The Luthier Community

Raymond, Sorry about the finish! That's (one of) my weak spot. You and I need to attend the Stringfest '10 and get a hands-on lesson on French polishing. The inlaid birds on the fretboard appear to be raptors, with a falcon on the first fret and a redtail(?) hawk on the 9th. I wouldn't pretend to gu...

Lots of finishing materials there!!! And after you were finished, which one of you was able to take the photo?

Jim

Grant, Looks like you paid attention to Mitch's demonstration! Great color and polish already. Did you first put down the mineral oil before any shellac? If so, did you use the mineral oil with the pumice? Would rottenstone be better, partly because of its dark color not filling the pores with light...

Seeing his "practice" board, I can't wait to see the guitar body and neck!!! How will you seal the artwork; with what and how many coats? Brushed or sprayed? I'm curious. What paints does the 16-year-old use? I've got a son who could do some nice work also, now that you've stimulated my mi...

Joe, You're a glutton for punishment! That's a great place for one of those $10 tops; and from my experience, they aren't all that bad! I look forward to watching you return this old guitar to its "cowboy" glory days. Hey, my '68 Martin D-18 has the same kind of divots as your parlor. :oop...

Eben, Thanks for all the pix and posts. I'm still alive, :mrgreen: and working on the 3 double O builds, mostly. But I've taken some time out to train for the 33rd running of the Indianapolis Mini Marathon that took place today. I'm one of 14 people in this group of 35,000 runners who has taken part...

Grant, your work is amazing! You get more done in a day than I do in a week. :mrgreen: Dave, I've played some of Grant's guitars and the sound from them is very strong. I can't find the words to describe it, but when I compared my Bouchet EIR copy that has standard fan bracing against Grant's with h...

Grant,

The wood looks a little like mahogany--in any of the photos. You seem to be saying it bends like mahogany...? It looks like there is no springback in the lower bout, although you might have it secured where I can't see it.

What do you use for your heat source in the side bender?

Jim