The more I see of that set of cocobolo, the more I fall in love with it. It's sold already, right?

This is a great thread, Tim and Mary - even better than usual (but maybe I'm coo coo for coco too)!

Hi Stan,

Yes, this one is sold but we do have many more sets of coo coo coco in stock :eek:

Check your PM box...

Very nicely done Tim. it never occurred to me to use a dremel to cut out the pearl. I've been sawing with jeweler's saw.

This a very important note about the breaking of the five carbon bits. I am so glad you shared this.

Tools, broken bits, broken parts, Upgrading Tools to better performing and more accurate tools, is a huge expense to any custom maker who looks to advance his product in quality and or performance.

These extra expenses occur in so many ways that often go unrealized to the consumer. Let us not forget that experimentation in itself almost always has additional costs. Wood, plastics, glues, epoxies for new forms and jigs adds up pretty quickly.

Then of course, there is always the added extra time factor that it takes to experiment, repair, and refine a particular method. All of which the maker does not get reimbursed for.

In the end, for most custom builders, the all mighty dollar is not the reward. The reward in producing a product that will be appreciated...nay...CHERISHED-by the end user. A product that will hopefully be around and adorned for several centuries to come. Words of praise is the sweetest music any maker can hope to hear.

I thought I should also add: One of the worse group of Words any maker can here is,
" All You Gotta To Do"
ha ha...it is never as simple as what it might seem. What may look outwardly as a simply task...a simple extra, will often involve a new untested technique. Thus time and experimentation added. Plus it often will involve the building of a new jig to be able to accomplish that seemingly simple task.

With that being said. I was once told by a dear friend of mine, that listening to the clients wants and ideas made him reach out and learn. And ultimately made his product better. Ha ha...probably should have not mentioned this. It is a fine line a maker walks between growing and learning and doing what is right for his product & client. While listening to new ideas is great, the maker most often needs to firmly guide his client.

Yes. Gently, but firmly. It's not easy for many to see the step by step details and the time to gain the customers trust to know we want them happy, but with a dignified product their family will respect for years to come.

Quick story: A relative of mine thought it would be nice to give her girls little guitars made by us. Her thinking was if it is small and she knows where the woods are she liked the best then it will only take a few hours and then the girls could have them until they are a few years and we could repeat that process. Of course she wanted them for free. What she doesn't realize is Tim's jigs are all hand made which takes months or more to perfect. The girls are older now and said their mom would have sold the guitars within that year so ... It was all a dream that did not come true.

Being a luthier is not a get rich scheme for Tim. It's a good thing he likes me because being the wife I kind of grimace when I see another handful of parts sitting on the work bench that weren't there a few hours earlier.

But being the luthier and his wife, we feel blessed to see our guitars on stadium stages, small stages, couches and by came fires doing a service for the maker of the trees it took to build the guitar. Our guitars bring us YOU ... all of you. It's a treasured business and I am thankful for the other luthiers who admit their love for this work.

It might sound corny, but there is no better date than to spend my hours in the wood shop sharing the love of wood with the one I married 36 years ago.

Your husband is one lucky guy to have a woman by his side that truly shares & enjoys the guitar-wood dreams!

Great points being made Tim and Mary ... "making guitars is not a get-rich-quick scheme" ... truer words were never spoken!

Since shell is water resistant and glue is not, its just a matter of placing the shell in a hot water bath for a few minutes and the shell will cleanly release from the glue and substrate.




Amen brother!





And a DOUBLE Amen!






Its been said if a luthier wants to be a millionaire, start out with 2 million.

Many times a luthier would make more money flipping burgers :roll:

I have a hunch there may be a consensus among builders that most of us do this for the love of the craft and just being in the audience of our customers making music with a tool that we helped create.

This is my last commercial break of this year for anyone who might be interested in last minute Christmas gift ideas, A few items can be seen at the bottom of the page here: http://www.mcknightguitars.com/prices/


Red Aprons for your fun summer BBQ

Key chains - buy one for your significant other and tell them when they get tired of seeing your picks in the laundry it's their job to put it in their own pick pouch for when you really need them! (Hey... just sayin'.)

Mugs to enjoy for your favorite hot drink at work.

T-shirts - limited sizes

Ladies long sleeve denim shirts (medium only)

We have a few balsa airplanes (limited number) to make your last day of work before Christmas break much more fun chaos.

Black and white sunglasses to hand to fellow employees while you tell them next year will have more sunny days because YOU are employed there.

Contact me:
[email protected]

It only took me 26 years to design and build a jig to glue the bindings on the edge of fingerboards:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c7...M=w679-h904-no









And I finally got around to it:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/m8...s=w679-h904-no









Mock up of where the fingerboard inlays / position markers will go:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pf...A=w679-h904-no

I now officially have fingerboard-binding-jig envy!

I like that binding jig. I want one.

I hope you replace Mary's cutting boards, Tim!

Seriously, as funny as it may seem making jigs doesn't need to be an expensive affair. I think it was Mary who told us never to throw away our scraps as we might need them some day.

I'm nowhere near being a capable luthier but I was able to make a mold for a rosette mold out of a cutting board I bought at a dollar store because CA glue will not bond with that material - though I still keep the wax paper handy. Don't tell my wife, though. I have designs on using her rolling pin as a jig to make a "Todd style" sound port jig as well. Shhhhhh!!! ;):D

Observant eye there Neil. I made this jig out of similar material as a plastic cutting board. The material’s proper name is UHMW plastic and it is indeed impervious to glue adherence.