Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Richard Heeres - NL

Yesterday I found this Luthier on Youtube, Richard Heeres.
Richard is from Holland, and speaks an excellent English, his explanations and instruction are simple, and precise, he gives measures in mm and in Inches. very useful.
I was amazed to see that he has posted an online guitar making course for classical guitar (17 lessons till today), using the most basic hand tools, no power tools at all, other than a dremel for the soundhole, and that only for demonstration purposes, he uses a manual circle cutter for the rosette inlay channels and for the soundhole.
the videos are well done, not fancy, and that is good, his workshop seems very nice, not too big and not too small. he makes all sorts of guitars, and seems to have a good reputation.
Though the videos do not cover every single aspect or moment of the procedure, they cover the big majority and I hope he will do some more to get the final steps of the work.
even if in one video he lost the audio ,it was still very instructional.
I do recommend his videos for those who cannot afford to go to a full immersion guitar making course.



the videos in order are here:
Lesson 1
Lesson 1.1 annex
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Lesson 14
Lesson 15
Lesson 16
Lesson 17

Richard Heeres Web site:
www.heeresguitars.nl

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Kris Barnett- USA

Here is a Video about Kris Barnet's life as a luthier, a very talented Luthier, enjoy!


 

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Steve Anderson - USA

Steve Anderson is a pioneer in that he introduced the double top to the Archtop guitars.
here is how he does it,

See the video Here

here is where the video come from:
http://www.fretboardjournal.com

Steve website:
http://www.andersenguitars.com/site/

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Jose Romero - Luthier Madrid Spain

This is Jose Romero Luthier from Madrid, The shop is amazingly in order, every single space is used
Thanks To John Ray for helping me with finding the name of this Luthier.


http://www.shere.org/Travel/Spain/Spain-Pages/Image11.html

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Kipp Krusa - USA

Hello, great to back, here is a new video of a luthier Kipp Krusa, the video shows the birth of a guitar from beginning to end as if it all happens in one day, well done, very nice space for the workshop, well organized tools, wall racks and wall tool panels, I like this workshop,

http://www.krusaguitars.com/



Kipp's site has a great fetcher, it lists and explains the various materials and woods that can be used to build your guitar, with some stunning pictures of the woods, this is really helpful for those are not sure of what they want in their guitar.

from Kruse's web site Musings section:


Guitar building is meticulous work and a clean workbench is essential. Every step of the process  however,  creates its own mess -  either shavings, chips or dust.  As a result of this my shop goes back and forth between meticulous and chaotic several times a day.  
work for a period of time, and I examine the shavings as they are cast off of the tools. Then I brush them off the workbench, sweep them up from the floor and move on to the next step in the process.  Although they are a nuisance,  it is  important to study these little artifacts and to maintain awareness of the lessons that can be learned from having done so. 
A wood shaving will tell me about the state of the tool that produced it,  but also about the manner in which I have used the tool.
Assuming that the material being planed is flat to begin with, a well sharpened and true hand plane will produce a shaving that is the length of the stroke that produced it.  Such a shaving should be an even thickness throughout its length. I occasionally measure a shaving's  thickness with a digital caliper. My goal in doing this is to check for constancy. These shavings are often only .001 of an inch.  It is more common for me to slide a shaving through my fingers and view its transparency in front of a light. If I 'm not satisfied with what I have either measured or seen I immediately blame the tool, usually with language that spirals downward.
   After addressing  the tool's edge, I am often forced to turn my attention to another component in the equation - myself. Although this is harder, it can be more rewarding than the experience of sharpening a beloved tool. True craftsmanship demands self awareness and self discipline from moment to moment. The building of a fine instrument requires a sustained attention to all of the tangible variables inherent in the process. Realizing that I am one of those variables has been one of my most resonant lessons. In the shop I have to let go of whatever may hinder my ability to do my best work. Each pass of the tool is a little personal test, one that requires me to accept and to resolve even the smallest of issues as they arise. It is a little like therapy when "What did that shaving look like?" translates into "How are you doing, right now? Are you focused on what you are doing?"
Townes Van Zandt said,  "I don't think you can ever do your best.  Doing your best is a process of trying to do your best."  Thank you Townes, if for nothing else, for trying!
     The shavings that affect me the most are produced by a chisel as I taper the ends of braces. These shavings exhibit an evenly spaced series of fractures that create a lovely spiraling curl.  I pay attention to each of these as they are produced. They let me know whether or not the angle of my chisel is consistent with it's previous pass. They also remind me that life's most beautiful gifts often come in the form of small things. These spiraling shavings illustrate to me that my work is, in some mystical way, guided by the structural and physical laws of the universe. The spiral is one of the natural fundamental determinants of the form and structure of living organisms. Botanically, spirals are often defined as whorls. I just love this word, "whorls" - almost worlds; and such a beautiful sounding word for the shavings that are created on my workbench. Whorls... 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Dominic Howman - AU

I r\bumped into a video class about "Guitar fisics" by luthier Dominic Howman, and he intrigured me to look into his web site gallery to see if there were any pictures of his workshop, and here is what I found.
I think this pictures illustrates the essential guitar bench setup, for a professional guitar builder, you can see tools are all hanged, only one bench plane and one block plane, the table is not a woodworkers bench but a conventional table with metal frame, and a vice on the front left corner.

here is the video he did about guitar Fisics:


Sunday, April 21, 2013

Fabio Zontin - ITALY

Here is another Italian Luthier, the video illustrates his calmfull life, and this is very nice, the images are not focused on the workshop, but on the production iter, there are some parts that I wouldn't have accepted to this video, but its his choice.
enjoy


a misura d'uomo from Luigi Coppola - visuals on Vimeo.