King of Cigar Box Guitars Shane Speal to Close at York, PA Fair

Shane Speal the self proclaimed King of Cigar Box Guitars has been asked to be the closing act for the York Fair in York, PA. Headliner for the show is Kelly Clarkson from American Idol fame.

This is clip from Shane’s newsletter: “I've just been scheduled as a closing act at the massive York Fair in downtown York, PA, Sept 20 from 6-9pm. Expect total primal mayhem blues!!!”

Here are a couple little samplers of Shane on a CBG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWZiXQe4EkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caOHwHfuxps&feature=related

For directions to the York Fair grounds visit http://www.yorkfair.org/find_us.htm

For more information on cigar box guitars be sure and visit Cigar Box Nation at
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

Enjoy,

Norm

New Toys aka Tools

A couple of things came into play with my recent tool purchases.

First off let me say I have been putting off buying these tools as I am very frugal anymore with the economy, my wife tells me I’m cheap! Whatever…

Here’s what justified the purchase in my mind:

First on my list is the upcoming Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar I’ve been yearning to build! It calls mostly for hand tools vs. power tools. There are some angles and cuts that are simply better made by hand. From the early days of my woodworking I’ve always enjoyed working with hand tools anyway. Yes, I’m moving myself toward the sale!

I have a small shop in my basement so space is limited. In deciding which power tools to purchase size was a determining motive. So the router table, lathe, table saw, sanders, jointer/planer and band saw all needed to be bench top models in order to maximize my space.

Secondly, and this is the deciding factor, the straw that broke the camels back. After rough shaping the neck of my Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino cigar box guitar on the router table I next moved to the band saw to slice the headstock with the grain lengthwise in order to prepare it for a scalloping effect I like.

All is going well and then it happens. The band saw blade wanders of off its mark! This happens sometimes because the blade on a bench top model is narrower than a larger floor model. Not wanting to ruin my work I stopped and made a choice right then and there to rethink my budget. I had the blade wander on a couple of other occassions and had finally had enough!

I went online to Hartville Tools http://www.hartvilletool.com/ and found the tools I wanted. Having a question I called in on their 800# got my answer and ended up placing my order over the phone.

I purchased the Crown 12” Bow saw which is a traditional English bow saw style. Before the invention of band saws and jig saws this was the saw used for cutting everything from curves to furniture joints. It works on both the push and pull stroke. The blade can be turned to cut at any angle simply by rotation of the handles. The blade is tensioned by tightening a cord. Old School!



This next purchase was a Silky Kenzo 270 Medium 12TPI (Teeth Per Inch) will be used, in my case, for the headstock work. It is a double edged Ryoba-type saw. It has both a rip-cut edge and a cross-cut edge. It has all the advantages of a Japanese saw: fine kerfs thanks to the pull-cut teeth; precise, controlled cutting; and durability from electrical induction impulse hardened teeth.





Last but not least a set of Pax Curved Cabinet Scrapers. They can smooth wood to an unbelievably fine finish. The shapes contained in this set can take care of a wide range of flat or contoured surfaces.

Needless to say these are quality tools, will last many years and are sure to turn out some fine instruments.

I am excited about getting my hands on them and putting them to good use!

Royal Jamaica “RJ” CBG

I really like the way my newest cigar box guitar creation turned out! It is a 6-string CBG made from a hardwood box used to pack Royal Jamaica Maduro cigars in. I hand sanded the box and applied several finish coats to it.

The neck is handcrafted from red oak with a padauk fret board. I hand shaped the neck with my wood rasp and plenty of sandpaper. It turned out really well if I do say so myself!

I used brass grommets and brass corners to dress it up a bit even though RJ really didn’t need anymore sprucing up.

RJ can be played acoustically or electrically and sounds really nice either way.

What if we were all God's favorites?

While conversing with my good friend Barbe Beaty this evening on face book I had one of those epiphany's you sometimes get while bouncing things off a really good friend.

Epiphany: A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself"

I had grown up with virtually no self esteem. At one point I realized we were all God's favorites! OMG! It changed my life! Suddenly I realized how much I enjoyed enjoying people!

I love to watch the look on someones face when you compliment them. I became a believer that something as simple as a smile or a kind word could change the course of a persons day.... or possibly their life.