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what are some cheap alternate go bar deck rod materials. can i use some wooden dowels? i previosly used bar-b-que sticks but now i need something more sturdy and longer like 2 feet. i am going to take the advice from a previous post and use a old desk for a gobar deck to glue the top and back on to the sides.

Ash sticks make good go bars.

Many people do use Dowels

Check out this place, Kama. I know lots of Luthiers use these rods. I do.
HereBlueSpirit38743.8019097222

thanks, what size dowel do you recommend?

I made mine out of scrap pine, 1/8 by 1/2 by whatever height your deck is
plus 1-1 1/2 inch. Works fine and can't get cheaper.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Kind of ironic. Seems like fiberglass would have been called alternative not long ago, but now wood is considered as such.burbank38743.8199074074

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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Living in a rural area and growing one's own food is now considered
alternative…

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I use what ever solid wood I can, but I go a bit larger, 1/4 max x 3/4 by whatever length required plus 1 inch. Right now I'm using ripped up maple hardwood flooring extras from a neighbour.

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I think the fiber glass rods are available at HW stores in long pieces that can be cut down. I believe they are used for making little flags to border lawns or gardens. You can get littles plastic caps for the ends/tips in the aisle that has wire shelving, a bag of many is only a buck or two. So, maybe at OSH or HD cruise the garden section and the section with the pre-fab shelves and such. I just bought mine pre-cut with the plastic tips from Blues Creek Guitars and they weren't very expensive. But it's always great to know how do DIY, and know the sources for stuff. If you search the archives you'll find lots of threads about go-bar decks, rods, and such. I've read that the fiber rods should be cut to a length so that when in place on the glued piece there is about 1" of deflection or bow.

CrowDuck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

I'm not sure what you consider "cheaper" but I've just finished my first (well second, the first was poorly designed) go-bar deck. As you can see in the photos, I'm using 3/16" fiberglass. Fiberglass works extremely well and to me, most importantly, gives very consistant results. Not only that, it really isn't expensive. The 4' rods are abotu $2 from Intothewind.com. add shipping and then cut them in half and I can't see where a buck and a quarter is expensive. Anyway, here is a pic of the end product that allows for clamps and multiple depths. The rods are 24" long. I built the deck around that.

I just got done making a bunch from pine, cherry, walnut, and maple to see which would work best, and IMHO the cherry and maple do best for applying greater force, but the walnut and pine are better if you`re concerned with possibly denting or smashing your work. 3/16" square is what I made mine. By the way, if you have the matrial on hand, 100 is a good supply of them. I figured this out when I was making my dry run on my newly made go-bar deck. Those things get used up quick.

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I made mine with pine. I just ripped up a 1x12 I believe they're about 1/4" square... give or take.

Maple
Gg

Hi Luigi, nice to see you're back safe from the mountains!

Serge

I use 1/4 in. fiberglass now - from a kite shop. Before I got these, I just cut up some ash strips. They worked great, but eventually developed a bit of a set in them. Nice thing is they are cheap and easily replacable.

-Mark

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The problem with wooden dowels is that the force imparted can vary a good bit from dowel to dowel of the same species. That is why I suggest fiberglass rods. I get mine at Home Depot by buying the 3/16 dia fiberglass driveway reflectors at $2 each One reflector renders two 22" go-bar rods that is $1 per rod. 3/16” fiberglass rods with a ?” or so bow at clamp up renders about 8 ft lbs force which is near Ideal for most clamping. And they will not suddenly crack on you like a hardwood dowel will.MichaelP38744.5979976852

Great tip--I'm heading to Home Depot tonight to buy some.

go to the wire closet organizer area to get the rubber end caps to put on the ends. You get 60-3/16 caps and 24-1/4" caps for $1.80