Official Luthiers Forum! :: View topic - October " Doofus " of the Month ! WINNER !!

After boasting in the quarter century thread about building 60 instruments and then going on in another thread about books that I have "most of the things in my head by now" I go to glue on the bridge of my freshly french polished flemenco guitar and realize that I marked the bridge out to the wrong scale length.

I don't know if this counts...

Slotted a Macassar Ebony fretboard using another guitar as a template... ended up getting it slightly off.

Oh well, I'll fill the slot with veneer and flip it over, and try again...

If by Doofus of the month you mean doing stupid things and making dumb mistakes then I win hands down. Sometimes I want to smash everything and give up [headinwall]

Well at least I can say I will now have some experience repairing a FP finish.

How do you think it will look if I keep the mitering on the backstrip and binding joint, but do continuous purfling lines on both sides of the end strip? Or should I just forget the miters everywhere?

I grabbed the wheel to raise the drum and gave it a spin. Unfortunately, the direction of that wheel has always been counter intuitive to me. I cranked the drum down into the top, dug a groove into it and then watched Shane's beautiful lutz shoot out of the drum sander and slam into my workbench.

Nichole?

Really?

Man...I wish I was more stupider.

I MIGHT get to call Fillipo a DOOFUS!

Jim Kirby wrote:

Jim, glue on the bindings (no mitres with the butt strip) then re-do the butt strip with mitres using the technique shown in "the book". (It's easier than it looks).

Time for a late entry?

I was looking forward to practicing purfling miters on a 3 line purfling, when dang, that router just kept on goin'

Attachment:

p1010006.JPG

Truly a painful moment. I'd try to piece something together, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hide it in the Palo Escrito the way I would in Indian.

How do you think it will look if I keep the mitering on the backstrip and binding joint, but do continuous purfling lines on both sides of the end strip? Or should I just forget the miters everywhere?

Thanks Ken,

I was so caught up in the adrenalin rush of the initial mistake that I just wasn't thinking forward to the fix. I don't normally try to mitre on the inside of a closed pocket the way Trevor describes, but I then realized that, once I've chiseled the butt strip out, I just need to replace it with a new one that over-hangs a little and do my mitres the way I normally would. Either way works. I hereby disqualify my own entry for having insufficient lack-of-recoverability.

Author:	WudWerkr [ Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:21 am ]
Post subject:	October " Doofus " of the Month ! WINNER !!
Well guys its that time again , we have had almost a full month to get our best work done. That being said , we alllllll know what happens in that same time frame ! Usally I lead the charge , However I have done very little this month in the shop in the way of luthrie . So I will leave it up to someone else to run with it ! SO Who is gonna recieve the coveted " Doofus Of The Month " Attachment: Doofus.jpg And get to Kiss our presenter, the lovely Nichole Kidman ! Attachment: presenter.jpg Almost make a guy wanna mess up huh !

Author:	jfmckenna [ Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:36 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
If by Doofus of the month you mean doing stupid things and making dumb mistakes then I win hands down. Sometimes I want to smash everything and give up After boasting in the quarter century thread about building 60 instruments and then going on in another thread about books that I have "most of the things in my head by now" I go to glue on the bridge of my freshly french polished flemenco guitar and realize that I marked the bridge out to the wrong scale length. Well at least I can say I will now have some experience repairing a FP finish.

Author:	WudWerkr [ Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:26 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Quote: After boasting in the quarter century thread about building 60 instruments and then going on in another thread about books that I have "most of the things in my head by now" I go to glue on the bridge of my freshly french polished flemenco guitar and realize that I marked the bridge out to the wrong scale length. Wow , ummm I think Nichole is puckern up Already !

Author:	jfmckenna [ Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:36 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
My wife even knows I've always had a thing for Nichole Kidman.

Author:	Scott A [ Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:54 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I'll take a shot at it. I was doing my first Z-Poxy pore fill, all was going well. Mixed my Resin and hardener, moved my supplies to the shelf and had at it. The next day when I went to the shop I realized my mixing stick had fallen to the shelf below, yep, it landed right on my newly carved neck. It was bonded nicely and sticking straight off to the side. So then I decide I'll just pop it off, bad idea, it took a nice piece of the neck with it. A real comedy of errors. Scott

