redeeming a crack from the bending process - also the Vancouver upcoming show

[WayneJohnson]

It's been a while since I have posted, but I do want to say I have benefitted many times over from the wonderful content on this forum so thanks to all those who contribute. For example, one of the greatest things I have learned from other, wiser and more experienced luthiers is how to handle mistakes and accidents that inevitably occur. It is most inspiring to experience the humble, honest, kind and generous attitude of many luthiers I have spoken to about what to do when mistakes occur, or when something goes wrong. I have never been shamed by them, its much more of, 'welcome to the family' approach, they'll share their own mistakes with great vulnerability and humility and offer fabulous help and ideas etc. I think we all love to learn and help each other, one of the many things I am so thankful for about this community.

So, I thought I'd post what happened to me during one of my builds. I was trying to carefully bend some highly figured maple. I had successfully bent sides before on other maple builds, but on this set a crack occurred while bending the cutaway portion. It was visible on the show side, slightly but way too obvious and I knew it would look awful under finish. It was a unique set of maple and I could not easily find a matching piece so I wanted to somehow save the situation. I also discovered a very slight crack on the waist of one of the sides. I will say I was hit with quite a wave of discouraging emotions and frustration as the guitar was turning out rather nicely and this threatened to ruin whole thing. I had to take a moment (or two or three) to calm down and try to think of what to do. I decided to attempt an inlay to see what it would look like. I put one strip of koa inlay to cover the crack, which also made it structurally sound, so that was well remedied. however, it looked like a sorry bandaid to me. So I thought, well let's try something a bit different and I tilted a little piece next to it. Then it got to be fun, tricky, but fun. I may have gotten a bit carried away, but decided it would turn into something, and would redeem the whole project. Here are some photos of the finished guitar, I know call 'Dancing Inlays' It was met with a lot of great reviews at La Conner and I will be showing it at the upcoming Vancouver International show, on September 24-25. Here is the website to the show;

https://vancouverguitarfestival.com/













and here is a short sound clip, always helps to use a good set of headphones;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kQCh9liY5E&t=4s

Thanks for viewing.

[Deliberate1]

Dang, if that don't prove once and for the old adage about doing something awful sweet with the lemons life serves up. And a lovely voice to boot. Well done.

David

[Mark Hatcher]

Kudos to you for turning a flaw into an opportunity!

[Steve Kinnaird]

Excellent recovery, Wayne. And thanks for your transparency.
That’s a lovely guitar—well done!

Steve

[j. Kinnaird]

A wood worker makes mistakes, a craftsman can recover from them and an artisan turns them into a feature. Like you just showed us

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

A wood worker makes mistakes, a craftsman can recover from them and an artisan turns them into a feature. Like you just showed us

John, this was a great take-away for mr from our conversation, and the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread.

Wayne, lovely workmanship!

[Carpinteria]

Beautiful wood and an exquisite “recovery.” The dancing inlays idea really speaks to it. Thanks for your sharing. It encourages us all in the ups and challenges of building guitars. Dave

[WayneJohnson]

Thanks to all who made the above, very kind comments. I so appreciate them.