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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A return to Mr Wizard's Workshop ... Tools and Fixtures camp with Roger Siminoff

If you got here looking for the Siminoff Lutherie Camp photo essay just click on the 2009 entries link on the left side of this page expand the October entries and you will be jumped to that part of the web log ... or just scroll down and you'll see them ...

This past weekend (3/19/2011, 3/20/2011) I had the good fortune to attend Roger Siminoff's first "Tools and Fixtures" camp.  This is a short two day camp where Roger demonstrates the many different tools, fixtures, fasteners, jigs and so on that he uses to fashion the parts of his mandolin, mandola and banjo parts. 

This camp is much different than the week long "building" camps Roger offers.  In this camp,  the curtain is pulled all the way back and any and everything is open for discussion regarding the fabrication of parts.  The focus is on "how to visualize and build a fixture or jig" to get you from the "part needed" point to the "part in hand" stage.

There are many salient points of discussion such as:

When it is appropriate to construct a fixture or jig and when it is better simply to make the part "one off".

What materials are appropriate for jig and fixture construction.

What tools should one have in the shop.

An overview of the camp can be found on Roger's site at this link look at camp "D"

I believe this camp would be of great value to the luthier interested in building for sale.  In my case I build as a hobby without any aspiration to sell my instruments but I wanted to try an get a handle on the "creative process" Roger goes through when he plans and constructs a jig or fixture.  I got some terrific insight into this process and while it would be impossible for Roger to "teach" the creativity he has for jig and fixture building, just seeing the process, understanding the possibilities and getting a better handle on how I might go about doing it was well worth the entry fee.

I was joined at this camp by three of my previous camp mates as sort of a mini-reunion and we were happy to have a new camper join the fold.  Welcome Mack and Carl, Mike and Annette it was great to see ya'll again!!

I'll only post a couple of pictures below since many of the jigs and fixtures "look alike" although when you see them in action you quickly come to understand their unique function and construction.

This is the pin router setup that Roger uses for the fabrication of many parts:

From Lutherie

One of the many jigs/fixtures that uses a bottom bearing router setup:

From Lutherie

A "smart" jig used to fabricate the critical intonation cuts in a mandolin bridge saddle:

From Lutherie

A look at the bottom bearing router setup with a jig that will be used to fabricate the bridge foot:

From Lutherie

All in all another great experience ... if you have an interest in learning about "jigs, tools and fixtures" used in lutherie ... I don't think you can find a better resource!

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