I can type (accurately).
Normal change in sizes is 2 inches for waist and 1 1/2 for hip for men's slacks.
Normal change in sizes for women (military by mil-spec) is 1 inch for waist for all sizes, whether misses, womens or juniors. The difference in those designations is by the hip measurement 1" for juniors, 1 1'2" for misses and 2" for womens. They figure you get a bigger okole, I guess. Women's sizes, though, are stupid. They pick arbitrary designations that mean nothing, i.e., 6, 8, 10, 12, etc. for misses and womens and 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, etc. for juniors. Those numbers mean nothing and their is no standardization amongst manufacturers; however, there is an anthropomography organization that studies changes in human bodies and makes recommendations for changes in measurements, purely voluntary. At least mil specs standardize measurements regardless of which branch of the military. The only differences are Marine Corps men's dress jacket -- the neck is really 2" tighter than it should be so that stand up band around the neck will choke the guys if they do not stand straight and tall with their head up. For men's unforms, also, where the arms hit when you wear the jacket differ by the branch of the service. Army they should hit with your arms down to your side with the little finger barely brushing your thighs. Air Force, it should hit the side middle of your leg and Marine Corps, thumbs should touch the back of the hips.
Military uniform lesson of the day. And don't get me started on Army reg AR 672-1.
PS: JC Penney.com, you can order custom made jeans and khaki's for a very reasonable price. You just give your measurements and tell them if you like a loose fit, where you want the waist to hit and they make em for you and store your measurements for reordering. It is a swell deal. (No I do not have stock in JC Penney.) |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 09/07/2007 12:25:53 PM |
|
|
|
Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 6:41:21 PM
|
| My uniforms never fit after they went through the ship's laundry -- they wern't white anymore neither. Ever been standing at attention in the bright sun, on a steel deck, in a sea full of white uniforms, and no sunglasses? My eyes STILL hurt. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
|
|
|
noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2007 : 9:06:29 PM
|
| Wat the pluk is a plek? |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
|
|
|
RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2007 : 02:47:19 AM
|
noeau:
A Plek is a machine that perfectly grinds frets on a guitar using data that someone figured out. It is a Computer Numericaly Controlled machine (CNC). The result is the lowest possible action and it costs approx 130.00. They originated in Germany but are scattered about the USA and have been becoming more popular. I am trying to find the closest one. |
Bob |
|
|
|
Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2007 : 03:25:06 AM
|
The CNC grinder is driven by a computer that has both an extensive database of measured string and guitar "characteristics" and by equations that describe actual string vibration excursions. You feed it info like string brand, material, gauge, scale length, fretboard radius, fret gauge, etc. Then it goes to work grinding. Each fret will be ground individually and, if you laid a straight edge down the frets, in certain places, it would seem as if the frets were not level - they aren't.
I had a custom classical's frets ground by Joe Glaser, as part of the build process, because I wanted an action similar to my steel string guitars. And I got it, with no buzzes, ever. The luthier, who is not a shrinking violet (and most luthiers are very proud of their ability to do a fret set), said that the machine did a fret set better than he ever could. Players used to the standard high action classical couldn't deal with it, and when I sold it, the guy raised the action with a much higher saddle - even though the guitar was a cannon and didn't need the extra loudness a higher saddle provide: it was all to make his stroke work.
...Reid |
|
|
|
RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2007 : 2:11:36 PM
|
If anyone in the Mid-west is interested, I found one!
http://musicgalleryinc.com/events.htm
A new Plek machnine is arriving soon at this store in Highland Park, just North of Chicago. The techs have been sent to the Plek sore in Nashville for training and are excited about it. The macnine is due to be running the end of this month (Sept/07).
I told them I wanted to be on the short list of appointments.
Wow, now I do not have to truck my precious guitar across country. |
Bob |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Topic Locked
