Official Luthiers Forum!

Filippo your son looks like he is having a great time and laser focused on what he is doing - very cool!

As for my shop - what's on my bench - nothing....... I just cleaned up after completing two projects this weekend. My rebuilt speakers, Ohm L's from 1979 are working great and I now have tunes - big time.

I am still moving things around trying to make it more convenient for the things that we do.

Here is a look:





My bro JJ made me this cherry plaque for my Aberon and I got it finished with Danish oil this weekend. Thanks again JJ - it's exactly what I wanted!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Currently waiting to get some time (and weather) to spray a bunch of guitars - I've got two acoustics and one electric ready for spray, two other electrics needing a bit more pore filling and sanding, one I need to finish sand, inlay, pore-fill and stain, and another that needs a bit of final shaping/sanding before I oil it.

And yet here I am, on call at the hospital (where it is eerily quiet today, knock-wood), and given I've got a bunch more evening and night shifts before my 5-days-off compensation in three weeks, I doubt I'll get much done before then...

Filippo - That's very cool that your son is doing that.

Hesh - Heh, now that you are done with your Ohm's, want to redo the cone seals on my 1976 Advent 1's?
They disintegrated about 10 years ago. I've never been quite sure what to do to fix them or get them fixed.
The cones and magnets still work fine as far as I can tell.

What's in the shop? Well - full disclosure - I've been consorting with others on one of the organized beginner's build projects over at Mario DaCosta's digs. We have been building modified dr%$ds. As is usual, I can't do just one at a time. My first one is pretty conventional - lutz top, English sycamore back and sides, koa trim. Neck is laminated maple with koa accents, koa headplate, fretboard and bridge will be ebony. Here is the top, just completed today. After two years of nothing but classical guitars, it seems so beefy!



Number 2 is really local stuff - padauk back and sides from Woodcraft, a WRC top from the local lumberyard - no kidding - grain count on this top is over 60, and it is stiff. Laminated maple neck with padauk accents, padauk headplate, maple bindings.

I'm planning on doing a double X on this one - here is one possible layout. Comments welcome.



Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Hesh, you have got that place looking real homie and cozy, I'll bet its hard to tear yourself away from your shop, congrats on the shop............................Red

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We Bend the Wood, So You Can Bend the Strings

I finished my Fox style bender and have made 000, jumbo, cutaway and non cutaway bending forms and a Dread bending form and building mold. I cleaned up the shavings and sawdust and am ready to do a test bend tomorrow. I bought a bunch of cheap unmatched EIR sides (10) last year to use for practice bends and peg head overlays. I used one for a practice cutaway bend on a hot pipe last year before bending my small jumbo cutaway, so have lots left to practice with. Hopefully it will go as well as most of the other luthier activities have gone for me so far.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Man, I would love to get my 15 year old interested. But alas it's his xBox, computer, or skateboard.

Only had a couple of hours this weekend to work on the guitar, but I got my x-bracing and bass bars on the OM:


Hesh, I have tunes too!!


Much of my time has been spent getting my garage/shop dialed in with more outlets, dust collection, and air filtration. Getting it all setup now just in time for temps in the teens. Wish it were heated, but that is why most of the construction happens in the basement:


Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

This is one heel cap and finish sanding from being ready for finishing. Bearclaw Spruce, Myrtle, Cocobolo with EVO frets. Filippo, cheers for you and your son!

Everyone has been so busy, very impressive.

Had a local builder and his assistant over for a shop visit Saturday afternoon. He was rocketed to some fame after the local paper ran an article on him last Spring. He was just starting to take orders, and after the article appeared he was deluged. The article got picked up by some of the news article compiling web sites, so he was all over Google. Great break for him. Quite a talented young builder.

A local musician came by with his old Taylor to get new tuners and a setup.

Got some audio files on my web site, played and recorded by a musician friend, using his Zoom H2 which I'd asked about in a previous thread. Got one coming in the mail. Have a listen, if you like, at

http://www.patfosterguitars.com/soundclips/soundclips.html

I'm not a big fan of audio over the web played into cheapo computer speakers, but people have been asking for them, so I went for it. The wav ones sound much better than the mp3s.

Also, got this little guy closed up. At long last. A good weekend of connections and productivity!

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Second try at posting. Argh! I hate when that happens.

Finished both dishes. Included pics of the router gantry (and shaping rails courtasy the long compass). As you can tell, my new go-bar deck needs top bracing... should have anticipated that! I cut the back braces from Sitka wedges that Shane sent to me. That is a really satisfying effort... taking a rough wedge of wood, and tuning it into a finished product! The Harp back is setting up nicely. Carve & shape braces tomorrow.

