Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/23/2015:  05:07:36

MONDAY

This has been an interesting time!

Friday around 4:30 -5 PM my wife Debbie called me with the news that our chicken house was turned over on top of our neighbors chicken house. Some sort of weather/ wind even had occurred.

So I went home .

Our neighborhood was a mess. Trees  and limbs down all over. After freeing my chickens (who were unhurt) I went to the store and bought a chainsaw and spent Friday evening, Saturday (after teaching) and most of Sunday on clean up, cut up detail. Most of the neighborhood is now back in order. I realize that I still have mussels that I've not used in years! 

So Monday it was back in the shop!

Friday this one was born.

Its a wooden rim instrument whose new home will be in Wisconsin...

The pearl here is an overlay with finish over the top. 

Saturday it was teaching day. here Kevin is working on his neck. I just like this pose!

Stoic!

Here everyone is going for it!

Zeb is working on his neck, as is Kevin and

I'm showing Thomas how to pre shape the bottom of a brace...

Yesterday it was inlay time for this old fiddle. I cut pearl & silver for the fingerboard. I'm reproducing the original inlay from a failed fingerboard. Here I'm routing for the stem. This one will take a couple routering/ inlay steps to complete.

First the stem and flowers ( these are basically dots) are inlayed. Then the leafs will be installed...

My good friend Hollis Mayo has retired back in Paris after several years in Florida. Hollis is a fine repairman and electronics tech. He started today helping out with some of my  repair load.

I'm sure there will be more photos of Hollis in the future...

Saturday Zeb glued this peghead overlay to his guitar neck. It is from a clario walnut burl that I've had for 30 years or more. We sealed it with shellac then filled it with colored epoxy. After everything set up good and hard, I sanded it on Monday....

Here I'm rubbing a little shellac on it...

Back to the inlay I scribe the two leaf pieces...

Everything glued in and filled...

After sanding to 800 grit the engraving begins...

Engraved it is very like the original....

More Soon!!!

Dave1climber - Posted - 06/23/2015:  05:41:30

One could say that doing an inlay on a curved surface is fiddleley. 



Hollis on repair and extra set of hands.  



Keep the chain saw handy, next you know you will be using it to carve out banjo necks. 

guitarman8491 - Posted - 06/23/2015:  16:58:34

Dan, That banjo you just finished up is a dandy. I would be interested in what scale length you used. I'm just finishing up a 25 1/2 scale for an open back I built years ago.

Sorry to hear about your storm mess. We have had our share the worst was when we woke up to seeing my daughter looking out back, tears in her eyes, saying the barn is gone.. Bad ice storm more than the old dairy barn could handle.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/23/2015:  19:54:14

Dave,

Doug,

It is 26 1/4" Now that it has been played and has settled in it really has a nice tone. 

I'm getting ready to head out to Vicksburg early in the morning for the Queen of the Mississippi and a group of Aussie's. A big time should be had by all!

Denton - Posted - 06/23/2015:  22:13:01

I just met the M/V American Eagle. She is long and tall. Not as long as the Queen though. At least as tall though. Can't tell a bunch at night. But again but not a true sternwheel powered vessel.

Denton - Posted - 06/23/2015:  22:14:20

She is docking at stopping at St. Francisville LA

Denton - Posted - 06/23/2015:  22:33:43

I was comparing the American Queen not the Queen Of The Miss.

tylerandal - Posted - 06/24/2015:  06:22:07

How long will you have that banjo sitting around before you have to send it off?  Looks great!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/26/2015:  05:28:22

Denton,

It's nice to hear about the American Eagle, we'll be on her next week. Right now Eddie and are onboard the Queen of the Mississippi fighting her way through high water somewhere south of Helena, Arkansas.

Tyler,

I should have it for a few days. It is for someones birthday in July.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/27/2015:  10:52:41

SATURDAY

(FROM THE QUEEN)

Hay everybody, today is ketchup day here on the Queen of the Mississippi. We have had more fun and excitement than the law should allow! But I'll tell you about that later... now though from the banjo shop...

This old Dobson banjo had multiple peghead breaks and so I've glued a new peghead overlay to the face and will also glue a backstrap to reinforce the peghead. These steeply angled pegheads, made fro a solid piece of wood are problems just waiting to happen. And it happened here...

So here I have already glued the new peghead veneer on and I'm chiseling out the slots...

The back of the peghead has had about 1/8 inch removed and now the same is being done to the neck...

A shop made veneer was made and thicknessed to the same dimension as the wood removed. It has been bent over a hot pipe and is now glued on with epoxy...

Here I am custom making "rope" binding for the old fiddle that I inlayed the other day. I've made up a bunch of ebony and maple veneers, thicknessed to match the old violin. Here I'm gluing them together...

After the glue dried I planed a smooth side to go against the bandsaw's table...

I made an angled push block and went to cutting...

Here are the cutout blocks ready for gluing. I'll glue and cut them into strips after I get back home on Sunday...

