Franklin OM build

[Slimt]

I had a Franklin OM -45 style. From Sandpoint. By far one of the best guitars I had ever owned at the time. Nothing but good things to say about it. I had to sell do to health issues years ago .

Your fingerboard inlay is pretty cool.

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by Slimt

I had a Franklin OM -45 style. From Sandpoint. By far one of the best guitars I had ever owned at the time. Nothing but good things to say about it. I had to sell do to health issues years ago .

Your fingerboard inlay is pretty cool.

Thanks!
Sorry to hear you had to sell your Franklin, I hope your healh issues were resolved.

[mhw48]

Nick and I had been discussing various binding options for a while, then Nick suggested using the prewar D-28 "zipper" back strip on the top, along with ivoroid.



I thought it was a good choice, so we decided to go with it:



Nick said the zipper binding was not easy to bend.

[4mykey]

That binding looks nice! And that endpiece inlay is amazing! Really stunning.

[justonwo]

That is lovely. You’re going to really love the sound of this one, I predict. Nick makes some great ones.

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by 4mykey

That binding looks nice! And that endpiece inlay is amazing! Really stunning.

Originally Posted by justonwo

That is lovely. You’re going to really love the sound of this one, I predict. Nick makes some great ones.

Thank you Mike and Juston. I am really happy with the way this guitar is shaping up, and I am thinking this will be one of Nick's great ones!

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by mhw48

Nick said the zipper binding was not easy to bend.

That's the first thing that popped into my mind when I looked at that straight backstrip! Amazing!

Tommy

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by tommieboy

That's the first thing that popped into my mind when I looked at that straight backstrip! Amazing!

Tommy

I'll have to ask Nick how he bent it. It seems like it would either twist or crack...

[mhw48]

Nick’s response when I asked about bending the bindings for the top:
“I took my time and I would bend them and then re-soak them again until they did what I wanted because I’m the boss of wood”
He certainly is the boss of wood!

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by mhw48

Nick’s response when I asked about bending the bindings for the top:
“I took my time and I would bend them and then re-soak them again until they did what I wanted because I’m the boss of wood”
He certainly is the boss of wood!

Tommy

[mhw48]

Nick wanted to put a binding on the back as well and suggested this design


I though it was a cool idea, so Nick set to work on it


I like!

[mhw48]

Since Nick used pre-war D-28 style zipper back strips on the top, that raises the question of what to put as a back strip on the back?
I have no back strip at all on my Franklin dread, other than a thin black line:


While my Jumbo has Nick’s “arrowhead” design:

[mhw48]

Nick had various ideas. So did I, including one that Nick said was a car crash. (Not metaphorically; he said it literally looked like a car crash! Enough said about that unfortunate design.)
Initially Nick came up with a variation of the “arrowhead” back strip, replacing the arrowheads at the extremities with a small version of the fan that is inlaid on the butt of the guitar.
That seemed like a good idea, and Nick had two small “fans” constructed when he had all the other inlays fabricated.

(they are close to a Nickel in size)

This was back sometime in 2022, when the build was first set in motion.
During all the intervening interruptions, Nick kept thinking about the guitar, and something about the back strip design just wasn’t working for him.
At some point Nick had a new idea: what about using the small fans to look like cleats? The way bowtie cleats are used to join two planks together


Two fans, end to end, would obvious not be mechanically joining the two halves of the back, but would mimic the look.
Nick had more sets of the mini-fans fabricated, and set to work inlaying them into the back.

[mhw48]

Nick laid out the sets of fans, and set up a jig for his router


Clamping and gluing the last pair in place...




A view that shows the "cleats", as well as the inlay on the tail of the guitar.

[Nemoman]

Such a beautiful cohesive look on all the elements of this guitars--it's really looking wonderful!