Posted on May 5, 2020March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips World Forest Outlook World Forest Outlook by Nicholas Von Robison and Parry Thomas Originally published in American Lutherie #16, 1988 See also, “Acid Rain” by Nicholas Von Robison and Perry Thomas “Acid Rain Update” by Nicholas Von Robison Co-author Thomas recently returned from the World Congress of International Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) in Ljubjana, Yugoslavia. At that Congress two topics held the limelight: tropical forest destruction, and air pollution effects on temperate forests. Parry sent me copies of his notes and many thoughts and comments from the attendees so American Lutherie readers can see what the current state of thoughts on world forest problems are. In this article we’ll only be able to scratch the surface, but we have provided a list of organizations where anyone can learn a lot more on the subjects. GOOD GUYS OR BAD GUYS First of all, in dealing with these controversial subjects it is difficult to sort out significant facts from biased reporting. Japan, currently the scapegoat for U.S. economic woes, is generally thought to be a major force in forest destruction because of their high level of wood imports. Asiaweek magazine, for instance, comments on forest destruction in the East: “the distant, generally unseen end of the vast tangle is Japan...(whose) interests control, through intermediaries, many of the concessionairies who organize the actual logging.” Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on May 5, 2020March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Acid Rain Update Acid Rain Update by Nicholas Von Robison Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 See also, “Acid Rain” by Nicholas Von Robison and Perry Thomas “World Forest Outlook” by Nicholas Von Robison and Perry Thomas In GALQ 12 #1, Perry Thomas and I co-wrote an article on how the increasing acidification of rain and snow was causing serious trouble for world forests, especially high altitude ones that have little immunity to changes in the ecosystem. For the last 6 years, hundreds of studies by independent researchers have found the problem to be caused by emissions from coal fired industrial and energy plants. Yet despite the data and intense pressure from environmental groups, sport fishing organizations, and the Canadian government, the White House has refused to admit that a problem existed. President Reagan has privately stated that soot from Mount St. Helens and forest fires were the cause. When the National Academy of Sciences report recommended cutting sulfur dioxide emissions from coal fired plants, their acid rain study funding was abruptly stopped. On Capitol Hill, attempts to arrive at a solution have been thwarted by regional politics. States in the Mid-West, whose factories are considered the primary source for acid deposition in the Northeast, have refused to foot the bill for poisoned lakes and forests 1000 miles to the east and north. Western states opposed efforts to make the West help pay for smokestack scrubbers in the Midwest. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on May 4, 2020March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Free Plate Tuning, Part Two: Violins Free Plate Tuning, Part Two: Violins by Alan Carruth Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 See also, Free Plate Tuning, Part One: Theory by Alan Carruth Free Plate Tuning, Part Three: Guitars by Alan Carruth Before I get into plate tuning proper I’d like to digress a bit and discuss the rationale behind the process, and a couple of other things I find it useful to keep in mind while I’m working. And I can’t think of a better way to begin than by telling you about one of my more elaborate experiments. Fig. 15 gives the relevant information on my fourth and fifth violins. The idea was to check out the influence of asymmetric back graduations by building a pair of closely-matched fiddles with that as the only variable. The one-piece backs were cut from the same plank of bird’s-eye maple and the tops were cut from a red spruce 4×6 that I took out of the wall of my house when I put in a new chimney. The molds were routed using a template. Archings were checked for height at over two dozen points on each plate and were held to .2MM. Graduation, weight, and frequency data is as shown. The delta f mentioned is the frequency drop obtained when a 5G weight was stuck to the plate in an active area of the given mode. Fittings and so on were matched as closely as possible, and the two bridges were cut back to back from the same piece of maple. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 14, 2020February 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Beam Stiffness vs. Strength Letter: Beam Stiffness vs. Strength by Fred T. Dickens Originally published in American Lutherie #41, 1994 Dear Sir, Please allow me to attempt a termination of the continuing misunderstandings originating with Mr. Ervin Somogyi’s interesting but flawed lecture given at the ’92 conference in South Dakota and perpetuated by its subsequent transcription in the GAL Journal and the letter in American Lutherie #39 from Mr. Dave Schwab commenting on the matter. The issue has to do with using the terms “strength” and “stiffness” interchangeably when discussing the mechanical characteristics of beams used as braces in guitar sounding boards. Both strength and stiffness of beams are important characteristics and depend on properties of the materials from which the beams are constructed as well as the physical dimensions of the beam. Both stiffness and strength of beams may be calculated using formulas which only require a knowledge of the material properties and physical dimensions. Those so inclined will find a very readable account of these formulas in Understanding Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley, ISBN 0-918804-05-01. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 13, 2020March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Commercial Graphite Acoustic Guitars Commercial Graphite Acoustic Guitars by John A. Decker, Jr. Originally published in American Lutherie #31, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three, 2004 Why would anyone want to build an acoustic guitar of graphite? The primary reason is that wooden acoustic guitars (particularly good ones) are fragile. They are especially prone to cracking, warping, and joint separation due to heat, humidity, and water. Graphite/epoxy technology — properly employed, which isn’t easy — can maintain the sound quality of a wooden guitar while completely removing its susceptibility to heat and moisture. During the past seven years Kuau Technology has been working with luthiers at the firm of Pimentel & Sons, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the development of acoustic guitar technology employing fiber-reinforced resins, particularly graphite/epoxy. Our approach has been to duplicate as closely as possible, panel by panel, the acoustic properties of fine wooden classical guitars, rather than attempt to reinvent the guitar de nova. This work has resulted in the development of the RainSong® Graphite Acoustic Guitars,* which we believe to be the first commercially available all-graphite acoustic guitars. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
