If You're Going to Build a Guitar on Your Kitchen Table …
Sacrificial Work Surface
… you don't want to ruin the table !!!
The big brown rectangle is a piece of 3/16" Masonite. This makes a very inexpensive sacrificial top. I just wiped it down with linseed oil to make it purty again; a light sanding once in a while doesn't hurt either. And when it gets too grody, throw it out and get another. It's like a giant placemat. Here, I have a placemat on top of a placemat. What does that say about me? Probably nothing very good.
In addition to my alternative marker dots, I'm also looking for 'non-luthier' alternatives to side markers, and here is one. These are bits of 3/32" brass rod, set in a piece of scrap maple as a test. Foot-long lengths of 3/32" and 1/16" rod are available from hobby shops for around a buck; they are used by model builders. I pre-drilled the holes, tapped the rod in like a nail, and cut it off slightly proud. Working the brass is just like dressing fret ends, in fact, you could do it at the same time. I also found some aluminum rods on eBay. At the size of a dot, aluminum should come out looking just like pearl. This is like Danelectro used to do back in the '60s. Steel would be much harder to work, and also prone to corrosion, so I wouldn't use ordinary nails, but small brass ones would work. Always pre-drill hardwoods. I pushed in a dimple with a pointed scribe, then deepened it with a spring punch before drilling. Chuck the drill bit so just a 1/4" protrudes. That will keep it from flexing, which can be a problem at these sizes.
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