Odds and ends.....

Well, not a lot to update on the double build as I am waiting for saddles and nuts to arrive in the mail but I did do a couple of things and purchased one new item for the shop. I have also ordered 3 cases, one for the SJ and two for the twins. I still am a big fan of the inexpensive 5 ply hard cases that Musicians Friend sells. They aren't travel cases, but they do a great job of keeping my guitars safe and the humidity level in check. For $40 each with free shipping, they just can't be beat for storage cases.

First, I spent some time getting ready for the parlor build by making a side mold, and a form for the bender. I did these the exact same way I built the others so I won't bore you with the details. One thing I have been wanting to build for a while now is a dedicated caddy to hold my guitars while I work on them. I saw a picture of a caddy with adjustable feet to hold the guitar by the edges off of the table online, and that is what I wanted. I also wanted to add a neck support and I wanted it to be on it's own stand that didn't take much floor space and that would allow me to swivel it around. I made a caddy out of 3/4" birch ply using ideas I took from other designs put together, and mounted it on a 3' piece of 1 1/4" rigid pipe on flanges. It works pretty nice! My only complaint is that it is just a little high for my comfort. Being a 'vertically challenged' person, it would be nice if it was about 3" lower but because I am using threaded ends I can't cut it without having to get it re-threaded. So I will either have to grow a little (not likely!) or learn to deal with it. It isn't bad, just a little above my comfortable working height. If it is just not workable, I will get it cut and threaded. I work with a lot of different plumbers so getting one to do it for me isn't a big deal.

Last but not least, I decided I have had enough of doing this luthiery thing without a sander. I went to Home Depot and picked up a 4"x36" belt/disk sander. I haven't really used it yet other than to play around but it seems to work well. It has a cast iron base which is nice because it holds it solidly to my work bench.

Okay, really last but not least...... It has started to get cold around here. I mean cold, 10 degrees cold. My shop was 20 degrees yesterday when I went up there. Too cold to sit and practice my playing in so I have taken a huge step and moved my practicing inside the house where everyone can hear me play. So far nobody has heard me play other than a couple of videos that I posted. I am a pretty shy person and playing where people can hear me is a pretty scary thing, even with them being family. But I figure either I suck it up and get over my fear, or I give up practicing over the winter and I don't want to do that. So here is a little financial advice for you all..... Anyone out there wanting to make a few dollars on the side, you might want to buy some stock in an ear plug company! I have a feeling that my family will be buying them in bulk shortly!

Here is the newest addition to the shop. A nice little unit which will get a lot of work.

I don't think I have shown this before. This is a Honduran mahogany striped back that I will be using for the parlor I am starting. I already joined this a week ago or so, and have marked the 'money' side.

Here is the caddy I built. Every part is adjustable so it will handle anything from a jumbo all the way down to a small parlor. The neck rest is also adjustable both up and down, and front to back for short necks. This is my Stewmac Dreadnought in it now.

And finally, here is the mold for the '0' parlor I will be building later this month.