Hello from Pittsburgh

[kwakatak]

Hi, folks!

I haven't been around here much and just wanted to say hi to some of you. These past couple of years have been "interesting", no?

My wife and I were just up in the Niagara region where the people were refreshingly polite and mindful and the fall colors at their peak with temperatures still in the comfort range. I'd wished that I'd brought my Vancouver-made rosewood Larrivee with me so that I could sit under a golden maple tree and play but customs continues to confuses me. It's hard enough having to have TWO passports in this day and age. I'd hate to have to leave a prized possession behind.

So, that being said how are you all doing?

Neil in Pittsburgh, PA US

[ducktrapper]

Hey Neil! Strange days indeed.

[mgood1845]

Neil, also a pgh yinzer who just got my first Larrivee a few weeks ago...can't believe these things are so under the radar.

[ryler]

A long lost member.  Thanks for saying hello.  Hope all is well with the family. 

[Strings4Him]

Last I remember, weren't you building a guitar?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kwakatak]

Thanks for the welcomes.

My eldest turns 18 in a couple of months but he will require assisted living and we're still in the process of setting up a trust and will need to go to court to retain guardianship. It's hard finding - and keeping - good people to help with his day to day.

...and yes, I was building a guitar. Binding was giving me a really hard time. I'm just about ready for finishing:

[Silence Dogood]

Wow, that's a beautiful guitar!  Nice work. 

[kwakatak]

Wow, that's a beautiful guitar!  Nice work. 

Thanks! Here's the back under a spit coat of shellac:



I've since added a heel cap detail to cover up my sloppy purfling:



It's something that I also did with my first build that I'm currently refinishing (French polish) :

[teh]

Love the neck and headstock plus the back strip. Nice work.

[ducktrapper]

Wow. Looks really nice. Keep us informed of its progress.   

[kwakatak]

Bump!

Sunday is my eldest son's 18th birthday. I'm playing tag with the lawyers and we have to go to orphan's court to continue to be his legal guardians. Where does the time go?

The woodworking typically goes on hiatus during the winter months because I can't keep the RH in my workshop above 35% so I shift focus to jig making. I typically purchase a case early on in the process and keep the unfinished guitars there instead of hanging them. The basement also tends to get cluttered because storage space in our home is at a premium and I can't leave the grill and patio furniture out in the elements. Here's the current state of clutter. I added lighting and a second portable workbench that I can wheel into the garage for dirty work. Some of the jigs include:

- a binding channel cutter jig based on what I've seen used at the Martin guitar factory
- a bending pipe (with propane torch in the background) that I use to bend binding strips.
- a Charles Fox side bending machine (that I have ready to test out with some orphaned guitar sides
- a shooting board that I use as part of the plate jointing process.
- a drum sander, under construction.
- two outside molds (for an OM and a medium jumbo; I plan to make two more along with bender forms for an 00 and a dreadnought.) 

Slightly out of view is my Gobar deck which is disassembled.



Another view shows that my scrap wood storage needs some refinement:



I love that free standing workbench. I got it at Harbor Freight and the price didn't break the bank. I added caster wheels so that I can roll it into the garage or out into the driveway where I can work under natural light and not worry about dust management so much. I got a lot of things from Harbor Freight and some of it is not as good though.

I'm also addressing the clutter in the garage (so I won't show it) but I pride myself on actually being able to put both our vehicles, four bicycles, a kayak and two lawnmowers (along with a multitude of gardening/landscaping tools and supplies) inside with enough room to be able to actually move about between and in front of the vehicles so that I can access shelving where I keep my paint supplies as well as a my table and chop saws. I added more 5500 lumen LCD fixtures in both spaces (again from Harbor Freight for about $25 apiece) and we had a new garage door installed that is better insulated than the old one and has windows so that I get some natural light there as well.   

That being said, my wife says we need a bigger house LOL. She's not wrong. I want to stay put until the kids both graduate though. Then I'm hoping to find another property in a less congested area so that we can set up a permanent residence for our special needs son. We also had our wills put in order this past year and set up a trust which we would place the house in.  Residential placement for him has been a bit of a nightmare.

[Denis]

That guitar looks amazing Neil!

Great to see you hanging around here again.  I'm not on here as often as I used to be either.

[ryler]

Hi Neil,
Wow, I remember when you were struggling with behavioral issues with your son and he was quite young.  18, that's amazing.  How many guitars have you built in that time?  Good to hear from you.
Cathi