Guitar Repair Magnet Kit Video
V-4640
Dan Erlewine uses magnets in his guitar repairs. He's got LOTS of ways to use them...
Video Transcription
[on screen images show magnets being used in 4 different ways]
Dan Erlewine: [on screen text reads: Dan Erlewine - Stewart-MacDonald] In my shop, I probably use Repair Magnets more than any other tool. Here are some of the ways I use them every day.
Magnets assist with making a Nut or doing a setup
If I'm making a nut, it's going to be my saws and my string space and rule and my nut files. If I'm doing a setup, it'll be my radius gauges, my action gauge, maybe a screwdriver and some bits.
Magnets can hold a cup of water, stain or solvent in place
If I put a magnet in a plastic mixing cup, it holds water and stain and solvent, so I can concentrate on my work without tipping over the bucket.
Magnets can help sharpen a chisel
Here are the magnets helping me sharpen this chisel, by holding the bevel flat on this diamond stone, and I can give it a few strokes for a quick sharpen. I used these magnets for years before Al Rourke came up with this brass handle. These are great because it used to be really hard to pry these things apart [Dan holds two magnets in his hands and pulls them apart using the handles attached to the magnets]. Now I can.
Using two magnets, I can put sandpaper on one magnet, reach in through the sound hole and place it and have the second magnet on the outside. And I can see it in there without having my arm through the sound hole, and I can see what I'm doing.
Magnets can assist with gluing a piece of wood inside of the guitar
Let's say you want to glue a piece of wood inside of the guitar to reinforce a crack and you want it to be neat and clean. I'll do that with two blocks of wood. There's a magnet inlaid in each end, and it's faced with Teflon so they slide. This will locate that piece of wood and it will be the clamp. Here is one magnetic cull on the inside and one on the outside. That gives me an index point when I reach through the sound hole with my brace, wet with glue. I'm going to feel it. I'm going to press it home.
Magnets can help you with making a pickup
When you make a pickup, you have to charge the pole pieces for the first time. I'll do that here with my nut and saddle vice and double magnets stuck to each jaw, one north one south. And I'm going to run through that. I've got Teflon taped to it, so that if it jumps onto the magnets, one pole piece won't get charged more than another. And there's a strong pull.
So my list of things you can do with magnets is as long as your arm. For example, I can-
Speaker 2: Dan.
Dan Erlewine: ... take magnets and take this little spool clamp.
Speaker 2: Okay, Dan, I think you've covered it.
Dan Erlewine: Attach it to the bottom or put it on the end of a long probe.
