As guitar repairman Dan Erlewine has discovered, "magnets are tools and they have lots of uses!" Repair shops are constantly finding inventive new ways to use them.
For example, magnets can be attached to (or inlaid in) clamping cauls for easy alignment with steel clamp jaws—a great help when aligning patches for repairing cracks, or when regluing a bridge.
An exterior magnet will move a second magnet inside a guitar where your arm can't reach: wrap the inner one in a damp cloth to clean glue squeeze-out, or attach self-adhesive sandpaper to remove dried glue.
This versatile little kit contains two 1/2" (12.70mm) and two 1" (25.40mm) round nickel-plated magnets. Each is 1/8" (3.18mm) thick, with a center mounting hole that's countersunk on both sides for handy attachment to clamping cauls.
Also included are two Magnet Handles that make picking up, positioning and separating these powerful magnets a whole lot easier. Based on an idea by Al Rorick in our R&D shop, they're made of knurled brass, 1-3/16" long, with attachment screw. Each handle holds one or two magnets, as needed.
Here's a tip: Always use protective paper on the outside of a guitar when sliding a magnet over it.
Warning: These are seriously strong magnets, made of rare earth neodymium boride. The Guinness Book of Records lists this as the world's most magnetic substance, ten times stronger than the ceramic magnets used in modern loudspeakers. These magnets can degauss, magnetize or repolarize any ferrous or magnetic material, including guitar pickups! Keep them away from magnetic storage media such as computer discs, audio and videotapes, as well as pacemakers, computers, CRTs, TVs and watches.
KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. If magnets are swallowed, they can attach to each other and cause internal injury.
How would you reach inside a guitar to do this gluing? In this issue:
Dan Erlewine's got a puzzle on his hands: this guitar's center strip fell out along with the braces. These parts are meant to be glued BEFORE the guitar is assembled. How do you reach inside to do this on a completed guitar? Read more... Subscribe now
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