Shane Speal...

I featured some of Shane Speal's box guitars in the gallery section of my box guitars book, and now Shane has a book of his own. It is a lovely creation, telling of the history of box guitars and other folk made musical instruments. It also presents a wide array of creative options in making these instruments on your own.Some of the guitars featured are early instruments made by craftsmen of an earlier time. His book is called, "Making Poor Man's Guitars." It and some of Shane's music can be found here: https://www.shanespeal.com/

In my own shop, I've completed the process of inlaying 80 boxes to be used as Holiday gifts by a customer. I'll not mention the name so as to avoid spoiling any surprises.

Today I will sand the inside surfaces of the lids, so that they can have the first coat of finish applied before they are sent to an engraver for a logo to be laser engraved. I've found that applying the first coat of finish first enhances the laser's effect.

You will notice that I've done the inlaying in pairs for ease of handling. After the sanding is complete and the first coat of finish is applied, I'll cut the lids to preliminary lengths so that the laser engraver can accurately locate the logo on the inside of each lid. This may seem like a lot of boxes. I've made and sold thousands.

Make, fix and create...