Day 157: Back at It

I've not posted in a long while because I've been busy with other tasks, such as making a couple of Native American flutes with my daughter, Jordan's, guidance and assistance. Lest you think I'm engaging in cultural appropriation, she's the indigenous person, I'm just the woodworker. We made a couple of really nice cedar flutes - one of Alaskan yellow (the Blonde) and the other of both Alaskan yellow and western red (Odd Duck). I still have a few more to make for friends and family, but things have settled down considerably in this regard, so I'm back at the instrument.

As you probably know, I've been vacillating about whether I cut the nuts and bridges correctly or not. Well, I finaly contacted Mr. Miller and he set me straight - they're fine. I was a little confused by what he was referring to as "the bevel" because there really are two bevels. I followed his directions closely, taking my time and referring back to them as I made the cuts, so it was something of a mystery how I could have gotten it wrong. It was nice to learn I didn't.

Now, before I glue them to the wrestplank (aka pinblock) and soundboard, I'm going to drill the holes for the tuning pins into the pinblock. Mr. Miller in his eBook Most Excellent recommends clamping the nuts to the block with the sliced up blueprint between. This will hold the plan in place while I use a punch to mark the holes. I visited Master Builder Owen Daly this past weekend and he recommended I go ahead and eyeball the angle on the holes (5 degrees). He says most people are off by that much when they think they're drilling straight, anyway, so there you go.

When I decided I had cut the nuts and bridges backward, I charged ahead with making new ones.

Fortunately, the flutes pulled me away and I only partially remade the eight foot nut. Sometimes, I scare myself, but you already knew that.

As I took time to work on the flutes, it gave me ample pause to reflect on completing the instrument. I just want it done. So, the next couple of months are going to be intense, especially now that the weather is cooling off and the two-car oven will be more habitable (this was also partially responsible for the delay - the aluminum garage door is on the sun side of the house and it heats up quite nicely when we have 100-degree days). I have many tasks ahead, including jack making. Everyone says I'm crazy to make my own jacks, but I just don't have it in the budget to purchase them from someone like Norm Purdy (whom I've yet to meet). So, I soldier on.

On a few unrelated notes, I have been able to make some minor acquisitions and to also make a major decision about one of my tools. First, I picked up some sandpaper in grits from 230 to 2000 so I can finally get the edges I want on chisels and plane blades. I also picked up a nice, little jeweler's hammer to adjust plane blades as well as a couple of nice containers for the fish glue.

I've also decided to sell the Craftsman 18/36 open-ended thickness (drum) sander. My standing rule is that if I don't use it within a year, it's gotta go. Well, it's been about that, maybe more and it's taking up valuable real estate that I'd rather have the planer occupy, so...buh bye.

Finally, I spent last night cleaning up the shop after making the flutes. Between routing the wind channels and lathing the outside diameter, a horrible mess is made. Everything is all cleaned up and I'm ready to get back to the instrument - tonight.

Until next time...

UPDATE: After successfully installing sandpaper and sanding a guitar top, sides, and back, there's no way I'm selling the thickness sander - what a blessing it's turned out to be!