Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/15/2015:  17:53:14

Dave,

Yep.

Doug,

Thanks.

David,

It's great to be home!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/15/2015:  18:36:29

WEDNESDAY

One week out from heading out. Next Wednesday at this time I'll be preparing to do a show with Tim May on the Queen. I'm looking forward to it. Tim will be out with me for the whole trip and it should be very fun.

I got a bit more completed on the white oak guitar, in fact I glued the top on it! 

Here using my  high tech glue spreader, I spread the glue... 

And Go-Barr it into place...

An interesting banjo hit the bench today. It is a 1890's Pollmann. The fingerboard is quite cracked and the inlay is not in great shakes. 

Recently Ken Levan had a forum post about alternate inlay materials and showed using some very cool metal for inlays . Most of these are metal. There are a couple of abalone inlays but the balance of the inlay is of copper, brass & (a metal I think is) pewter.

Several of these pieces have lifted, so I glued them back wit cyano.

I think I would have gotten better results by removing the inlay cleaning out the cavities and regluing them with epoxy. I just didn't think about it until now.

The is an interesting dowel stick yoke on this one. The yoke pushes against the staple that fits into those two holes. Simple and effective...

All of the inlays were glued then scraped and sanded...

The fingerboard in fairly good shape its off to the peghead...

Sanding the peghead...

Here is where the change to epoxy would have made a difference. I sanded through one of the points (which I'll fix tomorrow) during leveling. Had I used the other technique it would have been flush.

More Tomorrow!

Dave1climber - Posted - 04/16/2015:  05:31:24

More progress on the White Oak Guitar!  

The 1890 pollmann has some interesting looking inlays, the peg head inlays look as if they are in three parts.  One could wish that they were thicker.

DEmery - Posted - 04/16/2015:  16:47:46

She sure is looking great Mister Dan. David E.

Pine Cone - Posted - 04/16/2015:  19:20:53

David - if that Knowles guitar doesn't work out for you I might have a place for it at my house...

It does look pretty amazing so far!  Can't hardly wait to hear how it sounds!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/17/2015:  05:19:45

David & Scott,

Thanks! There's more to come...

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/17/2015:  05:41:16

CLOSING 'ER UP

THURSDAY

As I'm sure you've figured out by now I'm not talking about closing shop... oh no. Instead it's about closing the box. The first time that I'll get a chance to hear if all the work to this point has been worthwhile.

SPOILER ALERT

I know this is jumping a bit ahead, but this box sounds pretty good!

So this is how it went...

Now that all the mating surfaces are true it's time to glue on the top first. I suppose I could do the back first, but...

The high tech glue spreader in action...

Clamping in the go-barr...

After a couple of hours the clamps are freed and the squeeze out cleaned off...

In the meantime a label is printed and signed...

And glued on the back...

On with the glue for the back...

Go-barring it...

After several hours the clamps are removed and the mold is opened...

Here it is fresh out and read for the excess to be trimmed...

C YA SOON!   

DEmery - Posted - 04/17/2015:  13:52:02

That is one awesome looking quartered oak guitar...and she's in the rough. Love that old top as much as the oak. Couldn't be more pleased. David E.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/17/2015:  19:07:34

David,

Cool! Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to post a bit more.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/17/2015:  19:51:17

FRIDAY

Today I headed towards the finish line with the old Pollmann banjo. The original light metal tailpiece has a couple of teeth missing, so today one of my jobs was recreating one. I'm almost sure somebody put metal strings on this banjo and messed up the tailpiece.

Was it you!!??#!?

Might have been me back in the sixty's when we just always figured that banjos always had metal strings...

Anyway, I found a piece of brass that is the same gage as the original, flattened the old tailpiece then drew it on my brass...

Rough cutting on the band saw...

After cutting it out, sanding (and generally slicking it up), it was bent to shape and then plated. After nickel plating I aged it so it would match the rest of the metal work...

I've cut a tiny filler piece for the flower petal. Here I'm trimming it up so the filler piece will fit perfectly...

The new piece in it get glued with thin cyno...

After being trued the face is again dyed black...

SEE Y'ALL TOMORROW!!!

guitarman8491 - Posted - 04/18/2015:  12:42:36

Dave's guitar is looking mighty fine. Won't be too long before you can string her up and hear her voice for the first time. Really like that Pollmann banjo peg head inlay, very handsome.

