Guitar Rotisserie for Varnish Work

[Simon Fay]

This posting is both an explanation of my rotisserie setup as well as "For Sale" notice of my rotisserie as well. It's an exceptional setup but fairly expensive - if no one here wants it, then I'm just going to break it down for parts and sell on eBay. However, it would be a tremendous shame to see this broken down rather than go to another builder that could use it.

Actual cost in materials was just over $400. I'll sell it for $200 - you'll have to deal with shipping tho'.

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Regarding Oil Varnish
In my opinion, a rotisserie is absolutely necessary for oil varnish work and it really does allow you to lay on the coats and never worry about a single drip -- since the finish lays down perfectly. The challenge I found with the oil varnish is mostly related to drying over very oily woods (and I use Cocobolo about 75% of the time). It is also very easy to sand through coats at the very end and have a witness line. There are ways to get around these issues but they are time consuming in comparison to spraying nitro or urethane. Ultimately, while I love the oil varnish, I just found it to be taking too much of my time. I'm absurdly perfectionist when it comes to my work and unless my guitars are absolutely flawless, I have a hard time leaving things as is.

I think for the occasional builder or new builder, oil varnish is the best finish you can do with relatively low initial startup cost. If done correctly, it is an astoundingly nice finish for guitars!!!

If anyone would like to contact me about some tips with working wiith oil varnish - feel free to do so; however, check out Bruce Sexauer's schedule as a lot of what I do overlaps with Bruce's method.

[Simon Fay]

My Rotisserie Design

[Simon Fay]

Notes on the Design
I constructed the box out of MDF. I wanted it to be heavy to ensure it would never tip over while spinning my guitars. I also finished it with an oil based polyurethane (Home Depot brand). It takes quite a few coats before MDF stops soaking in finish but once it does, it leaves a nice finish. I wanted the box to be easy to clean and wipe down since the oil varnish stays wet for so long and the VFD creates a small air current -- dust is your enemy with an oil varnish finish.

The gearmotor is a sealed/washable 3 phase motor driven by a VFD. The VFD is great as it allows you to dial in the RPM. I believe my gearmotor was a 50 to 60 RPM motor and the VFD let's me set the RPM from pretty much 0 to 100% of the nameplate RPM.

One of my primary goals with the rotisserie setup was to allow easy varnish application for two parts a time. I built paint sticks (guitar holders) from 1.25" diameter dowels and with my setup, I can easily insert/remove my bodies/necks. I added a threaded bolt and plastic knob so that my paint sticks are held firmly against the hollow aluminum tube. I think the photos will make better sense of this description.

I wasn't able to find an 1.5" diameter (1.25" inside diameter) aluminum pipe with an exact size match for my flange bearings. This is the one component of this design that can be challenging to acquire. You could go for a sloppy fit between the aluminum tube and bearings but I wanted a solid fit. I have a local machinist that helps me out on a number projects and he lathe turned the tube to an exact 1.5" diameter which allowed a nice sliding fit with the flange bearings. Aside from this one component, everything else is easily purchased from Amazon, Zoro, or eBay.

This setup is incredibly stable and smooth. You can quickly apply the varnish and then insert into the rotisserie and be off in spinning within a few seconds.

[Simon Fay]

Here is a breakdown for anyone that wants to replicate my setup.

1.5" Bore Flange Pillow Block Bearings - ($28 from Amazon)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

TB Wood's QD Bushing - $7
ZORO #: G1120296

TB Wood's V-Belt Pulley - $21
ZORO #: G1809586

TB Wood's V-Belt Pulley - $14
ZORO #: G2469275

Hand Knob - $2
ZORO #: G1733347

3Phase, 60 RPM Gearmotor - $60 from eBay

VFD - $140 from Wolf Automation

MDF, Screws, Paint - $40 from Home Depot

I bought the 1.5" diameter aluminum tube from eBay for around $30 - I did however, need a machinist to accurately size the diameter to fit the flange bearings, which cost me an additional $50.

There are a lot of different attachment methods you could use but I like the ease of just inserting the entire guitar holder into a tube and locking it down. Also, lot's of different ways you can work the motor. I chose a 3phase gear motor with about 60RPM and controlled it with a VFD. It's the ideal way to do it but there are other more affordable methods that also work.

[Nahil.R]

Very kind of you to share your setup

I love the camaraderie in the luthier community!