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Author:	DennisK [ Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:39 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I mentioned this in another thread, but here it is again. Fingerboard side dots. Knowing good and well that it's a common place to make stupid mistakes, I thought long and hard and checked repeatedly before drilling them. But what I didn't think of is the fact that I hadn't radiused the fingerboard yet, and that doing so would reduce the binding height. Yep, I centered them for the full height binding, and radiusing will most likely cut into the tops of the dots. I'd just call it a spontaneous feature if the dots were more precisely centered vertically, but as it is, some of them will wrap around the binding a bit, and some will only be visible from the side, and it will look horrible. If only I'd bought that brad point drill bit before doing this one... I had planned on gluing down the fingerboard extension, leveling the board, and then radiusing. But in light of this new situation, I think I'll radius first, at least close to final, and see if it actually looks as bad as I think it will. The neck fit is pretty good, so any leveling of 14th fret hump will be very minor anyway. If the post-radius dots do turn out ugly, I think I'll replace them with vertical strips of shell. Might not be able to get them 100% smoothly blended into the neck, but less risk of catastrophe than chiseling off the whole binding strip.

Author:	Tai Fu [ Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:19 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I don't know if this counts... Slotted a Macassar Ebony fretboard using another guitar as a template... ended up getting it slightly off. Oh well, I'll fill the slot with veneer and flip it over, and try again...

Author:	Bryan Bear [ Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Tai Fu wrote: I don't know if this counts... Slotted a Macassar Ebony fretboard using another guitar as a template... ended up getting it slightly off. Oh well, I'll fill the slot with veneer and flip it over, and try again... I would recommend not using another guitar as a template, too easy to mess up. Either calculate and measure (very carefully [several times]) or use w-fret (available from MIMF.com). I used to do the former, but once I was convinced I could do it I switched to the latter.

Author:	Mike OMelia [ Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:18 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I thought I was at the very least, a qualifier. viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=33829&hilit=LR+Baggs Mike

Author:	Jim Kirby [ Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
jfmckenna wrote: If by Doofus of the month you mean doing stupid things and making dumb mistakes then I win hands down. Sometimes I want to smash everything and give up After boasting in the quarter century thread about building 60 instruments and then going on in another thread about books that I have "most of the things in my head by now" I go to glue on the bridge of my freshly french polished flemenco guitar and realize that I marked the bridge out to the wrong scale length. Well at least I can say I will now have some experience repairing a FP finish. Heh, you could have glued it on backwards. (Gotta love the long open time of fish glue )

Author:	cphanna [ Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:01 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I spent a couple of days meticulously laying up laminations of walnut and maple veneer strips and gluing them to a walnut stick 1.25" wide and about 35" long. I wanted to cut them into wedges that I could glue to the bottom of a banjo rim (then rout the whole assembly flush to the inside and outside of the rim and then turn it to a nice rounded surface on my lathe). I was doing just great until I brought my long-beamed protractor into play laying out the angles I needed to cut. I didn't bother to notice that my long beamed protractor doesn't register zero along the bottom edge. In fact, it registers zero about a quarter inch up from the bottom edge. Thus, it is essentially worthless to me for measuring angles like this (although it'll work just fine as a long beamed sliding bevel). I cut a whole bunch of real nice little walnut/maple/walnut Christmas tree ornaments this afternoon. Maybe even dangle earrings for a very flamboyant lady! And...gee...they fit real nice into a circle of about 10-inches diameter--not the diameter of the banjo rim. I didn't even start swearing. My wife and I just had a good laugh over it. Live and learn.

Author:	WudWerkr [ Sun Oct 23, 2011 6:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I go away for a few days and the doofus moves come pouring outa the wood work ! ( pun intended ) I will be back in the shop starting this week . Im sure I will have a moment thats postable soon !

Author:	Tai Fu [ Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:09 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I am starting a shop at the moment... you know the good thing about making guitars as opposed to repairing or restoring them, is that if you doofus on a build, you can always hide or replace the offending part, but when you are repairing someone's guitar, especially when woodworking is involved, a doofus is a catastrophe. You can't simply replace the offending part especially if they're no longer made, that and you have to explain to the owner why you messed up...

Author:	Jim Kirby [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:00 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Time for a late entry? I was looking forward to practicing purfling miters on a 3 line purfling, when dang, that router just kept on goin' Attachment: p1010006.JPG Truly a painful moment. I'd try to piece something together, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hide it in the Palo Escrito the way I would in Indian. How do you think it will look if I keep the mitering on the backstrip and binding joint, but do continuous purfling lines on both sides of the end strip? Or should I just forget the miters everywhere?