DEmery - Posted - 04/18/2015:  13:28:47

Oh that guitar is well away from seeing a neck and strings. Somewhere on the other side of a busy performance season and at some point maybe in the fall that may happen...if not a little later.  I do hope to see it by Christmas. David E.

guitarman8491 - Posted - 04/18/2015:  16:43:53

Dave, One thing for sure..when you receive it it will be quite special!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/20/2015:  17:59:19

MONDAY

Been a little bit under the weather this weekend, but I'm feeling much better now and that's good seeing as I be heading out on the Queen on Wednesday. So here are some photos from Saturday on Monday. I hope you'll forgive me.

Here goes.

Kevin was my lone victim in the lutherie class, so we had a great time cutting, sawin' , yackin' and such. But on the building front Kevin finished fitting his neck joint. Along with shaping and gluing his fingerboard to his neck.

Good lord I got the photos backwards!  DON'T LOOK AT THIS ONE YET!  Scroll down to the next photo where we're checkin' the layout...

Daw gone, How did this one get in here? That one's just me finishing up leveling and crowning the frets on the old Pullman banjo... Kevin's must be the next one.

Here we are checking the fit and trueness of the neck joint! If you scroll back up now  Kevin's done got his clamps on his neck and fingerboard...

Here I trim the excess off from the top and back of the White Oak guitar...

And then sand away the fuzz...

Here it is ready for company!

More soon!!!

DEmery - Posted - 04/20/2015:  18:24:24

Of course Dan I have sort of "that is my kid" bias; but that oak guitar is sure pretty. What a fine mix of wood in the back and the top is full of character with that graining. Your call to thump er' was fun when you set a tuning fork on its top - it really sang. Gonna be a great one. David E.

Dave1climber - Posted - 04/20/2015:  18:52:14

Dan

I must admit to mostly being a banjo person, however I very much enjoyed seeing the creation of this guitar so far.  Looking very very nice.     

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/21/2015:  18:27:19

David & Dave,

Thanks so much I'm looking forward to the rest of this guitar building trip. 

Tomorrow Tim May and I head out to Vicksburg, Mississippi for a little six day jont on the Queen of the Mississippi. This will be great fun!

Speaking  of GREAT FUN I just heard that my friends John Balch and Tyler Andel are doing a banjo workshop in Nashville along with Chris Coole & Adam Hurt! I wish I was going to be home then cause I'd be there! I hope all of you can!

Denton - Posted - 04/21/2015:  21:36:43

Have fun on the Queen. I understand there is only one dinner seating a night on that boat and the atmosphere is more relaxed. There was a Tim May we bought country hams from back in the 70's. Any relation?

Kaelri - Posted - 04/23/2015:  08:21:07

Does this particular workshop happen annually? It sure sounds like fun but I think I'd give the poor fellas more gray hairs & wrinkles and head shaking  just from one class with me in it! 

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/23/2015:  12:37:07

Richard,

The Queen is a very relaxed place to be. Tim says that would be a no.

Ellen,

I believe it is an annual thing. Perhaps John or Tyler  can answer that question better than me. 

tylerandal - Posted - 04/23/2015:  20:20:28

This is the second annual one.  I hope it keeps going.  Adam and Megan run great camps!

And I'm sad you won't be around for this Dan!  You'll have to set aside a weekend for it next year.  You'd have a lot of fun!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/24/2015:  20:55:36

Tyler,

I'd love to come to the workshop sometime! I hope this is a successful one!

jbalch - Posted - 04/25/2015:  04:26:09

Dan:

I played Tyler's new banjo yesterday, and really enjoyed listening to him use it in performance at Carter's Vintage Guitars.  I must say, that banjo is even more beautiful in-hand than the photos reveal. Best of all it is POWERFUL with fantastic tone.  Well done friend!

It is a truly wonderful thing to see a masterpiece banjo in the hands of such a brilliant young talent.  I can't wait to hear more of what Tyler accomplishes and creates with his Knowles banjo.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/25/2015:  10:19:24

FRIDAY

DATE LINE 

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

The past couple of days Tim and I have been traveling on the Queen of the Mississippi with a tour group from Australia. What a wonderful bunch of folks! 

