The progress reports

Each week we update this page with new photos of instruments in progress. The updates will usually be sometime on Monday, which is the end of our work week.

We hope that you enjoy seeing the progress on your instrument and those of others who have them on order.

Week ending June 9, 2003

It was hot this week, very hot indeed for us Northwesterners. The Battle of the Caterpillars continues, though a trip to the garden store showed us that we've been spared the worst. We've collected over a thousand, mostly by hand-picking, since we were late in spraying with Bt, and most of them are dropping from alder trees where their tents are beyond our spraying range in any case.

VG36: the square holes in the undersides of the grips for the hidden Schaller tuners - don't ask how long this takes to do! ;-) .

VG38: masking the soundboard with the keybox and bridges

VG32: gluing in the final layer of the binding on one side

VG32: Cali fitting the gold-tip shell inlay strip around the edge

VG32: Preparing to cut some of the shell for the inlay, I glued myself to a piece of wood with cyanoacrylate. Here I sheepishly await Cali's help to free me. (This is why it's always best to have someone else in the shop when working with CA glue.)

VG38: the second of the custom circuit boards, this one is double-sided with components mounted on each side. Here the copper has been silver plated for easier soldering.

VG38: one side of the completed board

LB05: bending the second rib

VG41: the first side has been removed from the bending form and is being fitted in the mold

Guitar-lute: the open seams between the ribs are almost closed up

Justin's VG: drilling and counterboring the peghead for the machine tuners

AW's luteback: the wheel and shaft system laid out for measurement and evaluation

AW's luteback: boring out the heads and shafts of the woodscrews which had held on the keybox - one of the cylinders of wood and its screw are at upper right

AW's luteback - the body has been sanded down flat to completely remove the old soundboard

MK's Pajot Jeune and NQ's Colson prepare to take a trip to the radiologist for X-rays.

A Nathan Sweet being evaluated for repairs.

The framing for the new French doors now has insulation and drywall.

Sorry, RT - we'd like more progress on the RTDWHG, but no time this week ;-(

See other weeks for more pictures.

Please contact us if you have comments or questions about this page or other pages on this site.

Alden and Cali Hackmann
Olympic Musical Instruments

Beati illi qui in circulum circumeunt, fient enim magnae rotae.

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