rubicon - Posted - 01/28/2015:  17:25:51

Wow how cool is that ! That neck profile is SWEET color looks great Dan .

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/28/2015:  17:35:45

WEDNESDAY

1-28-2015

Yesterday I noticed that the camera felt a bit loose in the tripod. So this morning I looked and noticed a crack. So before I could use the camera I fixed the tripod. A little superglue and a piece of an old sheet and it's still not like new..

I cleaned up the bindings before preparing to spay finish...

First spray...

After the first couple of coats...

And the rim after a couple too...

Last night one of my banjo students gave me a cool little item. He said that he bought it off the internet. It's a little bracket to mount the tuner  on the J-hooks. 

Does anybody know what this thing is called and where I could purchase them?

MORE TOMORROW!!!

bluegrassthumper - Posted - 01/28/2015:  19:01:40

Hey Dan. The bracket came from Jim Thomas "pickguy'
Ph (614) 561-0931
e-mail jwthomas@ttmco.com

kwl - Posted - 01/28/2015:  20:18:58

Dan, this looks like the one you have: stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supp...uner.html

tylerandal - Posted - 01/28/2015:  20:30:35

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/28/2015:  21:38:13

Dan

Those banjo parts are looking WONDERFUL!! 

Live link to Snark bracket:  stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supp...uner.html

Tom Berghan - Posted - 01/28/2015:  22:07:59

Good Golly Miss Molly that rim is beautiful Dan!  What are the woods?

kwl - Posted - 01/29/2015:  09:13:09

Dave, thanks for making that link "live." I guess was a tired when I made that post and forgot to do that. Ken

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/29/2015:  10:16:56

Raybon & Ken,

Thanks I'm gonna order several for my stage banjos.

Tyler,

I wish that they had a thumbs up image along with those faces!

Dave,

Double thanks!

Tom,

Thanks. It is the same as your Orpheus, cocobolo.

Aradobanjo - Posted - 01/29/2015:  10:28:40

Hello,

Be ready to go thru many CR2032 batteries with this bracket. If a strap is used, most people wind it counter clockwise. The places the strap across the tuner. Inadvertent case tuner activations occur.  Also, the socket on the Snark is pot metal. They fatigue and break too easily. The movement in the case may give unknown forces on that socket. I will be on my third one soon. 

Edited by - Aradobanjo on 01/29/2015 10:32:12

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/29/2015:  10:40:20

John,

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't realize that the socket was pot metal. My open back banjo does not fit in the case with the Snark on a bracket so I have to remove it first.

rubicon - Posted - 01/29/2015:  11:10:43

Dan the ledge on the rim is to stop the bracket band ?

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/29/2015:  14:49:31

Warning, thread drift

I liked the idea of the adapter for the Snark tuner so much that I ran right out and got one from Elderly Instruments.    I am disappointed to report that the clips that go on the J hooks are to large to fit on my 1925 Gibson BB with the original J hooks.    On a brighter note the ball knob is a perfect fit in the Snark tuner.   Perhaps like thumb picks, some hot water will allow me to tighten the clips.

Edited by - Dave1climber on 01/29/2015 14:53:55

Aradobanjo - Posted - 01/29/2015:  16:21:21

Hello Dave,

I had the opposite problem with my 2005 RB-12. I had to ream them out to reduce stress. My first one broke in half when pushed the Snark on. 5/16 shafts are massive as compared to standard 1/4 hooks.  

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/29/2015:  16:25:07

Rubicon,

That is quite correct.

Dave,

I guess I'm lucky that it fits my Pharaoh banjo just right. I may try it on a few others tonight at band practice.

maynardje - Posted - 01/30/2015:  12:19:06

Wow Dan,

Its been fun seeing that banjo come together. Its going to amazing looking and sounding i'm sure! I love the profile of the heel on that neck.

Jamie

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/30/2015:  17:41:06

Jamie,

It has been fun for me to watch it also. Hopefully if all comes together as planned, it should do its first singing in about a week.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/30/2015:  18:26:27

FRIDAY

FEELIN' ALL BOUND UP!

