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 Post subject: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:17 pm 
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Koa
Koa
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Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:53 am
Posts: 1584
Location: PA, United States
What are your building/educational/aquisition goals for this next year? Here's a few of mine~

EDUCATIONAL: keep learning/teaching! Teaching one student currently. Visit other luthiers and shows

TOOLS/MACHINERY: upgrade table and band saws. Utilize my new Grizzly shaper, & 15" planer

JIGS/FIXTURES: still a few to make ;)

PROCESSES: Probably switch to polyester cat finish after I use up the nitro.
Improve hand skills (bending with a bending iron, engraving pearl, inlaying wood and other media, etc).
Make more stuff from scratch (necks, kerfed lining, binding & purfs, etc.
Reduce guitarmaking steps

GUITAR IMPROVEMENTS/OPTIONS: use soundport, double top, double mortice & tenon neck joints, cf rod reinforcement, fluted end wedge upgrade, fit and finish excellence. Settle on bridge design(s). Carved heels, other top secret stuff I can't reveal yet :)

MISSION: To consistently improve my knowledge, skills, and processes. Acquire all the tools, supplies and information necessary to make great sounding, playing and looking guitars. ENJOY all the above, while keeping other priorites in order

There's a few things that get me cranked up! What does it for you?


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:51 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 7:58 pm
Posts: 2946
Location: United States
Terry Stowell wrote:
What are your building/educational/aquisition goals for this next year? Here's a few of mine~


Terr! Was that 2008 or.. 2080? :D

Sounds ambitious! Best wishes in your endeavors!

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:34 am 
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Koa
Koa
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Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:47 am
Posts: 781
Location: Wauwatosa, WI, USA
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=14955&hilit=goals


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:01 am 
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Walnut
Walnut

Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:01 am
Posts: 32
Location: Minnesota
I'll play [:Y:]

My goals are to increase my repair business.
Larger shop.
Start "building" more.
Acquire a thickness sander!! (so i can build more!)
and generally be "too busy" !!

I do this full time but would like it to BE full time!!

Good luck to everyone with your goals.

-Rick
RjC Guitar Service & Repair


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:37 pm 
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Contributing Member
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Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:05 am
Posts: 9191
Location: United States
First name: Waddy
Last Name: Thomson
City: Charlotte
State: NC
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
Finish one, start two and three.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:48 pm 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:47 pm
Posts: 153
Location: United States
First name: Vincent
Last Name: Simokovich
City: Parma
State: OH
Zip/Postal Code: 44134
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Finish the first one and start the second one. Hope I get enough shop time in.

Vince


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:22 pm 
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Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 1:20 pm
Posts: 5915
Location: United States
Environmental. Stop the basement sprawl and actually build a REAL shop with real storage facilities and everything -- drawers even.

Get my dust collection under control. The ClearVue is in country, now I just need to place my tools and hook it up.

I also want to build one of those massive air cleaners like Mario just tackled.


Tools A wide belt sander is tops, a 20" Disc sander is in the hunt, a 5hp shaper, and a small CNC machine that I can use for some inlay work, fingerboards, and making some tools.

Additionally I am working on coming up with a new series of tools to increase my operational efficiency. Nothing earth shattering, just simple tools that will take a 30 minute job to 5 minutes with virtually no room for error. As the theory goes this will help me turn out more guitars per year and will hopefully "pay for itself" (yeah right).


Education I really want to sharpen the "core" skills of fretting and set up. While I can do it, I am humbled by some of the repair folks. I would love to do set ups and fret work as well as they do.


Other. Get my marketing more together. I have lots of ideas, I need to pull them into a real plan and start doing this end of things in earnest.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:49 pm 
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Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:09 pm
Posts: 44
Location: San Diego
OLF: Post more and stop lurking so much. :idea:

Workshop:
1. Contain the entropy.
2. Get rid of the old dining table on casters that creaks and shifts when I sand, vibrates when I route, and laughs mockingly when I cry. Replace it with something more functional and height appropriate. (I loved the recent thread on workbenches.)
3. Improve my lighting (I only have one outlet!)...
4. Improve my implementation of dust collection...
5. Did I mention I need to organize?

Tools: Learn to use the ones I have and get rid of the ones that are in the way. Stop acquiring things before I need them.

Jigs: I'd like to make a voicing jig with destaco clamps to simulate the rims glued onto the top. Bridge profiling jig next, saddle slot sled after that, bridge vacuum clamp following that...(I may break down and buy that though.)

Guitars: Figure out how to fix the binding channel issue I've encountered on #1. (It may be easier to just continue with #2 and pretend that #1 never occurred, but I'm stubborn.)

Education: Keep soaking up as much information as possible on the OLF and through the internet, but steer more towards actually doing to translate the theoretical to practical /experiential (is that a word?) knowledge.

Darren


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:32 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:46 am
Posts: 2227
Location: Canada
Darren, I feel you man! Ha!

I'd just like to spend more time in the shop! Period! I hope to put one together that has all the positive elements of the previous builds, (sorry Howard), and none of the bad. Hopefully this instrument will prove as close to perfect in fit and finish as I like imagining them in my mind's eye...

For the shop, a bandsaw is probably the only thing missing. Possibly a jointer, if money permits it...

Rick, you'll never regret a thickness sander. I use it on everything now. Every piece, little or large gets passed through there just to clean it up before I mark and start cutting. It's surprising sometimes how much I have to take off just to get a piece perfectly straight! My 25'' beast is without a doubt the best piece of machinery I own.

I'd also like to play a bit more as well.

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:35 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 7:58 pm
Posts: 2946
Location: United States
Quote:
Get rid of the old dining table on casters that creaks and shifts when I sand, vibrates when I route, and laughs mockingly when I cry.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I always wondered what that noise was during my convulsive lamentations!
Dining tables are mean! :D :lol: :lol: :lol:

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:56 am 
Alain Desforges wrote:
Darren, I feel you man! Ha!


Rick, you'll never regret a thickness sander. I use it on everything now. Every piece, little or large gets passed through there just to clean it up before I mark and start cutting. It's surprising sometimes how much I have to take off just to get a piece perfectly straight! My 25'' beast is without a doubt the best piece of machinery I own.

I'd also like to play a bit more as well.


Yeah, I know that is a VERY valuable tool, that's why they charge soooo much for them compared to the other tools !!!! I thought about building my own but sure would be easier just to buy one!!!.....someday!

I agree with you on "playing more" ( if it's in a band that you are talking about) this is a tough year for our band with the economy and the new "no smoking" in this state. ALL bands up here are suffering. We just had 3 gigs cancel yesterday.....not good.


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 Post subject: Re: 2008 goals
PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:36 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:48 am
Posts: 2094
I have one special commission I want to fulfil this year, and a "critique" guitar I want to build for some semi-pro guitarists who are willing to try that guitar out for a few weeks, and let me know what their thoughts are with regards to playability, comfort, etc.

I have to finish my current myrtle/englemann build first....


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