The British Steelies Society

Hi, Here's my profile - I am 75, retired and a bit of a tecchie. I play mainly Chromatic Harmonica and my guitar playing is lessening due to arthritis. I have just bought an entry level lap steel and intend to use a C6 tuning (CEGACE). Even before starting to learn, I have designed and am currently developing/testing a 3D printed palm lever set to bring the A up a semitone to give a C7 chord and the other lever is, as yet, unassigned, but I would like it to be able to give me a diminished chord.

Welcome Rob,
given your tech abilities and your well earned 'experience' (that is, of course, a euphemism) you'll find you are among friends/equals/fellow tinkerers on this forum. That sounds like an interesting project your working on, I never would have thought a 3D printed object would be strong enough to take that pressure! Although I don't belong to the technically inclined amongst us.
Chromatic Harmonica! There's an instrument we don't hear enough of. A lap steel, harmonica duet would go down a storm, in these here parts.
Good luck with the journey

' I never would have thought a 3D printed object would be strong enough to take that pressure!' - Well that is what I am about to find out The prototype was screwed onto the lappie this evening and I am pleased with the performance so far. I have some changes to make, the levers are wrong and it isn't easy to tune, but that is not too bad for a first go. I would post a picture, but being new to the forum, I haven't worked out how to do that (or maybe I have to have a few more posts before I get the privilege).
Anyway, here's a dropbox link to a low res pic of the thing - https://www.dropbox.com/s/s1b4uyi29ixc2 ... 9.jpg?dl=0.

Incredible! I doff my cap to your ingenuity. Whodathunkit

cropwell wrote:' I would post a picture, but being new to the forum, I haven't worked out how to do that (or maybe I have to have a few more posts before I get the privilege).

See Resizing and Attaching Pictures to Posts

Hi Rob and welcome. One problem you may face with the mechanism you've made is friction. If I see it right, the string rubs on the underside of the saddle (beneath the machine screw) and also over the string rest. You can get roller saddles to avoid the second problem but you would have to lower the positioning of the lever crank to have a straight pull to the string rest, if that's possible. There will be friction at the nut too (the string stretches all the way from the peg to the ball-end) which may be bettered by using something like a graphite insert for the affected strings. However, it may not be too bad at the nut because of the relatively small movement over it, so just be aware of that when you do you're final troubleshooting. The string is pulled over the nut when stretched and friction can stop it from returning all the way (hysteresis) resulting in it coming back sharp.
Actually individual bridge saddles are quite unnecessary on a steel guitar, as intonation should not be a issue, and a plain piece of angle (brass, aluminium etc.) transmits the vibrations better anyway. Such a piece of angle could have small rollers inserted for the appropriate strings, ball ends from old strings can work. If you have the tools to groove along the top of the angle and "comb" the places where the strings go over (you could use rollers for every string - that would be easier to make) the rollers could sit on a steel rod.
When I made "B-benders" for Telecasters I had to make the roller in the saddle (no retail ones in those days) and also used a roller nut, because of the friction/hysteresis factor.
I look forward to your next update on progress; cheers, Tony.

Hi Tony.

The photo was not very clear. I agree, the bridge is not the best for the job and I am already thinking about a roller bridge. The next small mod may be to put in a locking nut, to stop string movement at that end. At the bridge end the string goes over a roller bearing, which is strategically positioned at a height to clear the string anchor hole. This incarnation of the device was to test string pull distances and the lever height and tuning of the bent string - moderately successful, but changes needed. The design is based on the fact that on the instrument I have, there is not enough land south of the bridge to build on the flat.

The base guitar I bought from Thomann is less than £100 (£57+VAT+8£ delivery - but it was OOS so I went for the one with legs for £79+ for a quicker delivery), so it is really only a test bed. As far as intonation is concerned, I saw a Youtube vid about adjusting the bridge I have, and I was skeptical.

All the non-printed parts are basically 3D printer bits anyway. the grooved roller bearings are cheap as chips from China. the 4mm and 8mm ground steel rod is easily available and the collars are RC car components.

Thanks for your comments. I am new to Steelies, so I appreciate the help. I fully intend to make myself a decent guitar when I have a bit more knowledge and experience.

Cheers, Rob

A locking nut should work just fine - I see you're well on top of the mechanics of the job; I'll stay tuned and look forward to your next episode. Cheers,

HI Rob, at last I may be able to help somebody!
To upload a picture I found that if you click on the FULL editor, and then scroll down it gives you the option of 'Upload attachment' then just 'choose file' the same as any other website! hope this helps. By the way, as a new member myself, I can say these guys are fantastically helpful!!!!
Gerry