Official Luthiers Forum!

Glad you're okay, Chris. And thanks for the info. I think most of us have learned a tablesaw lesson the hard way. I learned to not use a mitre gauge and the fence simultaneously also-- took a 2"x2" block to the center of my chest and it hurt. The really dumb thing about that decision was the fact that there was a radial arm saw 3 feet away. Choose the right tool for the job!

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

After battling a chest infection this past month I finally installed my 1 micron air filter that I've had all along but was not using. The dust from guitar building is so much more potent than what I have been accustomed to. I also rearranged my shop to function more as a luthiers shop as opposed to furniture building. Picked up a Lee Valley spokeshave for the imminent carving of the neck.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Made some progress on #4, an EIR/Red Spruce Slope D for a friend.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

finally got tired of high RH in the area. Not one day under 60% for 6 months. Started building a small Dry Room. 1.2m x 2m

It has two work benches, and will have some shelves and I'll use the larger bench as a go-bar deck.

Just need to finish the door this week, and I'll fire up the dehumidifier and see what happens....

I haven't been working on my guitar projects 'cause of this:



This is the last of five bents for my soon to be workshop for building canoes and guitars. This is not the first timber framed building I've built, but it is the first scribed and first with curved timbers, and it is beating me up pretty good!

Apart from the timbers coming from a sawmill and the concrete work, I've done it all by myself, and all of the surfacing and joinery is all hand tool work.

Dan

Routing for and gluing purfling on the Nick Lucas

Tore apart a grand piano. Not allot of good wood for building in this one but the sound board is nice.

BRW / Euro Maccafferi Classical - in process...

That's just plain awesome!

Just recovered from the Portland Handmade Instrument Exhibit last weekend, where I showed these two, and getting back on track with an EIR/Lutz L-00 in progress for a dealer in England.



Pat

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

Just working on french polishing a Malaysian Blackwood classical.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Last weekend finished fingerboard radius jig, this week finished fret slotting setup, sorry about crappy phone pics.

Also getting close to closing the box on my L-00 13-fret Nick Lucas/Santa Cruz thing in Black Walnut & Lutz

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

"Tuning" body resonances.
My head hurts.

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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.

Got some work done on my day off.






Then I went to Eastern Washington to hang with the boys.

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

Nice Marcus! What did you use for purfling? I like it.

Zebrawood.

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

Sweet I really want to try radial purfling one day

I think this is my first post in one of these. I did some pore filling on #1. Built a few jigs, and installed the rosette on guitar#2

Thanks! I hope to have strings on it in a couple of weeks. I'll post some photos when done.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

My Bubinga is finally finished and I'm having professional photos taken of it today! Woot! Pics to follow in another thread

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars

Braced and voiced #56, a little 12.5" wide bubinga/mahogany guitar for a kid.

Finally with the topcoats on this new model.

The fretboard is polished Purple Heart so I added a thin layer of Purple Heart between the body and headstock facings to carry the color throughout.

The body and neck are bamboo.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Coooooool! How do you like working with bamboo?

It's interesting stuff. I was initially dubious of it but it's, stable, stiff, and light...kind of pretty too. It's a bit stringy but it machines and sands easily. I don't think it has any acoustic applications but rapping a neck prior to gluing on the fretboard surprisingly produces a clear tone.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Hate to say it but I just stumbled across this and I doubt it would be all that easy to get...except through Windsor Plywood in Spokane. The stuff comes in 4/4 (really just .75" thick) planks roughly 6" wide. It's made by taking chutes roughly .2" x .75" and splicing them end to end. Then the spliced strips are put through a shaper of some sort so they have a tight rectangular tolerance. Then all those are glued side by side under intense pressure to make a plank. I say intense because even under magnification I can't see the glue line. I can see where the pieces come together....I just can't see the glue...pretty cool really.

I take the planks and edge glue three of them together to get a body plate. Since the material is just glued strips anyway there's no chance of finding my glue lines and the thing looks like one continuous plate.

I guess the sound of it is going to be what it is...but after working the stuff I'm optimistic that it won't be half bad. It has a weight, stiffness, and tone not unlike Peruvian Walnut. The tap tone on the neck was a tad clearer than a Maple and Sapele neck I made at the same time and not quite as clear as a Peruvian. Not that I really know what I'm doing tapping necks but perhaps the habit of tapping my necks will one day unravel some arcane knowledge. My assumption now is that the clearer the tone...the better off you are.

Btw....that's a nice walnut board...wish I had a place close by to get stuff like that. I have to drive 300 miles to lay eyes on something like that.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Finally got it together to make my own custom CF inserts that I have wanted for a long time. Should be an improvement in all ways over what I have been using.
Many thanks to Jim Watts for some advice-











Also found another little bench mill that I never would have hoped to own. Been modifying some parts to use on it (and have a replacement table), can't wait!!!

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.