Note the angled bracing pattern. Also, note the (in my opinion) excessive bracing (one more than I would have thought). But, I decided to err on the side of the plans.

All in all, a good weekend.

Mike

Ken, for some reason I can't get your pic to come back up.
Let me just compliment you on your choice of shop windows which make your working space look more like a museum than a guitar studio.

I am so envious....

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I'm pore filling the Crabtree guitar, starting on an L-00 size, and I'm building a room in my shop to store wood, do "clean" work, etc. I'm sick of trying to humidify and dehumidify my whole shop, so I'm building a 10x12 room and putting in shelving, lighting, and a workbench.

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Brad Tucker

Hey all,
Here's my first effort at posting a pic on here, so hope it works out.
This is my #2, just closed the box.
This is what's on my bench right now.
The neck is mahogany lam, still rough. So binding, and neck fitting are next up for this one.
I also have my first ready to finish, decided I would wait to finish both at the same time.
That's what's up in my neighborhood!

Dave

I've got a couple things my son and I have been working on..........

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We Bend the Wood, So You Can Bend the Strings

Hey Steve, don't knock my digs!! Funny story behind that garage. When we moved to Michigan a couple of years ago, I wanted a garage big enough for my shop tools and a car or two. The garage is indeed huge. I joke with people that we bought a garage with a house attached

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Ken, I sho ain't knockin those digs.
I dig 'em.
Actually, like I said, I envy you!
Beautiful place. The kind of shop that people don't care what you build... just that you do it there.

Good for you!

SK

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

It sure is great to see your son working on a instrument.
Mine started in my shop at 12 also.
He's made 4 guitars-all nice and helps with repairs also.
He's 21 now and girls & sports take allot of his time.

I glued up 6 tops ,and back sets this last weekend.
I also made 4 wooden rosettes and did repairs on a Gibson J-200
I thinned 6 sets of sides along the way.

Mike

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Mike Collins

If ever there was a shop space that would inspire shop envy, Ken, yours is it! Seems more like a studio or lounge.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks Pat, I never dreamed my work area would get such praise! You guys are a complimentary bunch! The actual space where I build is in my finished basement, and it is quite nice. Kind of a hassle to run back and forth to the garage for cutting or sanding, but for glue up, scraping, hand planing, and assembly, the setup works well. Last winter, I moved my compressor down so I could do my inlay there. I'm thinking of doing that again this winter, but I need to find a way to keep the dust down when routing the cavities.

My wife relegated me and my stereo to the basement when we moved in three years ago. I can disappear into the 'hole' for hours, and before I know it, I have gone through three or four CD's and it is 1:00 in the morning. Problem is with work and other commitments, I don't get down there as much as I'd like, so my guitar builds take a few months.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

technically this is on Joe White's workbench and not mine... but it will be back on my bench soon enough!
Justin

Wow, some great guitars here and some very nice workshops. I had to think twice about posting this one...
It's for a singer-songwriter named Richard Shindell. He always wanted a guitar like his old 1936 000-18 so I'm doing
my best to re-create one. The sunburst is not exactly 30's but close. It's still pretty rough, not sanded out yet, may
still need some more finish but it's getting close. The neck is ready for inlay, will probably get that done in the next day or two. The mahogany came out nicer than I thought with some finish on it.
Best
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Well, it does take me awhile to get a post like this up. I had to go out and take the pictures!

I'm working on a trio of Torres inspired SE117's. I'm not going to post many pictures as that will spoil the experience of seeing them done.

Two WRC/Ash with machine tuners on a Selmer head, and one White Cedar on a Bird's Eye Maple body with the Torres head and pegs.

I'm bracing the tops now. I'm trying out the open lower harmonic bar with these guitars, I figured that it' still in the Torres tradition so I'm safe on that account. Two sets of ribs are bent. The backs and necks are done, just have to carve the slots and drill the holes.

Everything seems to take longer when you do more than one at a time! That, an done daughter wanted some fancy geometric inlay for the back strip, and the other, the one who wanted a Tiger leaping out, couldn't find an acceptable image so has settled on a vine pattern that wraps from the back around the side and onto the top. Nothing is easy for these girls, its like they have a mind of their own! I guess that I should be flattered that they have absolute confidence that I can do it.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Cool go-bar deck, Doug!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi All

I'm working on a pair (#'s 3&4 for me) of, my take on the
Martin "Norman Blake model"
Wenge B&S, Engelman top, 5 pc neck, sideport.

So far going well!

Cheers
Bob Hames

Getting ready to close my number 3 but humidity about 53% so i am waiting to drop before joining back and gluing linings. In the mean while I'll just clean off the glue stains off the interior, finish sealing with shellac and cut more linings ( )

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Build log