More Soon!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/27/2015:  12:24:00

POST 2

(FROM THE QUEEN)

Back again...

I'm sitting in the forth deck Sky Lounge pecking away on the ole' laptop. I'm the only non-crew passenger on this downward passage... and that is a interesting thing!

Normally (as y'all know) I ride back to Vicksburg with the boat and perform for the guests, but this is a training trip and as my car is in Vicksburg...

Eddie went back to Kentucky to perform for a wedding and so I am sitting in this wonderfully quiet room typing.

We got on board early Wednesday to preform for another Australian Pacific Tours group. These people are so responsive and fun to perform for. So very very responsive.

Our river Laurate Mike Jennings arrainged for a special treat on Wednesday. A friend of his owns a World War Two vintage P51 fighter plane.  So this friend did a fly over just outside of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He did about six passes of the Queen and was it ever exciting! Engins roaring he flew by and over us at 450 mph!

The Mississippi river is nearing flood stage. Here at the Memphis Gage today it is at 28, flood stage here is considered to be 34 feet.

Around 1870 arbitrary zero gage levels were set at the lowest point anyone could remember. So each town has it's own gage. Riverboat pilots must know and understand how the various gage readings effect navigation. 

When the river rises it spreads and much of that spreading is in wooded ares and this floats downed trees, logs and such.

The past few days the river has been covered with this debris. It reminds me of Huck Finn's daddy's  cabin floating in Mississippi river floodwater.

During this trip we caught a couple of logs in our drives necessitating the bringing in of drivers to clear the props. You can just see one of their helmets (the yellow) as he comes out from under our boat.

Here was Thursday's great Banjo 102 class. These folks did great. There could be several of up and coming banjo pickers in this bunch!

The Queen at Beale St. Landing in Memphis...

More Soon!!!

DEmery - Posted - 06/27/2015:  17:37:05

Hey Dan....you still out floating the river? Another class of happy claw hammer folks. That fiddle rope binding is interesting. Haven't seen you do that before; I don't think. Bump the back of that guitar body when you seen it. David E.

Kaelri - Posted - 06/28/2015:  06:47:59

Interesting about the water being high on the Mississippi. We've had much more rain here in Michigan than we should. A lot of our rivers are high and we are often under flood watches.....which brings me to an interesting question.....Do Banjos Float? 

Dave1climber - Posted - 06/28/2015:  07:12:30

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kaelri

 

Interesting about the water being high on the Mississippi. We've had much more rain here in Michigan than we should. A lot of our rivers are high and we are often under flood watches.....which brings me to an interesting question.....Do Banjos Float? 

---

I hope to never find out. 

Kaelri - Posted - 06/28/2015:  18:02:11

Ha! Frightening, I know!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/28/2015:  18:16:30

To all of my friends here on the BanjoHangout:

​Yesterday morning my eldest son Chris was in a very bad motorcycle accident. He was struck by a car as he was driving his bike down Hwy 79 outside of Paris. He was airlifted to Vanderbuilt from the accident site. He is in extremely  critical condition.

I have just returned from his bedside. It is so difficult to see ones child in this condition. 

I am thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers.

WesB - Posted - 06/28/2015:  18:34:01

Dan -

Sorry to hear about that. Prayers to your son are en route and will continue.

Wes

R. Blakeslee Gilpin - Posted - 06/28/2015:  18:46:18

So sorry to hear this news Dan. My thoughts and prayers are going up for your family tonight.

cbrianroll - Posted - 06/28/2015:  19:08:36

So sorry to hear this tragic news!! My family's best wishes and prayers for you and your family.

manomusic - Posted - 06/29/2015:  00:52:58

My prayers and thoughts go out for Chris and your family Dan,

Neil

dbrooks - Posted - 06/29/2015:  03:09:22

Dan, I join the many others who are offering their prayers for Chris and for your family.

David

rubicon - Posted - 06/29/2015:  04:47:33

My prayers and best wishes go out to you and your family Dan .

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 06/29/2015:  04:52:14

Praying for God's healing power....

guitarman8491 - Posted - 06/29/2015:  05:30:08

Dan I will be praying for your son's recovery and for you and your family. God bless you all.

60spicker - Posted - 06/29/2015:  05:40:22

Oh Dan, I'm sorry to read of this. Chris and your entire family are in my thoughts and prayers. May God provide His blessing, comfort and healing in this hour of need.

Dave1climber - Posted - 06/29/2015:  05:56:02

Dan

I am very sorry to hear of this.  The doctors and care givers WILL give Chris the very best treatment possible with the best outcome possible.

Kaelri - Posted - 06/29/2015:  06:18:14

We are praying for Chris, the staff and all of your family.

kwl - Posted - 06/29/2015:  08:55:00

Dan, I added Christ and your family to my prayer list. May God presence comfort and support you in these difficult days.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/29/2015:  10:09:14

Thank y'all for everything. 

