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I'm new to Litherie and I not only want to build guitars but I want to build them from the ground up, well at least to the extent that I'm capable. Obviously there's some things I wont be able to make like guitar strings, and If I had it my way I would make the AlNiCo slugs myself using sand casting like the old school fenders did back in the day. But I have no clue as to where I would get the elements to make them. But enough of that the real reason I'm posting this message is I'm making my first pickup and I want to make my own flat work. I was wondering just what materials can I use that are readily at my disposal?.

Can I used Fiberglass material?, because that's at my disposal right now. Oh and last but not least what's the dimensions of a basic flat work?.

Most flatwork is made of vulcanized fiberboard. Could you use fiberglass. Probably not. I think it would be to thick.

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Another day, another dollar.

I think putting together a foundry to make magnets might be a bit excessive, making flatwork shouldn't be a big deal. Fiberglass (polyester composite) would be fine. I think Shaw might be thinking of Plexiglass (acrylic) rather than polyester, as you can make a composite any thickness you want.

Pretty much any plastic material will work, if you can get it in the thickness you want. You could check out OnlineMetals.com (they sell plastic, too) or eBay. Acrylic will work, but it's annoying to drill. Acetal, ABS, Nylon, or PVC will work, too. Or you can 'go legit' and use vulcanized fiber- most lutherie suppliers sell it as 'black fiber' or black veneer.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I'm getting ready to wind my first pickups too. I'm planning on cutting the flatwork out of some cocobolo scraps I have. I've seen at least one pickup maker that uses all wood flatwork (and swears by the tone). I think the main thing is to make sure you're not using conductive material.

I'd like to see what making magnets would look like, and how much it would cost to do that. It's hard to find alnico magnets made in USA, and the only ones I know of are made by the military.

Dimensions for flatwork: What kind of pickup are you making? If you have a guitar with that type of pickup, remove it and take dimensions. Main things to consider are string spacing and making sure your holes are drilled right to fit your magnets nice and snug.

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Well I just plan to make a single coil pickup for now just until I am confident enough that I can start making humbuckers. And really metal casting isn't all the difficult, the hardest part is making the blast furnace and making the sand cast. I wouldn't be able to make AlNiCo slugs anyways because cobalt is a hazardous material that requires special handling procedures to handle. I wouldn't mind playing around with other magnetic metals just to see what kind of sound I can get out of them.

Has anybody taken a computer hard drive apart?
Those have amazingly strong magnets in them.
Hmmm, ya got me thinking!

I have many of times. Always do it when a drive craps out. The magnet are an odd shape and difficult to get of the bracket they are bonded to. They are also very powerful. I have a hard time prying two of these apart after they get stuck together...Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

Putting together a foundry to make some small parts is a bit excessive.

However, if you're interested take a look at this forum. It'll give you everything you need to know in order to build a small home foundry.

Alloyavenue.com

Also read EVERY word of this thread:

http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/showthrea ... orial-Book

before deciding if it's something you think you can tackle. That thread is just about everything you would need to know.

Lindsay publications have some great old books on home foundries and all types of metal working books.
http://www.lindsaybks.com/prod/index.html

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Another day, another dollar.