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Showing posts from August, 2014

1860's Greek Revival House: Trying to Solve a Mystery

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The Greek Revival style is an adaptation of the classic Greek temple front employing details of either the Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian order. John J.-G. Blumenson, Identifying American Architecture , 1977 West elevation. The plaster was used as insulation, this was put in place when the building was first sided. This side of the house that I am looking at may be the original 14x16 log structure that was built on this site in 1862. I haven't pulled off anymore siding and corner boards to see how these logs were notched, I need to keep as much original material as possible to maintain the historic integrity of the house. So far, the house isn't giving up much information as to what year it was built. South elevation This past Friday I pulled off siding on the south elevation that was covering the lowest logs between the two doors (and underneath the window) that you see in the above photo... ...and discovered this - the corner of another log house! Apparently,

On the Bench - Antonio Torres FE 19 Guitar: The Bridge is On!

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Torres believed that the soundboard was the single most vital component of the guitar. Jose Romanillos, Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker , 1987 I assembled this guitar earlier this year and today I was able to glue the bridge onto the guitar's top. This is always a little nerve wracking, there is always the chance that the bridge will shift under the clamps pressure and I may not notice it in time. Before I do this procedure, I do spend some time making sure that I locate the bridge in the correct place with the proper amount of string compensation (for intonation), the saddle must be parallel to the frets and that the outer string holes are parallel to the neck. Three clamps and cauls to glue the bridge in place. I should really call this a Torres/Santos model guitar. It's outline is that of Torres FE19 guitar (as rendered by Neil Ostberg, click here to see his wonderful site and to download those plans), but at the last minute I decided to use a bracing patt

Seven String Flamenco Guitar: Glueing on the Bridge, Fine Tuning the Frets and Adjusting the Action

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The flamenco guitar is an instrument which is narrowly linked to the peculiarities of flamenco art. Jose Ramirez III, Things About the Guitar , 1990 The seven string flamenco guitar that I built for the lead singer of Ode to the Marionette is finished! Well, just about. Remember, I do have a side job as a historic preservation carpenter. I am waiting for the tap plates to install on the sound board, these tap plates protect the top from the golpes , a percussive tap from the first or ring finger nail that a flamenco player uses. I need to do some intonation work on the saddle, I want all notes to play in tune. I might even fine tune the fan braces that are glued to the inside of the top. Did I mention how wonderful this guitar sounds? It has a gorgeous voice and it is loud ! This guitar has very clear separation of notes on all the strings up and down the neck and all are even in sound with each other. Don't let anyone tell you that a classical/flamenco guitar with a

1860's Greek Revival House: More Preservation Work on the Siding

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To a nation that was optimistic, expansive, idealistic, and mindful of posterity, the Greek Revival brought an architecture of beauty, breadth, simplicity and permanence. Carole Rifkind, A Field Guide to American Architecture , 1980 This house sits on the flood plain of St. Vrain Creek and it did suffer some damage in the September 2013 flood, but it is standing and I am trying to replace some of the worse pieces of siding. I say "trying to replace" because the mill that is supplying the beveled siding screwed up my order twice: the first time I got rough sawn siding; the second time I got "colonial" siding which is thicker than beveled siding. All this put me three weeks behind schedule. The mill re-milled the colonial siding and I received the proper siding last week, me and my colleague started replacing pieces on the east elevation. We discovered that this elevation was sided last because at one point it had a fireplace chimney that extended to the roo