Nels - Posted - 07/14/2014:  13:43:29

Dots Goot! 

cbcarlisle - Posted - 07/14/2014:  23:05:52

Dots awful, Nels.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/16/2014:  06:18:10

WEDNESDAY 

ON THE QUEEN & HOME

The other night I received an email from the Queen's office asking if I'd do a show on Monday evening. Of course I said "Yes!"

There had been a major change of plans due to very high waters on the upper Mississippi. This is the second very unusual weather year on the upper. This meant that the Queen would be down near us so Debbie, Eddie Coffey and I loaded up and met the Queen in Paducah, Kentucky (one of my favorite towns).

Debbie dropped us off (and went shopping) then drove to Sikeston, Missouri to spend the night.

This short trip was wonderful! We had great guests. In fact there was a family of 16 who were on board and a whole bunch of these were children experiencing the rivers for the first time! Many showed up for my afternoon banjo class. I felt like a true Banjo Evangerlist!

We even had a (all be it short) reunion of sorts with several performers who were with us last summer for two back to back trips on the Queen. Joann & Steve Marking, Richard Garey (the best Mark Twain I've ever seen!) along with river laureate Mike Jennings and our great cruise directors Andrea Henderson & Drew Godfrey. The only one we missed being on this one was Lightning!

Here Joann and Eddie give the calliope a workout...

Mark and his biggest fan!

Steve singing his heart out!

Monday evening we ran into exciting weather out on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, lightning, whitecaps and all... 

But Tuesday came in with blue washed skies and calm waters. Here we are at the landing in New Madrid, Missouri ...

Downstream from New Madrid...

After breakfast Debbie picked us up in New Madrid and we headed back to Paducah. Along the way we stopped at Cairo point, went to the top of the tower and marveled at the amazing confluence of the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers. Although the photos don't really show it well it was a truly humbling sight with the blue of the Ohio (left) meeting the brown of the Mississippi (right) meeting and finally mingling perhaps two miles down river...

Two fishermen on the point...

I just had to post this photo of my mandolin student Betty Jo Douglas with her great granddaughter and her new uke, I love the smile...

More Soon!

guitarman8491 - Posted - 07/16/2014:  07:38:14

Dan you get a great turn out for your classes. Really like all the smiles..yep pickin an a grnin go hand in hand. Also loved the last picture of your mando student and her daughter...Doug

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/16/2014:  10:53:18

Dan

Its never to early to start playing music, good on Betty Jo and you.  

Crusty - Posted - 07/16/2014:  15:36:56

I got a chuckle Dan from your picture with the pickin' nail about to go.  I thought I was the only one who waited that long before getting it redone.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/16/2014:  16:24:55

Doug, Dave & Mike...

I agree with each of you!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/16/2014:  16:48:30

WEDNESDAY

Gee-tar rip-air ter-dai...

Here is an Alverez that needed a new battery clip. Here it has been soldered, gotten shrink tubing and now is receiving a new battery...

This is an interesting Martin guitar. It celebrates US veterans with a special veterans inlay and symbols of various branches of the armed services. It is in for a setup and a new bridge saddle...

Last string to have the slots adjusted and I made the slot too deep...

So I filled it with a mixture of graphite and cyano. In the process a small mess was made on the nut. First I sanded it to 800 grit...

Sanded...

Rubbing out with rubbing compound...

I really enjoy using a tuning fork and use one quite often in tuning. It's good to know that in these days of digital mess I can still tune without one.

Th binding on this Guild guitar is shrinking and pulling away from the sides. This is one of the problems with some of the plastic bindings. Not all, just some shrink. Old Gretchs, D'Angelicos and some Gibsons are bad for doing this. This repair that I'm doing is not permanent. Most likely in the next 10 or 15 years the binding will have to be replaced. This though is what my client wants.

First the binding is heated, stretched and the glued back in place...

On with the tape...

MORE SOON!!!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/17/2014:  17:20:49

THURSDAY

I took a tumble trying to get on my bike today. I tried to step on the peddle, missed and wound up on the street. Fortunately I don't think anything was broken except my pride. Now that is another story!

Today I jumped back into more dotting. I realize that I figured that I was done with that part of this project. But after looking at the thing for a few days I realized that I needed some sky above the mountains.

So first I started by drilling some holes...

Next I dug into my stash of turquoise and started crunching it up...

