2024
AL#151 p.54
Federico Sheppard
▪ An Art-school girl from the UK goes to Spain as a flamenco dancer. There she meets a guy who has a business selling wood to local luthiers. Things go well. The business grows and gets bought by StewMac, and now shes VP of Global Sales. And if you go to their sawmill, you can pick up pelletized fuel of the finest rosewood. Mentions Bob Taylor.
2023
AL#150 p.4
January Williams
▪ The Hammond Glider saw is a rare and wonderful thing. It was intended to cut type metal, but we get guidance on using it to cut wood. Mentions Ken Parker.
2022
AL#147 p.66
John Calkin
▪ Calkin gives the thumbs-up to a fine 5-hour video just about wet sanding and buffing a lacquer finish. Prepping and spraying the finish is a whole other matter, not covered here.
2022
AL#146 p.2
Rich Jaouen
▪ The zinc in galvanized sheet steel can be safely used for bending guitar sides, contrary to widly distributed opinions.
2021
AL#142 p.4
Gerry Hayes
▪ A broken guitar string can be more than just annoying, if it punctures your skin and sticks in your bone.
2020
AL#139 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ Here’s a lutherie carreer so wide-ranging, so full of amazing travels and fortuitous connections, that you might be thinking of Baron Munchausen or Forrest Gump. But this is a true adventure, and he left a lot of it out in order to pack the story into a 75-minute lecture. Must read to believe. From his 2017 GAL Convention lecture. Mentions Torres, Simplicio, Garcia, Leo Kottke, Bozo Podunavac, Ray Jacobs, John Fahey, Peter Lang, Norman Blake, Robert Larson, Agustin Barrios, Ray Whitely, Sanfeliu, Enno Voorhorst, Jeffrey Elliott, Cyndy Burton, Richard Brune, Jorge Morel, Pepe Romero, Shel Urlik, Romanillos, Dmitry Zhevlakov, Paracho, Abel Garcia, Antigua Casa Nunez, Cecilio Lopez, Fernando Sor, Francois de Fossa, Cite de la Musique, Santos Hernanadez, Domingo Esteso, Antonio Marin, Eugene Clark, Michael Partington.
2011
AL#107 p.69
Darren Forbes
▪ Allergic reactions to Cocobolo Rosewood.
2006
AL#86 p.58
Robert-A. Edelstein
▪ We all know that wood dust can make a luthier’s life miserable, but there are other air pollutants common to any woodshop.You better learn about them, and most of all you better learn how to avoid them. “Stay healthy! Make more instruments!” It should be one of our battle cries. With one chart.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2006
AL#86 p.62 ALA2 p.4
James Condino
▪ Saw stop table saws are meant to screech to a halt before they can cut your skin. The reviewer finds that they really work. What are your fingers worth to you, anyway? With 8 photos.
2005
AL#82 p.66 BRB7 p.431
Bill Hunter
▪ The toxicity of U.F.O. (user friendly odorless) cyanoacrylate glue made by Satellite City, makers of Hot Stuff.
2004
AL#80 p.63 BRB7 p.57
Udi Vachterman
▪ A severe, itchy skin rash presumably brought on by woods or chemicals in glues.
2003
AL#76 p.46 BRB7 p.138
John Calkin
▪ One man’s journey through the world of lacquer paint that includes safety equipment, varieties of paint both old and new, application equipment, and some preferences. With 7 photos.
2002
AL#71 p.68 BRB6 p.248
Bob Woodcock
▪ Spalted wood toxicity.
2002
AL#69 p.64 BRB6 p.248
Mike Collins
▪ Potentially deadly mold in spalted maple wood.
1999
AL#60 p.49 BRB5 p.398
Mike Wilson
▪ The toxicity of cyanoacrylate (CA) glues.
1999
AL#57 p.50 BRB5 p.324
Paul McGill
▪ McGill’s lutherie shop is in his basement, and keeping his house free of fumes and dust involved lots of planning and not a little money. Here’s how he did it. With 3 photos and a drawing.
