Steel Guitar Builder

I now have two lap steels ready for finishing and it is still too cold to get that done. There is the one I mentioned in another thread that didn't take the finish properly due to the weather. That one needs a rub down and a new top coat. Now, there is also another one which I completed the wood work on today.
I have the hardware ready for both of them. It is so frustrating!!!

Oh well, I might even have to tidy up and take some of those pictures of the work area that Bent asked for. But then again, I might just start training a fish to smoke cigars. You see, the thing is, if I tidy up I will likely never be able to find anything ever again.

Allan.....

Hey Allan you could always come here for a visit , take the steels with you and stand here in my nice heated shop and finish them
Seriously, it is frustrating when you have something to do and you can't do it.. Let's all hope for nicer weather soon!

Myself, I am making a spring winder today.

Allan, I have a deep understanding of your predicament, I can't decide which is better, snow or knee deep mud been stuck in both. Shop had frost on the inside this past week and with the price of kerosene for heat, think I'll wait for warmer weather..... If you are using a solvent based finish you should be just fine once you re-sand. I have had the same problems with spraying nitrocellulose lac but since is is solvent based it will bond to original earlier coats without issues. The most critical part was matching temp with flow out, enough thinner to flow, but not too much to run.

Hi guys.
Well, we had another couple of inches of snow in the last few hours. Grrrrrr.........
I did get something done today as I said. I finished off the wood work on lap steel two. I also cut and polished the plastic for the control panel. In the best tradition of Eldon I re-used a piece of the original scratch plate from a strat that I converted to (electrically) a tele some time back. I have a sheet of Gibson yellow that I was going to use a part of but, in the end, I decided that black would be better and I found that I could just get the piece I needed out of the unused scratch plate. Tomorrow I will try to finish off the metal fabrication and drill a small plate for the pickup mount. I actually have those parts ready but I want to improve on them since I have time. The pickup is a P90 soapbar. These things are great as far as sound goes but a total pain to mount. I made the fret board months ago so after tomorrow I only have the finish left to do and then final assembly.
Oh, I just thought! I will route a shallow area on the back of this one and glue in some suede leather as an anti-slip thing, to stop it sliding on to the floor. I have a huge box of leather, some very large pieces, that I got at the local auction room a couple of years back. I checked out this stuff at the local leather workers store - the box is worth a total well in excess of two thousand dollars at store prices. There are two half hides and loads of smaller pieces - we are not talking scrap pieces here. No one else bid on it and I got it for - wait for this - wait for it - ready? Six bucks!!!!!
OK, things are not so grim, I can get SOMETHING done. See, just talking at you guys has made things better. What a bunch!

I should say, the guitar I need to re-do - it isn't lacquer, I wish it had been. I have learned my lesson, lacquer for everything from here on.

OK, I'm done. Have a good one y'all...
Regards, Allan.....

I moved nearly a foot of snow and 3-4 feet high snowdrifts off farm roads and paths last night, once it had stopped snowing and the wind had died down a bit - finished around 4 o'clock in the morning after 5 hours on the tractor and around. Had to be done or else we can't deliver milk and our cows can't be fed outdoors.

Illustration...


Today I'm just tired, but may get around to connecting my new scanner so I can post some drawings one of these days. Have to milk and feed those cows and calves first though...

Georg, just a thought...Does the fact that the cows are outside in the winter have any effect (good or bad) on milk production?
Nothing to do with steel but this is General discussion

Bent...i think it's called ice Milk shake

Pat, you're wrong; our cows produce nothing but the most protein-rich cream all winter long

Bent, yes it definitely has positive effects on production, and very few negative effects on anything.

A little more milk pr cow, and generally higher milk quality than what the average "indoors" dairy farms can manage. We're far above average milk quality at the moment, and that's reflected in what we get paid.
Also fewer health problems and much stronger animals since our cows "exercise" in fresh air in hilly terrain all year round. Means more well-adjusted and happier cows, and fewer veterinary-visits.

Another advantage is that the animals take care of themselves between meals/milking, which reduce the workload on us humans to a minimum most days and also lower the overall cost.

On the negative side is that certain accidents can happen more easily out there in the woods and in-part steep terrain, than on a flat stable-floor. Have had a couple of serious injuries from falls off cliffs in the last 10-15 years, one of them fatal.
Have also had to treat a number of more serious cuts and bruises, and did lose one cow to that last year. Healthy, strong, animals heal well though, so usually some first aid is enough.

Sometimes a cow may also hide a little too well and in difficult terrain when calving out in the open, so finding and getting the calf home isn't always easy. Usually the cow brings her calf home after a day or two though, and since cows are good mothers and take extremely good care of their newborn calves - much better than we humans can manage, there's usually no harm in waiting for her till she's at the gate with her calf.

So, all in all: positive, but strangely enough: Norwegian farmers need special permission to keep dairy cows outdoors all year round, and few Norwegian farmers seek such a permission.

The latest weather maps show us sitting right in the line between the five to ten inches and the ten to fifteen inches of snow. That's over the next 24 hours or so. We already have four or five inches. Tomorrow is going to be fun.
I spent today getting the backup snow blower working. It's a small one but it will be there just incase. It hadn't been run for I don't know how long so it was pretty gummed up in the carb area. (it's an old two cycle engine and the oil was lying at the bottom of the whole system) I couldn't see for smoke once I got it going and I can still taste the half burned oil.
I hate that expression 'Mother Nature' - nature ain't yer mother - it doesn't care if you live or die!

Regards, Allan.....

Right, but there's no alternative, and she sure does a lot for us even if she doesn't care and we don't understand.