Then grinding it up using the pestle...

Ground...

Next the ground turquoise is fed into the holes and  rubbed in...

The cyano holds it in place...

More Soon!!!

Dan Drabek - Posted - 07/17/2014:  17:28:09

Dan, I think maybe you are a little bit crazy. (fortunately for the person who will someday own this banjo)

DD

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/18/2014:  17:47:50

Dan,

I try to never claim sanity... heck, sometimes I wonder if I even have a brain!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/18/2014:  18:39:49

FRIDAY

NOT THE 13TH.

Ok, I'm back home from the shop. I've just had a (a not b) dinner of two burritos made with black beans, sushi rice & salsa and some Paris grown watermelon. So with a stomach made quite happy I begin to pen this missive.

I guess pen is not really the correct way to describe this.

It is odd to me a lover of the old time fountain pens that I pen almost nothing anymore. Instead it's tap, tap, tap at the computer keyboard. Oft times I wonder about the balance of things. What is gained and just what is gone? This could fill up a whole post I'm sure. On the gain side we have the BanjoHangout to greet and BS about one of our favorite things. On the loss side I'd place my penmanship (which wasn't so good anyway) and my spelling (you. could only guess at the words which I was writing and being extremely lesdexick...). Hum...

Today...

I woke had some coffee & breakfast and went to painting for a few minutes. It's interesting how this picture is developing a personality of its own.

Fellow BHO member and fine banjo picker Jon Eaton called a couple of days ago with a broken head. I asked him if he had fallen down and was any thing else damaged (arm, leg etc.). No he said. I'd have called somebody with a Doctor appended to his name if that's what was needed. No it was his banjo head that had gone south and needed a new skin. New skin... isn't the some doctorin' mess with that name? 

I've been saving this very nice and thin skin for some special project and Jon seamed to be just the fella who would appreciate it fully. So yesterday afternoon I rolled a flesh hoop. Here I'm cutting the hoop to length...

And brazed it together...

Then wet and mounted the skin to make a head. This morning after drying over night it looked like this...

Now trimmed...

Stamped, with my Royal head brand...

Back together went the banjo. This is a Flinthill bluegrass style banjo which we converted (it got religion) to an open back using a Bill Rickard conversion flange. This is a real nifty product that Bill makes and like all of his products works extremely well!

The truss rod needed a bit of adjusting...

I've a 30's Gretch parlor guitar in for a neck reset. Here before steaming and removing the neck joint I am heating to loosen the fingerboard extension ...

A Martin HD-28 is also in for a neck reset. I've pulled the 15th. fret and am drilling into the back of the dovetail joint. Into this hole I insert a needle and pump steam in to loosen the joint.

The last hour of the shop day was heavenly. 50's rock-a-billy artist Carl Mann came by to pick up his guitars. Whe had a great jam session trading Jimmy Rogers tunes. The Mann still has got it!

Pictured here (left to right):

Jon Eaton (who came by to get his banjo), Carl Mann, Richard Mann (Carl's son and a great singer in his own right) and me.

SEE YA SOON!!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/18/2014:  19:43:40

Dan

Looks as if you had a great day.  Here's wishing you many more!!

guitarman8491 - Posted - 07/19/2014:  01:16:06

Ditto to Dave's comment..wishing you many more! Enjoy the wonderful journey.....I sure am..Doug

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/19/2014:  05:51:12

Dave & Doug,

Thanks for your kind wishes!

DEmery - Posted - 07/19/2014:  07:03:23

Dan I always find those neck re-sets interesting. For a luthier to drill into a fret slot and pump steam to loosen up the glue is something to watch but not for the faint at heart on a D-28. I think what it might have felt like the first time somebody put something like that in your hands and said "hey Dan...can you drill holes in my guitar and break down the neck joint to reset the neck?" I recall having a banjo at Gruhn's shop decades ago and watching a repair person hammer away at a neck. Better to have done but not to watch. David E.

cbcarlisle - Posted - 07/19/2014:  08:44:46

Better to have done but not to watch.

Like laws and sausages...

