Official Luthiers Forum!

As a few of you know I have been suffering from builder's block...... and unable to just get started building again. This has gone on for a couple of months now even though my newly constructed shop was very ready to use.

Well this morning I just did it and made myself start building again..... and now I feel great about it. I thought that I would share some pictures of Flushtone Guitarworks for your viewing pleasure.....

First - it's NOT nice outside here in Michigan:



But it's nice and toasty in my shop:



Here is my shop all lit up and ready to roll:



This is the guitar I am working on now. It's a Cuban Mahogany and something else, I am forgetting what top I put on it but it's either Adi or Carpathian which, at least to me, can look a lot alike:





And look - Hesh has dirt in his shop!!!!



So any ideas as to how I can determine if this is Adi or Carpathian?



It's great to be back building again and thanks for looking!

Nice tape strip on the table/wall joint! Wouldn't want any of that nice, new Hesh-dust to accidently fall onto another shelf and not be able to be cleaned up quickly !

Very nice workshop Hesh - glad to hear you have broken through the block!

Hesh,

Well doing a quick search on Cuban Mahogany and Hesh, if it's the same guitar then you refered to the top many times as German (ie Euro spruce) and once as Adi (maybe a German immigrant ). Can't see any reference to Carpathian. Maybe if you whisper "Mein Liebchen" to it and see how it responds

Good luck with the building . . . and the building, if you see what I mean

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Congratulations on the "Breakthrough", Hesh. Glad to see you making sawdust again. Now you have a reason to clean up!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Well it's about time

Ya, my guess is check the archives on your own posts on that guitar. Check back around the time you moved as that's when you closed it up.

I bet you get one of those down draft sanding tables soon to collect the dust and shavings from cutting binding channels and trimming tops (like you just did).

Great to see you've bumped the slump Hesh

Now get to work

_________________
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

Great to see your new shop is getting some action Hesh. Mine was until this cold snap came.I'm having a hard time getting the humidity above 38% right now , and have a box i want to close. It was staying real steady until this cold snap came.I have electric baseboard heating in the shop and it's been working overtime which i think is drying the shop too much.I'm running a humidifyer right now to raise it somemore before i can close this box i'm working on.Good luck with your guitar it's looking great. Mark

Hesh, congrats. Going back to the "why do you build?" thread, I now believe Hesh builds so he has a manly excuse to clean.

-2????? Oh well, it's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Darrin

Thank You Dave mon!!! It never occurred to me to search for previous posts on this guitar...... So Euro it is! I was thinking while routing the overhang off that it looked a little white for Adi anyway.

Darrin bro that's it and why I build - so I can clean the stinkin place more..... I should just get one of those chipper/shredders for making mulch and put it in my shop and cram all my tonewood in it at once......

Mark buddy so you can relate only being 35 miles from me in this COLD weather....... It's crunchy outside and even my dog does not want to go out and just sits around all day looking grumpy and constipated.....

Rod and Waddy bros thanks guys - it feels good to be back at it but it also feels strange too for some reason. I feel a bit unsure of myself....

Justin my friend so you noticed that blue tape..... That is exactly what it is for - to keep the chips and dust on the bench or at least not behind the bench. It works great too!

Thanks everyone!!!

-2, but its a dry cold, right?

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Yeah, Hesh...I feel your cold. -10 in Northville this morning!

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Hesh,

Seems the thing to do is move down to NW Arkansas and buy the home next to me. Now that you've perfected shop building, you can build a masterpiece right on the property line between us (since you enjoy the shop building so much). The temp and humidity will be nicer.......and I will mess-up and clutter-up your shop and you get to clean, clean, clean up behind me. It's a win-win for both of us!

Honestly, I had no idea you had "builder's block". Build something insane to challenge yourself......like an F5 mandolin......or an archtop.......or a dobro.......or try a whole new concept with bracing structure and document it and tell us how it worked or didn't work.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Looks great to see the new shop in action!

Man, look at all that space you have now. Very nice!

Congrats on getting back into it again. Think you'll hit Guitar #100 by the end of the year now?

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

-2, thats it. It was -11 on the way to work and now its up to -7 in the heat of the noon hour.

Looks like Carp., but who knows. Which one does it taste like?

Hesh, that shot of the weather page one of the reasons I left Tecumseh for warmer environs! Of course, the airline's good to keep me going back whether I want to or not! Nice lookin' guitar by the by! Stay warm, and if you wanna send me all your tonewood, I'll shred it for ya!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Good on ya Hesh!
Glad to see your makin' sawdust!
We need some more Heshtones in the world!

Joe

Thanks everyone!!!

Well I had a productive first morning back at it and actually made some progress.

After routing off the overhang I used one of Mario's tricks and used my William's jig to route a "shallow" binding channel just deep enough to take the top and back plate out of play and make the sides proud. Then I got out my trusty maple sanding block, taped some 120 grit on my surface plate, made some pencil lines on the block, and trued it up. I had used this block to sand the dry wall in my shop so I wanted to true it up before using it on guitar sides. Once the plates, top and back, are out of play truing the sides is much easier and faster.



Oh look - there is dirt on my shop wall....... And I don't really care either......



After truing up the sides and remembering how very much I hate sanding..... I slapped a thin coat of Zinnser's Seal-Coat (dewaxed) on the top to make removing he binding tape less risky.



Well next is cutting the purfling and binding channels so I am off to the races. Thanks for looking!

The therapy must be working.

Don't let him fool you, he cleaned it up right after he took the incriminating picture!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Only -2? It was -16 this morning here.... it's currently a steamy -4.

Wind Chill was down around -40 this morning....

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

It was only 44C here yesterday, thats 111F for you guys, wanna swap for a couple of days?.....

About the mess Hesh, I very concerned that the standard is slipping............, about the geetar, very nice as usual.............., about the spruce, you mean you dont have an inventory log!?!............ about breaking the block, yeehaaaaaaa..........

I'm afraid we got ya beat here on the temp too, Hesh...supposed to be -24 tonight!

Gaaa!

Your new digs look great!

Now back to work. Less shop pix more guitars!
EDIT: I can appreciate the block. FRUSTRATING! Shop full of tools and can't seem to get in the groove

Congrats.



I wish I had a shop. .

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Connor Cook,
N.S.W Australia

HESH!!!

Did you really have blockage, or were you just busy prepping the 'shop?

Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Good to see you back building Hesh. By the way, I love the mess and sawdust. Now that looks like a shop. Can't wait to see it.

Vince