Tim says "Aussie's are more fun!" And we have sure had a big time playing and visiting with them.

But wait. Let's start this story at the beginning...

Wednesday morning came for Tim, way early in fact. He loves to get up musicians hours, we got up farmer's hours to head south to Vicksburg.  About noon we stopped in Cleveland, Mississippi for lunch at this little cafe. We like to stop and try all the local restaurants instead of the fast food hamburger joints. This was a good one that I'd recommend if ever you are in Cleveland.

Just before jumping into the shower to get ready for the night's show I saw this cloud formation...

Once I  was in the shower I heard a large KA BOOM and the boat leaned slightly to the side. I thought "Not good."  

A few moments later things leveled out. ten KA-BOOM and over she leaned again. 

Later I found out that we had been on the edge of not one but two tornados. We had sustained winds of 90 +  miles an hour. No damage, no one hurt. This Queen of the Mississippi is a great ole' boat with a great Ole' Captian too! 

If not for the captains Joe and  P.T. things could certainly have been different.

During the show that night we had a bit of trouble wit the P.A. Not enough to slow the show down though. So Thursday morning found me in room 107 soldering wires back together again...

Our great onboard piano thumper Stevie "Fingers" helped out too! Stevie is from Jacksonville, Florida and is a phinomal piano player and singer! He joined us for the last part of our evening show. He tore um up with his breaks on Blue Suade Shoes!

Then it was off to Banjo class time. These Aussies took to this like ducks to water! What a great groop for Banjo 102!

Here we are again with Tim...

Doesn't that 14" minstrel banjo look humongolous?!?.

Not only did we do a shoe on Wednesday, we played two shows on Thursday. One in the afternoon and one in the evening. A guest shot and gave me these photos. They are so nice that I just had to post them all!

More Soon!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 04/25/2015:  12:04:51

Ah what a chore, having to get on a river boat and play banjo.    Like a paid vacation.  

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/26/2015:  16:04:19

Dave,

Tuff life, but somebody's got to do it!

We are in Vicksburg now. I am borrowing some internet, our satellite internet receiver was messed up during the tornado last Wednesday. I'll make a full post maybe after the show tonight or when I get home tomorrow.

See you then!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/28/2015:  06:33:18

HOME

1/4 MILLION READS

This is AMAZING! One Quarter Million Reads of this Luthier's Life post. Who'd a thunk it! 

Thank you for coming back and back again! This post would not be here on the old BanjoHangout were it not for all of you great folks.

I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART

(and my other vital organs)!

***************************************************

We got home last night after another event filled trip on the Queen of the Mississippi. Today it will be back in the shop. But in the meantime I'll try and make a quick catchup of Tim and my trip.

Friday, Gus's Fried Chicken (yum, yum) and the Belz Museum made for a delightful Memphis day.

I never get enough of this great museum. There is always something new to be delighted, amazed and amused by. Taking someone new to this place  is always a treat. Watching somebody else discover the amazing work here is always fun!

Here are some musicians that I found for the first time on one of the giant ivory tusk carvings. Most of these figures are perhaps 1 1/2" tall.

And then in the Judaic portion this delightful painting of a fiddler...

More musicians...

Saturday around noon we left out from Memphis with another great group of folks on the Queen. Just before the show one of our guests shot this photo... 

Workin' - Playin'

What's the diff?

For the first time in my pickin' career I tried playing the minstrel banjo standing up like the old minstrels did...

Early Sunday morning on the Mississippi...

Sunday evening in Vicksburg...

Sunday morning's great Queen of the Mississippi Banjo 102 Gradieatin' Class of 4-26-2015

During the afternoon Tim and I went touring the Vicksburg battlefield. One of the more interesting bits for this old riverman was the remains of the Civil War ironclad Cairo. The boat was pulled up from the Yazoo river in amazing condition (after 150 years). This is her paddle wheel frame...