Tonights post will be foolin' mostly with binding. This will be on two different guitars, one I'm building and a mid-70' Martin 12 string. Both have or will have plastic bindings. Some of this does apply to plastic binding found on many banjos.

First out, yesterday I routed a binding ledge on this 00 that I'm building. This is receiving  three pieces of binding: Mother of  Toilet Seat  (os) Black (is) with a Black under piece. This is all being glued with slow set epoxy.

The binding at the waist is heated with a hair dryer to soften and make the bending and fitting easier...

Oh yes I almost forgot... I sipped in a finish repair on this Flatiron mandolin...

Here is one that really applies to banjo rim repair where the binding has come unglued.

Here we have a 70' Martin 12 string. The binding has shrunk up a bit and pulled away from the waist. You might be able to see it in the photo.

First I got everything ready then mixed some slow set epoxy and heated it so it would flow into the joint better....

Then I heated the binding so I could stretch and refit it. I have done this also with a heat gun but I don't like taking chances messing up the finish...

I filled the joint with epoxy and wiped the excess off...

Lastly it is tapped in place with some of the St Mac binding tape.

This is great tape for this purpose. I imagine it is made by Scotch.

I wish that I knew what its equivalent tape in their line is...

All taped up...

Today after the epoxy had fully cured I scraped the binding on the 00 body true...

Oh ya I bet y'all'd like to see the Scarecrow after yesterday's spraying. If I don't have any rub through all of the finish has been sprayed.

Here's the neck... 

And the rim...

MORE TOMORROW!!!

DEmery - Posted - 01/30/2015:  18:51:48

Dan the color tone match between that maple neck and cocobolo rim looks excellent. I am more of an oil finish guy these days; but that gloss really makes that grain pop doesn't it. Really pretty. David E.

Kaelri - Posted - 01/30/2015:  19:06:57

The Scarecrow's finish is looking so beautiful. If Tyler decides he's changed his mind you can throw that one my way! 

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/31/2015:  05:38:46

David,

I'm very pleased with this finish. Maybe on your next banjo we can do this.

Ellen,

You'll have to talk to Tyler about that!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 01/31/2015:  16:10:36

LAST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

Progress, progress, progress! Ole' Zeb really put on the dog today in the lutherie class and made some very great strides. Kevin did alright too!

But it was to and back success for Zeb today. One more brace and bridge patch gluing and that top will be ready for brace carving. His back got glued up today too. This is how it went.

First Zeb trued the joint of his paulownia back by sanding it...

Kevin was deep in thought when I caught him with the camera. He was preparing to bend his ebony binding and black/ white/ black purfling on the side bending machine...

I went to looking for some center zipper strap material for Zeb's back and found this. It is a bunch of wood inlay banding that I got from an old buddy of mine. Most of it is old French material, Perhaps a hundred years old or so.

We found some cool center strip material for Zeb and here he's gluing it in...

After the two back pieces were glued together they were laminated to a piece of spruce.

Next he sand fitted braces to the top...

And glued them in using the go-bar deck...

MORE SOON!

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/31/2015:  18:32:25

The go-bar deck looks some what like impressionistic art.  Useful art.

lpalmer - Posted - 02/01/2015:  03:36:11

My old 5 string 19 fret banjo came back from the tech's tuned B F# B D# G#. Can I simply tune it back to open g tuning or do I need to change strings?

Dan Knowles - Posted - 02/01/2015:  06:27:31

Dave,

I never thought of it quite that way. It is kinda cool looking isn't it.

Lpalmer,

Interesting tuning... A little information first. What is the make and model of your banjo? What is the scale length (distance from the nut to the bridge or the nut to fret 12)? What strings are on it now (gauge)? 

Dan Knowles - Posted - 02/02/2015:  17:59:07

MONDAY

Wedding Anniversary Day.  

I sometimes wonder how my wonderful wife has stuck with me through all of these years. We went out tonight to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate, reminisce & make goo goo eyes...