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/20/2014:  06:04:47

David & Curt,

Years ago (at least 20) my friend Scott Thile, who was then the bass player for Nickel Creek, wanted me to reset the neck on his Martin D-35. I was more than nervous. In fact I refused. Several times,

Scott, who is a great piano tech at Murray State University felt it was just plain cowardice on my part. He was correct. It scared the dickens out of me. Several years before this I had attempted a neck reset and the neck came out... in pieces. I ended up spending way too much time rebuilding the heel of this guitar neck and I didn't want to go through that again. Not on his D-35.

Still Scott was persistent and finally I caved.

Stewart MacDonald had just came out with a VHS (remember these?) on neck resetting. I told Scott that I would attempt the reset if he got me a copy of the tape and if he wouldn't hold the job against me.

He bought the tape. I reset the neck and all went well.

Much has changed in the intervening years in my neck resetting technique. It has become a much less violent appearing job. In fact now instead of the yarning, pushing and general mayham of removing the neck, it has become a very quiet gentle job. There is a bit of steam and then a gentle "pop" as the dovetail joint releases.

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/20/2014:  06:38:41

Dan

I recall from one of your earlier posts an image of a tool that you made, a neck press.  Perhaps you could re post that image.

Dave

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/20/2014:  06:51:56

Dave,

I'll try to remember to do that on Monday.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/20/2014:  06:52:21

SATURDAY - SUNDAY

GOOD MORNING!

It's Sunday morning and I'm eating breakfast. Our twin grand sons are here. Keaton is watching Grandma making some pancakes and Braden is playing on Grandma's tablet...Survival Craft. Now Ryland comes in making it three.

Yesterday was a busy day. Teaching, then working on installing hardwood flooring at my son Sam's house and ending the day going to a fund raising concert for R.E. Lee Academy for the Arts by the noted caberet piano layer & singer Sammy Goldstein. 

A GREAT DAY!

After walking into the shop and picking up everything to prepare to teach, I drilled a bunch more holes in the dotted peghead. I wanted another shade of blue to make the sky appear more interesting. So I made a mixture of turquoise, ground pearl, blue aniline dye and epoxy to fill the holes. I don't like using plain (un filled) epoxy for filler. Instead I always use a filler to give more body and substance to the mixture. Usually in inlay this would be ebony or some other wood sawdust. I is sort of like adding gravel and steel to Portland cement to make concrete. They give each other strength. 

Kevin's top. Today he finished adding the two shoulder braces to it and began carving the others...

Jason is back from vacation and here is routing for his inlayed rosette...

Kevin applying clamps to a brace. One of these days I'll build a go bar deck to make clamping tops much, much simpler.

Jason is gluing patterns to pearl. He'll be cutting the pieces at home this week so he can finish making his rosette next week.

Thank you Kevin!!!

He does this most every week and it is much appreciated!

See Ya soon!

Kaelri - Posted - 07/20/2014:  15:00:03

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dan Knowles

 

 

GOOD MORNING!

It's Sunday morning and I'm eating breakfast. Our twin grand sons are here. Keaton is watching Grandma making some pancakes and Braden is playing on Grandma's tablet...Survival Craft. Now Ryland comes in making it three.

Yesterday was a busy day. Teaching, then working on installing hardwood flooring at my son Sam's house and ending the day going to a fund raising concert for R.E. Lee Academy for the Arts by the noted caberet piano layer & singer Sammy Goldstein. 

clamping tops much, much simpler.

 

 

 

 

---

Ok, we all voted here and we decided that Keaton is the smart one....keeping his eyes on the food! :-)

We also all wondered, here at my house, if you have a special clock that you use to squeeze all that you do into one day? If so, where did you get it? We need one too! (You're making us tired! ha ha)

Edited by - Kaelri on 07/20/2014 15:02:10

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/21/2014:  18:50:41

Ellen,

I'd shoot you a photos of my fancy clock but it fell off the wall and broke!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/21/2014:  19:12:37

MONDAY 

Ok, I arrived  in the shop early this morning and went right to to it. There was so much that I wanted to accomplish. 

First of all I grabbed a file and went to leveling the sky dots located on the peghead. I forgot to shoot a photo of the peghead after leveling. I'll do that tomorrow...

After leveling I got back into the neck pulling for the neck re-set of the D-28. This is my gig ready for operation. After a bit of steam is injected into the neck  about 15 or 20 minutes of it...

The bottom clamp is engaged and it just pushes the neck right out.

Out!

The jig. The same one I've used for years...

A mixture of Kenya AA coffee (dark roasted), ebony and rosewood sawdust is mixed into some 2 ton epoxy...

