Official Luthiers Forum!

Filippo,
Your french polish is looking great!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I just ordered the parts for #002.

-Bearclaw Spruce top
-Indian rosewood sides and back
-spanish cedar neck
-madagascar ebony fret board/head plate

Gonna do a steel string this time... maybe a dread type... haven't really decided yet. Maybe I'll see it when the materials get here

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Catherine∞Guitars®
  F. Scott Campbell
     Pike Road, AL
            

The coco / adi dread about ready to get the top glued on

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I have started making custom tuner machine grips following Chris Paulick's fine tutorials. Here are some incomplete examples of Cocobolo and Kingwood. I want to use these as matching elements of appointments on future guitars.



Oh, BTW, that little belt in the foreground is from my belt sander, which I use to radius the grips. Many of the belt's teeth got shredded when a bolt inside the drive housing of the sander came loose and jammed it. Just got the replacement.

I plan to make a guitar of Oregon Myrtle with Kingwood bindings, headstock veneer and tuning machine grips.

Thanks for looking.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

My mahogany 00 has been receiving dye.







my first attempt at french polish begins this weekend.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

#5 is coming along very nicely. I just glued the "шемсток" on which is that thing with the holes in it on the top. I used West epoxy and am very scared that it will pop off once strung up to tension. I should have put a tenon in from it to the neck but only used a small dowel due to laziness. I'll shoot in a couple of screws (as a sleeping pill) from the inside and try to relax more.

Over all, a ton of mistakes in this build but a) this is a totally different style from that which I normally build and b) that's why it's a prototype for the commission - I've learned a ton off of this one and the "real one" should come out pretty well.

The bridges are not finished and only sitting there for the picture, I glue them on after finishing. Hopefully, I should have everything together and ready for final sanding and finishing by the end of this weekend!!

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Long overdue finishing up of this Pau Ferro classical. This one took longer than expected due to some painting & remodeling projects plus an unexpected surgery in early April.

Just finished carving the neck and now doing some final sanding in preparation for pore filling and finishing. The ink lines in this set really are distinctive.

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Peter

Peter--that back is fabulous, and what you did at the heel cap is perfect. Really attractive.
And I hear ya about the surgery--I had abdominal surgery Monday, and it's no picnic. Here's hoping we're both worth something fairly soon!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I closed the box on my J45
I am getting ready to bind the J45 and the Size 5 tenor -- both are getting Peruvian Walnut bindings with Walnut/Maple stripe purflings

Thanks

John

Just today I finished my first "real" bench. It took me 3 weeks to build (evenings and weekends only) and I couldn't be happier with what I ended up with: Approx. 900 pounds of MDF and canadian maple.



No more guitar building on old kitchen tables from now on.

A big THANK YOU goes to Shane for his idea of the bench layout.

Hey Peter,

That Pau Ferro box is looking mighty fine. And I agree with Steve that your heelcap treatment is beautiful. Hope to see (and hear) her when she's done.

BTW, will you be at the Blue Fish on Sunday?

Christoph,

What a great looking bench! I envy you.

Best wishes,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Andy,
I bet that bandura takes hours to string it up! I once made a diatonic bowed psaltery with only 16 strings, and it took me 2 hours to string it up. I was so glad I didn't make the normal 32 string version! Anyway, that looks like a cool instrument.

I just finished up #5 guitar also, but actually my 9th instrument. I'll post finished pics in another thread. This one turned out great, and having a great time playing it!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Totally jealous!!!! I long for a bench like that......one day.

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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! This is an incredible thread so far!

What a bench!

Chris, I can't wait for those pics!

Workin on this guy.

Nice bench but be careful not to spill any water on the top if it's mdf. My router table to is malamine/mdf and i must have spilled some water on it and it leaked into the edge of the router plate cutout and it swelled. Bummer, I had to sand it level.

Everclear & Coke , I was FPing too

Waiting for good bracing weather. Looks like it will be a few more days.

In the meantime, I plan to get the backstrip glued in, and devise a redneck contraption to produce a stream of water for wet-cutting shell, so I can safely do it indoors, or at least without that hideously uncomfortable respirator mask.

Dennis, just step into the shower. Solve two problems at once.


Hey, you said redneck...

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Hey guys,
Thanks for all the kind words for the bench.
I am not too worried about water, as the top is soaked in wood oil (around 10 coats) and water now rolls off.

Nothing in the shop today but my stainless steel slats did arrive from John Hall and I did get them unpacked and put away. It was great weather here in the Seattle area and I spent the day with my wife outside checking out a place about 20 miles from my home.
Chuck

I've gotten pretty good at it and if I recall, I can do it in about 2 to 3 hours now a days. Of course, I've re-strung about 10 times now on various instruments. It is a huge pain in the arse though, let me tell you.

I actually just ordered some diadario EXPs for the main row (I use PB guitar strings) to try and get some extended life from them. Problem is it cost $90!!!

p.s. you can see the 25o radius gauge you sent me in the background there.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Brilliant, if I only had a shower. But perhaps the bathtub faucet and drain could be used, rather than my previous idea of siphoning from a pan of water up high, with the cutting table sitting in a cake or turkey pan. But the cake pan with a fountain pump would be even better. I bet there's one around here somewhere...

In other news, the backstrip is in. Pretty successful mission, just a tiny gap around it. It has some nice figure near the top.

Cleaning shop today and a photographer coming over tomorrow. Building 5 oak guitars, 3 parlors, a GC 6 and GC 12, sanding and buffing 2 mandolins and building 3 more...

Hi Haans,

I look forward to seeing pictures of your progress - I love your guitars.

Glenn