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Author:	Mike Lindstrom [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:25 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
I've been too busy with other stuff to get much guitar work done recently, so I was excited to get back to my baritone. I was doing some final thicknessing of the top. I run thin things like tops through the drum sander on a carrier board with a little ledge glued to it as a backstop/pusher. Well, something slipped and I realized the top was sitting on top of that ledge in the back. I grabbed the wheel to raise the drum and gave it a spin. Unfortunately, the direction of that wheel has always been counter intuitive to me. I cranked the drum down into the top, dug a groove into it and then watched Shane's beautiful lutz shoot out of the drum sander and slam into my workbench. Tonight, I'll be bending some padauk sides for a parlor I've been meaning to build recently. Mike

Author:	Trevor Gore [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:37 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Jim Kirby wrote: How do you think it will look if I keep the mitering on the backstrip and binding joint, but do continuous purfling lines on both sides of the end strip? Or should I just forget the miters everywhere? Jim, glue on the bindings (no mitres with the butt strip) then re-do the butt strip with mitres using the technique shown in "the book". (It's easier than it looks).

Author:	WudWerkr [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:08 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Quote: I grabbed the wheel to raise the drum and gave it a spin. Unfortunately, the direction of that wheel has always been counter intuitive to me. I cranked the drum down into the top, dug a groove into it and then watched Shane's beautiful lutz shoot out of the drum sander and slam into my workbench. Been there , done that , feel your pain .

Author:	Stuart Gort [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:12 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Nichole? Really? Man...I wish I was more stupider.

Author:	WudWerkr [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:23 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Zlurgh wrote: Nichole? Really? Man...I wish I was more stupider. Ya know whats bestest part of this for me ?? I MIGHT get to call Fillipo a DOOFUS !!

Author:	Tony_in_NYC [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:27 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Zlurgh wrote: Nichole? Really? Man...I wish I was more stupider. I think, for the most part, more stupider = more happier. Or maybe more happierer? Either way, you will probably smile more.

Author:	Stuart Gort [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:33 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
WudWerkr wrote: I MIGHT get to call Fillipo a DOOFUS! Good luck with that. That mans' *accidents* are clever.

Author:	Jim Kirby [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:50 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Trevor Gore wrote: Jim Kirby wrote: How do you think it will look if I keep the mitering on the backstrip and binding joint, but do continuous purfling lines on both sides of the end strip? Or should I just forget the miters everywhere? Jim, glue on the bindings (no mitres with the butt strip) then re-do the butt strip with mitres using the technique shown in "the book". (It's easier than it looks). Oh, good catch, Trevor! That just hadn't occurred to me - too caught up in the pain. I've even done a guitar that way before. Thanks! (Now, I should remember to chisel out the existing butt strip before gluing on the top bindings ...)

Author:	Ken Jones [ Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Jim Kirby wrote: Time for a late entry? I was looking forward to practicing purfling miters on a 3 line purfling, when dang, that router just kept on goin' Attachment: p1010006.JPG Truly a painful moment. I'd try to piece something together, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hide it in the Palo Escrito the way I would in Indian. How do you think it will look if I keep the mitering on the backstrip and binding joint, but do continuous purfling lines on both sides of the end strip? Or should I just forget the miters everywhere? Well, I'm not too terribly ashamed to admit I've done this, oh, three times now, because I've recovered fairly well from two of the three by piecing them together so that it's fairly unnoticable. The other time was on the back binding, and I just did as you mentioned -- just kept the binding & purfling continuous, with the tail wedge butted up to it. Still mitered the top, and it looks fine. No worries!

Author:	Jim Kirby [ Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:27 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Thanks Ken, I was so caught up in the adrenalin rush of the initial mistake that I just wasn't thinking forward to the fix. I don't normally try to mitre on the inside of a closed pocket the way Trevor describes, but I then realized that, once I've chiseled the butt strip out, I just need to replace it with a new one that over-hangs a little and do my mitres the way I normally would. Either way works. I hereby disqualify my own entry for having insufficient lack-of-recoverability.

Author:	WudWerkr [ Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: October " Doofus " of the Month !
Jim Kirby wrote: Thanks Ken, I was so caught up in the adrenalin rush of the initial mistake that I just wasn't thinking forward to the fix. I don't normally try to mitre on the inside of a closed pocket the way Trevor describes, but I then realized that, once I've chiseled the butt strip out, I just need to replace it with a new one that over-hangs a little and do my mitres the way I normally would. Either way works. I hereby disqualify my own entry for having insufficient lack-of-recoverability. Sorry Jim no take backs !!