More thinning on the belly

I took the belly off after gluing on the back. I needed to do that to replace a piece of broken rib at a corner. I was shocked to see that the belly weighed 84 grams. Way more than I expected. I expected it to weigh more, but was hoping for high 70's. I evened out some spots that I could feel with the thickness gauge. I'm sure 300 years ago they could feel the same spots with calipers. Then I thinned the central area from about 3mm to 2.5-2.7mm. I also enlarged the 2mm thick areas of the bouts. Got it down to 82g. I may play with it a little more. The long arch and bass bar seem to be working right, I can see it move up and down when I push on the bridge area. I don't see that on another belly I have loose with a bass bar and f holes cut. Maybe I'll see if I can get it to be even more responsive, without lowering the tap tone or weight too much and making it too flimsy.

Gluing the back on

Well I did get stuff done! I have the pegs ready for the decorations and got the back ready to glue on. I filled in the chunks of the belly that broke out when I cut the f holes. Now I'm gluing on the back. These are some funky clamps I made up a couple years ago. They do work, but not as well as I imagined. I like the idea of the Herdim clamps that run $400 a set, but $400 a set!!!! I designed these to be set like a wedge thinking that it would be fast and easy, it isn't either. You squeeze them to get the pressure on the joint, then push the wedge in and it's done. Unless it moves, or slides away, or whatever it does so it doesn't stay tight. I can get them set right, but it isn't easy. I put glue on both the ribs/blocks and the back. let that dry and clamp it up. At this point it doesn't have to fit really tight. Then I take off two clamps at a time. Put a knife with hot glue in the joint and put the clamps back on. In other words, I do it pretty much normally. Imagine that.







I was thinking today about how the "hot" jobs we do at work would be priced at a premium at an outside tool room. The standard cost at least doubles when the part is needed immediately. The high cost should make the company change their practice and have spares on hand to save premium pricing. The same holds true in your life. Things we do that are against God we do at a cost, a high cost. If the cost wasn't high we might say, "Hey, lets do that again. It was wrong but we didn't get in much trouble." If God didn't put a cost on sin would we ever learn not to? Once we learn of the high price of sin, we should repent and do what ever we can not to do it. Learning to rely on God instead of ourselves is the same thing. He'll let us try for a while, then before the hole we are digging gets too big says "Stop. Let me do it."
If we've learned anything we will let him.

Just noticed my link for the song on the last post wasn't there...it is now.

Will I get anything done?

Did it again! Put the title in and hit enter. OK, now I HAVE to write. The title is a question, but I'm sure already the answer is yes. I will get something done. Maybe not a lot, but at least something. I have three days off. Monday we have plans, so I have two days off. I did work some on the pegs. A little more to even them all up and then I'll have to make up the decorative turning that goes between the head and the shaft. As you can see by now you are way ahead if you just buy them! I'll should get over the dysfunction of wanting all the fittings out of the same wood. I do have a cherry viola that I just bought a hunk of figured maple to use as it's neck. There, it is different already. I still need to find something to make the ribs out of, and maybe I could buy all the fittings. Maybe that will help. When I turn the tiny rings I'll make up a button, that won't take long at all. I still need to plane the heel of the neck even with the ribs and glue the back on. It would be almost done then, but I need to pop the belly off to replace a piece of rib that broke off a corner. I was going to have a photo of the pegs, took several, but none were as nice as the pond looked.

I have a few books now. Actually bought them...at rummage sales and the Salvation Army. One I finished reading is Thunder in Paradise, Satan's Last Storm by Jonathan R. Cash. It is set at the end of the Millennium (The thousand year reign of Jesus on earth)when Satan get his chance in his final battle. Cool stuff. I'm reading one now called Joshua, a Parable for Today by Joseph F. Girzone that seems to be up there with The Shack as a must read book. It has been reprinted numerous times since it was first self-published in 1983. I just grabbed it at a church rummage sale before the lady who was getting books for resale took all of them. She missed the best. I'm sending the first out to our daughter in Arizona, like she has time to read it with 3 boys three and under! Maybe I'll have a library of books I can lend out. I wrote a rock song and sang it on a forum I'm on (Christian Songwriters Network). It would be good with a rock band and a real singer! With me you just get the idea. I think the lyrics are good though. If you'd like to hear it go to:
http://forums.christiansongwriters.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=16513