Franklin OM build

[mhw48]

At this point in our planning — October 2022 — Nick had done the preliminary work on the rosette and we’d pretty much worked out the inlay designs. Nick was finishing up one OM, and starting another and then would begin work in ernest on my guitar, probably by the beginning of 2023.

Then Nick hit a setback: the landlord of his shop space, from whom he’d been renting since moving to Portland, had, sometime in the early part of 2022, informed Nick that he would eventually have to move. A renter who had a larger space than Nick wanted to expand and had expressed interest in taking over Nick’s area at some point, so Nick would be out.
Nick had asked if it could be in the summer months, since it rains pretty continuously in Portland most of the rest of the year, and the landlord agreed to keep Nick informed. So Nick continued renting on a month to month basis, waiting for the other renter to decide they were ready to take over his spot.
Summer came and went without any word from the landlord, but then in October 2022, Nick was suddenly informed that he had to vacate the space by the end of the year. So for the final three months of 2022, Nick was working to finish up a guitar which he’d just begun, while simultaneously trying to pack up his shop.
Nick’s plan was to move his workshop into the basement of his home. He’d already set up his spray booth there. His basement is quite large, but essentially unfinished, and his house was not wired for shop tools.
In the pouring rain in December 2022, Nick, his wife, Jeanne, and an assistant moved Nick out of his old workshop and put all of his equipment into the basement. This involved, among other things, rigging up a winch to slowly slide his heavier machines down the basement stairs.
Guitar building was on hold while Nick renovated the basement: sheetrock on the walls and ceiling, installing shelves and rewiring the basement to handle the electrical demand of his shop machines. He also ended up rebuilding the basement stairs.
All of it was incredibly time consuming, especially the rewiring which involved obtaining city permits and submitting to pre and post wiring inspections, and digging a trench through his concrete driveway to bury the wires. An estimated three month project turned into five months, then eight months, then nine...

[mhw48]

Nick and I would speak fairly regularly through this period, both about Nick’s progress in setting up his shop and also in refining various details of my guitar, as well as some tricky parts of this particular build:
One of the inlays we’d come up with sits right on the butt of the guitar. Normally, when Nick bends the sides of a guitar he starts at the waist and then bends the ends to form the side of the upper and lower bout. He then trims off the excess at either end.
Because the inlay was already in place on the sides, Nick had to pin the butt end of the side exactly in place and then bend the side starting from the tail of the guitar.
He couldn’t actually “pin” the wood because he couldn’t insert a metal pin through the heating sheet without damaging it.
This October, when Nick started up work on my guitar, he came with a jig for holding the end of the side exactly in place:

[mhw48]

Nick ran a test piece first to make sure he had everything aligned.
He could then bend the sides starting from the butt end, working through the waist and finally the upper bout.


With the two sides of the inlay meeting perfectly on the butt of the guitar.

[Matthew Sarad]

My brother has a place in Madison.
Close enough to T.I.N.Y.?

[jt1]

Originally Posted by Matthew Sarad

My brother has a place in Madison.
Close enough to T.I.N.Y.?

Yes!!!! Just over 20 miles from my home.

Let's stay in touch.

[mhw48]

Oh! Right, I described the whole process of aligning the inlay that's on the butt end of the guitar, but didn't post a photo of the inlay.
Here it is (Nick hasn't scraped it down yet, so it will look slightly sharper):

It is fossilized mammoth ivory, ebony and burl wood. The design is based on the lobby elevator doors of the Chrysler Building in NYC.

[mhw48]

Since I live in New York City, about 30 blocks south of the Chrysler Building, I thought I'd wander up there and take a look at the doors in person...
but I couldn't find them...
According to the internet, they look like this:

[Nemoman]

Very cool--that will be special indeed!

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Very cool--that will be special indeed!

Thanks, I am thinking so!

[mhw48]

Nick has a burl -- which from the outside is a pretty hideous item -- that he sliced up into pieces with a very attractive grain.





He then bleached the slice that was used in the inlays

[mhw48]

A slot for the rosette is routed


The center of the sound hole opening is removed


and the rosette (that is the underside of the rosette the photo)...


is fitted.

[mhw48]

then it's time to glue in the neck block and the tail block



once the glue is dry, the clamps come off


then the top and bottom linings are glued and clamped (not simultaneously, of course!)


and then it's time for a meal.

[FormerFoodie]

I love how this one is coming along. The inlay at the tail is delightfully tasteful. I also didn't know that the burl was bleached. It really contrasts nicely with the darker tones when it's bleached! Keep the pics coming!

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by FormerFoodie

I love how this one is coming along. The inlay at the tail is delightfully tasteful. I also didn't know that the burl was bleached. It really contrasts nicely with the darker tones when it's bleached! Keep the pics coming!

Thanks! I am very happy with the way the inlay turned out! More photos to come...

[4mykey]

Wow!!!!! Those inlays are stunning! Especially the end piece. That's going to be a truly beautiful and unique guitar. I think the headstock Nick did for me will add a nice elegant touch. Can't wait to see it!