Lewis
Bauer opened his spacious Fort Worth shop to the members of LINT
for this month’s gathering. Lewis is a master of many
talents as we saw in the array of projects he has undertaken in his
shop; a beautiful carved string bass, antique period furniture reproductions,
violins and even a real wooden airplane!
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He’s
such a nice guy that he’s offered to let LINT hold our future
meetings and seminars there in his big ‘ol workspace) Thank
you Lewis!
We had an excellent
turnout numbering about 25. Welcome to some new faces and several new
members; David Gedding, Terry Mc Carty, Alan Yeats, David Leisure,
Ed Proctor and several
others. |
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Our
first topic for discussion was our 2004 Masters Seminar featuring
noted designer/builder Fred
Carlson. He is
a California luthier and a long time member of the Guild of American
Luthiers. He has been a contributing author for the GAL Quarterly
and speaker at the GAL conventions. Our tuition for the event
will be $50-$75 for the all day session and materials. The event
will be held on a Saturday in February 2004. Details will be
on the this web site as soon as the arrangements are finalized. |
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| Bo Walker
showed his recent find of tempered aluminum sheet metal used
as an alternative to the expensive stainless steel used in
side bending machines. A 10 foot roll of 10 inch wide aluminum
is sold as gutter flashing at Lows home improvement stores.
It is spring tempered and very cheap (under $6/roll). |
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Swap
meet:
Chuck
Lee brought a great info packet for inlaying materials, etc.
from Masecraft Supply Co. Masecraft does not have a web site.
So if you missed this handout their address is:
254 Amity St. P.O.Box 423
Meriden, CT 06450
This is
what our members are all about! He put in color copies, price
lists,
addresses...thanks
for all the hard work Chuck. |
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Bob Harris
brought some very high quality European spruce tops for the
members to select from. The prices for this wood are
slightly higher because of the Euro vs. the dollar. It’s
not likely to get cheaper in the future, so if you missed the
chance to get some for yourself, contact Bob
The swap
meet was great fun!….veneers, hand tools, a mandolin,
guitar top wood and a Delta 6” joiner all went to new
homes. |
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Members
had several instruments in progress. Bill Nugetts' twelve string
on
the left, Jim Whelan with his third instrument, a very nice Madagascar
Rosewood center and Chris
Jenkins with his latest on the right.
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TECH SESSION:
Banjo maker/inlay expert Moses
McKnight
Moses brought his skills and his scroll saw to demonstrate
his method for inlaying fingerboards with beautifully
selected
mother-of-pearl and abalone designs. His wife Crystal assists
with the patterns and shell selection.
Before starting, Moses warned everyone to use a dust mask
to avoid breathing the shell dust and pointed out the work
area
must be well lighted during the operation.
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key tool is a smooth running and accurate scroll saw. His came
from his father-in-law as a family heirloom of sorts. It was made
by Delta sometime in the 1950’s. He uses #4 Antelope Blue
(German made) jeweler’s saw blades available from www.kingsleynorth.com. |
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The
paper patterns are created an affixed to the shell blanks
with double sided Scotch tape available at WalMart. Then
the shell and pattern are
glued to a balsa wood plank using Elmer’s white
glue. The balsa allows for support of the delicate shell during
the sawing operation.
After he cut to the pattern lines, the finished shell pieces
are soaked in water to remove them from the balsa.
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Next,
the fingerboard is sanded and the fret slots are marked so
that the shell can be laid out to begin marking for the router
work.
Each part
of the complete pattern is glued onto the top surface of
the fingerboard using Duoco cement. This holds
the shell in place so that a white spray lacquer can be applied
over the entire fingerboard for contrast during the routing
operation.
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the paint is dry the shell is removed and the outline can be clearly
seen for routing.
Sometimes the outline is scribed just inside the white paint to give a cleaner
edge when routing. This marking can be done with a metal scribe or an Exacto
knife. |
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Moses
then uses a 1/16” carbide down-spiral
bit to rough out the inlay cavities. He routs to a depth of
just less than the shell thickness. This allows for the shell
to be
sanded level with the fingerboard surface with minimal shell
loss.
The final routing is accomplished with 1/32” carbide
down-spiral for the finest detail. The bits used are available
from Moses
(903)546-6153, or E-mail
him.
These pictures show why Moses has become so popular among banjo
players! For a very reasonable price, Moses will also inlay guitar
fingerboards in various designs to suit your needs.
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