MORE VERI SOON!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 04/28/2015:  09:02:21

Dan

Its good to know that you had a safe trip, and some fun in between stints behind the wheel.  And what a happy class of banjo pickers.    

guitarman8491 - Posted - 04/28/2015:  09:47:29

Way cool..the art, the music, time on the river and best of all making new friendships. Cheers on the milestone in readership..you gives us all so much..thank you!

bill t - Posted - 04/28/2015:  10:35:04

Dan, Thanks to you for making it worth "coming back and back again"!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/29/2015:  18:53:16

Dave, Doug & Bill,

Thanks... You are welcome! 

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/29/2015:  19:16:45

WEDNESDAY

Hay, a couple of interesting things happened today, besides cleaning talking on the phone and fixin' thangs. I went down to Humboldt, Tennessee to the West Tennessee Regional Art Center to deliver several paintings including the PUPPET MASTER for a show to open this Sunday (at 2 PM if-in you'd like to go!).

The center is quite a beautiful facility inside the restored Humboldt City Hall building. I'll try to remember to shoot some photos on Sunday.

Also my good pal Tony Gladwell brought by his Knowles VOLCANO (note the upper case letters!) for a check up and set up. 

Here I'm checking it out...

Just before I left on the last trip out I worked on an old Pollman banjo, I thought I was done until I strung it up and it quickly developed a concave neck. Too concave to be playable. 

First try was this job...

Here I've pulled frets 5-8 ...

The fret slots were cleaned with a saw and then flooded with cyano. This was to harden the soft wood of the fingerboard. This was allowed to dry then re-sawed...

Here the top of the slot is filed to help seat the frets. 

Fret tangs were corrugated, then the neck was bent back to open up the fret slots. The frets were installed and the pressure removed. I almost got what I was after. These jobs don't always turn out just how I think it will. Tomorrow I'll try heat.

More Soon!!!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 04/30/2015:  19:14:28

THURSDAY

I had several visitors today, including BHO member Steve Scarboro. It was great to visit with Steve even though the broken banjo peghead reason for visiting wasn't so much fun.

Continuing from yesterday...

Because the Pollman banjo neck wasn't where I wanted it to be, even after the earlier work I tried this. The neck was clamped onto this piece of steel, placed on a hot plate, heated through, then allowed to cool slowly  clamped into place...

The Pollman's head had a tiny hole and so it was repaired with a patch and cyano...

After just a couple of shots the ole' camera's batteries went dead and upon installing I found the extra batteries were not in workable shape so I figured I'd post (from earlier photographs) a bit on how I cut banjo heels.Now that everything is worked out this is a fairly pain free process.

First I mount the neck blank in the band saw radius cutting jig...

.

Mate it with the stationary half on the band saw and off we go...

I saw and then chisel out most of the tension hoop relief...

Then perfect it with this big drum sander. this thing by the way is running in the drill press's slowest setting...

More soon!!!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 05/01/2015:  19:15:15

FRIDAY

We just got in from picking up the grandboys in Clarksville. This is Ryland's birthday weekend so (being as it was his choice) we took them to dinner at a restaurant over by Fort Campbell who's name is simply BURRITO. Debbie, Ryland and I ate very well but the twins who are still more picky survived on nachos & refried beans. They did discover the joy of making music by blowing over glass Coke bottles... I guess all's well.

During the last trip I noticed some 5th. string buzzing. Hoping it would just go away didn't help. So this morning I made a new pip or 5th. string nut for it. This one is made from fossil mammoth ivory.

I first turned a rod on the small lathe, I believe it finished out to .143". This matches the pip hole. It was then cut to length and the slot was laid out. I mounted it in a jewelers hand vice...

Cut the slot...

Then shaped it. I first round the top. Next I lay out the face so it will complete the line of the 5th. fret. Then the face is filed off back to this point. This allows the pip to behave like an extension of the 5th. fret...

I hate to admit this but years ago when I engraved "Pharoh" on the PHARAOH'S truss rod cover, I misspelt it. Being very dyslexic my spelling stinks, so it was some time (maybe a couple of years) before somebody pointed out my error. Today the error was corrected.

I sanded the old misspelling off!

Slicked the piece of sunburst mother of pearl and inked it black so I could really see my lines as I engraved it...

Then went to scribin'.

All cut. I didn't shoot a photo of it all cleaned up and the lines filled. Maybe tomorrow...

More Soon!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 05/01/2015:  20:39:20

An excellent Friday!!

