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No pics this week from me because I have already posted a pic of my new dust collector that I am still setting up.

In the Ann Arbor repair shop I had the opportunity to start to learn to do neck resets this week under the watchful eye of David Collins. David is an extraordinary teacher and has the gift of being able to convey his thoughts to others in a manner that folks can clearly understand... even me...

Yesterday I pulled the necks on two guitars that the neck resets are being done in batch mode. It all went great, was easy, and no issues.

So what's happening in your shops this week/weekend?

Thanks!

Congrats on the DC Hesh, I just ordered one myself yesterday.
Ohhh I cant wait to be able to breathe in the shop!

Just got finished with the final finish on "The 60" I built for my father in law this past summer. Pictures will go up later today.

I have the Celtic Beauty ready to level & buff too, then it's level the fret board, install the frets, glue on the bridge and string her up. It's been a long time coming for this one.

Also planning two new guitars which will be very close in shape to a Gibson J-185, just thinner bodies.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

More repair work here Hesh. I got a great little 41' Martin in for a neck reset,
a refret,and a bridge plate repair. You are a lucky guy having a teacher of Davids
caliber showing you repair techniques!

A pretty strong fretting left hand I'd say!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

No pics, but a dread body with the back on, and the top ready for brace carving when I peeked in there this morning before leaving for the day. I wonder if the guitar fairy will show up while I'm gone...

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Brad Tucker

I've got a couple things going on, but no pics right now. I'm starting to get over a killer sinus infection.

I'm curious Hesh, why does someone who never has any dust in their shop need a dust collector

Dave, that looks like the fingerboard on my '55 D18.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
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Got a Silkwood/Eurospruce OM about ready for finishing. Flame will pop after finishing of course.
The headplate is actually from the same set of wood, although shows up darker. Probably closer to the true colour.
I always was a rubbish photographer.
(And there's a EIR/Eurospruce one in much the same state, just waiting to have the tuner holes drilled, softly whispering to me from under the bench.)

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Still chugging along on the tricone but I started a new Teleish thing too.
This is the 'fretboard' for the tricone, a bookmatched piece of Wenge.


And the Tele-thing. Semi-hollow mahog/maple/catalpa with a spruce top.

Mike, that fretboard is killer!

For me, I've been turning pegs. What I've learned is that buying a set of pegs for under $20 is a VERY good deal.

I figure that I have about 1 hour per peg into these. But, then again, this is my first time. Getting them to match and fit right is the hard part. Turn your own if you need something other than generic pegs.

The pictures should tell the story.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
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Mike, your $210 challenge entry is lookin real good!
I have not started on mine yet, waiting on some wood to get here... but hopefully soon.

Ed

Bob Steidl said the board looked like a Rorschach test.
Those pegs are cool, but man that's a lot of work!

Thanks Ed. What will yours be made from?

A bookmatched piece of spalted birch crotch (courtesy of Grant Goltz from TLC), with an ebony strip down the center dovetailed.



Thats about all I have decided so far.

Ed

Oak parlor coming along...

Still working on the $100 MIMF Flamenco...

Great work everyone!

Haans....NICE!

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

WOW - you guys are some pretty talented folks!!!

John my friend your Flamenco is looking fantastic. I have been lurking on the MIMF because of this $99 challenge and find it to be a VERY cool idea and some great instruments are being born as a result.

Great looking parlor Haans!

Nice looking piece of zoot there Ed and yes indeed the folks at TLC are top shelf!

Douglas your pics do in fact tell the story very well - very cool post, pics and pegs!!

Mike that fret board does look like a Rorschach test but now you should ask us all what we see in it. For me I see lots of dirt and crumbs on the floor that need to be vacuumed up..... Pretty cool tele-thing too!

Colin your OM is looking great. I like the fret markers too - very cool!

Woody I probably could have lived without the DC but hey my TAS kicked in so what's a guy to do...?

Dave bro that 41 looks killer and you must be having fun bringing her back for the next 70 years of very happy playing. Love that fretboard too - shows a well played/loved guitar.

And yes David is fantastic and he amazes me every day with how his mind works. He approaches Lutherie as much from an intellectual point of view as a task oriented point of view. As such I am learning to work smart as well as learning best practices.

Rod great progress from the True shop and it sounds like you are doing well to clear that backlog. Nice going bro!

Edward absolutely, breathing is important... Congrats on your new DC too!

Lets see some more of what's happening in YOUR shops please.

I wish I could show the happenings, but a lot of it's just a pile of receipts. Ordered a new Porter Cable router this morning, which just about covers the tooling I'll need to start my Les Paul. Stupid 1/2" bits . . .

I need to make a nut and saddle in order to finish my first acoustic.

Macassar / Lutz OM cutaway

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Finishing, finishing and more finishing. Not my favorite thing, but I'm getting better and more comfortable with it. I have 2 OMs ready for final rub out - one is EIR/Sitka and the other is Monkey Pod/Sitka. I also have a Ziricote classical in the shop that was made by a guy in Houston at a school in Canada - I can't remember the name of it. He had no woodworking experience at all and I think did a very nice job. I'm doing the finishing for him and will spray the flash coats tomorrow. Remind me NEVER to take another finish job with the neck and bridge attached. I'm also getting ready to close the box on a Mahogany dred cutaway. Please pardon my lousy photography...





Chuck

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For me I see lots of dirt and crumbs on the floor that need to be vacuumed up.....

Just stepping into my office would probably give you chest pains...

Nice guitar Colin -- I love maple guitars! Would like to see more of your Oak Parlor Haans.

From my end, got the claro walnut all buffed out and last night strung it up for the first time. Got the action close, but I'll wait another week or two before really dialing it in.

Ken

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Haans, you really need to show us more of that Parlor guitar!

I've been Busy busy busy busy....

I put the final coat of Varnish on Oakie's reshaped neck last night.... I call it done!

Got my bridge plate and side reinforcements glued in on the J45 build. The Soundboard was sawed to pattern with the band saw -- It was the 1st official cut on the new saw!



Had to chisel off a split X-brace and reglue one of the legs on my Pallet Size 5 Tenor...


Not to mention, here's where I ran out of paint in the basement.


Thanks

John

here's what's happening outside my shop. Shop's in the basement. The snow just keeps coming and this is March for crying out loud.

I just finished the base coat on the old National I have in the shop and I'm waiting for the the head repair to dry a couple more weeks to be ready to buff out. I'm learning a lot about auto paint finishes on this one.
This is what it looked like at the start.
viewtopic.php?f=10104&t=25993

Why thank you Ken! I love them too actually. It does look a bit like maple in my photos.
But if you read the txt, it's actually Silkwood, so-called presumably because the flame looks almost like silk material draped in folds. It's more yellow than Maple, heavy and as hard as nails (as I have 2 ruined knife blades to bear witness).
I'll try (or get my wife too) take a decent photo when it's finished.
Colin

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.