On to the shop...

First off this morning I gathered up all of the parts that need plating and went out to visit my cousins Alan & Roland Knowles to have them add a top coat of nickel plating. If our schedules work Alan may bring his rig down here to the shop so we can shoot photos of the process. Cross your fingers.

One of the guitars that I'm building will be getting some decorative bits of pearl on the lower center of both the top and back. Here I'm cutting them out of two pieces glued together to create a pair of identical pieces...

​

And wet sanding on Tyler's neck...

Here are all of the pieces cut out and glued together. Here is the back segment. Although the photo didn't capture the color good, what we have here is green abalone (the top 2 pieces), gold pearl (the middle pair) and turquoise on the bottom.

And the top segment. Gold pearl with a paua abalone dot, turquoise and red coral fillers.

I was gonna post an update on the Puppet Master painting yesterday. I made the photos. Then got busy and didn't do it. Most of this weeks work has been in the lower quarter. Painting in shadows, an arm, brush and pattern on the painter's clothes...

I just had to pose with it! Really I have a brush in my hand. Honest I do!

MORE TOMORROW!!!

steveh_2o - Posted - 02/02/2015:  19:08:24

Dan,

I didn't know I was holding you up on your anniversary.  Your sign clearly states "by appointment only" and here I come up banging on your shop door at night!   Anyway, thanks again for letting me pick your brain.  I think I may be headed a little closer to the right direction.

Steve

Kaelri - Posted - 02/02/2015:  19:30:14

Congrats to both you and Debbie, Dan! I believe you are blessed with a wonderful wife. My husband wanted me to ask you how many years are you celebrating? He thought it was neat that you are celebrating yours while we will be celebrating our own 28th anniversary this weekend. ! (I think mine deserves a gold medal for putting up with me!)

tylerandal - Posted - 02/02/2015:  19:48:31

Happy anniversary Dan and Debbie!  :)

i need to get some turquoise like that soon, I wanna try fooling around with it some time soon.  Any recommendations where to find turquoise?

Pine Cone - Posted - 02/02/2015:  22:20:49

Happy anniversary! 

The new inlay bits look great! 

Dave1climber - Posted - 02/03/2015:  06:52:09

Dan

The days roll by and seemingly out of the blue its another ANNIVERSARY!  Its good to know that you are still doing the Goo-Goo eyes business, and will for many more.

The inlays look great, as does the painting.

Edited by - Dave1climber on 02/03/2015 06:54:22

Nels - Posted - 02/03/2015:  09:35:14

Happy Anniversary!   Craftsmanship embodies your life!! 

rubicon - Posted - 02/03/2015:  11:15:55

Happy anniversary Dan the painting looks great there appears to be a little resemblance to the painter in the painting yes ??

DEmery - Posted - 02/03/2015:  14:56:54

Happy Anniversary Dan. Sherry and I had our 40th down in Melbourne Beach this past weekend. Seems like lots of folks got hitched this time of the year. David E.

Edited by - DEmery on 02/03/2015 14:58:17

Kaelri - Posted - 02/03/2015:  15:38:04

Happy anniversary to you and Sherry also, David! This must be the best time of year to get hitched!

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 02/03/2015:  16:04:14

Happy Anni Dan!

kwl - Posted - 02/03/2015:  16:17:11

Happy Anniversary to you and your lovely wife, Dan. May you two enjoy many more years of wedded bliss.

Ken

Tom Berghan - Posted - 02/03/2015:  16:17:19

Congratulations to you Dan!  You are a very lucky man!  And Condolences to Deb!

(OK, just kidding)

Shake-Boy - Posted - 02/03/2015:  17:23:20

Edited by - Shake-Boy on 02/03/2015 17:32:01

lpalmer - Posted - 02/03/2015:  17:26:14

Sorry for the delay in answering and even now not the info you asked for! The banjo is my wife's and I am going slowly to try to solve the problem. The guitar/banjo tech made an executive decision because of the short(er) neck, but created a problem for us, wanting to play the open G tuning. The music shop says go ahead and de-tune to G, but as I say, going slowly... Your luthier work is amazing. I play bass myself but banjo is unique.
Len

Dan Knowles - Posted - 02/03/2015:  19:17:11

Steven,Ellen, Tyler, Scott,Dave,Nels Rubicon, Marvin, David, Kenneth, Tom & Paul,

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FROM BOTH DEBBIE & ME!

