Soon...

[Steve Sawyer]

Eric - congratulations!!

Put in my last day a year ago January 2nd. It is SO cool to linger over breakfast, catch up on the news, then slip into the shop until it's time to come up to make dinner. I have TWO projects going at once - a guitar and a large piece of furniture, so I'm not having any trouble staying busy!!

[Eric Knapp]

"First is a re-build of an old Epiphone archtop from 1938. It was destroyed beyond restoring so I’m salvaging as much as I can and will make the rest of the parts."

Sometimes you are better off getting a few under your belt before doing a major restoration. I've done a few I wish I had a "do over" for. In 1938 Epiphone was still an independent company producing high quality instruments, not a "budget line" for the Gibson company who bought them in '57. Some parts you may think are unsalvageable you may later find you could have restored.

Thanks for the sage advice. I was feeling that maybe a rebuild was a big undertaking. I started on the OM because of this and the desire to get a little experience. I am planning on finishing the OM before I go back to the arch top. This guitar was in the trunk of a car that was driven into a lake. It came apart completely. Some parts really were destroyed like the kerfing. The bridge is gone and most of the pearl inlay is too. The top and back plates and the sides survived and that’s what I started with. The finish was beyond any hope so that has been removed. I have made a form and added new kerfing to the sides. I made new braces for the top and I’m practicing bending binding. I had to pause the effort when my school year started last fall. I started making the OM too and that was also paused. I’m getting closer now, 45 days left.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

Congratulations. You guys are going to love it. Every day is like Saturday.

I am getting excited and my shop is waiting patiently. Me, not so patiently.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

Eric - congratulations!!

Put in my last day a year ago January 2nd. It is SO cool to linger over breakfast, catch up on the news, then slip into the shop until it's time to come up to make dinner. I have TWO projects going at once - a guitar and a large piece of furniture, so I'm not having any trouble staying busy!!

Thanks for the congrats. I still have kids in the house so there’s more chaos here. I’m still going to be doing a lot more building in just a few more weeks. The wait is getting harder.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

Sweet! 14 days and 5 hours for me.

Are you done, Charlie?

-Eric

[Charlie Schultz]

Yep, finished Friday. Had to get up early and travel this week, so doesn't feel particularly different yet.

[Steve Sawyer]

Yep, finished Friday. Had to get up early and travel this week, so doesn't feel particularly different yet.

It took me about 9 months to finally hit the feeling-like-it's Saturday-on-a-Wednesday thing. Took over a year to finally grok "mañana" as in "no reason to be stressed that it didn't ALL get done today - there's always mañana!"

Never realized how obsessed I was about work until it was gone, and I kept living as though the world was still composed of limited time resources, deadlines and deliverables.

Weird!! Nice to feel I'm starting to get into the groove...

[Eric Knapp]

Yep, finished Friday. Had to get up early and travel this week, so doesn't feel particularly different yet.

It took me about 9 months to finally hit the feeling-like-it's Saturday-on-a-Wednesday thing. Took over a year to finally grok "mañana" as in "no reason to be stressed that it didn't ALL get done today - there's always mañana!"

Never realized how obsessed I was about work until it was gone, and I kept living as though the world was still composed of limited time resources, deadlines and deliverables.

Weird!! Nice to feel I'm starting to get into the groove...

42 days! I am so looking forward to this. Congrats to both of you. Steve, your comments about being obsessed with work hit close to home. I can’t go back and redo anything, but I can try to have a different life starting 6 weeks from today. I wonder how long it will take for me to relax.

-Eric

[Bob Gramann]

Congratulations Charlie! When I quit my job over 17 years ago ( I wasn’t old enough to retire, I had to quit), it took me 2 weeks before I wondered how I ever had time to go to work. The days go by really fast.

[Steve Sawyer]

I wondered how I ever had time to go to work. The days go by really fast.

Amen, bro'

[Eric Knapp]

Just two weeks now. I'm getting excited. Scared too. Big change.

Really Soon

That is my Stanley No. 71 that my dad purchased in the 1950s for that price. It's a wonderful tool and I'm looking forward to using it more.

-Eric

[Steve Sawyer]

Not as scary once you get into it, Eric! I really sweated bullets on making that transition, but found that things have worked out extremely well. Absolutely amazing how much your living expenses decline once you stop working. Vehicle expenses, meals, dry cleaning all go WAY down when you're not working for The Man...

I too have an old Stanley 71 - it's a nickel-plated model with the arched sole ahead of the cutter. I added a "V" shaped cutter from Lee Valley, and it's a really nice tool to work with. I paid $45 for mine, though someone did put beautifully-turned rosewood handles on it at some point.

[Jim McConkey]

I give you a week before you start wondering how you ever had time to work.

[Steve Sawyer]

I give you a week before you start wondering how you ever had time to work.

+1

So far today (and it's just getting toward 1:00) in addition to eating breakfast and emptying the dishwasher, I've put a coat of stain on a furniture project, biked 12 miles and just got back from the hardware store, getting ready to give the deck the spring scrubbing. When that's done, I'll hopefully get to spend an hour or so on the current guitar build before starting dinner!

[Matthew Lau]

Sounds like a good day.

[Eric Knapp]

Not as scary once you get into it, Eric! I really sweated bullets on making that transition, but found that things have worked out extremely well. Absolutely amazing how much your living expenses decline once you stop working. Vehicle expenses, meals, dry cleaning all go WAY down when you're not working for The Man...

I too have an old Stanley 71 - it's a nickel-plated model with the arched sole ahead of the cutter. I added a "V" shaped cutter from Lee Valley, and it's a really nice tool to work with. I paid $45 for mine, though someone did put beautifully-turned rosewood handles on it at some point.

Thanks, Steve. I will also be a househusband. I'm looking forward to that.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

I give you a week before you start wondering how you ever had time to work.

I have no doubt about that. I'm already being contacted, "Hey, I heard you are retiring. Could we talk?"

-Eric

[Matthew Lau]

Dude! Don't get me tooo jealous!

That being said, I'm sure it's a well earned retirement for the three of you.
How have you enjoyed it recently?

Eric, if you haven't gotten one already, I can highly recommend getting an instant pot for househusband duties.
It's easy enough, so that you can get back to building guitars.

[Steve Sawyer]

Alas, I've been a partial "househusband" for 37 years. When we married, I'd been a single dad for about six years, and we agreed to a division-of-labor right out of the gate that had me cooking and shopping and most of the day-to-day kitchen maintenance. I'm also (obviously) the "tool guy" so all the home improvement and maintenance and repairs end up in my column. I HATE laundry, and am not particularly good at housework, and Marcy LOVES gardening and yard work, so things work out just fine.

I'll second the recommendation for an Instant Pot or its ilk. I don't have one yet, but get great use from my rice cooker and my slow cooker. It does take some practice to get your recipes down (recipes need to be adjusted for pressure and slow-cooking) but you can turn out some great meals with them.