#014 - Lou Shields Resonator - Clamps off

Took the clamps off and sanded and filled and sanded some areas.  Wiped it down with thinner to clean up the dust and show what it'll look like with the finish on.

#014 - Lou Shields Resonator - Almost time for the finish.

Did some fine tuning on the tenon to get it to fit properly, and also added a walnut shim under the floating part of the fretboard for some extra support.  Got the whole thing gluing up in my shop vise and makeshift neck jig right now.

as usual, my work area is a mess.  anyone wanna donate a cabinet of some sort for my tools?  heh

#014 - Lou Shields Resonator Headstock

I can't remember if I wrote about it, but I stopped by Specimen to get more binding on Friday night, finished the back on saturday while Regan napped.  Today I got the headstock slotted and branded.  Here's the pics:

Tomorrow I'm hoping on getting the whole thing assembled, and the I have a couple spots on the back that I need to fill.  Had a couple small chipouts while scraping the bindings down, but its not a huge deal, got some grain filling epoxy today for that.  Stay tuned.

#014 - Lou Shields Resonator update #2

So Regan's cousin came over to play and I had time to get a little more done.  Since its -284 fuckin degrees outside, I had to figure something out so I could work inside and not make such a mess.  My solution?  Duct tape a vacuum hose to my router.  I got the top bound, but realized I told lou to order 2 strips instead of 4, plus I ran out of tape.  I'll have to go pick up more of both tomorrow.  Here's a few pics for now.

#014 - Lou Shields Resonator Sound holes

Regan is upstairs with her grandparents right now, so I took advantage of the situation and got Lou's soundholes cut out.  They still need a little cleaning up to try and get them a little more mirrored, but they came out better than I expected.  When he first gave me the drawing, I thought it would be a nightmare, but he allowed me to simplify it slightly to account for the dremel bit.

#014 - Lou Shields Resonator neck update

Finished carving it with some help from CJ.  He asked me to teach him how to sand, so I let him rough sand the other half when I finished with the carving.  Here's a few pic, they don't come close to doing it justice.  It kept picking up too dark with the flash, its more of a chocolate brown tone than it looks here.

#014 - Lou Shields Resonator

Well right now I have the neck half carved.  Gotta take a break due to a sore wrist and shoulder.  Hand carving flamed claro walnut is a workout.  My stepson CJ wanted to take a few pics of me working for my site and his "instant gram" page, so I'll post a few of those.

#014 - Lou Shields Resophonic Adventure

Well, I forgot what I've posted about this again.  I got the 1/4" x 1/2" steel bar glued in last week, and the fretboard and faceplate glued on the other day but I'll have to check if I took pics of that step.  Today I cut the headstock and taper, and got it sanded on the belt sander to within range for shaping.  Probably will get started on that tomorrow, I've got a lot more cleaning to do around the house today, especially in my work area.  Here's some pics for now.

Sprite decided to come inspect my work.

#018 - Soprano Shitar (aka the Dook-alele)

 My girlfriend had me do this one for the white elephant gift exchange at her work, mainly as a means to get around the no soliciting policy they have which prevents me from leaving business cards there. We're hoping it catches some attention and gets me some business.

-Salvaged Birch body bound in cream plastic
-13.625" scale rosewood fretboard
-Rosewood bridge
-Salvaged 2x4 neck
-Overall length: 21"
-Widest point of body: 6.5"