And is used to glue in the logo inlay...

Oh ya, I figured y'all might want an up date on the new painting. Here I'm dotting in the 2ed. undercoat for a sandwich sign around this fellers neck.

The way it looks right now...

MORE COMING SOON!

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/21/2014:  19:26:28

Dan

Thanks for the photo of the neck press.  A much better way than a hammer and block of wood.  

DEmery - Posted - 07/22/2014:  04:23:27

Dan that jig to remove the neck looks like an "instrument of torture". It sure does the job. I still find that process amazing. David E.

bill t - Posted - 07/22/2014:  10:26:02

Dan, I have a question. On page 95, where you're working on the Flinthill banjo, there's a picture where you're attaching the neck.
Is there a gap where the top of rim and the inner lip of the tone ring fit together? I look at that picture and I'm not sure what I'm seeing.
I was just curious about it. Thanks, Bill

The Pope - Posted - 07/22/2014:  12:16:15

Am I insane or does the woman in the center of the picture above have a pigs nose?!?!? 

cbcarlisle - Posted - 07/22/2014:  12:34:50

While one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, the porcine proboscis is more pertinent to painting.

Patrick Hanna - Posted - 07/22/2014:  16:45:03

Hey, Dan,

I've always wondered how a luthier knows when to quit steaming a neck joint. Obviously, it needs to be long enough to soften the glue in the dovetail joint. But too much steam for too long might loosen the neck block, too. The technical term for that is "bad", because then you'd be re-gluing much more than the neck. How do you know when to stop? I know you have been doing this forever and you have a feel for it, but how do you judge these things?

Patrick

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/22/2014:  17:08:51

David,

This was the easy part of the job. It s the refitting of the neck to its new angle that is the truly daunting part of this project.

Bill,

Yes you are seeing a relived portion of the rim. The idea is that this allows the inner lip of the flathead tone ring to really move and do its job. Although I've only performed this job on lesser expensive banjos, I was first introduced to this concept in a factory original 50's Gibson Mastertone.

Eric,

Yes. A swine nose it is. This is not a test of sanity.

Curt,

Hummmmm.....

Patrick,

Since I've started using the neck press I just steam the joint for 10 or so minutes. Attach the press, put pressure on the heel and continue to add steam. After about five minutes it just pops free. I do watch all of the arias around the neck for steam leakage. It shows that the glue is beginning to soften.

Edited by - Dan Knowles on 07/22/2014 17:10:16

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/23/2014:  19:50:12

WEDNESDAY...

I just got in from my son Sam's new house. We cleaned, sanded and stained the hardwood floors tonight. I came home with the taste of paint thinner in my mouth... not good. Still there was a nice pick me up on the way home in the form of a chocolate dipped cone from the Dairy Delight. Amazing how a little thing like that picks me up and keeps me goin'. 

Here we are praying to the floor gods...

actually we are staining the white oak flooring...

Ok, I know you didn't come here for floor staining, you wanted to see some banjo workings!

Here tiz, I'm a buffing the outside of a 12" banjo rim...

Now the inside....

A old Gibson RB-11, not all original ... but hay, who cares? It is an original rim from  a TB re-necked later. It's in for strings and general maintenance...

The second cut on the dot inlay neck was made today. Here I'm using a router setup to make the relief cut for the tension hoop. Look at all that dust!

Unfortunately none of the photos of binding routing came out so I'll just skip ahead. Here I'm cleaning up the binding rabbit with a file...

Oh yes and there has to be an update of the painting.

This is how it looks at this moment.

I can't remember if I told you, but this painting is called THE PUPPET MASTER. All of these figures in the painting but one (and it is not yet painted) are marionettes. All of them feel that they are in total control and don't realize that in fact they are being controlled by someone/ something else.

We will unfortunately never see that someone else.

More Soon!

guitarman8491 - Posted - 07/24/2014:  13:33:13

The puppet master is a very cool painting..yer very talented. Know cna you get that same image on a FB? and if so how many dots ? just kidding!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/24/2014:  19:25:55

Doug,

I think that I'd probably need to redesign the image somewhat to fit a fingerboard. The number of dots. I suppose it would depend on the size of instrument we were talking about. Take a 9 foot grand piano, it might fit on the lid... so if we choose a conservative number, say the number of stars in the Milky Way and multiply that times Pi, square that, then multiply that number times 1,054,328.7895 we should be close! 