How many years? Well, it feels like it was only yesterday and yet has always been!

L Palmer,

No worries, Thanks!

Tyler,

Have you thought of looking in yer mail box? At least in a couple of days...

David,

Congratulations to two of my favorite people on the planet earth!

bill t - Posted - 02/04/2015:  05:21:21

lpalmer, My opinion for what it's worth. You said on the previous page that your banjo was tuned B F# B D# G#. Do you know what
string gauges you have on the banjo now and do those string gauges seem to work OK? Not too tight and not flopping around too much.
It would seem that if you want to go to standard G tuning, G D G B D, you could move your 4th string to the 3rd string spot and tune it
up a half step, F# up to G, move your 3rd string to the second string spot, your 3rd string is a B right now and that's what you want for
the second string, move your second string to the 1st string spot and tune it down a half step, D# down to D. If you want a G on the
5th string, use the same gauge on the 5th string as you have for the 1st string. For the 4th string, you just have to see what works.
I like a .013" third string and a .020" fourth string. You might start with a 4th string that's .007" heavier that what you're using for a
third string. Hope this is clear. If this was my banjo and my problem, I think this is where I'd think about starting. Again, this is just
my opinion and just a suggestion. Dan, hope it's OK that I put this on here. Bill

bill t - Posted - 02/04/2015:  11:15:46

lpalmer, I see that there is currently a thread titled "short scale string sets" in the "Banjo Building, Setup & Repair" section.

Alec Cramsie - Posted - 02/04/2015:  13:46:57

Found this post yesterday, took me two days to read it all...coulden't stop! Thanks so much for sharing your great work, and stories!

DEmery - Posted - 02/04/2015:  15:31:01

Thanks Dan. Didn't know I was anybodies favorite person on earth; but Sherry must be since you play a banjo named after her these days.

David E.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 02/04/2015:  17:04:36

Alec,

Welcome aboard the Luthier's Life, we're glad you're here!

David,

Must be! (back to ya)

Dan Knowles - Posted - 02/04/2015:  17:41:22

WEDNESDAY

Today I milled out several side and back sets. Several for orders and others just to put away and have ready for use in some future projects.

Whenever I get ready to mill out sides and backs I always install a new blade on the band saw. It just works better. The cuts are much cleaner and there certainly are fewer kirf marks to get rid of.

The first set that I milled are for a Yin & Yang guitar. I'm calling it Yin and Yang because its true name is Hebrew and basically means yin & yang.

It will have a top of spruce & cedar, while the back and sides will be walnut and maple alternating in as sort of checkerboard fashion.

The second batch (and shown here) are for a white oak 000. This will be a three piece back set so the oak does not need to be such a large board.

I've a shop made fence that is kept dead parallel to the blade. This is done every time as part of the preparatory set up work before the milling... 

Here I'm milling some sets from some of the highly figured maple seen in Shine, St Augustine, Aeroplane & Scarecrow.

This timber will be side sets...

And this one back sets...

Here are several maple side sets. It's a bit hard to see all of the figure because of the saw kirfs. Once it goes through the thickness sander it should really be eye popping.

And a maple back set...

Here we have a set from the white oak, laid up in a book matched fashion...

MORE TOMORROW!!!

rubicon - Posted - 02/04/2015:  18:28:01

That white oak is really nice

DEmery - Posted - 02/05/2015:  05:00:00

Dan the maple used in Shine, St. Augustine, etc. ..., will make a stunning guitar. I look forward to seeing these come along. The white oak is a different choice and is one of my favorite wood grains. Must be from growing up around old quarter sawn oak furniture. How does an oak guitar perform or sound? David E.