60spicker - Posted - 05/03/2015:  05:58:45

Did you rob a museum to get the fossilized Mammoth tusk ivory? Or did one of your cousins "find" it in the back yard? Tsk-tsk. At least the thing gets a proud resting place.

cbcarlisle - Posted - 05/03/2015:  09:53:16

Fossil mammoth (bone, teeth, tusks), commonly used in fine jewelry, knife handles, etc., is a big (legal) business. Google mammoth ivory.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 05/03/2015:  19:56:06

Dave,

It certainly was!

Terry,

Well....

Curt,

Thanks, you are so correct.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 05/03/2015:  20:11:01

SUNDAY 

@ THE 

HUMBOLDT STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

WEST TENNESSEE REGIONAL ART CENTER

What an interesting afternoon. Wednesday I hung several of my paintings in the gallery of the WTRAC in Humboldt, Tennessee and today I went for the opening of the show.  My new pal and gallery director Bill Hickerson (standing behind me) asked if I'd play HOME SWEET HOME...  so I did...

Low an behold when all was said and done I found that I had won Best of Show. Here I'm with my fellow artists (l to R) Martin Pascall, Ann Stapp, Becky Hedges and Michael McClure... Ya that's me with the red ribbon.

My winning painting B.C.E. 1353 Nefertiti...

And here with a frind of mine from the Queen of the Mississippi, Lois Currie...

And clowning with (l to r) Humboldt mayor Marvin Sikes, Strawberry Festival general chairman Rob Deloach, gallery director Bill Hickerson, me and Strawberry Festival president Terri Crider.

See Y'all Soon!!

Denton - Posted - 05/03/2015:  20:15:36

Really Awesome Cool Dan!

Paul R - Posted - 05/03/2015:  21:42:14

Congrats, Dan!

Thanks for doing your part to keep the arts alive.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 05/04/2015:  04:27:11

Richard & Paul,

Thanks!

Dave1climber - Posted - 05/04/2015:  05:45:00

Congratulations on having a good time, and best in show!!   

Kaelri - Posted - 05/04/2015:  12:01:04

Dan, my daughter and I were in a local antique gallery recently and we came across this unique hand built paddle boat. She thought you might like to see pics of it so she took some. The paddle boat was perched high upon an old cabinet and my daughter and I both being short....well, um.... vertically challenged........we could not get close enough to get good pics of the details made by the creator of this boat.  It really was neat to stand and look at. And if anyone wants it....we were able to read the price tag.....$650.00 is the asking price. And congrats on the 251,341 reads thus far!

kvdkieft - Posted - 05/04/2015:  12:40:09

Congratulations on best of show! Whew!!!!
(you mean it wasn't a dog show?)
Just kidding!!!!
You rock Dan!

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 05/04/2015:  17:36:10

Congrats Dan.... You're the most talented artistic craftsman that I know!

guitarman8491 - Posted - 05/04/2015:  17:57:53

Congrats Dan you are a true renaissance man...you have mastered so many arts...bravo!!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 05/04/2015:  19:11:32

Dave, Ellen, Kenny, Marvin & Doug,

Thank you so very much, you are much too kind....

Ellen,

Thanks for the photos of the boat. If I had an extra moment or two I'd like to build a model like that of the Natchez, Sprague or even the Lee... Time, time, time.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 05/04/2015:  19:29:00

MONDAY

(actually most of this post is from Saturday!)

Ok I'll admit it, most of this post is days old. We had such a great time in the instrument building class (and I forgot to bring the photos home, until today) that it just seamed correct to post them!

The morning started out with an in depth tutorial on setups. Boys do you remember the mantra? NECK- NUT- SADDLE!

Then we dug into the constructing. Here Thomas is playing rosewood catch  as we mill out a bunch of Honduran rosewood fingerboards...

And then he and Zeb ran them through the thickness sander and made them just right!

I almost never catch Kevin just cogitating. But I did here. Must a been the neck but I'm not sure!

Here Zeb is at the tablesaw cutting fret slots on his fingerboard....

And now Thomas' turn...

Today, the Pullman banjo finally sung! What a sweet voice she has! Here I tie a knot to kep the sting in the tailpiece...

Now the best part of all, getting to play it...

More tomorrow!!