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/24/2014:  20:14:29

THURSDAY

Here it is after 9PM and I'm just again getting in from my son Sam's house. If it weren't for the progress I'd say I got to stop this. Still the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to shine brightly and that's great!

Tonight's post will be a rather lengthy one.

Shine (the dot fingerboard banjo), had its neck bound, side dotted and then carved today. So I guess there is a lot of stuff to cover.

First of all let me say that hand carving a neck is one of my great joys as a luthier. I've had friends that have CNC's offer to carve necks for me and I always refuse. Why would I want to give up something I enjoy so much to just make a few extra dollars. That certainly is not why I'm in this business.

Another thing while I'm ranting.

This is just the way I do it. There are probably as many different ways of doing this as there are people doing it, this is just the way that fits my simple mind.

Getting Ready....

First out I opened the frets slots. For this project I want the slots to be wider as I will be gluing the frets in due the all of the pearl and other material which could be damaged by driving or pressing them in.

Next I thicknessed some maple for bindings. This piece was a drop from the same board that the neck was made from so it should look similar when finished.

After thicknessing it is ripped into binding strips. These were then run again through the sander to give a finished edge for gluing.

The binding on and the glue drying...

Off to Lunch...

Back From Lunch...

Here I'm scraping the bindings flush and flat...

Laying out the side dots.

I've now inlayed some conventional side dot material but I may yet change it out to brass or copper. It seams like David Emery has had some trouble seeing the side dots in his dark finished St. Augustine so I may change this one while it is simple to do...

Next it was bringing the neck to basic pre-carving shape with the band saw. First the heel and the basic neck thickness...

Then knock off some waste wood. I get as much off as is reasonable with the band saw...

This is my carving fixture. I just clamp her up in this and go to town...

On this neck I first started out carving the basic part of the heel. It will be carved to represent a pine cone later, but I needed the basic working roundness first.

Because this is very highly figured maple I'm using a horse hoof rasp to to most of my shaping. It is the best neck carving rasp I've ever used. The spoke shave would peck the grain way too much...

When carving a neck I spend a lot of time feeling the neck under my fingers. When finished it should feel like an extension of your thoughts and not some uncomfortable unnatural object. The only way I know how to get this is by feel. 

Lastly the whole neck is hand sanded to 120 grit. This will smooth away any ridges and other imperfections...

This doesn't show the carved backside, instead it's kind of a catch up on the fingerboard face.

More Soon!

Pine Cone - Posted - 07/24/2014:  21:02:02

WOW! 

What a change a day makes...

CommGuy107 - Posted - 07/25/2014:  03:25:45

Lengthy or not, I sure do appreciate all the photos and time you put into detailing your building process. To an amateur luthier, a picture (or actually watching) really is worth a thousand words.

Thank you!

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/25/2014:  05:20:56

Lovely neck emerging from the hands of a skilled craftsman and artist.        

DEmery - Posted - 07/25/2014:  11:02:05

Hey Dan...did you arch the heel cap on this banjo like you did on St. Augustine? In the photo it appears so.... That is one of the most delicate changes I had seen for the heel as shows the laminations that typically would be seen only at the side of a flat cap. I had never seen that before but sure do like it a lot. David E.  

guitarman8491 - Posted - 07/25/2014:  14:21:48

Really a beautiful neck!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/25/2014:  19:17:44

Scott,

It is isn't it!

Dan,

You are welcome.

Dave & Doug,

Thank you, I'm glad you like it.

David,

Yes it is fairly similar with perhaps a bit more rounding.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/25/2014:  19:39:19

FRIDAY

I just got off the Skype with David Emery, It is always great to see you an hear your voice. Got to love that Skype stuff! We got to remembering how it used to be when we were kids and those old long distance calls (place your memories here)  and now look at this new Dick Tracy world. When I was a kid we only dreamed of such.

Carving Day 2

As I promised in yesterday's post, today I started carving the pine cone on the heel. Scott had sent me a box full of various pine cones a while back and so today I laid them all out on one of my benches so I could draw the carving design on the heel. At first I was opting for a very graphic realistic carving. I drew several of these on the heel... then removed them. Finally I understood what was bothering me. The face design is expressionistic, not photo realistic. I needed more of an expressionistic quality to the design. With this in mind the design went on quickly... 