1997
AL#51 p.47 BRB5 p.471
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer likes the informal structure of this book about an important health consideration in any woodshop.Shop dust can be controlled on a low budget when necessary, and many collectors and aids can be made in the shop.
1996
AL#46 p.30 read this article
Teri Novak
▪ A chiropractor (and wife of a well-known luthier) describes how to prevent your shop life from harming your health. From her 1995 GAL convention lecture, with 18 photos and a number of drawings.
1991
AL#27 p.4 BRB3 p.80
Chris Brandt R.E. Brune Jeffrey-R. Elliott Richard Schneider Ervin Somogyi David Wilson
▪ A look inside the shops of six professional luthiers, featuring floor plans, tooling descriptions, notes on lighting and specialized machinery, and ideas about how work space can help (or hurt) your lifestyle. With a good Q&A segment and 63 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#25 p.55 BRB3 p.477
C.F. Casey
▪ Sports glasses, such as those worn by squash players, are an improvement on regular safety glasses.
1991
AL#25 p.48 BRB3 p.24
Bill Colgan Greg Bernd
▪ Like many of his generation, eighty-year-old Summerfield led a hard life. He didn’t turn to professional instrument making until he reached what many would call old age, but after that he didn’t waste any time. There’s quite a few Seth Summerfields out there, and their story is always a good one.
1989
AL#20 p.63
Francis Kosheleff
▪ An account of the 1989 California earthquake and its effect on the lutherie community.
1988
AL#14 p.48
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Robison saws off the tip of his thumb. A shop safety reminder for the experienced craftsperson.
1988
AL#14 p.56 BRB2 p.76
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Peterson finds a relatively safe method of sharpening files by acid etching. THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION OF THIS ARTICLE CONTAINED A SERIOUS ERROR. ACID SHOULD ALWAYS BE ADDED TO WATER, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. THIS ERROR HAS BEEN CORRECTED IN THE REPRINTS).
1986
AL#8 p.54
Robert Stebbins
▪ Stebbins writes briefly about one of his favorite tools.
1986
AL#7 p.59 BRB1 p.239
Steve Andersen
▪ Anderson built a gridded table that uses the vacuum created by a squirrel cage fan to capture sanding dust.
1985
AL#1 p.53
Carl McFarland
▪ McFarland drilled up through the face of a finished tamburah when drilling holes for string anchors in the tail area of the sides.
1985
AL#1 p.53
William McCaw
▪ McCaw ruined a classic peghead when the cheap collar of his router gave way.
1985
AL#1 p.10 BRB1 p.2 read this article
David Nichols
▪ Nichols does a lot of custom inlay work, including ultra-fancy work on new instruments for the Martin Company. He describes his entire process here, illustrated with 15 photos. He also reveals his tool choices and sources of supply.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.28 BRB1p.410
Fred Carlson
▪ Beards may interfere with the filtering out of toxic stuff in the air by use of a standard respirator.
1983
DS#259 BRB1 p.122
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi wrote this scary little article in 1983, but if you think that the chemicals luthiers encounter have gotten friendlier you better think again. The compounds that have been making people sick for decades are still out there, and regulation doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact. You’ll have to be your own safety cop, and this article is a good place to begin.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1979
DS#104 LT p.29
David Newton
▪ Wear them while using a cabinet scraper.
1979
DS#108 LW p.43
Ervin Somogyi
▪ If the dust in your shop is out of control, then so is your health.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1978
DS#85 BRB1 p.41
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ That is, setting up the actual spray system from compressor to gun, with additional information about spray room accessories. It’s worth noting that in his update the author (a maker of top quality mandolins) mentions that he has abandoned lacquer in favor of waterborne products.
1978
DS#65 LT p.88
Tim Olsen
▪ Machine manufacturers have become hip to the health problems that accompany the use of their equipment, and most incorporate dust collection ports into their new machines. This was hardly the case in the old days, and there are still tons of old machines in use. If you have one you are responsible for your own health, and thus the modification of your machine. The author’s ideas can be adapted to almost any bandsaw.