My daughter Amy has been updating things on facebook here is a excerpt from yesterdays post:

The pressure in Chris's skull has gone down. They said they can only give him a certain amount of meds so when they hit the limit the pressure could go back up.  He has been responding to stimulation. he has been able to follow some simple commands. They need his brain to have as little stimulation as possible to try to heal. 

Today they are ending the drugs for the brain swelling. The pressure seams to have stabilized down where it needs to be. So today will be a day of rest and healing for Chris. Tomorrow though, they are planning surgery to mend the many broken bones.

Debbie and I will be heading home later today to return in the morning. Thank you again for all of your thoughts & prayers.

DEmery - Posted - 06/29/2015:  10:17:56

Thanks for the update Dan. Tough times I know but many are pulling for a great outcome. David E.

Dave1climber - Posted - 06/29/2015:  10:56:54

Dan

Thanks for the update.  From your post it would seem that Chris has turned the corner on a major mile stone.  Many broken bones will take longer to heal, but WILL happen.

guitarman8491 - Posted - 06/29/2015:  13:01:54

Dan thank you for the update and my prayers will continue for Chris, you and your family. God bless you all.

kwl - Posted - 06/29/2015:  13:16:45

Dan, thanks for the update. My prayers for Chris and the rest of you continue.

nathane - Posted - 06/29/2015:  13:28:38

Thoughts and prayers for you all from England too. Hope to hear continued good news.

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/29/2015:  13:51:37

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR THOUGHTS & PRAYERS!!! 

Here is a post that I made on facebook about the wreck. 

Saturday our son Christopher had a horrendous motorcycle accident. 

Chris the most careful of drivers was struck and nearly killed by a car as he was riding his motorcycle to Jackson, Tennessee. He was airlifted from the scene of the accident to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. 

His body is much broken and brain swelling nearly took his life but this has stabilized. There will be surgeries to repair broken bones in the next couple of days.

We hope for recovery.

Those friends of you who ride motorcycles I wish you could see him now laying there broken in his hospital bed. There through no fault of his own. As safe and careful a driver as I have ever known.

My question to you is this: Can your skills, though they be great, protect you?

Bufo Bill - Posted - 06/29/2015:  14:37:18

Sorry to hear of this tragedy, but we live in an age of unsurpassed medical knowledge, hopefully we are seeing that in Chris's condition.
Thinking about you all, you are not forgotten.

All the best from Bill.

Nels - Posted - 06/29/2015:  17:47:31

Sorry to hear this news. Our prayers are with your son and all your family in this difficult time.

cbrianroll - Posted - 06/29/2015:  17:50:23

So sad no one sees motorcycles like 5hey should!!! Still praying for you and family!

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 06/29/2015:  17:59:56

we will keep a good thought for Chris and your family.

v/r

lewp 

casinojack - Posted - 06/29/2015:  19:41:30

Dan
My prayers are being sent for you and your family.
God is watching over all of you.
Jack

amconk6 - Posted - 06/29/2015:  20:00:20

Many prayers Dan. Hope your son heals quickly!!

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/30/2015:  08:04:25

THANK Y'ALL FOR YOUR KIND THOUGHTS & PRAYERS

Chris is slowly improving. They are tentatively planning on doing surgery tomorrow to mend his many broken bones. He needs to be a bit more stable before he goes through this.

Debbie and I came home last night from the hospital and are just now preparing to return. I will keep y'all updated.

Thank you again!

Dave1climber - Posted - 06/30/2015:  11:24:15

Still sending positive thoughts towards Chris.  Its good to know that he is improving.  

Edited by - Dave1climber on 06/30/2015 11:36:41

Ross - Posted - 06/30/2015:  12:43:23

Sending thoughts and prayers for you, Chris and family.

Steven M - Posted - 06/30/2015:  14:03:54

All the best and speedy recovery.

What state was his helmet in?

Dan Knowles - Posted - 06/30/2015:  16:56:14

Thank y'all very much.

Steven,

I don't know how it was after the accident. I do know that Chris always wore the best protective gear that he could buy. 

Today he shows some improvement although he is in great pain. The surgery to mend the bones was put off until tomorrow.

It is so difficult to go into that room and see him in such pain knowing there is not a thing you can do.

Nels - Posted - 06/30/2015:  17:10:41

Our prayers continue for Chris and all of your family.  

rubicon - Posted - 06/30/2015:  19:20:05

I wish you and your family well Dan all you can do is be there for him we are all here for you.

Edited by - rubicon on 06/30/2015 19:20:34

60spicker - Posted - 07/01/2015:  06:35:24

Dan, remind yourself - and when the time is right, your son - that pain is something we must go THROUGH. To everything is a season, and a time of hurt often accompanies the time to heal. Meanwhile, there are medications that can provide some relief, but the sad truth is that these meds can then become a much greater curse and carry the time of hurt much farther out than is necessary. I offer this to you in love and as one who has been there. You continue to be in my prayers. May God strengthen and encourage you, and may He grant you the courage you need to lead your family in this hour of trouble.