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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on May 4, 2015 at 2:17am

Didn't want to buy 6' of pipe, so I bought a 2" long copper coupling to experiment with. It looks clean and smooth, right? Now I can feel very tiny metal frags under the skin of my slide finger. Yuck! Now I'm using the same emery cloth I bought for smoothing glass to polish the cut ends of the copper pipe.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on May 16, 2015 at 3:52am

Managed to drop a bottle neck on a concrete floor while packing up after playing last night. Ugly shards of glass all over...

Reinforces my notion that I may use broken bottles for my own amusement (I really LIKE the sound.), but I'd hesitate to sell or give them to anyone--particularly youngsters.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on May 2, 2015 at 1:37am

Thanks for the tips and the lead Tom T. I guess I just like using a homemade slide on a homemade guitar! Ain't worth trashing my health for though. I think the underwater sanding sounds like a good idea.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 5, 2015 at 4:37am

It does not have to be submerged, just dripping wet. A drop of dish soap helps wet everything down.

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on May 4, 2015 at 2:49am

Diamond disc and water spray

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Permalink Reply by Scott McGilliard on May 5, 2015 at 5:17pm

I use Colavita balsamic vinegar bottles - the short fatter bottle with a longish neck - as the necks are straighter than wine bottles.  I score with a glass cutter and then pour boiling water over the score and dunk in a can of iced water.  2 to 3 times drops it off.  To take off the imperfections I use wet dry sandpaper dipping the slide in water often to keep it very wet.  I start with 60 to take out all imperfections until it's totally flat on both ends.  Then 220 and use that to round the edges, then 400 and then 600 to polish it off. Just a 3 or 4 inch square with a small board underneath (to protect the coffee table).  I usually do this as I talk with someone or while watching TV.  It takes 1 to 3 hours depending on how good the break is.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on May 6, 2015 at 4:45am

I'm glad you referenced the time required. (I've been treating 15 minutes as a l-o-n-g time to work on one.)

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on May 8, 2015 at 2:08pm

Maybe I can go snorkling while I sand!

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