Donald A. Fortune's Comments

Comment Wall (34 comments)

At 4:46pm on July 26, 2009, Bob Webster said…: I tend to bend my sides relatively dry but relatively is the key term. When I'm using my Fox bender, I just wipe the wood with a paper towel moistened with water. I don't soak it or boil it or anything.

When I'm using my manual bending iron I just wipe the area of the side where I'm going to work with a wet paper towel. It leaves just enough moisture to shove a little steam into the surface. If I need to rework the area I remoisten the wood. Mahogany can be a little tricky, particularly when there's some figure in it. Take your time with lightly moistened wood and things should go better. When it's up to the temp and moisture that creates a more plastic state, you'll actually feel the wood yield to your hand pressure and then you can step up the pressure a little bit. Too much too fast with no water gives results that you're familiar with.

Goog luck and keep me posted.

Bob

At 3:13pm on July 27, 2009, Bob Webster said…: I use an old LMII bending iron that I've had for about 25 years. It' got an oval aluminum pipe, closed at the top, and heated by a pair of electrical coils connected to a rheostat for temperature control. I don't run it at the highest setting, though, because of scorching. Also, it should be said that some woods are more susceptible to scorching, such as maple, koa, and Aussie blackwood. Mahogany may also be that way. It's been 27 years since I bent a set of mahogany so I just don't remember.

Bob

At 4:15pm on August 4, 2009, Bob Webster said…: Hi, Donald. It's about 45 minutes on the bending machine followed by a 3-4hr cool down. After that, it take me about 15-20min on the bending iron to touch up the stubborn spots. BTW, I do bindings and purflings on the machine the same way. It's a great way to get those stinking purflings to bend on edge without breaking.

Cheers,
Bob

At 8:52pm on August 10, 2009, Dale Fortune said…: Maybe, But I would have to look thru my fathers family history book.

At 9:44am on August 16, 2009, Bob Webster said…: So Donald, I saw in one of the recent posts that you say you've finished your guitar. How did it come out? Were you happy with it? I'd love to see some pics if you have any. Is that it in your profile picture?

Cheers,
Bob

At 7:56pm on August 16, 2009, Bob Webster said…: Ha! That's a son-in-law for you. Do the right thing and smack him up along side the head.

It really looks great. What kind of finish did you put on it? How does it sound, given of course that it is a very fresh spruce guitar?

Bob

At 8:19am on September 6, 2009, Bob Webster said…: Hi, Donald. If I understand your question right, you're thinking that somehow you need to create some threads in the wood before you screw the insert into it. Actually, you don't do that. The inserts that I use, for example, have a body diameter of 3/8" with threads that stick out some beyond that. I drill a 3/8" hole and then screw in the insert.. It's basically self-tapping.

Cheers,
Bob

At 8:29pm on September 15, 2009, Bob Webster said…: Life is now much better, huh, Donald? It feels good to get by something like that, doesn't it? Better get to work on that footstool now so that you can give that son-in-law a smack.

Do the blog. I'd love to see how that comes together.

Cheers,
Bob

At 6:33pm on September 22, 2009, Ry Charters said…: Thanks Donald. I built that one for myself, and made a more traditional design for my production model. I finished it with tru oil. I'm really proud of the bridge/armrest on the production model. visit my site www.chartersguitars.com if you want to see some more pics of them.
Take care,
Ry

At 8:19am on September 23, 2009, Ry Charters said…: Love the idea of a 25.5 mando. Now I want one. Looks great so far!

At 9:57am on April 12, 2010, FRANK said…: DEAR DON ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BUILDING A SET OF BLACK CURLY WALNUT I WILL BREAK OFF A DEAL FOR YA EITHER ELECTRIC TOP OR ACOUSTIC BACKS AND SIDES I HAVE BEEN HARVESTING WOOD FOR 3 YEARS NOW AND I NEED TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS I HAVE BEAUTIFULLY STOCK

At 10:58am on June 1, 2010, Rory said…: Hi Donald, yes that pic in my avatar is a double neck acoustic lap slide. Customer is a touring musician & wanted something really compact to carry on flights, so lower bout is just 12" wide. She tunes the necks in 'D' and 'E' which didnt make sense to me (why not juts capo?) but guess thats what she uses. Its all hollow-like a big wide weissenborn or dulcimer. Theres a separate pickup under each bridge and a pan between them. Attached a pic for ya of the whole thing, hopefully it goes through.
Cheers, Rory

At 6:42am on April 19, 2011, Martin Delabano said…: Hello Donald,

I'm sorry this has taken so long to respond. I was going through old bookmarks and rediscovered Frets.net. Guess it's been some time since I've checked my page out. I'm still teaching full time, as well as being a sculptor who happens to build on the side. I recently finished a Harp-Mandolin based on an early 1900's Knutzen Harp-Mandolin.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mdelabano

At 10:34am on November 24, 2011, Rory said…: Donald,

Sorry getting back so late I never check this part of the site. Here is a link to pictures of my double neck slide.

http://s117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/rorrho/Instruments/Double%20Neck%20Slide%20Guitar%20Pura%20Fe%2086-W14%202008/?albumview=slideshow

It was a cusom order for musician Pura Fe who does a lot of flying- she wanted a double neck that she could carry on. This thing is just around 13" wide and 36" long. Really just a big huge dulcimer with raised frets. Necks are in different tunings so she can play different songs without re-tuning.

Cheers,

Rory