June's guitar

Last week I mentioned my student who wanted to make a guitar, and my misunderstanding of her intentions. She had seen the cigar box guitar made by one of my high school students a few years back that I had brought out for the sake of discussion with my upper school students, and insisted, "I want to make one of those." As I was trying to talk her out of trying such a difficult and complex project as a real guitar, she asked if she could use particular pieces of wood, and before I knew it, she had begun.

I had to interrupt when she began using a sloyd knife to cut the sound hole in the front. I set up the drill press and used a circle cutter while she watched.

She finished her guitar yesterday during class, and it is truly a class act as you can see. I have never seen a happier guitar. Even the back was decorated with smiling faces.

Yesterday I made the neck for my demonstration cigar box guitar, and attached it to the body that I showed in yesterday's post. Today I'll glue the front on, make the tail piece to attach strings and drill holes for tuning pegs. I hope to launch my older students on a similar adventure in January, and am using this guitar as a model and practice for the making of theirs. For our cigar box guitars we will be making our own boxes.

From Australia, I offer another example of student work. One of Richard Bazeley's  junior classes is making masks using thin plywood, off cuts, hand tools and paint.

We have 17 making days until Christmas and you've plenty of time to shop at my Etsy store.

Make, fix, create, and insist that others have the opportunity to learn likewise.