I have this small double cutting marking knife that a blacksmith friend made for me. Turns out that I use it for carving way more than marking. It is razor sharp and easy to control...

After several hours of carving, I begin to ease in the outside shape. For this I'm using an 1/8" Japanese laminated chisel, also razor sharp....

And at the end of the day. Lots more to go but moving along nicely.

More Soon!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/25/2014:  21:46:01

Dan

Nice work!!!      Why the cry baby?  Because it is not for me!  

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/27/2014:  06:56:06

Dave,

Don't cry! I'd be proud to make you one too!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 07/27/2014:  07:38:20

SATURDAY

This day was our oldest grandson Chandan's sixteenth birthday! Sixteen, how the time does fly...It also coincided with my wife Debra's Brown family reunion so we celebrated his birth with a great big bunch of relatives. Tonight we are taking the young man out to the Shogun Japanese restaurant in Murray, Kentucky to celebrate also. 

Tonight I received this email from Tom Bergan:

The concert went very well!  Orpheus was a huge hit. And I told the story of how how you asked me to name the banjo and the legend of Orpheus, and how you told the story all over the banjo. The audience both gasped and laughed from delight. There was an audience of maybe 500 luthiers. (Quite amazing)

He has been on display for the luthiers to view the past two days. We are going back down today to pick him up. 

And later...

When I went to the GAL convention today, Orpheus had a constant crowd around him - lots of people with fancy cameras taking pictures. I got a ton of questions. The luthiers I met were quite amazed by your workmanship!

Then a fellow walked up and proclaimed "I know Dan Knowles!  We had a band together in California"

Here are a few photos of Orpheus...

On to Saturday morning and the luthing business...

I got into the shop early and did a bit of carving on Shine before my lutherie student Jason arrived. Kevin was not with us today due to work demands. This is what it looked like as I began...

Jason needed to re-cut some pearl... Sometimes I bet that students hate that I can be so picky about workmanship. Still I think that quality workmanship is perhaps the most important ting that I can impart.

As we worked we were visited by a few friends...(left to right) Eagen Snow ( who I don't see half as much as I'd like since we havent been riding together much), You know this next guy, Juda Sendajas & his proud Papa and student on leave Eric, (my good friend) Bob Johnson and my student Jason freed from the pearl cutting for a moment.

Here I'm using one of my great-grandfather's chisels to cut out more of the petal (I'm not sure of the proper term here Scott) shapes...

More Soon!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 07/27/2014:  08:48:14

Dan

As much as I would like to have one of your necks on a banjo of mine, I believe it will be a while before that happens.  

Wishing your grandson a very happy birthday and many more!    My how time fly's!!  

I remember the thread on the building of Orpheus, I was amazed then, and also now.      

Everyone in your friends photo looks happy and alert with the exception of Jason, who looks as if he needed a break from pearl cutting.    

I can see that Shine is comming along very nicely.

Dave

Kaelri - Posted - 07/27/2014:  11:20:00

Please tell Chandan Happy Birthday from your Michigan followers! 

My own will be 15 this year, and I do agree that time does fly when there are kids involved in your timeline! I was wondering, since you &  Debra have quite a clan of  young ones around there...and maybe you have mentioned this before and I missed it......but do have any of your grandchildren that find themselves drawn to music? Are there any that are going in such a way that we may be listening to them on our music devices years down the road? My daughter is very much in love with music. all kinds of it. I am so glad she will be carrying on that passion to our future heirs when I am gone. I hope there will be future Knowles carrying on for your love of lutherie and music.

guitarman8491 - Posted - 07/27/2014:  12:51:48

My best to your grandson on his 16th birthday and Orpheus looks amazing!

Pine Cone - Posted - 07/27/2014:  12:59:04

Dan - while "petals" is close, they are seed scales, or just scales.  For more exciting pine cone info... pinetum.org/Lovett/pinecones.htm

For even more info on gymnosperm cones check out arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu...perms.pdf

Looks like the carving is coming along nicely! 

Had a nice time Friday playing my Prust Fretless Travel banjo on the beach while grandkids played around us.  Don't know if we have future musicians in the crowd, but a few always like to try and play them, especially if I help with the chords.

Scott

 

Edited by - Pine Cone on 07/27/2014 13:02:03