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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 14, 2014 at 2:07pm

I looked at a chart online. 16 gauge steel is only 0.05 to 0.06 inches thick...like sheet metal for making heating duct work. That thickness may be okay for tailpieces, like the ones Ben sells. For hard tail bridges, etc, I think you're looking at a 1/8" stock which is 8 gauge.

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Myers on January 14, 2014 at 2:59pm

Hi Dan,

16 gauge steel is less than 1/16" thick at .0598" and 14 gauge is .0747" thick. I built my own brake that I bend lots of 20 gauge and some 16 gauge on. You can find some smaller width brakes that will bend thicker material at narrower widths too. Check woodwardfab.com or lowbucktools.com. Let me know if I can help with anything.

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on January 14, 2014 at 11:37pm

Hi Dan,Have a look at this thread - was going to give this a go myself to make exactly the same things.

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=1403546

However it might be quite difficult to bend sheet metal thick enough for these applications.

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Permalink Reply by t-belly johnson on January 15, 2014 at 12:04am

Or you could go down to B&Q or Homebase and buy metre lengths to suit your needs ;)

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on January 15, 2014 at 12:15am

Thanks. I was afraid that would be the case. It seemed pretty thick, but I guess 16 is not really that thick after all. I suppose the best answer is to look for the angle stock as suggested.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on January 15, 2014 at 1:00am

This is made from .032" brass sheet

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Permalink Reply by Chris Carlson on January 15, 2014 at 3:54am

I've been buying 1/8" aluminum angle at a local source and you can get it with unequal leg dimensions like 3/4" x 1-1/2". Then just buff it out with Never Dull and looks just like chrome!

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on January 15, 2014 at 11:05am

I was looking at a hardtail, but, alas no 3-stringers available.  I have a break that was my father's.  I'll have to see what it will bend.  1/8" seems a bit heavy, what have others made hard tails out of?

 

John

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Permalink Reply by Marcus Darwell on January 15, 2014 at 11:11am

I used the same aluminum angle material that Chris mentioned on my 4 string bass. Works great and the git is holding tune for weeks now.....really easy to work withh too....and cheap...and available at any hardware store...

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on January 15, 2014 at 11:15am

So I assume that this is non-adjustable.  I was thinking about buying a cheap hardtail and moving the adjustment pieces to the 3 string...  Just ordered a couple cheapies ($10) on fleabay to try it. Thanks!

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